A community pays tribute to its miners

More than 1,000 people followed banners of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and a brass band in the village of Allerton Bywater outside Leeds in West Yorkshire.

Another 1,000 lined the streets and were waiting for the marchers at the site of the memorial - a 12-foot-high obelisk based on the pit cage that used to lower and lift the miners to and from the pit bottom created by sculptor and ex-miner Harry Malkin.

Allerton Bywater colliery was closed by the Tories in 1992 despite the fact that in its last year in operation it employed 1,000 miners and made a surplus of £9.9 million.

The pit's banner was brought from its place of honour in Leeds Civic Hall to lead the march.

It has taken 20 years to raise funds for a memorial for the 87 men and boys killed at the pit in accidents during its 110-year lifetime.

Saturday's unveiling reflected a united and vibrant community which has survived the destruction of its economic base by the Tories.

The unveiling was carried out by the Labour leader of Leeds City Council Keith Wakefield.

Addresses were given by the chairman of Yorkshire area of the NUM Chris Skidmore and Allerton NUM branch's last secretary Clive Cowell, one of the main organisers of the memorial project.

Mr Skidmore said: "This is about celebrating people's lives - friendships forged at work, watching out for each other, those aspects of life that are sadly lacking in today's society. This is our way of life, the way we live in society - not Mr Cameron's 'big society.'

"The union is still here fighting for people's rights, as well as for members still working at the pit.

"This country imports 35m tonnes of coal a year. The union is at the forefront of promoting clean coal technology."

He said the union was fighting to stop the government creaming off millions of pounds from the Mineworkers' Pension Fund.

The Tories agreed to underwrite the pension fund in the 1990s only if it was allowed to take 50 per cent of any surpluses, and has since grabbed billions of pounds from the miners' pensions.