Guerrilla Operation Sees Miners Memorial Become New Icon Of Wrexham’s Skyline

A memorial to local miners has been installed by a sculptor and a group of volunteers high on the slag heap by Rhostyllen roundabout.

The 6 million ton slag heap is set to be removed by 2020 unless planning is yet again extended, with many calling for it to be preserved as it being representative of Wrexham’s mining history.

This weekend saw sculptor Ian Walton and around ten volunteers unofficially haul up 120 kilos of concrete and install the large steel man via guerrilla methods over a three hour period.

Ian has described ‘Major Miner’ as tribute to the miners of North Wales, telling us: “I have been planning it for over 12 months and I had originally wanted to do it twice as big. The ongoing saga of the spoil tip spurred me on even more.

“It is 30 years this year since Bersham closed, along with so many other pits, and the the thousands of men who worked in the pits in this area and across North Wales seem to have been forgotten. Head gear wheels are all well and good but the human form says a lot more.

“We construct memorials of the gentlemen bosses but why not the men who actually did all the grafting and lost their lives in the blackness. I feel very passionately about our industrial heritage and its something the people of Wrexham should be proud of.”

“Bersham coal tip is about the last in North Wales now. Our own tip here at the old Plas Power pit was landscaped nearly 20 years ago, so now its just a nice grassy hill so that few would ever know it was a pit.”

The spine of ‘Major Miner’ is sourced from the old Brymbo Steelworks, with Ian telling us: “It was two months work with lots of welding and hand and hand bending. Its only my second sculpture but its far from the last.”

Ian added: “I hope he will be a lasting reminder of our rich industrial past and the hard working men without whom there could never have been an industrial revolution. He stands proud with his bead bowed in reverence and silent remembrance. In short be proud of your local history and its community. Wrexham needs more pride.”

Wrexham.com understands there has been zero public money put in to this, and has been planned and executed by volunteers.

Hopefully various authorities and landowners see fit to not only take the installation in the manner it was created, but allows ‘him’ to remain!