'Yesterday, Today, Forever', Fowberry Road, Scotswood

Image: © Andrew Curtis Taken: 12 Jul 2012

This very shiny new sculpture of a pitman, pony and two children has appeared on the small traffic island at the junction of Fowberry Road and Denton Road. A plaque nearby says it is in remembrance of the 38 men and boys killed in the Montagu View Pit disaster on 30 March 1925, when an inrush of water from the nearby abandoned Paradise Pit flooded the deep Brockwell Seam. Some of the bodies were not recovered until January 1926 http://www.dmm.org.uk/names/n1925-01.htm The miners were buried at Elswick cemetery Image where there is a more conventional memorial http://newcastlephotos.blogspot.co.uk/2006/05/elswick-st-johns-cemetery.html The pit was finally closed on 13th November 1959. The sculpture by Xceptional Designs was unveiled on 9th June 2012. Local children and the community were involved in the design which also features a frog, a tank and a house. One of the schoolchildren said 'Scotswood is like a frog, it’s not very pretty on the outside but it’s beautiful on the inside.' The pitman, pony and tank http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2829290 depict the past heritage, with the pitman leading the children to the future. The girl is taking his photo with her mobile phone. http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/communities/benwell-scotswood-elswick/2012/06/09/pitmen-and-pony-statue-represent-hope-for-scotswood-72703-31147613/

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