Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, met with Huntington Parish Council and their public consultation to discuss their proposed project to develop a memorial garden on Huntington Village Green to remember those who fought in The Battle of the Somme.
In November of last year Gavin met with the Parish Council to discuss the preliminary plans for the memorial including the relocation of one of the pit wheels from the Colliery site in order to create the monument and war memorial garden.
The pit wheels were one of two that were once on the former Littleton Colliery site and were saved by the community. Huntington Parish Council decided to create a monument to remember the coalmining history of the village, which began with the sinking of deep mine shafts at the end of the nineteenth century until the closure of Littleton Colliery and the last deep mine in the Cannock Chase coalfield, in December 1993.
After attending the exhibition Gavin commented: “The plans for the memorial garden are absolutely fantastic and I am quite sure that it will be a wonderful development and major enhancement to the village.
“It is only right that we celebrate our mining heritage here in Huntington. Over the past century, this site has provided much prosperity to the local area and now we welcome any discussions to ensure that we preserve this land for future generations and honour those who worked at the pit and other residents of Huntington who gave their lives, fighting for our country.”