'Baths have earned a place in Forest history'

FORMER miner Brian Johns has joined the fight to try and save the Princess Royal pithead baths from demolition.

Mr Johns, of Blakeney, is working on a research project which embraces Forest history through the ages.

He told the Review: "Time and again I come across references to buildings which I find have been demolished in recent years. It's Forest history confined to reference books. Now it seems the Princess Royal baths is set to join them."

Mr Johns believes an attempt should be made to preserve the building and perhaps include it as part of a heritage trail.

"I have many memories concerning this building and feel it is a shame that the time has come when officialdom has decided that it should be razed to the ground.

"It served miners from many parts of the Forest and, as such, has earned a place in the history of the area. I believe it should be retained and the exterior remain unchanged in its present form. I appreciate that the interior would need some form of modification to suit the needs of the occupier," he said.

"All those who made use of the premises in its heyday will remember the canteen, the locker rooms – one for clean clothes and one for pit togs – and the hot showers. They were out of this world.

"It was here at the end of a shift that miners burst into song, men from Whitecroft, Bream, Pillowell, Clements End,Sling, Lydney, Parkend, Moseley Green and many places between, men of the Forest who were joined as a brotherhood."

Mr Johns said that mention had been made of erecting some form of memorial on the site but the best memorial was already there – a memorial to the many miners of the Forest.