WE have noticed in recent times that Maurice Bent and Andrew Gardiner have put forward their point of view about the Northern pit site and the proposed regeneration of the surrounding area, and thought it was about time two Northern ex-miners who spent their working life there underground had their say.

For the record, on December 24, 1965, Alby Annetts,?Cecil Roberts and Les Ruck were the last men up Hawkwell Pit, and John Hale, Les Ruck and a Mr Williams (a reporter) were the last men up Northern Pit at 11am and 11.45am respectively.

Maurice believes there should be a memoriam at the Northern colliery site to the history of mining in the Forest, but we believe retaining these old buildings is not the way to do it.

They are in a sorry state of repair; the land around them is an eyesore (to put it mildly). Surely they must agree with this. As several ex-miners who worked the coalface at Northern have said, it is a disgrace and the buildings should have been knocked down years ago.

Additionally, they have no recollection of the knocker system striking 11 times when a fatality had occurred in the pit.

The council has worked very hard to get this project to where it is today, but now some folk are trying every trick in the book to stop it instead of supporting it. Surely the project would not have come this far if all the rules and regulations had not been adhered to.

We must look to the future and a few old buildings is surely not a fitting tribute to our precious mining heritage anyway. We must also think about the wildlife thereabouts; there is a place in this world for all God's creatures, but are bats etc more important than people?

We already have the Miners' Hall in Cinderford, the Dilke Hospital, etc, that relate to our mining past. If something more is desired, work with the powers-that-be to agree one.

A lot of our young people are not so fortunate as some of us on more than one income (pensions etc). Job Seekers allowance doesn't go very far. Let's hope the regeneration brings the hope, the jobs, the security and the prosperity they crave and deserve.?We wish the council every success with this project.

– Dave Harvey and Les Ruck, former Northern miners.