Voices from Walkmill

Stories of life above and below ground.

Discover the memories of those who lived, worked, and played around Walkmill when it was still a working coalmine. Through poems, photos, audio, and personal reflections, these stories bring the past vividly to life. 

Dive into the full collection of interviews and recordings below.

Five children and a dog on top of a fence near Walkmill Colliery, with fields in the background.
Abstract landscape with smooth, rolling hills in shades of beige and dark gray.

“The Last Day”

In this video, Moresby resident John Kelly reads his own powerful words, which capture and take us back to the final day at Walkmill pit.

  • He describes the final cage being pulled up from the ground and the machinery working for the very last time.

  • He remembers the man in the office, who had to sign the document stating the mine was closed.

  • And he paints a picture of the manager walking out of the pit knowing he would be the last to leave.

A wavy, abstract design in dark gray and white.

Childhood, closure and coal dust 

John Kelly - Moresby resident

  • Recites The Last Day, a poem capturing the mine’s final day 

  • Tells childhood stories of playing near the pit (including taking an adder to school!) 

  • Talks about working in nearby forestry that supplied pit props 

  • Shares photos from Walkmill’s closure in 1965

  • Running time: 30 minutes

A lifetime underground 

John Brown – Mining Surveyor 

  • Reflects on the 1946 Water Blast accident, with rare diagrams and reports

  • Explains the unique reasons behind Walkmill’s closure

  • Running time: 13 minutes / 10 minutes

A woman’s perspective on mining life 

Sheila Barnes - Moresby resident

  • Describes her family’s move to Moresby Parks and life in a mining village 

  • Talks about changes to the rural community post-closure 

  • Shares handwritten notes giving deeper social context 

  • Running time: 27 minutes

Letters, loss and pit songs 

Joseph Ritson - Scilly Banks resident 

  • Discusses conditions underground and the miners’ strike 

  • Reads letters from his Uncle Ronald, who worked at Walkmill 

  • Talks about a wartime poem set to a trench tune – a tribute to the mine 

  • Running time: 57 minutes

Straight from the coalface 

Ronnie Calvin – ex-miner 

  • Though difficult to hear in full, Ronnie’s voice carries the truth of life underground. 

  • “You could taste the coal in your teeth, every shift.”  

  • Running time: 57 minutes

Colorful line art of various flowers and leaves emerging from blue ground.

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