Derbyshire Times news bulletin 17th May

Derbyshire Times news bulletin with editor Phil Bramley

Transcript

00:00 Here's today's Derbyshire Times video bulletin.

00:02 A memorial sculpture dedicated to miners killed whilst working at a North Derbyshire colliery

00:08 has been desecrated by vandals, with brass medallions bearing the names of the dead now missing.

00:13 The Walking Together memorial at the Markham Vale Business Park was completed in 2022 as a

00:20 permanent reminder of the site's industrial heritage, forming a trail of metal walking

00:25 figures on the path to Duckmonton, created by artist Stephen Broadbent in collaboration with

00:30 former miners and local schoolchildren. The trail symbolises a miner's journey to the Markham pit

00:35 and back home again, with each of the 106 figures bearing a circular bronze miners tag stamped with

00:41 the name of somebody who died in the three major disasters at the colliery in 1937, 1938 and 1973.

00:48 The memorial was created as part of a social history project involving many parts of the

00:53 community, so one of those most familiar with the site and its significance was shot to discover

00:59 this week that the blonde medallions and plaques were now missing. Bolsover resident Keith Bowman,

01:04 who helped raise funds for the memorial during his time as a district councillor, said "for the life

01:08 of me I can't understand why anyone would do this". He added "the lads who were killed came

01:14 from Duckmonton, Staveley and Bolsover and still have families living around here. I'm sure they'll

01:19 be up in arms when they find out". Anyone with information about the thefts is asked to contact

01:25 Derbyshire Police. Two new secondary schools could be needed in Derbyshire as a result of potential

01:32 new housing developments creating thousands of extra homes. Documents forming part of Derbyshire

01:38 Dale District Council's local plan preparations include scope for two new secondary schools in

01:42 Ashbourne and Matlock. The authority says that Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Ashbourne

01:47 is already over capacity for the number of students it can cater for and says Highfield

01:51 School in Matlock is forced to be over capacity in the next five years. The county council indicates

01:58 the new schools will be required to cater for new students coming into the area as part of potential

02:02 new housing developments in each respective town, with a number of developments in the

02:06 area set to potentially create another 2,500 homes in coming years.