A Token for Kellingley

 

 

Janus at the turn of the year,

Looking forwards, glancing back,

Unblinking hindsight clearly sees

Into nostalgia’s mystique.

 

For a moment, haze of time passed clears,

Then memories are proposed,

“I remember, come December,

The day when Kellingley closed…”

 

‘End of a life I’d grown up with,

A sad day, how is this right?

Down to people like me to pass

Memories so nothing’s lost.

 

The coal industry couldn’t survive,

End of an era!  Living

Industrial vandalism,

Without NCM, nothing.’

 

The last shaft has been five years sealed,

And though the winding gear’s gone,

Janus looks to the future as

The big wheel of time turns on.

 

Dave Alton

 

(Stanzas 3 and 4 are composed entirely from memories and reflections contributed by: Sharon Healy, Steven Mears, Elizabeth Orchard and John Tyson)