A MONUMENT to mark Ingleton's coal mining heritage was officially unveiled this week.

The parish council commissioned the memorial after being approached by local resident Bernard Bond, who was determined to unearth the history of mining in the area.

The stone plinth was donated by Hanson quarries and the mining connection is highlighted with a set of original coal truck wheels and an axle which Mr Bond had unearthed from a nearby allotment.

The monument is situated at the road junction of Laundry Lane and the A65.

In the past Ingleton had a significant coal mining industry, which in the early decades of the last century played a major role in the industrial life of the area.

In July 1913 two shafts were sunk next to the A65, reaching massive coal seams of nine and ten feet in depth. By 1921, 2,000 tons of coal were being extracted per week and were delivered as far afield as Barrow, Hull and even France.

At its peak the New Ingleton Colliery employed nearly 900 people to extract and process the coal.

Today there is little sign of the existence of a coal industry, as the buildings have been demolished and the land farmed over since mining ended in the 1930s.

However, Ingleton has its miners to thank for its open air swimming pool. Dug out voluntarily it opened in 1934 and remains a valuable village resource, as does New Village which was built to house the workers and their families.