Campaign to get coal pits on maps

Mining was an important part of Yorkshire's economy

A woman born at the height of the miners' strike is taking her fight for Yorkshire's regenerated pit towns to be recognised to the House of Commons.

Rachael Horne, 22, started the Pin the Pits campaign to get Ordnance Survey (OS) to mark regenerated coal mines in the region on its maps.

To mark the 25th anniversary since the year-long strike, Miss Horne will show MPs three short films on the campaign.

The group wants OS to use a half pit wheel to symbolise the revamped areas.

Some of the most well-known pits coal mines including, Maltby and Cortonwood in South Yorkshire were involved in the 1984 Miners' Strike.

While Riccall Colliery in Selby, North Yorkshire was one of the last pits to close in the UK.

'Brilliant campaign

Miss Horne, the daughter of a miner who worked at Bentley Pit in Doncaster, will be presenting the documentaries about the lives and times of former miners to generate interest from MPs.

Miss Horne said she hoped to create a cultural and historical legacy of the coal mines across the UK through her art.

The fine arts graduate said: "The sites that I believe should be marked are large regenerated sites ranging up to 80 hectares.

"It would not clutter the map, the regenerated sites are of cultural importance, they often contain a pulley wheel and sculptures as well as public artworks and memorials.

"These sites have cost millions to redevelop, this alone is something to celebrate and mark."

Musician Billy Bragg, a supporter of Pin the Pits, said: "This a brilliant campaign, made all the more special by the fact it has been initiated by a young artist who was herself born in a mining village during the Great Strike."

A spokesman for OS said it feared the request would clutter the maps.