Biddulph Town Council has announced that the miner’s lanterns will be reinstated at the St John’s Road roundabout in Summer 2024. These were removed in 2022 due to decay and limited on-site repair options.
Since this time, Biddulph Town Council has worked with partners to identify funding and a suitable fabrication company to take on the project.
The lanterns will be repaired (where possible) or new metal introduced to ensure they are structurally sound. Solar LED lighting will be added to ensure the blue lamplight is functional but will not require mains electricity.
The artist’s original intention was: ‘to set up a delicate light play that would suggest the poetic relationship of the lamps as lifesavers or ‘keepers’ similar to lighthouses and beacons. The main difference of course being these are over ground rather than underground and function as lamplight for the surrounding area and suggest this protective quality similar to guardians or keepers.’
The Town Council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and the Moorlands Partnership Board will all add funds to the project, with the Town Council taking the lead. Ongoing maintenance will be undertaken by Biddulph Town Council, to ensure the future of the lanterns is secure.
