£50,000 boost for Cortonwood memorial project

Elsecar Heritage Railway's (EHR) plans for the Cortonwood Coal Mining Memorial Park can become a reality after they overcame rivals from Grimsby in a viewers vote on ITV's Calendar to scoop the cash.

EHR will use their winnings to create a memorial garden, picnic and play area on part of the old Cortonwood Colliery station site near Wombwell, to commemorate the 300 years of coal mining in South Yorkshire.

The project will involve local mining communities and the park will be located where the year-long miners' strike began in 1984.

After the results were announced on Tuesday, a spokesman for EHR said: “We are pleased to announce that we are winners in the people’s poll contest.

“Thank you very very much to everyone that voted for us.

“We shall be swinging into action in the coming months on developing our plans.”

Since The People’s Millions began in 2005 the competition has funded over 520 diverse community projects UK-wide with £27.8 million in Big Lottery Fund good cause money.

There were three, £50,000 awards up for grabs in the region - one award for each night, as well as a bonus award for the runner-up with the most phone votes across the week.

To find out more about EHR's plans www.elsecarrailway.co.uk.