A wheel commemorating Biddulph's mining history is to remain in its current location outside the Town Hall - if proposals are passed by the town council next week.

The council is due to meet on Tuesday (12th April) to discuss the recommendations from the mining memorial working group, which was set up to consider the wheel's future after plans to relocate it were met with opposition.

The working group has recommended that the wheel should remain outside the Town Hall, but the council will have the final say at the meeting.

Nub News reported previously how Biddulph residents set up a petition in opposition to moving the wheel in order to incorporate it into a new memorial to Biddulph's miners on Station Road. The petition gained over 1,200 signatures.

Biddulph's mayor, Cllr Sylvia Rushton, also said that she was opposed to moving the wheel, while the family of former Biddulph mayor George Humphries, who worked to get the wheel originally put in place in front of the town hall in the 1980s, stated that he would be "turning in his grave" at the idea.

The wheel, which was installed on the High Street following the closure of Biddulph's Victoria Colliery has been in place in front of the town hall since 1983.

Those who signed the petition felt that moving the wheel would leave it in a less visible area of the town which could leave it prone to vandalism, and that it should remain in what they believe is a more prominent location outside the town hall.

The town council received the petition back in October and has been considering the future of the wheel since.

The working group's recommendation can be read in full below. They have also discussed the mining lamps that were removed from the roundabout at St John's Road:

"The focus of the Working Group meeting on 15 March 2022 was to consider a memorial at Station Road (incorporating consideration of the mining wheel) and to understand the processes in place to restore the lanterns that had been removed from St John's Road.

"The Working Group wish to make the following recommendations to Town Council:

"a) The mining wheel should be retained outside the Town Hall. This should form part of a wider memorial to mining within the town. The area should be re-designed to incorporate sponsored bricks, appropriate lighting, an interpretation panel and more seating, giving a space for reflection.

"b) The Town Council should develop a specification for the refurbishment of the lanterns that have been removed from St John's Road and seek costings from three companies. The aspiration is to return these to the roundabout. The Town Council will confirm to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council that we are working up a proposal.

"c) The area at Station Road should be a memorial to other industries within the town. Councillors are invited to submit their suggestions. In the meantime, the empty circle will be planted with suitable bedding/ shrubs."

The town council will decide on the recommendations at the meeting next week.