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Welcome

The Walking Together Memorial commemorates the lives of the 106 miners who tragically lost their lives in 3 disasters at Markham Colliery.

The trail starts at the Environment Centre on the Markham Vale business park which now stands on the colliery site. At the other end of the trail lies the village of Duckmanton.

Along the trail, visitors can find 106 steel figures designed by artist Stephen Broadbent with guidance from a community working group of volunteers. The trail of figures symbolises a miner's journey to the pit and back home again and is designed to help visitors re-imagine and remember the lives of miners, especially those who lost their lives for their work.

Watch the video: Walking Together Memorial Trail
Front of Markham Vale Environment Centre with steel figures on the Walking Together Memorial Trail to the left and right,

Level access

The main entrance has level access.

There is level access from the main entrance to:

Accessible toilet in the Environment CentreEnvironment Centre Reception AreaMemorial Trail

Access with steps

There are steps from the car park to:

Small picnic area to the rear of the Environment Centre

Visual

Additional information on the Memorial Trail can be found Inside the Environment Centre, including a small tactile model representing the steel figures which are found on the trail.
There is a small tactile sculpture of the trail in the Environment Centre.

General

There is a public toilet for disabled visitors.

Getting here

Markhan Vale Environment Centre
Markham Vale
Chesterfield, Derbyshire
S44 5HY

Travel by public transport

You can get to Walking Together Memorial Trail by bus.
There are two bus stops on the main road adjacent to the Markham Vale Environment Centre. Both have shelter and seating. The bus stop is 0.0 miles / 0.0 km from Walking Together Memorial Trail.

Whilst there are no dropped kerbs adjacent to the bus stops, a level crossing point with dropped kerbs can be found at the roundabout further along the road.

For further information on the bus timetable, please visit https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables.https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables.

Travel by taxi

You can get a taxi with There are a number of wheelchair accessible taxi firms in Chesterfield which cover the town and the wider area. The taxi company has a wheelchair accessible vehicle.

Parking

We have a car park. The parking is less than 50 metres from the main entrance. Parking is free.
There is a drop-off point at the main entrance. The drop-off point has a dropped kerb.
From the car park to the entrance, there is level access. The route is 1000mm wide, or more.

Free parking is available at the Environment Centre, which is situated at the start of the Memorial Trail.

In addition to a large, free car park to the rear of the Centre, two accessible parking spaces are located at the front of the building, one at each side of the main entrance. These are accessed by following the arrows to the 'accessible parking' from the main car park.

All parking spaces are located on a firm, solid, level surface.

 

 

 

Directional sign to accessible parking spaces Main car park showing a number of parking spaces on a solid surface and cars in the distance. Accessible parking space on solid, block paved surface at the front of the Environment Centre next to the main entrance.

Arrival

Path to main entrance

From the street to the main entrance, there is level access.
The path is 1000mm wide, or more.

Main entrance

The main entrance has level access.
The door is 1000mm wide.
The main door is side hung and manual.

Visitors to the Memorial Trail are welcome to visit the Environment Centre during opening hours in order to access information on the Trail as well as to use the toilet facilities.

The Centre's opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm.

Front view of the Environment Centre building. Double, glazed, manually operated doors to the Environment Centre

Getting around inside

Things to See and Do

Additional information on the Memorial Trail can be found Inside the Environment Centre, including a small tactile model representing the steel figures which are found on the trail.

Public toilet

Accessible toilet in the Environment Centre

There is a public toilet for disabled visitors.
From the main entrance to the public toilet, there is level access. The route is 880mm wide, or more.
The toilet door is 880mm wide.
The direction of transfer onto the toilet is to the right.
There is 1000mm at the side of the toilet. There is 1080mm in front of the toilet. The toilet seat is 480mm high. The toilets have handrails.

Visitors are welcome to use the toilet facilities during Environment Centre opening hours which are Monday - Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm. 

To access the toilet, please enter the Environment Centre and speak to our friendly staff at the reception counter who will provide access to the toilet facilities.

The bins within the toilet facility can be both top operated and pedal operated.

There is an emergency alarm fitted within the facility. The cord for this hangs down to the floor,

There is a gap of 700mm beneath the sink which has lever operated taps.

There is a mirror which can be accessed by all users and hooks the back of the door.

There is an electric hand dryer and paper towels are also provided.

There is no baby changing facility in thie toilet.

There are lowered urinals in the adjacent Gents' toilet facility

View of accessible toilet facility showing toilet with right hand transfer and adjacent grab rail, plus sink and hand dryer.

Environment Centre Reception Area

From the main entrance to this area, there is level access. The route is 1000mm wide, or more.
The door is 1000mm wide.

The Envirobment Centre Reception area has a variety of seating.

Leaflets and additional information on the Memorial Trail can be found here, along with helpful reception staff who are happy to answer any questions about the trail which visitors may have.

Getting around outside

Walking Together Menorial Trail

The trail is 3000metres long. The trail has a hard surface. There are a number of A frames along the route. These are likely to be accessible for the majority of wheelchair users, measuring 920mm at the bottom and 570mm at the top. Please see image below. The trail is sloped. The trail has seats.

There are a number of seats along the trail. These are simple, wooden bench seats with no backrests and are located over grass.

Example of an A frame on the Memorial Trail Wooden bench seat on the Trail located on grass Gently sloping area of the Trail with steel figures on grass to the left and the solid trail surface to the right.

Picnic Area

Small picnic area to the rear of the Environment Centre

From the car park to the picnic area, there is 1 step. There is no lift and no ramp.
You can bring your own food to the picnic area.

There is a picnic bench on a grassed area to the rear of the Environment Centre. This is accessed from the car park via one step

Picnic bench on raised, grassed area to the rear of the Environment Centre accessed via one step from the car park.

Memorial Trail

From the main entrance to this area, there is level access. There is a permanent ramp. The entrance is 2000mm wide.

The Memorial Trail comprises a route of approximately 2 miles. It is a 'there and back' route from the Markhan Vale Environment Centre, to the village of Duckmanton and back again. Trail leaflets can be collected from the Environment Centre, wherer there is also an information board giving details of the route.

From the Environment Centre, follow the main road, crossing over to the oppoosite side when it is safe and convenient to do so. There are no figures on this part of the route.

At 'Campervanbits' the trail continues into a more rural setting and the route here is lined with steel figures on a grassed areas next to the path. Each figure represents a miner who lost his life in one of the three disasters at Markham Colliery which once occupied this site.

On one side the figures are shiny and on the other they are darker. The shiny side represents the miners as they walked to work, the darker side as they returned, covered in dust and grime from working underground.

Each figure has a steel 'tag' giving information about the miner whom the figure represents. Details of the organisation who sponsored each figure are also provided at the base of each sculpture.

Visitors are encouraged to explore the figures, to learn about the miners who lost their lives and to remember them and all those who worked as miners.

There are some gently sloping areas along the route with a gradient of approximately 4 degrees.

The trail surface is mostly good, although there are some areas which are slightly rough and have some loose materials, such as at the entrance to the middle part of the trail by Campervanbits, for example.

There is some wooden seating along the route. This is located over grass. There are no backrests.

Part of the route passes through an underpass beneath a road. Further along, the route crosses a busy road. Whilst there is no controlled crossing here, tactile paving and lowered kerbs are provided.

The trail terminates at Duckmanton village, where a further information board can be found. 

 

Information Board at Environment Centre showing trail route along with the names of the miners represented by the statues. Main road from Environment Centre to the middle section of Trail Stone memorial remembering the miners who lost their lives in the three mining disasters at Markham Colliery Entrance to the middle section of the trail at Campervanbits. Gently sloping section of the trail with steel figures on grass to the left and the solid pathway to the right. Underpass tunnel part way along the trail with graffiti on the walls to the left and right. Gently sloping area of the trail after the underpass with steel figures to the left and solid path to the right ‘A’ frame leading to road crossing Road crossing with tactile paving and lowered kerbs on both sides Final section of the trail with steel sculptures on grass to the left and solid path to the right End of the trail at Duckmanton village with A frame to the right and wider exit with stepped barrier to the left

Customer care support

Assistance dogs and others may use any part of the trail. We respectfully ask that all owners clean up after their dogs.

Customer care support

There is a small tactile sculpture of the trail in the Environment Centre.
Small, tactile sculpture representing the steel figures on the Memorial Trail
Guide info
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