On Saturday 13th July, Cinderloo 1821 teamed up with the St George’s Community Group behind the Miners’ Walk project to lead a heritage walk in St George’s, Oakengates, Dark Lane and Priorslee as part of the Wrekin Local Studies Forum History on Foot series of walks. A wonderful group of around 50 people joined us for the walk led by Pete Jackson and Louise Bremner, starting and ending at The Crown Inn in Oakengates.
Along the way, we launched a petition for Cinderloo to be included in the shortlist of names for the new bridge at Telford Central. A theme of the Cinderloo Uprising was the way in which people joined together to make their voice heard, symbolised by the bridge which connects people, and connects the past with the future.
It was fascinating to explore the mining and industrial heritage and how the events of the Cinderloo Riot of 1821 relates to these areas.
It was even more fascinating to hear some of the human stories and memories from people on the walk, like Mandy who has lived in the area since the 1960s in Oakengates and then Hollinswood:
“Tracing my family tree, my dad’s side were miners or iron workers. Some from Forge Row in ketley, some from Hinksay Row and some from Oakengates. “
Dave Smith shared some wonderful stories about his dad Smudger Smith who lived in St Georges, built a youth club with his mates, and that’s where Smudger met his wife. The club later moved to The Gower, which was originally built in 1873 for the Lilleshall Company as a hospital. Read more about this lovely building and the campaign to save it here.
We hope to feature more of these stories in a forthcoming zine to be published in the Autumn. We’d love to hear more from anyone with stories relating to the mining heritage of the area or to Cinderloo.
Cinderloo 1821 Remembered 
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