Memories of Thornley

I was born in Thornley in 1949 and attended St Godric's until I was 15. I remember Thornley as a community that went through good times and bad. When the pit closed it affected everybody, shops closed and young people moved to Peter Lee. Reading Ken Orton's memories brought a lot back to me, I knew Ken and Tom as a youth, among a lot of others. When I was 21 I married a local girl, Doreen Bell, who sadly died Feb 2011. I Now live in Peter Lee but still have family in Thornley. The only sad thing I remember is slagheaps that seemed to surround Thornley and were a scar on the surrounding countryside. Can anybody remember the Hilly Owly?