June 7, 2025 - Sir George Dowty is known in mining circles as the man responsible for introducing the hydraulic prop to support the roof underground. This ground breaking development was followed by the Dowty Roofmaster powered support, which led to the 2-leg shield supports used around the world in coal mining today.

It is one year since the formal unveiling ceremony was conducted of the statue of Sir George Dowty that sits at Glebe Farm, Lower Stanton St Quintin near Malmesbury, England. Here is the unveiling ceremony booklet.

The sometime Governor and Commander-in - Chief of Gibraltar and subsequent Director of Government Communication Headquarters attended.

A report on the developments throughout year reads as follows-

Visitors to see the statue have risen steadily to average over 100 a week. Many of the visitors are from overseas. 

The visitors are a combination of history societies, military associations and private individuals who have had Dowty connections. The Dowty reach was far and wide. The Dowty Group employed 15,000 people 50 years ago -at the time of Sir George’s passing - with 3 times that number engaged on Dowty work in subcontractors.

During the year we have acquired a Dowty Rotol designed and manufactured Tornado undercarriage which sits alongside the statue.

The statue has been assessed by reputable authorities as amongst the finest produced this century in the U.K.

We are plagued by pigeons but they avoid the statue- because it is so lifelike they probably think it is a real person!

For further information, please contact martinrobins@btinternet.com.