Changing Places - Fabulous future

Dec 11 2006 By Iain Laing, The Journal

A former coalmine in Northumberland has been transformed into a fascinating museum and art gallery which has already become one of the North-East's top tourist attractions, as Iain Laing discovers.

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The miners who laboured in Woodhorn Colliery would little have imagined that their tough lives would become a source of intrigue and excitement for legions of tourists. But that is exactly what is happening after the £16m transformation of the former pit near Ashington into a museum, gallery, exhibition space and celebration of the culture of the mines.

And it is indeed the imagination and craft of the miners themselves which are at the centre of one of the most compelling exhibitions in the centre.

The Pitman Painters' extraordinary and world-famous works give very personal insights into their lives and reveal talents and imagination that would confound any attempt to dismiss them as simple labourers.

Woodhorn brings together six opening exhibitions and a new 80-seater study centre representing the public face of Northumberland Archives.

The complex will offer a range of attractions including a restaurant and retail and visitor information amenities to celebrate the unique story of Northumberland from its coal mining heritage to distinctive visual arts and natural history.

All is housed in a stunning new building under a spectacular serrated roofline representing the cutting edges of a giant coalmining machine.

Princess Anne examined the results of pit town traditions dating back centuries when she formally opened the centre in the autumn.

Pigeon racing, competition leek growing, proggy-mat making and the history of colliery brass bands were all explained to a fascinated Princess Royal as she toured the centre.

During her 90-minute visit, Anne chatted to retired mineworkers, former Northumberland Coal Queens and the man who looked after Woodhorn Colliery's last pit ponies, before she formally opened the lottery-funded complex, which is expected to attract 100,000 visitors a year. She also took an interactive journey through Northumberland's mining past by walking through the impressive Coal Town exhibition, which traces the people, places and events of the industry from 1812 to the mid-1980s.

The Princess was shown historical documents dating back to 1172 as she toured Woodhorn's £5m, state-of-the-art archives and study centre, which houses the county's priceless collection of records.

She was shown around one of the newly-conserved, 100-year-old colliery buildings which are now unique in the British coalfield and visited galleries showcasing historic miners' lodge banners and the collection of work by Ashington's famed Pitmen Painters.

Unveiling a plaque to mark the official opening of the centre, the Princess said everyone involved in the Woodhorn project deserved "considerable congratulations" for what had been achieved, especially pulling together the finances involved.

"It is a very spectacular building and I hope everyone will enjoy it and help fulfil all of the ambitions you have had for this site."

Among the people the Princess met were George Phillips, 86, of Stakeford, the last horsekeeper at Woodhorn Colliery, champion leek grower Bob Bell, 72, of Ashington and pigeon racing expert Tom Dawson, also from Ashington.

Mr Phillips, who looked after Woodhorn's pit ponies from 1938 to 1981, said: "The Princess asked me how the ponies used to work and seemed really interested in the subject."

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Innovation: A rich seam

Woodhorn Colliery was turned into a mining heritage museum by Wansbeck District Council in the late 1980s after the pit closed in 1982 as part of the massive rundown of the region's deep mining industry.

Set in the Queen Elizabeth II country park, the museum attracted about 45,000 visitors a year.

In 2002 county and district council chiefs launched a bid to secure major funding to turn it into a nationally-important centre of learning and leisure - with £10m in Heritage Lottery funding awarded in October 2003.

The museum was closed to visitors in February 2004 to allow the massive transformation to take place.