Hundreds turn out for Mining Memories exhibition commemorating Langley Park’s pit

More than 350 local people turned out in Langley Park to visit the village’s Mining Memories photography exhibition from 27 October to 6 November to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Langley Park pit.

The two-week photography exhibition at the local Miners’ Institute in Langley Park brought together Tyneside photographer Mark Pinder’s striking photography of north east collieries with archive images of Langley Park from Beamish Museum and offered the first look at the initial design for the front side of the newly commissioned Langley Park Miners’ Banner. The Langley Park Miners’ Banner Group recently announced that it had been awarded a £14,742 grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help finance the making of a new banner for the village. 

Each day of the Mining Memories exhibition saw members of the local community visit the exhibition for a nostalgic look at four decades of mining photography, images of Langley Park and its pit from the Beamish archives and ideas from pupils at Langley Park Primary School for the design of the new miners’ banner. A special event with guest speakers to commemorate the anniversary of the closure of the pit also saw the Langley Park Miners’ Institute packed out as locals came together to celebrate the village’s mining heritage. 

Visitors to the exhibition included former Langley Park Colliery miners, miners’ families, local villagers and businesses with links to the pit, local trade unionists, representatives from other banner groups across Durham, teachers and school children. All were appreciative of the opportunity to remember and celebrate the mining roots of their local village.

Jack Pringle, chair of the Langley Park Miners’ Banner Group, said: “We were delighted with the turnout over the two weeks of the exhibition and it was great to hear local people’s stories of the pit and also to see their enthusiasm about the new miners’ banner in production that we will  be proudly parading at the Durham Miners’ Gala next year. Many of the people who visited our Mining Memories event commented how they thought it was an inspiring and necessary exhibition and a valuable record of a village’s proud industrial history and the people who made it – we couldn’t agree more with those sentiments!”

Stephen Guy, chairman of the Durham Miners’ Association, who has links with the village, visited the exhibition to speak at the special event commemorating the closure of the pit and said: “The Langley Park Miners' Banner Group have done a great job in putting on this exhibition and also in securing the funding to commission a new miners’ banner for their village. It shows the strong desire of local people to keep our mining heritage, its traditions of solidarity and social history alive and relevant to today. I can’t wait to see the new banner at The Big Meeting next year.”