Langley Park commemorates 50th anniversary of pit closure with Mining Memories exhibition

Local community campaigners in Langley Park, County Durham are holding a two-week long photography exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Langley Park pit. Mining Memories – Remembering the roots of Langley Park takes place from Monday 27 October until Thursday 6 October at the local Miners’ Institute in the village.

The exhibition brings together local photographer Mark Pinder’s striking photography of North East
collieries, archive images of Langley Park from Beamish Museum and offers the first look at the 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.

The Mining Memories exhibition will offer a nostalgic look at four decades of mining photography as well
as images of Langley Park and its pit from the Beamish Museum archives. Attendees will also have the
opportunity to view ideas from pupils at Langley Park Primary School for the design of the new miners’
banner. Additionally, there will also be a special event with guest speakers to commemorate the
anniversary of the closure of the pit, taking place at the Langley Park Miners’ Institute from 5pm to 7pm
on Thursday 30 October.

Jack Pringle, chair of the Langley Park Miners’ Banner Group, said: “We are delighted to be able to mark
the 50th anniversary of the closing of Langley Park’s colliery with this exciting community exhibition at
the local Miners’ Institute. The pit has played a key role in the history of our village and it’s right that we
celebrate that role with members of the local community with this Mining Memories exhibition.

“We are looking forward to welcoming locals at the exhibition to celebrate Langley Park’s proud mining
history and to hear more about the production of the new miners’ banner for the village which, thanks to
our successful funding award from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, will soon become a reality and
villages will be able to proudly line up behind it at next year’s Durham Miners’ Gala. We hope that
members of the local community will visit the exhibition in the local Miners’ Institute to show that as a
village we are proud of its industrial history and want to keep our mining heritage and social history alive
and relevant to today.”