Sculpture honouring mining heritage to be unveiled

A sculpture honouring a region's mining heritage is to be unveiled to the public at an event which celebrates its history.

It features the figure of a miner symbolising those who worked in the industry across the north-east of England, surrounded by pit buildings and will be on display at the Northumberland Miner's Picnic at Woodhorn Museum in Ashington on Saturday.

It has been created by artist John O'Rourke who has worked with students from Northumbria University on a "maquette" or model of the sculpture.

The proposed full version would be made from Corten steel, the same material as the Angel of the North, and would stand at 12.3 metres (40 ft) tall.

Student Ali Alamin translated O'Rourke's technical drawings into components, before laser cutting and hand-finishing them for assembly.

"Being involved in a project of this scale, one that speaks to the history and culture of the region, gives you an enormous sense of pride," the 22-year-old said.

Fellow graduate, Christos Katsidis, who now works for Morfabrication in Washington, said the project had helped him "massively" in his current job as a design engineer.

"It allowed me to build real experience with the main software used at my current workplace, and that familiarity came in very handy during my interview."

O'Rourke said the sculpture is about the people of the region "their labour, their transition into a new future".

"I'm enormously grateful to the students who brought my drawings to life," he said.

The Northumberland Miners Picnic was first held in 1864 at Blyth Links but following the closure of the region's coal mines was relocated in 1992 to Ashington where it evolved from a trade union rally into a celebration of North East mining heritage.

The proposed full sculpture is estimated to cost about £3m, with funding now being sought.

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