Ashington family fun day a tribute to coal heritage

Posted by The Journal on Jun 9, 10 09:41 AM in Churches

Former miners, their families and friends will gather this weekend for an annual commemoration of Northumberland's once-mighty coal industry.

A special church service and family fun day will be held in Ashington on Saturday to mark the role which the pits played in the county's history.

The annual Northumberland Miners' Picnic once attracted huge crowds for a political rally and speeches, brass band competitions and a march involving pit lodge banners.

Nowadays, with all of the pits long gone, it is a much more low-key affair.

Ashington's Holy Sepulchre Church - known locally as the Miners' Church - will host Saturday's commemorative service, led by the town's vicar the Rev Elizabeth Bland, which starts at 11.30am.

It will include Wansbeck's Ashington Colliery Band, Ashington Male Voice Choir and children from the town's Robert Stephenson Campus school.

The Archdeacon of Lindisfarne, Peter Robinson, is also expected to attend.

Former National Union of Mineworkers' leader, Ian Lavery, will address the service as the newly-elected Labour MP for Wansbeck.

Wreaths will be laid by union officials, local council leaders and members of the public in memory of generations of miners who worked down Northumberland's pits.

The family fun day runs from 10am to 5pm at the nearby Woodhorn Museum and Archives Centre, and will include children's activities such as story telling, arts and craft sessions, a fairground displays of traditional dancing and an openair brass band concert.

Northumberland Miners' Picnic picture gallery »

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