By Lamplight

An exhibition, set to go on show at The World of Glass January, tells the stories of ten ex-pit men, 25 years on from the closure of Sutton Manor Colliery in St Helens.

Funded by Heart of Glass Prototype Projects, ‘When the Pit Closed . . .’ opens to the public on Saturday, 16 January and combines words, music and analogue black & white photographs to portray the impact the closure, in 1991, had on the ex-pit men and how their lives moved on in the intervening years.

Over the past 12 months photographer and writer Alan Smith has met with each of the ten ex colliery workers. Using a vintage Rolleiflex camera Alan photographed each man in a countryside setting in contrast to the industrial backdrop they would have been used to at Sutton Manor. The only constant in each of the ten portraits is a miner’s lamp. Having taken the photographs Alan then talked to the individuals making notes from which to write their stories. Alan’s son Andrew, along with his close friend Craig Sergeant, then composed the musical score working with the original story scripts and photographs as references. The music has been composed to provoke imagination and emotions to enable the listener to connect with the stories and the people telling them.

The exhibition runs from Saturday, 16 January until Friday, 18 March 2016 in the Godfrey Pilkington Gallery at the World of Glass, St Helens.

When The Pit Closed