A wealth of local knowledge and experience was mined in the making of a film which will shed light on the coalmining history of a County Durham town when it has its premiere this weekend.
Blast Beach: Digging Deeper has been created from a series of interviews with the communities from around that stretch of coast at Seaham - one of the leading producers of coal in the 1900s - as well as those whose lives and work were influenced by it.
Miners as well as artists and academics took part in the project about Seaham ’s Blast Beach. The results will be seen on Saturday when the 40-minute documentary will make its debut in the town ahead of being screened online and then featuring as part of this year’s Seaham Festival.
Read more: Eight things you'll only know if you grew up in Seaham
Made both by and for the community, Blast Beach: Digging Deeper celebrates the geology and industrial history of the stretch of Durham coast, which was said to have been home to the biggest coal mine in Europe, as well as the vibrant arts community inspired by its landscape.
Artists from East Durham Artists’ Network (EDAN) have also created new work as part of the project which explores the geology of the beach’s surrounding magnesian limestone structure. This work - including painting, charcoal drawing, print, calligraphy, ceramic, glass and poetry - will be on show in an exhibition, Mag Lime Magic, at the Art Block gallery in Seaham where the film is to be shown.
The local coastline was once buried under 40 million tonnes of colliery waste and EDAN member Jean Spence said: “I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to discover more about the geological formations and the chemistry of the industrial pollution on Blast Beach."
Jac Seery Howard, another of those who took part, felt the group’s local knowledge played a vital role in the film and that its makers in turn helped them re-examine their art, adding: “So often in the past we’ve been seen as a conduit to the local community rather than members of the community but this time it was different and we appreciate the acknowledgement that East Durham has its own culture and artists.”
Suzy O’Hara, of SeaScapes Co/Lab which commissioned the documentary, said: “This community film offers new ways to learn about the complex history and beauty of Blast Beach through the diverse voices of local people who know and are inspired by this special place.” It involved a collaboration with Reading the Rocks , both part of a multi-million-pound marine heritage project called SeaScapes: Tyne to Tees Shores to Seas.
Funded by National Lottery players through the National Lottery Heritage Fund, this aims to showcase and care for our "hidden" sea heritage and help create opportunities to secure its future for generations to come. The film was co-produced by Dr Adelle Hulsmeier from the University of Sunderland and Professor Dave Roberts of Durham University and students from several courses were involved in the filmmaking and composition of its original score.
Blast Beach: Digging Deeper will be shown hourly between 10am and 3pm on March 26, alongside the exhibition Art Block gallery in Church Street, Seaham. It then will be shown online after the premiere and will go on to form part of this year’s Seaham Festival. For more about the Seascapes project see here.
