Hello from Redhills: Durham Miners Hall

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What a feeling!

After two long years, the streets of Durham came alive once again this weekend for Durham Miners Gala. We were proud to be part of the biggest Big Meeting for a generation and hope those of you who also attended had a wonderful time.

Redhills supported the programme of events on the day by collaborating with The Rock Showman/Let's Circus on a Gala-fitting programme. We had Mums and Dads competing in rock-throwing competitions with the Strongest people in Durham, geologists with their fossils and stilt walkers (with hoola hoops!)

Collaborations with Durham Brass Festival

We’re honoured and delighted to be working with Durham Brass Festival on several commissions this year. We worked with Field Music on creating a new suite of songs inspired by the growth and decline of coal mining in the region, the struggles of mining communities, and the miners’ fraught path to achieving political representation. Field Music was accompanied by a seven-piece brass section from the NASUWT Riverside Band, which was a joy to watch. You can see a clip of the evening here

Redhills CIO Nick Malyan was delighted to support the Brass: Retold project which was a film that explores the history of brass music in County Durham from the perspective of Deaf performance artist and choreographer, Chisato Minamimura. Through investigative workshops and interviews with local brass musicians Nick from Redhills and Alan Mardghum from Durham Miners Association, Chisato explored the correlation between brass music and the city of Durham. By approaching this project from her Deaf perspective, Chisato attempted to understand how brass music has emerged as an iconic artform for Durham and what the historical and cultural reasons behind this could be.

Our third and final collaboration has been a work of two parts around the story of category D in County Durham. The villages which had their sense of place, being and community taken away from them are highlighted in a specially created documentary. The 20-minute film was directed by the acclaimed Ged Clarke. He was recently commissioned to direct the BBC documentary on Lindisfarne legend Alan Hull, which music star Sam Fender narrated.

Ged Clarke's documentary on category D.

The documentary showcases the artistic journey of LYR, a three-piece band made up of Richard Walters, Patrick Pearson and current poet laureate Simon Armitage, researching category D villages for a specially commissioned EP for the project, which will be performed in its entirety at Durham Cathedral on 15th July as part of The Durham Brass Festival. Tickets are still available for this once-in-a-lifetime event.

Buy your ticket now

Who is writing the Redhills newsletter?

My name is Nicola and I have recently joined the Redhills Team. It is a project very close to my heart; I'm the granddaughter of a Whitworth Park miner and the great-granddaughter of two others. I was raised in Chilton and Newton Aycliffe. I have worked in education for the past 16 years, focusing on raising aspirations, social mobility and supporting access to culture. I have two sons aged 6 and 3 and live in Shildon. Redhills belongs to all of us, it would be great to connect with as many of you as possible to support the future of Redhills. Please contact me at any time by email nicola@redhillsdurham.org , on Facebook or Linkedin or please come say hello at any of our events.

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