Notices

The Late Shows 2013: Saturday 18th May 7-11pm

The Mining Institute is once again taking part in the Late Shows this weekend so come and see us in a new light!

Life Through a Victorian Lens – the Mining Institute will be presenting the art of the photographer in Victorian Tyneside. Focusing on collections of glass plate negatives and candid views of Newcastle and Tyneside depicted in these rare photographs you will see some of the finest Victorian documentary photography to emerge.

In addition you can see an exhibition of works by living mining artists. On show will be paintings by Tom Lamb, Bill Hindmarsh, Derek Slater and other artists plus sculptures by Terry Parks.

A bar will also be available.

GUTS:

A site-specific, multi-media production, which weaves together Newcastle’s industrial history with a fictional attempt to replace Dobson & Grainger’s city centre with a gated leisure complex for the rich.

GUTS, based upon an original play by Peter Dillon (Department of Media and Communication Design), explores the continuing battle between social need and the power of capital.  It is an issue that historically has haunted this city, and even in this post -industrial era the current Coalition Government’s swingeing attack on the public sector paves the way for private enterprise to piggy back on communal services for the enrichment of the few. 

But something stirs in the sewers, fiercely opposed to private greed, a natural force, activated and primed to go threatening Newcastle’s future existence.

The production directed by Fiona MacPherson (Department of Arts) will deploy illustrated animation from Robert Jefferson (Department of Media and Communication Design), design by Keith McIntyre (Department of Arts), film archive, performance, filmed extracts and will utilize the unique setting of the Mining Institute’s Lecture Theatre and Gothic Hall on Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne.

The performance will be part of the Festival of the North East that takes place across the region during the month of June 2013.

Performance Details
All shows start at 7.00pm (unless stated)

Wednesday 19 June – Saturday 22 June 2013 (Additional 2pm show on Saturday)

Monday 24 June – Tuesday 25 June 2013

Thursday 27 June – Saturday 29 June 2013 (Additional 2pm show on Thursday)

Price: £10 full £6 Concessions (Students and unemployed)

Tickets available here or payment by cheque or cash at the Mining Institute direct. 

The History of Coal Mining in Benwell and Scotswood

A new exhibition on the History of Mining in Benwell and Scotswood has been produced by the Mining Institute in collaboration with St. James’ Heritage & Environment Group and local residents, and has been funded by Make Your Mark. The panels are on display at the West End Library, Condercum Road, Benwell.

New book: Railways Before George Stephenson by Les Turnbull

A Study of the Waggonways in the Great Northern Coalfield 1605-1830.”
Many believe that railways began in 1825 with the opening of the Stockton and Darlington line; but “Railways Before George Stephenson” reveals a different version of history. This book traces the development of the world’s first network of railways; the lines which served the Great Northern Coalfield during the two hundred years before Stephenson drove ‘Locomotion’ through Darlington. It is a valuable piece of research into an area of railway history of international importance and is essential reading for all railway enthusiasts. There is also much within these pages for those with a general interest in the history of the North East of England for the development of the railway and the locomotive were amongst the region’s finest achievements.

The book is richly illustrated with rear archive materials from the Institute and private archives. The book comprises 176 pages with detailed maps of the waggonways, including a transposition of these onto modern mapping for the first time. Les Turnbull is a graduate of Durham University and Newcastle University. He is a Member of the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers.  Published by Chapman Research Publishing of Oxford in conjunction with the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers.

The book retails at £17.50 and copies sold will raise funds for the Institute. Copies are available at the Library during opening hours (Monday-Friday 10am-5pm).
If you’d like to order a copy to be posted to you, please add £6.80 p&p.

Minerals Collection online

A new section has been added to the site with an online exhibition of different minerals complete with detailed illustrative photos.  The minerals were all collected by one of our trustees, Dr. Colin Laidler, who kindly worked on this project with artist Adrian Moule to create this online exhibition.

New paper online

UK Online Centre

Why not come down to the Institute and try out the Go On training courses? There's something for everyone from the very beginning of how to use a mouse and keyboard. Computers are available Monday-Friday 10am-5pm and we can give you one-to-one help to get started. And best of all, all courses are completely free!  Drop in on a Friday or make an appointment for other days of the week.

New books for sale:

We have a range of new books available for sale from the library or by post. If you buy a copy from us then up to one third of the cover price goes to support the Institute and the library at no additional cost to you.

Titles include:

NEW - The Conside Trilogy by Garry o' Hagan- £12.95
NEW - George Townsend Andrews of York - The Railway Architect by Bill Fawcett - £26.95
NEW - Railways before George Stephenson - Les Turnbull - £17.50

A History of the Newcastle and Berwick Railway ed. John Addyman - £18.50
The Great Northern Miner by Ken and Jean Smith - £12.95
Coals from Newcastle by Les Turnbull £10.95
The Pitmen's Requiem by Peter Crookston £18.00
The Splendour of the Gala by Ken and Jean Smith - £9.99
Unfinished Business - The Miners' strike for jobs 1984-5 by Peter Arkell & Ray Rising - £7.99
Collieries of Beamish - Garry O Hagan - £12.95
The Making of a prodigy - Robert Stephenson by Victoria Haworth - £9.95
Robert Stephenson: railway engineer by John Addyman and Victoria Haworth - £19.95
The Odyssey by Raymond Hicks £5

Please do call into the Institute Library for your copies or call Jennifer on 0191 2332459 for more information (P&P charged at cost).

Volunteers wanted!

New volunteers are always welcomed at the Institute to help with our ongoing projects to improve access to the collections - our volunteer policy is available here. Some work can even be done at home via the internet so please do contact our librarian, Jennifer Kelly on 0191 2332459 or email her using the Contact Form if you have some time available.

Annual Report:

Click Here to download the 2010-2011 Annual Report.

Newsletter:

The latest newsletter is now available to download here