AN exhibition of photographs and poetry evoking the spirit of the North-East landscape will go on show in County Durham next week.

Northern Grit, which opens at the Durham Light Infantry Museum and Durham Art Gallery, on Tuesday, features the work of photographer Pat Maycroft and her fellow poets from Vane Women.

Vane Women started as a writing class at Darlington Arts Centre in the early 1990s and evolved into the group.

The members had long admired My Maycroft's photography and chose shots they wanted to write about.

The stories were brought together in a best-selling book called Northern Grit.

The photographs in the exhibition encompass many years, which brought its own problems when putting the exhibition together.

Some of the negatives were not suitable for darkroom treatment and had to be scanned to remove damage. They were put on to the same size paper to create a sense of unity.

Some of the photographs are recent digital shots, including the Angel of the North and the Roxy Cinema.

Northern Grit is on show in the Print Room at the gallery until May 23.

Ms Maycroft will hold a meet the artist and book signing event at the gallery at 2pm on Saturday, May 15.

Published: 06/05/2004