A NEW video tells the story of the sometimes uneasy relationship between Durham Cathedral and the county's miners.

The Colliers' Cathedral, which is going on sale in time for Saturday's Durham Miners Gala, is the last in a trilogy of mining history videos produced by Puddle Productions, of West Rainton, County Durham.

The Miners' Service in the Cathedral, which follows the gala's parade of banners and speeches, has become an important part of the event.

But it was not until 1896 that Bishop Brooke Foss Westcott inaugurated it.

Hilary St John, a partner in Puddle Productions with John Mason, said the Cathedral, as the main landowner, leased mining rights to coal producers and was seen by miners, with their non-conformist and socialist beliefs, as an establishment institution.

He said: "Westcott settled the strike in 1892, when the owners wanted to reduce wages by thirteen-and-a-half per cent. He persuaded the owners to accept ten per cent.

"He was greatly beloved of the coalfield and they called him the pitman's Bishop.''

But in the 1920s, a Dean, mistaken for the Bishop, nearly ended up being thrown in the River Wear by miners angry at the Bishop's opposition to plans for a new road.

Mr Mason said that in the middle of the 19th Century, the Church saw the "writing on the wall'' and became more benign towards the miners.

He said: "I believe the Church, when it saw the rise of international Socialism, was used as a propaganda front, saying we are benign now and coming on to your side.

"Certainly there have been some very humanitarian and philanthropic people in the Church."

The video costs £14.95 and is available from Durham Tourist Information Centre and Durham Clayport Library.

On gala day, it can be bought from the marquee on the Racecourse.