SOME of the UK’s best-known folk musicians are joining together to perform a folk opera at Durham’s Gala Theatre.

The Transports, written by Peter Bellamy before his death in 1991, will be performed at the theatre on Monday, by a group of musicians including BBC Award Winners The Young’uns, Faustus, Nancy Kerr and Greg Russell.

Rachael McShane, an original member of five times Folk Award winners Bellowhead, will also star in the show.

The folk ballads tell the story of a family destroyed by poverty and crime and exiled to Australia in the 1780s – all based on the true tale of convicts Henry Cabell and Susannah Holmes.

The show will be accompanied by the Parallel Lives project, which aims to work with organisations supporting refugees in Britain.

To book tickets visit www.galadurham.co.uk or call the box office on 03000-266-600.