MEMBERS of an art collective are placing the anniversary of the end of the Miners’ Strike under the spotlight in an exhibition combining poetry, paintings, textiles and memorabilia.

East Durham Artists Network (Edan) have opened Mining, Unions and Politics at the Artblock in Church Street, Seaham.

Edan chairman Jean Lowes said: “The exhibition has been organised to to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the end of the Miners’ Strike.

“We wanted it be not just pretty pictures of miners, but also to depict the politics of the period.

“Included in the exhibition are a number of items used by Women Against Pit closures including a sign held outside Vane Tempest in Seaham to urging motorists to “Toot” if they supported the strike.”

Among Mrs Lowes’ works are Broken Pit Wheels, symbolising how much has gone, with wind turbines in the background, showing how much has changed.

She has also used a blurred photograph taken on the day of strike at the Murton Colliery as reference for her painting Yakkers’ Last Stand.

Jac Howard, who taught art for 30 years and is now concentrating on building her body of work, has painted a watercolour entitled Excavation.

The work depicts a cross-section of the earth with layers of lepidodendron – that formed part of the coal forest – and men at the coalface, with ranks of riot police lining a cliff top.

Artist Jean Spence spent the last year knitting a piece representing miners who have died in various disasters. It includes tabs with the names of miners who perished in the disaster in Soma, Turkey, in May last year.

The exhibition runs until March 28. The Artblock is open from 11am to 3pm from Tuesday to Saturday. Admission is free.