MAGNIFICENT banner parades, brass bands and pit ponies will celebrate the region’s proud mining heritage during a five-day event at an open air museum.

Old King Coal at Beamish Museum runs from tomorrow (Wednesday) to Sunday and marks the start of the Great North Festival of Transport.

Visitors will be able to join a miners’ banner parade from The Town to The Pit Village on Saturday and Sunday, at 1.30pm.

Banners from North-East pit villages and the Beamish collection will be on show around the museum, along with local history displays.

Jonathan Kindleysides, Beamish’s head of industry, said: “The mining industry is a huge part of the region’s past, so it’s very important that we remember the industry, the miners and their families with our Old King Coal event.”

On Saturday, a memorial plaque will be unveiled to the victims of the 1896 Brancepeth Colliery “A Pit” disaster, which claimed the lives of 20 men and boys.

On all five days, Old King Coal will include displays from Hylton Banner Group, Silksworth Mining History Society, Felling Heritage Group and Wardley banner exhibition, plus, on the Saturday and Sunday, Tommy Armstrong Society.

Beamish has been working with schools to explore their local mining heritage. Pupils will be visiting the museum to take part in junior miners’ galas and a range of activities.