CHILDREN got to grips with film-making yesterday - thanks to the reopened Tom Leonard Mining Museum at Skinningrove, east Cleveland.

The 14 to 16-year-olds, from Freeborough College, based across three east Cleveland sites at Brotton, Skelton and Loftus, completed their first day of a two-day film-making workshop.

The pupils, many of whom previously participated in the museum's outreach work, are making a historical film, including writing the storyline and filming scenes themselves.

Kate Brennan, from the museum, which has been closed since the autumn due to a dispute over land, said: "The children decided on a story about the formation of the miners' unions, including how they worked together to get better conditions.

"Drama works as a very good way of understanding the people side of history and heritage of the area.

"It gets the children to think about how things were by re-enacting scenes and workshops like this give them other skills, such as film-making."

The museum was awarded £147,000 from the regional development agency, One NorthEast, earlier this year to enable it to buy its land and buildings. The museum's opening hours are Monday to Saturday, 1pm to 3.45pm (last admission), until October. The museum also plans to open on Sundays during the school summer holidays.