THE North-East's mining communities are preparing for the Northumberland Miners' Picnic this weekend.
For the first time the picnic, at the Woodhorn Colliery Museum site at Ashington, takes place over an entire weekend.
It begins with the Miners' Picnic Lecture on Friday at the Hirst Mortimer Social Club in Ashington at 7.30pm, featuring North-East MPs John Cummings , Bill Etherington, Denis Murphy, and Ronnie Campbell, and chaired by NUM Northumberland area secretary Ian Lavery.
A memorial service will be held for those who died in Northumberland's pits. Saturday's service, starting at 11am, culminates in a wreath-laying ceremony at the newly restored 1916 Woodhorn Colliery Disaster Memorial.
Everyone attending the picnic is invited to the first public showing at 2pm on Saturday of a compilation of short films looking back at the 1916 disaster, made at the museum by local schoolchildren.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article