PAINTINGS depicting life in County Durham's coal mines have been the centrepiece of a touring exhibition visiting France and Belgium.
Hundreds of thousands of people saw the paintings by Bishop Auckland artist and former miner Tom McGuiness when they were shown at the Festival de L'Humanite in Paris - probably the biggest working class gala in Europe.
Mr McGuinness, who worked at mines in Fishburn, Newtoncap Bank and Kelloe, said he was proud that his work had been seen by so many people.
He said: "It is good for me and good for other people to see what went on down the mines.''
Exhibition organiser Georges Sentis is a historian living in Lille.
He said: "I heard about the Durham Miners' Gala ten years ago and I have a special interest in the mining community.''
It is hoped that the exhibition will bring mining communities in France and County Durham closer together. There are plans for miners' bands to play at the Tynecot in the Somme battlefields where thousands of mine workers lost their lives
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