A GUEST house owner has decked out her living room with the sights of the Miner’s Gala to give her visitors a flavour of the region’s heritage.

The colourful mural, which features the banners, brass bands and crowds of the Durham Miners’ Gala, has been painted on the wall of Harry’s House, a guest house in Carrville, on the outskirts of the city.

It was commissioned by Claire and Peter Barker, who run the B&B, and was painted by Stanley artist Lee Ferry, of Custom Artwerk.

The Northern Echo:

The couple decided to get the piece of art done in tribute to their fathers, who worked at pits in Sacriston and Dawdon, and because the property in Carrville’s High Street is above the old Kepier Colliery.

Mrs Barker said: “We’re ambassadors for Durham and we wanted people to come and visit and see a bit about what the city is about.

“We’re both from mining families so we wanted to bring some of our history into it.”

She added: “He’s done a wonderful job. To be honest it has surpassed what I had in my mind. I wanted something to do with mining and something with the cathedral because it’s Durham, and he’s gone away and come up with this.

“It’s a bit of colour and it’s our heritage.

“It’s nice to keep it going.”

The Northern Echo:

The couple have been living in Carrville for more than 20 years and have been running the guest house for about five years.

As part of their efforts to make their property reflect the region, they have also had a replica coal tub made by Graham Robson, from the village, who restored a similar one to display at the bottom of the High Street.

They have also used miners’ lamps to light the living room and are displaying art by Derek Slater, a pitman turned artist from Ferryhill, whose work is often inspired by coal mining.