Coal Town memories come home

A new gallery honouring the work and legacy of acclaimed documentary photographer Mik Critchlow will open at Woodhorn Museum, in Northumberland, on Saturday, May 24.

The Coal Town Collection will showcase over 100 photographs capturing life in Ashington’s coalfield communities, alongside personal items such as Mik’s cameras, unseen images and ephemera offering a deeper insight into the man behind the lens.

Mik, whose father, grandfather and two brothers all worked in the mines, began photographing the people of Ashington in 1977, earning widespread recognition for documenting everyday life in the North East.

The gallery celebrates his four-decade career chronicling Northumberland’s mining heritage, with images carefully selected from his archive of more than 50,000 photographs. 

Speaking about the Coal Town exhibition in 2021, Mik said: “For the past 44 years I have photographed the town, people and surrounding areas of Ashington, Northumberland, the town in which I was born, educated and still live.

“Ashington as a community owes its very existence to coal mining, and although the extraction of coal was the major dominant factor in their lives, miners and their families shared many interests. 

“There was always a strong tradition of community life.

“People would often ask me, ‘Why are you photographing me? I’m not royalty’, and I would say, ‘you’re my royalty, you’re just as important’. 

“I’ve always told people they’re important. 

“I was photographing them for history, really.

“After all these many years, I feel that I'm bringing these people back to life again, back home where they all belong.”

Maureen Critchlow, Mik’s wife, added: “Mik saw the Coal Town exhibition as the culmination of his life’s work within the area. 

“Even though he’d worked on many projects further afield, it was this one, spanning a period of over 40 years, that was most special to him. 

“He had a deep understanding and empathy for the people who lived and worked in his home town.”

Liz Ritson, programme and engagement manager at Woodhorn Museum, added: “With a career spanning almost 45 years, Mik’s work is one of the most important historical archives we have of the end of deep coal mining in Northumberland. 

“It also captures the short and long-term impact of the industry’s closure on coalfield communities.

“His emotive and deeply personal photographs do more than capture a moment in time; they tell a story of the people and communities he was part of in the town of Ashington.

“Because of his close connections to the people he photographed, Mik was able to capture deeply personal moments in people’s lives. 

“Throughout his career he sensitively documented moments of joy, sadness and everyday life within the coalfield communities in Ashington.”

For more information, see the Woodhouse Museum website, here.

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