SOLD OUT Last Days at Big K ISBN 978-0-9957066-0-6 Coffee table book, 250pp 130gsm silk paper, with over 200 photographs & text by Roger Tiley, and an introduction by Carwyn Donovan, also featuring two poems by Mick Westwood RRP £24.95 + P+P This book is a limited edition title and pre orders are strongly advised. This book tells the story of miners who worked at the last deep coal mine in the UK; Kellingley Colliery, North Yorkshire. Roger Tiley captures life underground, photographing the characters who worked on the coal face. Also included, is the last two weeks of life above ground, until the pit closed on 18 December 2015. 'That was a very sad day' Roger recollects. 'I sat in my van at the end of the day and shed a few tears. The miners at Big K were very special people. I respect each and every one of them; they made me so welcome, they are legends.' Roger captured the march the next morning and the last pit party in the evening. 'I felt that I was intruding, but the pictures will tell a very poignant story for future generations. I think the miners and their families understood that'. Mixed in with images of former miners finding new work, Roger visits the Durham Miners' Gala, to capture the spirit of men and their families marching with their lodge banners held high; a proud symbol of trade unionism and solidarity. Since the mine closed, Kellingley has become a labyrinth of twisted metal, as the complex structures are unsympathetically demolished; the landscape will loose it's iconic towers and surrounding industrial architecture forever. There is no happy ending to the images in this book, but they are pictures that show the true meaning of comradeship, friendship, humour and respect amongst the working class. This book is dedicated to the men who lost their lives at the Big K. |
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