Tuesday 6th June Presentation Free Mines Coal Face by Nick Hodgson.

This evening we welcomed Nick Hodgson to gives us a talk about his project/research on Free Mines Coal Face Mining in the Forest of Dean. 

The first half of the evening was all about the history of free mining.  The work and the struggles of the miners from the 14th century onwards. Nick has a strong connection through his grandfather to the mining community of the Forest of Dean. During his research he was introduce to a distant relative who was able to present him with the original map that his grandfather made of his mine.

The second half was all about the images and his relationship with the community.  Nick describes himself as a landscape photographer. The images were all in black and white but were originally all taken in colour. Every image told a story about the people and the condition of the mines. Some mines were very small and cramped, and images show how the miners had to positioned themselves to get into the mines.  The comradeship between the community was obvious, whether this was sharing a cup of tea or helping each other.  The end result of the project was the publication of a book, which has won Nick a number of awards.