About

  • About the show
  • The idea
  • The show title
  • Creative Team
  • Northern Acchord
  • Community Heroes

    • The Idea

    In 2012 during an educational workshop looking at the regions heritage we discovered that despite living in the North East many of the students attending the workshop did not know very much about their mining history. As a result, we decided to use the theme of mining as the inspiration for a performance project. In so doing, we hoped to reconnect our students with their forgotten heritage, but little did we know what a fantastic journey this would prove to be, providing inspirational conversations between young and old, uniting communities and reigniting pride in family history whilst developing a greater understanding of community roots.

    This project enabled students to discover and celebrate the lives of everyday men who kept our home fires burning and the women who despite difficult circumstances supported and embraced community life.

    During the creation process the Enter CIC team spoke to local people who had worked in the pits. We all noticed that the men and women we spoke to remembered the mining years and associated community life with genuine affection. They all had a twinkle in their eye as they recalled stories from those bygone days. This was particularly evident in a conversation with a 90 year old miner who talked eloquently about his first time down the pit and laughed heartily as he recalled stories about his foreboding over managers and his early days working in the mines.

    The professional production now known as The Wind Road Boys developed from these local community based stories coupled with factual research.

    facebook.com/windroadboys | @windroadboys