Portraying Pits prior to Photography

Thomas Harrison Hair was a Victorian painter from Newcastle, noted for his watercolours & engravings of colliery scenes in North East England in the nineteenth century.   Predating photography, these images are extremely useful in depicting industrial scenes of the time.

Friar's Goose Pumping Engine
(watercolour by TH Hair)

Friar's Goose had Stephenson pumping engines which cleared 1.5 million gallons of water a day from Tyne Main Colliery at Felling.

The remains of Friar's Goose pump house today - it's between the

Felling bypass & the Tyne, north east of the athletics stadium

Hair had engraver / lithographer / draughtsman background, so his work is imbued with some detailed precision.

A number of Hair's works are held by Tyne & Wear Museums, and may be on view at galleries, museums & exhibitions in the area.

Many are also available by searching the TWAM on line collection.   Open http://collectionssearchtwmuseums.org.uk/ , check Only items with images, enter Thomas Harrison Hair, & click Go.   Click on the written description (not the small image) & then the magnifying glass for full screen view.

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Friar's Goose - some Miners' Union History

Richard Hepburn had organized a Northumberland & Durham miners union, which through strike action in 1831 achieved a reduction in the working day from 18 to 12 hours.   But at Friar's Goose in May 1832, mine owners faced with a strike evicted miners' families, leading to pitched street battles.   Google for more, or read about the Great Strike & Miners Bond.