Northern folk collective Harp & a Monkey have been mining the memories of a former Warwickshire pit village to create a sound-tracked short film celebrating themes of camaraderie, heritage and community spirit.
The experimental song and storytelling trio were twinned with the people of Baddesley Ensor in North Warwickshire to undertake the project named Your Lamp Lights The Way – of which we are providing an exclusive preview.
The film features the visuals of Simon Jones (an international award-winning photographic artist and animator as well as ‘the harp’ in Harp & a Monkey), original music by the folk outfit and the words, photos and audio of local residents.
The two main shafts of Baddesley Colliery were sunk in 1850, and the pit soon became the main source of income for local people. Since the mine’s closure in 1989, the community has become a residential settlement and commuter town, but many of the former mine workers and their families still live there and had a wealth of stories to share.
Martin Purdy, Harp & a Monkey’s front-man who is also an historian, author and researcher, explained: “We wanted to try and collect a snapshot of what the history of the community means to the residents in 2020 and to see if that old sense of ‘colliery comradeship’ still exists. What we found was a great deal of pride and human warmth, and we really hope we have done that justice.”
Harp & a Monkey hope that the project (funded by Warwickshire County Council and the Arts Council organisation Live & Local) will help to further interest in a fundraising drive to create a permanent memorial to mark the worst disaster in the mine’s history in May 1882 – when 23 men lost their lives attempting to rescue nine workers trapped by a fire.
Keep up with Harp 7 a Monkey here: http://www.harpandamonkey.com/