My earliest ever memory is looking out of the window and seeing an old steam train pull wagons full of coal past the backyard wall. This was Oak Street in Jarrow in 1962 and the rail line ran adjacent to the back lane. Soon after we moved away and those memories faded.
A few years ago, after my Dad passed away I came across his old 120 film camera and a handful of small contact prints. I remember him saying he had bought the camera in 1959, and he spent a day taking photos of random moving objects to get used to the cameras shutter speeds. Although tiny, I find these images fascinating, particularly the few that show National Coal Board engines and wagons passing by Jarrow Tube Works. Some images are blurred, some double exposed, but all, to me, are precious.
Now, over 60 years after they were taken I find myself at Bowes Railway Museum and in my head a picture comes together. The rail line in the photos is the last leg of the Bowes Railway which took coal from various County Durham mines to Jarrow Staithes, one of the most historic lines in the northeast. My Dad had captured this scene on a typically misty Tyneside working day – The kind of day I love to paint.
So, a distant memory, the chance discovery of a contact print and the importance of preserving our heritage…The whole picture finally comes together…I call it Hauling Through.
Acrylic on canvas 24" x 36"
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