New director for Woodhorn

Jan 15 2008 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

MORE than a thousand years separate the two biggest steps in Keith Merrin’s career.

For six years Keith, 38, was director of Bede’s World in Jarrow which is devoted to the life and influence of the Venerable Bede in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries.

Now Keith is settling in to his new job as director of Woodhorn, the Northumberland mining and archives centre, where visitors can taste what life was like for the 19th and early 20th Century pit communities.

Both periods were times when the region led the world. Bede’s wide-ranging scholarship made the North-East the cultural crossroads of Europe, while mining at places like Woodhorn Colliery, near Ashington, played a major part in turning the region into the industrial powerhouse of the world.

“They are two of the key periods in the history of the North-East,” said Keith.

The aims for Bede’s World and Woodhorn are broadly similar.

“It is to help as many people as possible to understand how important these sites and times were, and how important they can be in the future,” said Keith. Now living in Gosforth in Newcastle, he was perhaps destined to work at Bede’s World, having been raised in Bede Burn Road in Jarrow. Keith, who also worked in marketing at Northumberland Wildlife Trust, was at the helm during exciting times for Bede’s World, which included the Queen opening its £4m museum and the ongoing bid for world heritage site status. In the six years, visitor numbers doubled to 70,000 a year.

“I come from Jarrow and a lot of me was invested in Bede’s World. We achieved a huge amount but it was time to find a new challenge and Woodhorn is a challenge in a positive way,” said Keith.

The former Woodhorn Colliery Museum site was closed for two years for its £16m development. It re-opened 16 months ago and has since attracted 130,000 visitors – well above expectations.

It now houses Coal Town, the story of mining through the eyes of the nearby Ashington community, a gallery for the Ashington Pitmen Painters’ work, mining banners, plus the archives centre for Northumberland and there is also the surrounding QEII Country Park.

The latest move has been the creation of a new exhibitions and events space in what were workshop buildings, which at the weekend hosted a climate change awareness event.

Woodhorn is set to grow in importance as mining – once a crucial part of the North-East’s industrial and social fabric – slips from living memory.

As with the shipyards, so much of the region’s once widespread mining landscape was swept away so quickly and Keith praises the foresight of those who saved Woodhorn Colliery as a mining museum.

“Now it has changed beyond recognition and the archives centre brings a whole new dimension. With the mining side, the site caters for the massive interest people have in their history and where they come from,” said Keith.

“It is not just the technical history of mining but also the social history of mining communities – how pit families lived.”

While retaining close ties with the local community, the aim is to widen the appeal of Woodhorn to a regional and national audience.

“Woodhorn is a very significant attraction in bringing in people to a part of Northumberland which is one of the less-visited parts of the county,” said Keith.

“It is a real opportunity for south-east Northumberland to gain from the benefits of tourism.”