The industrial and coal mining heritage of the North East of England will be celebrated in song, storytelling and humour when four legends of the folk music scene come to the Palace Theatre, Mansfield, on 20th October.

The Pitmen Poets features former Lindisfarne singer Billy Mitchell; award-winning songwriter Jez Lowe; singer and instrumentalist Bob Fox, who played the Song Man in the West End and world tour production of War Horse; and Tyneside song connoisseur Benny Graham.

All four members of the group were brought up in the shadow of a colliery with their fathers and grandfathers working long days and nights at the coalface.

Their experiences and memories are represented in their songs, stories, and poetry, including The Pitman’s Dream, These Coal Town Days and Black Diamonds.

Billy said: “Our parents all said ‘you’re not going down the pit, get a good education and do something worthwhile with your lives’… so now we sing songs and tell stories about coal mining.

“It’s quite ironic really but it’s very important to keep the stories we all heard growing up in the form of songs for the next generation.

“Life working in the pit was tough and to reflect that, our songs aren’t all happy tunes as we look at the terrible tragedies that affected whole villages when disaster struck. But there’s also humour too in great doses in our songs as that’s how families got through the bad times.”

To book tickets call 01623 633133 or go to mansfieldpalace.co.uk

Pictured, from left, are Jez Lowe, Billy Mitchell, Bob Fox and Benny Graham.