Iron Awe: Iron Masks

Skinningrove 2003. Saltburn artist Andy Broderick and local young people use driftwood and ocre (ironstone waste) to make masks.

Heartbreak Hill

In 1932, when the unemployment rate in East Cleveland was over 90%, James and Ruth Pennyman of Ormesby Hall near Middlesbrough gave land to out of work ironstone miners, one of these plots of rough land was close to Boosbeck and was nicknamed Heartbreak Hill. A friend of theirs, Rolf Gardinar, suggested a collective land scheme instead of allotments; similar to the one he had set up in Dorset, they also invited German and Scandinavian students to take part. The miners and students worked together to clear the land and joined together in cultural activities - music, dancing and educational talks, a young Michael Tippett became involved and wrote a balled opera called Robin Hood, this was performed in 1934 in the Boosbeck church hall.

Friday 21 August 2009

Iron Masks

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