Festival celebrates 'forgotten' coastal village

The festival includes a dance performance telling the story of the Cambois women who helped launch the lifeboat

A coastal village, which locals say is often forgotten, is holding a two-day festival to celebrate its heritage.

Cambois Hidden Depths will feature events at venues across the Northumberland village, including dance, film screenings and photography exhibitions.

Preparations for the festival began in July with an archaeological dig at the primary school where children looked for evidence of a previous school.

Kathryn Row, from the theatre group November Club, said: "This is a chance to show off the amazing heritage and community spirit of Cambois."

Its long history as a coal mining village ended in 1968 when Cambois Colliery closed

Cambois grew with the coal industry, but the closure of its colliery along with West Sleekburn in the 1960s led to high unemployment.

Hopes for thousands of new jobs at a giant battery factory in the village recently foundered.

"We felt it was time people in Cambois had something to celebrate," Ms Row said.

"So we got together with The Tute, an arts group in the village, and did a survey asking people what they would want in a festival.

"They said films, photography and something that made them feel proud."

Children from Cambois took part in an excavation to find artefacts from the village's Victorian school

The project began earlier this year when local archaeologist Barry Mead helped the children at Cambois Primary School uncover artefacts from the site of the village's Victorian schoolhouse.

A photographer took an image of the children dressed in period clothes which will be projected on to the side of a building during the festival.

The festival has been put together by two arts organisations, the November Club and The Tute

Much of the village will be lit with historical lamps and a dance performance will tell the story of the women who, for over a century, helped launch the lifeboat.

"Cambois is almost forgotten, because people don’t tend to visit," Ms Row said.

"But people are very proud of this place and we hope this festival will make them feel even prouder."