Wakefield: Unique photographic record of coal mining goes online

Photographer Martyn Pitt originally worked for the National Coal Board

An exhibition of photographs capturing the final years of coal mining in England is to be shown online.

The collection at the National Coal Mining Museum, near Wakefield, celebrates the work of industry photographer Martyn Pitt.

They give an insight into the hidden underground world of deep coal mining between 1994 and 2012.

The museum said the exhibition ends on 18 February, but for the first time it was making it available online.

During his 30 years behind the lens, Pitt documented the conditions, practices, and stories of the last 20 years of coal mining.

The National Coal Mining Museum said the pictures were important historical records

Mr Pitt built friendships with the miners he captured on camera

Coalfields across the country, including Kellingley in North Yorkshire and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire, are featured in the exhibition.

Kellingley was the last UK coal mine, which closed in 2015, bringing the end to the coal industry.

They reveal the working conditions of modern mining and the men who mined the coal.

The museum, which is located on the site of the former Caphouse Colliery in Wakefield, acquired Pitt's image archive in 2014.

The collection contains images spanning the period of privatisation between 1994 and 2012

They feature film negatives and digital photographs from his time at British Coal, RJB Mining, and UK Coal.

For visitors unable to see the exhibition at the museum before it closes, the pictures will be available virtually through a 3D tour.

Mark Carlyle, curator of industry at the museum, said: "The images that Martyn took are the only representation of modern 21st Century mining that we have, so they are a fantastic historical record of that period that we can't do in any other way."

He added: "This virtual exhibition is a great alternative to see a wide range of images from those final stages of mining that pretty much you won't be able to see anywhere else."