Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

A new exhibition opened in Buxton this week which frames Derbyshire’s long relationship with mining and quarrying through the eyes of painters, printmakers, photographers and industry workers.

‘Lead, Lime, Coal’ at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, on Terrace Road, explores how thousands of people living in the Buxton area have throughout time worked as miners or quarry men, getting and transporting stone, and contributing to changing the landscape completely.

Guided by artworks and artefacts from Derbyshire County Council collections, visitors will be able to step back in time, discover the workers’ memories of the industries and consider what working in these industries was like then, compared with now.

Council leader Barry Lewis said: “Derbyshire has a proud industrial history that has shaped our landscape and our people, from Roman times to the present day.

This rare 1906 photo by FH Brindley shows the “nicking” of Greaves Croft mine, Moss Rake, as its ownership passes from the Bradwell family to the British Mineral Company, witnessed by members of the Barmote Court.

“This fascinating exhibition gives us a glimpse into that history – and a voice to the people who made it all happen.”

The exhibition provides an opportunity for people to see unusual representations of working practices and places, a mixture of backbreaking industry and the beautiful Peak District, different modes of transport from jubilee trucks to eight-wheel lorries and rumbling trains, with the voices of a some of the people who worked here.

The showcase ranges from photographs of the limestone industry in the 1980s to rare, earlier images showing different machines, tools and ancient customs, and some recent acquisitions which will be on show for the first time.

Each picture shows different stone working processes and techniques, from horse and cart through to trains, from lime burning on the edge of the quarry to looming, steaming and smoking kilns.

Topley Pike, 1923 by Karl Hagerdorn (1889–1969) – shows Buxton Central quarry and the view north towards Tunstead.

Other exhibits have been donated to the collection by local residents, such as an ingot of lead made when the Romans were in Britain, a jacket of an ICI operative from the 1960s, and the Safety Trophy awarded to sections of the ICI Ltd Lime Division in the 1950s.

Lead, Lime, Coal will be open to visitors until Wednesday, June 7. Admission to all parts of the museum is free, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.

For more details, go to buxtonmuseumandartgallery.wordpress.com/exhibitions.

New Buxton Museum exhibition digs up history of Derbyshire quarries and mines