NORTH East folk band ‘The Pitmen Poets’ are to perform live at Scarborough Spa on Sunday, January 15.

The Pitmen Poets celebrate the songs, humour, and culture of North East England's Coal Mining tradition. With archive footage and photographs, this is a journey through the centuries of a once-great industry, from the songs that saw it thrive and dominate, to those that saw its demise and the resulting aftermath.

The band brings together four of the region's leading champions of its musical heritage. Ex-Lindisfarne singer and writer Billy Mitchell, songman from London’s West End musical ‘Warhorse’ Bob Fox, leading exponent of Tyneside song Benny Graham and much-covered Folk Awards nominee songwriter Jez Lowe.

Since the first Pitmen Poets tour in 2011, Sam West's revival of the seminal ‘Close the Coalhouse Door’ has completed a triumphant UK tour and Lee Hall's ‘Pitman Painters’ has been a hit in the West End and also on Broadway. Interest in the North East's mining tradition has never been more intense.

“The audience sang along, laughed and also shared moments of sadness as the combined talents of Billy Mitchell, Jez Lowe, Benny Graham and Bob Fox took them on an epic journey through the life and times of the Northumberland and Durham coalfields. What a great night!”

Brian Coles – Rock of the North

Tickets for ‘The Pitmen Poets’ are available from www.scarboroughspa.co.uk or via the Scarborough Spa Box Office on 01723 821888.