Upcoming Exhibition

COAL - Ten Years On

Sam Welburn

5th - 28th February 2026

This exhibition presents three bodies of photographic work by Dr Sam Welburn, delving into the history of the English coal mining industry, ten years on from when production of British coal ended at the doors of Kellingley Colliery on December 18, 2015.

“Kellingley The Last Deep Coal Mine in England” (2015 - 2025) - On the 26th November 2015, Sam Welburn photographed the last deep coal mine in England, Kellingley Colliery, three weeks before production ceased and coal mining was due to be no more. A decade since, to mark this Tenth anniversary of Kellingley Colliery closing, Sam Welburn and Four Stone Press have published the following book,’Kellingley: The Last Deep Working Coal Mine in England’. The images in the recent publication and this exhibition focus on the quieter moments of life around the surface of the pit. A sense of loss is echoed through the landscape of the 58-hectare site, along with reminders of the past and the bitterness of how the story of coal mining came to an end at the doors of Kellingley Colliery.

“Beachcomber - Rhythms of the Coast” (2018 - 2023) - As part of Dr Welburn’s PhD, the practical research of his PhD focused on the contemporary seaside industry and its interrelated relationship with the coal mining industry. One key finding from the practical research came from the utilisation of incorporating microscopic photographic samples of seacoal collected from the beach in Seaham. This expanded approach to the photographic practice lent itself towards revealing and exploring the relationship of the two industries further.

“The Faint Song of the Canary” (2026) is the start of a body of work that begins to present photographs of remnants and acts of remembering regarding the coal mining industry within the English Landscape. This will include two photographs of two lieu de mémoire within the town of Featherstone and two photographs of the physical remnant of a coking plant shaft in the town of Royston.