A COLLECTION of watercolour pictures of the North-East's mining heritage goes on display at Easter.

The paintings, by Newcastle-born Thomas Harrison Hair, reflect colliery life in the region in the early 19th Century.

Hair's paintings, capturing every stage of coal's journey from the seam to the holds of the collier ships, go on display at the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, on Good Friday and runs until May 2.

Hair's watercolours were originally preparatory sketches for the etchings he later used in his book Views of the Collieries of Northumberland and Durham.

For about 60 years, the sketches hung in the Department of Mining Engineering at Newcastle University. When the department closed in 1989 the paintings were transferred to the city's Hatton Gallery which has loaned them to the museum for the exhibition.

Vivien Reid, exhibition officer at the Bowes Museum, said: "The paintings communicate the social attitudes as well as the physical conditions relating to living and working in the northern coalfields during the 1800s. "I am sure that due to their historical value and artistic merit they will be enjoyed by our visitors."

For further information about the event, telephone (01833) 690606.