Couple opening museum to celebrate town's heritage
SuppliedA couple are setting up a museum and cultural association in the hope to celebrate a town's heritage and bring people together.
The Mine, in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, will offer a small museum and meeting room, with talks on different subjects and a local history library also part of the plans.
Nigel and Elaine Humes are behind the venture, which was inspired by a visit to Sunderland Antiquarian Society. Work needs to be carried out before the museum can open.
"It seems to be the case that Chester-le-Street has a lot of history, but maybe we need to tell people what it is because it isn't perhaps obvious when they walk around," said Nigel.
He said the couple hoped the venue would become a "long-term place for celebrating the culture of the town".
"It has increased in population a lot since I was a teenager, but there is nothing to bring together cultural interests in this way," he said.
"So I'm hoping that this will answer that so that there's no essential need to leave the town, go to Newcastle or Sunderland for that."
SuppliedThe site is set to undergo refurbishment and an opening date is yet to be confirmed.
It is hoped an open afternoon where people can find out more will take place by the end of the summer.
Nigel, who previously worked from the building, said current renovations had exposed a 19th Century rubble stone wall.
The retired solicitor added people were already offering exhibits for the museum, including coins and a 1973 architect's drawing of a proposal to create a Roman forum, exposing the foundations of a Roman fort, believed to be beneath the town.
