A unique look at life in Darlington and the west of County Durham in the 1960s as far-reaching change hit mines, shops, factories and communities. Previously unpublished photographs show what it meant for people living in this complex county – images which combine hauntingly beautiful scenes with sharp reminders of the human cost as old certainties were swept away and the continuing search for new directions took its hesitating course.Packed with fascinating details, the book will bring waves of nostalgia to those who knew Britain’s industrial areas in the 1960s. It also analyses some of the wider forces at work, not just in West Durham, but in many other parts of Britain’s industrial heartland. Above all, the photographs stand out, capturing the faces and textures in villages enduring ‘managed decline’ and factories no longer competitive with Germany or Japan. However, local people still marched behind the traditional banners and brass bands, and watched the new motorways and public buildings appear, sometimes admiring, mostly just getting on with daily life.
| BOOK ISBN |
9781781552308 |
| FORMAT |
248 x 172 mm |
| BINDING |
Paperback |
| PAGES |
160 pages |
| PUBLICATION DATE |
15 August 2015 |
| TERRITORY |
World |
| ILLUSTRATIONS |
258 black-and-white photographs |
Richard Gaunt was born in Lancashire but grew up in Darlington, attending QEGS Darlington, then Corpus Christi College Cambridge. His career has included posts in the chemicals, steel, construction, local government and consultancy industries – most recently as a director of a policy research consultancy. He started taking an interest in railways at an early age, and is an accomplished photographer with work appearing in The Guardian, Steam Railway and elsewhere.
