Originally founded in 1951 as the Photo-News Service, the Photo Centre in Berwick was a staple of town life for over 65 years as a family-run press agency and photo studio.

Their premises at 17 Bridge Street had a well-equipped studio above the shop where commercial photography took place. The business also covered newsworthy events in the area and recorded family occasions and celebrations, marking milestones in the lives of several generations of townspeople.

The main coal mining areas in Northumberland were in the south east of the county around Ashington and Bedlington. In the late 19^th century, many people from the north of the county migrated south to these areas. However, some coal was mined in North Northumberland, mainly at Scremerston, a couple of miles from Berwick. A village developed around the various pits worked there.

By 1944, the main pit at Scremerston had been closed but a subsequent one was opened nearby at Blackhill, beside Unthank. This employed over 200 men in the early 1950s but in early 1959 the National Coal Board decided to close it and offered the miners alternative work at Shilbottle, south of Alnwick or at Ashington. Initially miners travelled by bus to Shilbottle daily but eventually many families moved down there permanently.

Locally there was a campaign opposing the closure of the mine which led to some of the miners lobbying for the opening of a drift mine at Allerdean, close to the Blackhill Colliery. This opened in September 1960 and was run by a private company – Elsdon Coal Company. It didn’t employ many men and closed on 9 September 1966 as it was no longer considered viable. 

The first image (BRO 1944/1/2273/2) shows the miners of the Blackhill Colliery, just outside Berwick, emerge from the pit for the final time. After a hard-fought campaign to save the mine, it closed on 20^th February 1959. The closure resulted in many job losses.

The second photograph (BRO 1944/1/2952/10) shows the first coal from the Allerdean drift mine being brough to the surface in September 1960. After the closure of Blackhill Colliery in 1959, Allerdean mine was brought into use for the first time since 1908. Only a fraction of the Blackhill pitmen could be re-employed.

An environmental portrait is a photograph of someone in their usual environment, for example at home, in their workplace, or in an area that typically shows as aspect of the subject’s everyday life. The essence of environmental portraiture is to capture the subject in the context of their surroundings. The surroundings or background of the portrait is a key element as this is used to give further information about the person being photographed. The subject is often shown undertaking their usual tasks, such as doing an element of their job.