Two themes of the Oakengates book are the brutality of industrial work, with chapters such as ‘The price of Coal? A Man’s life!’ and ‘Maddocks: the black hole of Calcutta’ and the effect of the heavy industry closures during the 1970’s and 1980’s.
In this photo, two unemployed young men at the derelict Granville Colliery reflect on their situation: ‘When you’re out of work they treat you like dirt’.
At the same time, they were volunteers in a vibrant and successful campaign to transform the Lion Street Chapel into a Cultural Centre.
The TCA worker on this project was Gray Woodruff
telfordcommunityarts.org 