page_title: Easington Colliery
section_title: In popular culture
hierarchical_section_title: Easington Colliery / In popular culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Peter Lee Hammond - Singer Songwriter
context_page_description: Easington Colliery is a town in County Durham, England, known for a history of coal mining. It is situated to the north of Horden, and a short distance to the east of Easington Village. The town suffered a significant mining accident on 29 May 1951, when an explosion in the mine resulted in the deaths of 83 men.
  Easington had a population of 4,959 in 2001, and 5,022 at the 2011 Census.
context_section_description: Easington Colliery doubled as the fictitious Everington in the 2000 film Billy Elliot. About 400 locals were used as extras. Billy Elliot the Musical (2005) is set in Easington and the town is named in song lyrics.
  Singer-songwriter Jez Lowe was born and brought up in Easington. His song, "Last of the Widows", was written in 1991 to mark the fortieth anniversary of the pit disaster. Many of his other songs are inspired by life in County Durham and Easington in particular.
  Poet, Songwriter and Durham miner Jock Purdon penned and sang the lament "Easington Explosion" regarding the 1951 disaster.
  In 1971, members of rock band The Who shot the cover photograph for their album Who's Next at a concrete piling protruding from a spoil tip in the area. This cover was named by the VH1 network as one of the Greatest Album Covers.
  In 2008, the town was featured in an episode of Channel 4's The Secret Millionaire, where advertising mogul Carl Hopkins donated over £30,000 to the community.
  Peter Lee Hammond was an ex-miner at Easington pit and a singer-songwriter. Every year Easington held a carnival and in 1989 Peter was asked by the Easington Carnival Committee to write and sing a song about the community, mining history and the pit disaster of 1951. The (A) side song was called 'Living in a Mining town' which included Peter singing with his band 'Just Us', and the (B) side was an instrumental version of the song and included Thornley & Wheatley Hill Colliery Brass Bands and local school children from Easington Junior school & Shotton Primary school singing harmony. The (B) side was conducted and brass arrangement by Gorden Kitto.  Local renowned poet and Colliery resident Mary Bell also helped organise the singles release. The song became a big hit with the locals and it was decided to make it into a single with the proceeds going to a handicapped school in Easington. As the newspapers and radio got involved then quite a few celebrities gave their support and got involved in giving donations and funding the song, including HRH Prince Charles. The then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Neil Kinnock M.P. and Sir Paul McCartney, and the song was mixed at Abbey Road recording studios.  Peter was quoted as saying in a radio interview
  "Having one of my songs done at Abbey Road Studios was great What a fantastic place it is and Paul & Lynda helping was a dream, and to have the local school kids and brass bands on the B side shows how strong the mining community is in this area and it gave the community a sense of pride when the single came out, I was very proud & honoured to have been asked to do this for the place where I was born and raised."
  A copy of the song was requested by Her Majesty the Queen to be sent to her at Buckingham Palace and a copy of the song was made part of the living history memorabilia exhibition at the Yardy Gallery museum in Sunderland Tyne & Wear. The song was played on many radio stations and was a major success in the area. Peter went on to win many awards for his other songs & recording albums abroad and is still writing to this day.
caption: Peter Lee Hammond - Singer Songwriter.
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