Strange how life leads you down strange and wonderful coincidences.  Yesterday, for reasons that are just too boring even for this blog, I found myself driving through Easington.  This was the mine which I believe used to dump waste in the North Sea, at Seaham, where I had just visited.  It is also used for great effect in the brilliant British movie Get Carter.

Today I find myself hunting for the signs of medieval mining in North West Leicestershire from the comfort of my home thanks to the wonderful Google Earth.  This wasn’t planned either.

The reason I was touring the high points of North East culture was to see a couple of really excellent exhibitions at the Lang and MIMA (See my partner in crime’s Blog for a full throated consideration of what we saw – BTW if you an artist or have an interest in art then David’ blog is well worth following)

Yesterday found us at the MIMA for the International Exchanges: Modern Art and St Ives 1915-1965 exhibition and as usual I fell foul of the illogical photography rules.  I fully respect the no flash rule but not being allowed to take photographs of works of art that we own, they were from the Tate collection, is just nonsense.  It is doubly so when you consider you get all the images you may want of the works on line anyway.  Just to add insult to injury I was allowed to take photos in one room but not another.  Oh so very silly.

 After this it was back onto the road for the next cultural pit stop – this time at The Hepworth in Wakefield.  If by some floock you should bump into David do not under any circumstance believe any story he might tell you about how we got lost in Wakefield!

So today is catching up and looking for black heads, this is what I call the tell tale signs of medieval coal mines even though I had planned to drawing all day.  Such is life.