‘Utopian Realism’ is an exploration of rural utopianism, idealism and industrialism in the North East of England and Mid Wales by the artists Mair Hughes and Bridget Kennedy.

Saturday 25 June 2011

Model of Allenheads Village

We seem to be coming across a lot of plans, diagrams and models of things in our research, which seems to make sense as both Robert Owen and Thomas Sopwith had big ideas that they wanted to convey to others or put into action.

The model of Allenheads is housed in the Blacksmith's Shop and it's is a beauty. The building is owned by the Allenheads Trust and its open to the public, although it's undergoing some restoration at the moment.

The model shows an Allenheads of the 1800's. It shows lots of features of the lead mining industry that dominated this village during that period.

The image below shows the building that is now the pub in the foreground to the left and to the right is the Heritage Centre, in the background is the mine yard where the lead or was processed once it had been brought out of the mine. Modern village life revolves round the pub and the Heritage Centre which hosts community events and also houses a contemporary arts space (see ACA link).

The wooden tower is a structure that no longer exists, it would have housed winding gear for the Gin Hill shaft. I have been really taken by the view down this shaft and managed to capture some of it on a small video clip (see a still from this in the next post)

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