The former pit village of Horden is on the North East coast of England, not far from the new town of Peterlee. It had a large pit, which was able to mine under the North Sea, and at its prime in the mid-thirties, employed 4,342 men. In 1930 it set a European record of mining 6758 tonnes of coal in a single day. This high output continued during the 1940s and 50s, although thanks to mechanisation fewer men could produce more coal. The pit eventually closed in 1987. I can remember the occasion. Whichever way you look at the statistics it was certainly an important pit.
Horden
The village was built primarily to house the workforce. In 2024 the population was approximately 7000, but it was probably more than this when the colliery was at its peak. Most of the housing was constructed by the colliery, and miners could live rent free in their pit house, provided they were employed at the colliery. There was also local authority and private housing in the village, but more than half was colliery housing. This turned out to the village’s downfall.
When the pit closed, much of the housing was in need of repair and regeneration. Initially a deal was done to transfer the stock to a housing association. This collapsed when the then Conservative government introduced the bedroom tax in 2012, which reduced the amount of housing benefit a tenant received if they had an extra bedroom. This immediately made letting the homes uneconomic, and the housing association was forced to sell the houses on the open market because the council was unable to buy them.
The result was that mainly absentee landlords were able to buy the houses very cheaply. Because they regarded the housing simply as an investment and had no direct involvement with it, much of the housing fell into disrepair. My wife was born in Horden and becomes very upset when she sees the state of the housing now compared to how she can remember it.
To be fair the county council is pursuing a policy of regenerating parts of Horden, and is attempting to register private landlords. But most people now regard Horden as a shadow of its former self.
Ensemble ‘84
A regeneration proposal has come from a very unlikely quarter. A theatre and a company of players to go with it. Ensemble ‘84 was founded by Mark Dornford May a theatre director who was born in Yorkshire, and the grandson of a miner. He has done work all over the world, including in South Africa, where he founded the Isango Ensemble in Cape Town which worked in the black townships. The idea was to give local people an opportunity to gain acting experience.
There are not many acting companies nowadays. Even famous ones such as the Royal Shakespeare Company no longer keep a company of players but simply recruit for productions. The traditional route into acting was to go to a famous university, gain experience in the student theatres, there and then get taken on by one of the big companies. What Ensemble ‘84 is trying to do is to provide acting experience for ordinary young people with talent from this area.
‘Pits, People and Players’
The group started off in an old Methodist Chapel, but have now acquired the old Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, which makes an ideal setting since its circular stage resembles what the Globe was like in Shakespeare’s time. The group has already performed a history of Horden called ‘Pits, People and Players’. It is excellent. If you haven’t seen it already, book tickets on the Ensemble ‘84 website now.
Hamlet
Their big production now is the First Quarto of Hamlet. The First Quarto was the ‘first edition’ which concentrates mainly on the action. The second and third quartos were published later after Shakespeare’s death and included some of his excellent poetry. The First Quarto is more a ‘action movie’ or even a Film Noir of its time.
Hamlet is not a particularly nice chap. He kills PoIlonius, causes the death of Ophelia, and arranges the deaths of Rozencranz and Guildenstern. He is not decisive, and it is only towards the end does he get his courage together to avenge his father and kill Claudius.
“Every dog shall have his day” he utters. I used to wonder what this meant, but I think it means the dog (him) must do what he has to. It is revenge tragedy, Hamlet must avenge his father, and these were popular in the late sixteenth century, and usually bloody with most of the cast ending up dead. That’s what I mean by a Film Noir. The flawed hero ends up dead.
People have said to me that Hamlet is not the right play to put on in Horden. I disagree. Shakespeare did not write it for the Stratford Poetry and Philosophical society. Because today we are used to the edition with all the excellent poetry in it, we forget it was originally an ‘action movie’ aimed at a wide audience. Revenge Tragedies were by their nature bloody. That is what the audience liked.
The young actors clearly enjoyed it very much. I hope the company continues to give young people theatrical opportunities, produces a wide range of plays accessible to local people, and puts Horden back on the map
