Hen Crees behind Railway Terrace

This painting shows the smallholdings and pigeon lofts that John Coffey's grandfather and other miners kept at the foot of the pit heap at New Herrington, near Houghton-le-Spring.

John's inspiration for the painting was a photograph he had taken in the late 1960s, which he found in a drawer. It rekindled his childhood memories of feeding the pig and the hens, as well as collecting the eggs.

Gemini Collection