Visiting Woodhorn Mining Museum, near Ashington

Any way you look at it, there's no getting round the fact that mining has been integral to the identity of the North East for centuries, even now when virtually all the mines have long since ceased production.

As someone with 3 miners among his direct blood relatives (1 grandfather, 2 great-grandfathers), I have always felt a close personal connection to the mining industry even though, like most men of my generation, the closest I have come to a mine is a visit to a museum. A few years back we visited the Nenthead Mines Heritage Centre, close to where I was born, and this past weekend we visited the Woodhorn Museum, dedicated to the history of mining in and around Ashington.

My wife, who has an MA from Newcastle University in Museum Studies and therefore knows a thing or two about these things, was really impressed -the physical structure of the museum is itself a statement, and the history is well thought-out and provides a real insight into what life was like for tens of thousands of North East families. There's no attempt at a neutral viewpoint - it is unquestionably written from the miners' point of view.

What made a number of visitors stop and stare was watching archive TV footage, on an old TV set, of the 1983/84 miners strike. It made me wonder what would happen to the North East if the Conservatives win next year's general election - can we expect similar large-scale public protests if there are huge cutbacks in public expenditure in the North East? Chris Grayling, the Tory shadow home secretary, has already warned that the North East is too dependent on public expenditure, so it is predictable that given the chance, the Tories will target this part of the world again for major cutbacks.