Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

The collection of photographs taken by former international photographer John Blumer are now the focus of a major new exhibition at Hartlepol Art Gallery.

Taken in 1963, they capture the people and places of the town as it struggled with the worst winter in years dubbed The Big Freeze, and shortly after the closure of Gray’s shipyard with the loss of 1,400 jobs.

John, 85, returned to Hartlepool to oversee the launch of the exhibition, titled Northern Light, which is on now until May 4.

John Bulmer at the Northern Lights exhibition at Hartlepool Art Gallery featuring photos he took of the town in the early 1960s.

Remembering his time visiting the town in the early Sixties he said: “It was an amazing place but it was an extremely tough time.

"I was amazed at the fortitude of the people who had this situation thrown on them. Unemployment was the highest in the country and it was the coldest winter for decades.”

But John said he found the people then and now were extremely welcoming.

"Not one single person objected to being photographed or me being there,” he added.”

John took the photographs for Image magazine in the winter of 1962-63.

15 photos of Lynn Street in the 1900s

He took more than 40 photographs in the winter of 1962-63 for Image magazine and now form part of the exhibition.

They included hardy men gathering sea coal from the beach, queuing up at the labour exchange, and everyday family life.

John, who lives in Herefordshire, added: “I hope people who visit the exhibition will be touched to see their own history and to say that they have come through this difficult time and life is much better.”

One of John's pictures of a large Hartlepool family that is on display in the new exhibition. Copyright Popperfoto.

Many of the pictures on display feature people’s memories alongside after gallery bosses reached out to the community and received a great response.

Curator Angela Thomas said: “We are so lucky to have been able to work with John.

"I have long been a fan of his work and when I discovered he had taken these photographs in Hartlepool I had to reach out to him.

"We have worked very closely together in selecting the images.”

The gallery, in Church Square, has also put out some work from its collection showing the changes in the town over the years.

Also on show is a collection of contemporary images of Hartlepool taken by photography degree students from the Northern School of Art.

What renowned photographer John Bulmer hopes people will take away from new exhibition of 1960s Hartlepool life