Decorator Profile ‘This is my park bench’
Mining and rugby – it’s not an obvious combination like fish and chips, but it’s one that a Northumberland-based sportswear manufacturer has made work and has turned into a thriving business.
P&P editor Melanie Attlesey reports. G
raham Murdieʼs relationship with mining runs as deep as the coal pits that used to be found in abundance across the north east.
His love for the profession dates back to when he was a young boy and would listen for hours to his granddad John Gillespie tell tales of his time down the pit.
“He was a proud coal miner and would have my undivided attention for hours as he told me his stories as I sat on his knee. I want others to grow up and be aware of these stories,” explains Graham. Sadly, Grahamʼs granddad passed away several years ago, but his own passion for mining has not dwindled over time. In 2012, in homage to Northumberlandʼs rich mining history, Graham founded an amateur rugby league team in Ashington called Miners Rugby League. Ashington was once one of the largest pit villages in the world, and the team was at the time the most northerly rugby league team in England. As Graham wanted the team to have a connection with the place in which it was formed, he set about designing a mining inspired kit. The original design featured the names of the 70 collieries incorporated into The National Coal Board on Vesting Day in 1947 in the hoops of the navy blue and white shirt. The creation of the team and the story behind the design of the kit caught the
Graham Murdie with his granddad John Gillespie
Miner Wear is for the next generation. I think the kits I have designed will get the children of tomorrow talking about the past. This is my park bench and I hope to immortalise the memory of my granddad and the history of mining forever. – Graham Murdie, owner
, Miner Wear
interest of the rugby world and Tony Hannan, the editor of Forty20 (a rugby league magazine), came along for the strip launch. It was an off the cuff comment made by Tony about the quality of the kit that got Graham believing he could design and manufacture sportswear for a living. And so Miner Wear was born.
Trevor Murdie with Ross Forbes and Ian Lavery MP, during the design process of the Kellingley shirt
| 70 | November 2017
In the beginning To begin with Graham started saving money from his job as an engineer to buy the best quality equipment he could afford. He started researching on the internet and taught himself everything he needed to know about life as a garment decorator. From there Graham located a factory in Cheshire that could manufacture the sportswear that he designed. However, he says: “It was always the dream to be able to manufacture the sportswear ourselves.” This dream was realised in June 2016 when Miner Wear opened its own factory
on the grounds of an old coal heap in Pegswood, yet another connection to mining for the company.
Graham has since designed numerous other kits for the club. “The Miners Rugby League shirts are what we are known for. The next shirt I designed centred on the 1984 minersʼ strike to mark the 30th anniversary. Instead of featuring the Northumberland collieries, it featured the 85 collieries that closed that year from Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. This shirt got a lot of interest. The next shirt was designed to commemorate the Battle of Orgreave in 1984. 95 miners got arrested for rioting during the confrontation and to this day are still trying to clear their name.”
For every Battle of Orgreave shirt sold, Miner Wear donates £5 to the Orgreave Truth & Justice campaign, showing true devotion to the cause.
Next on the list was the Kellingley Commemorative Playing Shirt. This featured the names of all the collieries
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
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