Mary Griffiths' year-long residency at the former Astley Green colliery, now a Mining Museum and home to the last surviving headgear in Lancashire, became the catalyst for a new body of work. Her lyrical drawings inspired by the mine and its machinery, the coal that was dug from the Earth, and the primeval forests that laid that carbon down 300 million years ago culminated in a critically acclaimed solo exhibition at the Turnpike in Leigh. The Turnpike, an extraordinary brutalist gem built during the end of the coal era opened its doors with an exhibition of Henry Moore. Helen Stalker today continues to bring the greatest artists to our borough with an ambitious programme of exhibitions, events and educational activities celebrating the very best in the arts.