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Bob Olley portrait forms backdrop for Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood's Alf Ramsey Knew my Grandfather play
A NEW painting by artist Bob Olley celebrates the World Cup heroics of a band of pitman from County Durham. KATY WHEELER reports.
The County Durham miners who won the first world cup in Turin, Italy, in 1909, are to be commemorated on stage and on canvas this summer.
Bob Olley, one of the country's most famous living "pitman painters", has produced a stunning work to celebrate the achievements of the lads from West Auckland, whose exploits are among the greatest football stories ever told.
The painting will be on display throughout the run of Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather, which plays at Newcastle's Theatre Royal from Tuesday, May 11 to 15.
Bob, 70, who lives in South Shields, has built a worldwide reputation for his paintings, drawings and sculptures over the past 40 years.
The former miner, who spent 11 years working the seams in Whitburn Colliery, is perhaps best known for his depiction of the Westoe Netty and Sunday Morning Football.
Those pictures can be seen all around the world and his much-lauded statue of Stan Laurel is on display in Bishop Auckland town centre.
His collection of Aesop's Fables adorn South Tyneside General Hospital and it was Bob who rescued the real-life Westoe netty from destruction. It now has pride of place at Beamish Museum.
Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather, by Tyneside writers Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood, transfers to the Theatre Royal after playing to 4,500 people at Durham Gala theatre last April.
Ed said: "I've always been a massive fan of Bob's work and was delighted when he came to see our play Maggie's End in London with a delegation of North East miners and their families.
"We knew how busy Bob was for his forthcoming exhibition on Hindu culture at the Customs House, but he agreed to the West Auckland commission immediately.
"The picture is stunning, absolutely brilliant."
Bob said: "I'm a big football fan and love the story of the 'West' lads, who also returned to Turin in 1911 and beat Juventus 6-1 in the final to keep the stunning Lipton's Trophy in perpetuity. It's a fantastic subject."
* Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather is at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, from May 11 to 15.
Tickets are 8.50-27 and can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 or online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk
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Friday 10 February 2012
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