An aerial look at Old King Coal, the towering sculpture near Chester-le-Street

created in 1992 by artist David Kemp with help from local miners and steelworkers.

Built from the discarded materials of the coal industry — bricks, stone and rusted metal — it stands beside the old Consett railway line, now part of the Sustrans cycle route. Its crown, donated by British Coal, was fitted on the same day the last deep mine in County Durham closed.

Captured from above by Northern Perspectives, this film explores a powerful reminder of the region’s industrial heart — where pride, work and memory are bound together in one enduring figure: Old King Coal.

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[Music] At first glance, it’s hard to tell what you’re looking at. Part sculpture, part monument, sitting on the side of a dish railway line near Chester Street. Then it hits you. The crown, the beard, the unmistakable shape of a miner turned monarch. This is old King Cole. Built in 1992 by artist David Kemp with the help from local miners and steel workers to mark the end of Durham’s coal era. Constructed from waste and scrap from the industry itself, bricks, stone and rusted metal, it stands on the track bed of the old concert railway. Even its crown was donated by British Cole, a final gesture from a dying trade. Fittingly, it was completed on the 15th of October 1992, the same day as the last deep mine in County Durham was closed. From above, it stands proud and defined among the green. A monument to work, pride, and resilience carved from the very bones of the landscape. It isn’t just a statue. It’s a farewell and a reminder that this region wasn’t just built on coal, but on community, strength, and memory.