The former colliery at Astley Green was the source for Mary Griffiths’ works of art in Wild Honey. For a year she looked closely at the mine, making drawings of its headgear and winding engine, its museum and the birds and plants that now occupy the site. These lyrical drawings were shown alongside geometric abstract works that were inspired by the mining machinery, the coal that was dug out, and the primeval forests that laid that carbon down 300 million years ago. Darkness and brilliance, the intense colours of engine and landscape, the steady work of a wild beehive – all shape the art that Griffiths showed and made here.

The exhibition and residency was made possible through a partnership with the Lancashire Mining Museum and was supported by Arts Council England