PITS TO PEAKS

Chesterfield Royal Hospital, 1985​

In 1985, Chris Tunwell was Artist in Residence at the Royal Chesterfield Hospital. As part of his work there he created a nine-panel mural for the Hospital depicting scenes and subject matters suggested by the patients in the occupational therapy department. As part of the investigation, the artist went down a pit to the coal face in order to visualize the working life below ground. The mural - Pits to Peaks - depicts the life in the mining villages to the peak-district with the famous well-dressings that celebrate their sacrifice and survival after the black-death arrived in the villages. Overtones of the political confrontations of the "Winter of Discontent" are marked in the traditional Punch and Judy show.