THEY are some of the most well-known faces in the North Tyne and Redesdale – and now they are currently enjoying the limelight.

In a joint venture between The Heritage Centre at Bellingham and the North Tyne Photography Group, personalities throughout the area take pride of place on the walls of the centre.

On display until July 24, the 100 Lives exhibition features local people from years gone by right up to the present day. And the aim of the project is to give a real flavour of the area, showing the variety of everyday life in a largely rural area.

The idea came from centre archivist David Walmsley, who stumbled upon an intriguing old photograph of a man next to a number of hounds, one of the many unidentified people who feature among the 3,000 images in the centre’s possession.

The image struck a chord with David, and it provoked many questions about who this man was, what he was doing, where he was...

And it got him thinking about all the other people which feature in local photos dating back more than 100 years.

Working with photography group leader Neil Denham, the pair set the brief to local photographers to capture modern day characters to complement the old gems.

They have come up trumps with a stunning exhibition of true personalities, already attracting a lot of interest from local people.

David said: “The photograph of the old man with the hounds posed so many questions but we had no answers.

“That give us the idea of bringing out a load of the old photos upstairs and seeing if anybody could come forward and help us identify them.

“I met Neil and asked the group to draw inspiration from these old photographs, and they certainly took up the challenge.”

The latest showing in Bellingham provided photography group member Steve Batey with the first opportunity to exhibit his work.

And in addition to being an exhibitor, he is also a subject in the display as he features on two images.

An old photograph of him and his brother Ian as children in a boat with their mother Pat on the River North Tyne has been a popular addition, and an image of him as an adult working to catch moles is also a striking feature of the exhibition. The mole catcher image was captured by fellow group member Natalie Griffiths van der Mescht.

Steve has also included eight images of his own to the lot, his favourite being one of his Egger colleague Martin Steele, of Humshaugh, during their night shift together.

He said: “Martin is a local character, and I took the picture because he never stopped smiling even though it was 3am, and he has these huge crow‘s feet on his face every time he smiles!

”He is a bit of a Jumping Jack, and I wanted to capture these kinds of characters.

“It was a bit of a surprise to find out I was going to be included in the exhibition myself, especially on the old photograph, and it’s definitely a bit of a novelty being an exhibitor and a subject in the same one.“

Kirkwhelpington resident Ailsa Forsyth also had great fun lining up her subjects for the exhibition, targeting the more rural personalities from the area.

Proud of where she lives, her focus was on showcasing the joys of living in remote places.

She said: ”The brief was to get local people so I went to the people I knew wouldn‘t mind getting their picture took! But what is so good about it is that it is all about what goes on in the community in the North Tyne and Redesdale.

“My favourite entry is one of Rachel Raine feeding her sheep, because it captures the character of both human and sheep, and the relationship between them.

”She is hand feeding a five-year-old ewe which has been favourite, and the sheep responds to Rachel too.“