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lonelytower.bsky.social
Lonely Tower Film & Media
@lonelytower.bsky.social
3.1K followers 460 following 480 posts
Independent Media Productions YouTube - http://youtube.com/@lontower767 News & Documentaries include - A Passion for Vaux, Hollowed Ground, and Iron & Steam
📌 North East England
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lonelytower.bsky.social
Lonely Tower Film & Media @lonelytower.bsky.social · 21d
Plans are finally in motion to get this incredibly important film released. The Miners' Strike in County Durham and how the fallout echoes through our communities today. 'DEFIANT - County Durham, the Miners' Strike and its Legacy'... Coming Soon!
Reposted by Lonely Tower Film & Media
mariegardiner.bsky.social
A lot of (national) attention on Horden at the moment, which is both good and bad. Going to have to do a lot of biting my tongue and grinding my teeth to nubs reading people's glib takes on it and the people who live there, that's for sure.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Inside Horden, the County Durham town failed by politics
In Horden, County Durham, Westminster slogans have long been left unmet as the population has plummeted.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 18, 2026 at 10:32 AM
lonelytower.bsky.social
Cheeky coffee time!
Close up of a coffee cup with a naked statue in the background
February 10, 2026 at 11:09 AM
Reposted by Lonely Tower Film & Media
mariegardiner.bsky.social
Sadly it seems like the university is simply running down the clock on opposition to the intended closure and (I suspect, very quick) demolition of the National Glass Centre in July. But, that's not a reason to not care or stop trying. 1/4

[More: savethengc.art.blog/]
a man out of focus in the background is lifting his arm to blob molten glass onto a decorative piece of solid glass in focus in the foreground, being held by a woman who is ready to snip the molten glass off
February 9, 2026 at 12:06 PM
lonelytower.bsky.social
Lovely night with the team from Thorpe Thewles History Group in the village. A preview thank you screening of the film 'Lost & Found - The McLaren Diaries of Thorpe Thewles' for everyone who helped make it happen 😃
February 8, 2026 at 10:40 AM
lonelytower.bsky.social
Workers... nothing is given without a fight!
From 'DEFIANT - County Durham, The Miners' Strike and its Legacy' coming soon www.imdb.com/title/tt3936...
February 4, 2026 at 4:47 PM
lonelytower.bsky.social
A project we worked on last year has now reached completion. 'LOST & FOUND - The McLaren Diaries of Thorpe Thewles, the story of three found diaries from Edwardian England. More information available here - thorpe-thewles.org.uk/lost-found-t...
February 4, 2026 at 4:30 PM
lonelytower.bsky.social
What a wonderful night of community and revelry in St John's Chapel last night for the 'Weardale Together Winter Wassail' Huge congratulation to everyone who made it happen 😃
January 31, 2026 at 12:19 PM
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mariegardiner.bsky.social
Time to SHEEPISHLY (see what I did there) promote my Changing Landscapes zines again. Most of you probably have one by now 😂.

Chock full of ruined buildings, former industry sites, and rusting vehicles of the North Pennines.

#Photography #Zine #ThePhotoHour

www.mariegardiner.co.uk/zines-and-pr...
an old railway car with a rusted orange siding, with sheep coming out of it onto long green summer grass a partial shot of a house with some missing panes in the windows and some serious holes in the roof, but largely intact. a house with the roof gone and holes for windows and doors, standing on a hillside with a black-purple stormy sky behind. A house with half the roof missing and no windows or doors. To the nearest side a tree is growing next to, over, and likely through the building, and some sheep are peeping out from a corner
January 9, 2026 at 1:19 PM
lonelytower.bsky.social
This is not new news to anyone who creates 'stuff'. What is equally appauling is the casual use of GenAI by those who claim to be principled and those who claim to champion workers rights.
January 30, 2026 at 11:54 AM
lonelytower.bsky.social
'Going Back Brockens' visited this exhibition in three different places now, each adding to the work. Moving, beautiful, disturbing, defiant... 100% North East.
Thank you Narbi Price, Mark Hudson and filmmaker Carl Joyce
January 29, 2026 at 11:10 AM
lonelytower.bsky.social
*VOLUME UP* Revisiting this from the fabulous Frankie Archer Music at Hartlepool Folk Festival in 2024. The festival has moved, and become Durham Folk Festival 🎻 . Frankie's folk is like nothing you have ever heard before... Goosebumps. Johnny Handle's 'Guard Yer Man Well' #Mining #Folkmusic
January 28, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Lonely Tower Film & Media
mariegardiner.bsky.social
I wrote a thing that isn't miserable 🥳

'[...] as soon as we arrive in the little town of Füssen down the road from where we’ve been staying, we’re looking for somewhere to hide from the elements. Unfortunately, so is everyone else.'

mariegardiner.substack.com/p/memories-a...
Memories and writing tips
Chin up pet
mariegardiner.substack.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:24 PM
lonelytower.bsky.social
Plans are finally in motion to get this incredibly important film released. The Miners' Strike in County Durham and how the fallout echoes through our communities today. 'DEFIANT - County Durham, the Miners' Strike and its Legacy'... Coming Soon!
January 28, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Lonely Tower Film & Media
mariegardiner.bsky.social
It would be remiss of me not to promote Changing Landscapes again after such a lovely post about it 😊.

www.mariegardiner.co.uk/zines-and-pr...
January 22, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Lonely Tower Film & Media
analoguelass.bsky.social
First zine of 2026 - a wonderfully curated experience - full of richness and depth - highly recommend @mariegardiner.bsky.social

#photography
January 21, 2026 at 5:18 PM
lonelytower.bsky.social
Fun time chatting with Pete Waterman today, the 'Hitman' and rail enthusiast!
January 20, 2026 at 5:38 PM
lonelytower.bsky.social
Really fun time at Kirk Merrington Primary School yesterday, as Olga & pupils worked on the new bus stop mural project for Spennymoor Town Council - A stunning sunset too 👩‍🎨🌇
January 16, 2026 at 10:30 AM
lonelytower.bsky.social
Not much in the way of social media from us so far this year. We are knee deep in editing a documentary film about Stockton chemist John Walker, the inventor of the 'Friction Light' or matches as we call them now. A simple thing that revolutionised society. 2026 marks 200 years since his invention 🔥
January 13, 2026 at 1:43 PM
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mariegardiner.bsky.social
The Man is currently editing our documentary on John Walker, (the inventor of the friction match) and came across an article about a woman who died from eating 40 (FORTY!) matches.
an old article that says: Suicide by eating matches. Press association telegram. Auckland, March 6. A woman named Emma Lilian Whittingham, about 21 years of age, died yesterday at Ponsonby from the effect of phosphorus poisoning. She was found to be dangerously ill on Wednesday night, and became unconscious until Thursday morning. In the afternoon, though she appeared to be slightly wandering in mind, she admitted that she had eaten about forty matches, and she died shortly after. The reason for suicide on her part cannot be imagined as she was generally cheerful. The deceased was a domestic servant.
January 8, 2026 at 2:14 PM
lonelytower.bsky.social
And we are back!
HAPPY NEW YEAR 🔥
January 5, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Lonely Tower Film & Media
mariegardiner.bsky.social
Start 2026 off with a frivolous purchase of my zine, if not for photographic delight (which you'd surely find...) then to stop the box of zines cluttering up our office.
mariegardiner.bsky.social Marie Gardiner @mariegardiner.bsky.social · Nov 19
Would you mind if I gave my zines a little push again? Hopefully the first batch(es) have reached owners now. Maybe a good Christmas gift for someone who likes photography 👀.

Here are four pics of the same house taken over several years. #Zine #Photography

www.mariegardiner.co.uk/zines-and-pr...
a large abandoned farm house from the back, mostly intact. a large abandoned farm house from the front, mostly intact. but with a collapsing left side and no windows or doors, just holes a large abandoned farm house from the front and side (different side to the other picture) on scrubby winter-looking grass. A window and chunk of side/roof is missing, as is the roof from the porch the same house but from a distance, on a summery looking day with blue skies and green frass. Sheep can be seen grazing in the background
January 1, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Lonely Tower Film & Media
mariegardiner.bsky.social
Happy new year you lot ❤️ all good things for 2026.
January 1, 2026 at 12:44 AM
lonelytower.bsky.social
Well... it's been quite a year for us! Enjoy a festive break and here's to new adventures! 🎄😃
December 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
lonelytower.bsky.social
Some more stills from our 'John Walker' filming today. Playing with fire is always a treat 🔥
December 16, 2025 at 4:23 PM
lonelytower.bsky.social
Today has been about inventing the 'friction light'... Chemist John Walker from Stockton did it in 1826, so we did it in 2025. Brilliant help from Michael and Pauline at the Donnison School in Sunderland, and the uber talented Chris Strain as Mr Walker himself.
December 16, 2025 at 3:24 PM