Artist Roderick Thackray

Roderick Thackray was born in June 1944 in Brook Bottom, Mellor, in a house which had earlier been a water mill. As a child, he was enthralled by stories told by his uncle, Ivan Eccles, about his exploits working in coal mines around Mellor after the First World War. By the time Roderick was a teenager, he was an accomplished artist and had developed a passion for exploring old coal mine workings.

He once fell down the shaft at Picky Wood Pit in Marple, only to be saved from serious injury when his fall was broken by a dead cow, whose descent had been less lucky a few days before! Roderick studied at the Stockport College of Art and later worked in textile and wallpaper design before moving into the coal mining industry.

He has great skill in capturing the difficult lives of the miners, especially of those working at the Ludworth Moor Colliery, and of evoking the harsh atmosphere of the Lancashire/Yorkshire Mill Towns. His work certainly deserves to be admired and collected. Roderick has published books about the Ludworth Moor Colliery, The Stirrup Benches Colliery and a novel entitled "Mineral Rights".