A series of six films
The jobs, jokes, relationships, responsibilities and shared experiences that have moulded the communities of the English nation have left them looking remarkably different from each other.
5: Ashington, Northumberland
The Ashington band leads the parade for the miners' 'Picnic Day' at Bedlington. Folk memory says it's always been like this, but the beginnings of Ashington are within living memory-old men remember how a hamlet grew into the biggest mining village in Europe as quarrymen, black-smiths, starving Irish and even sons of Border reavers poured in. Brian Trueman meets some of their descendants, like Sam Scott , now Secretary of the Northumberland Miners.
Production assistant SID WADDELL Producer JOHN c MILLER . BBC Manchester