The Stars Look Down

A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel of two decades in a Northumberland coal-mining town, whose central catastrophe — the flooding of the Neptune pit — is described by North East writers as a loosely based, thinly disguised account of the 1925 inrush at Montagu Colliery, Scotswood; Carol Reed's 1940 film was shot partly at St Helens Colliery, Siddick, in Cumberland.

The mining history in this record

On 30 March 1925 miners working the Brockwell seam at Montagu Colliery, Scotswood, on the western edge of Newcastle, broke through into the flooded workings of the long-abandoned Paradise Pit, and 38 men and boys died. A. J. Cronin, a Scottish physician, had served as a Medical Inspector of Mines in the 1920s; the novel's Wikipedia article places that work in the South Wales valleys, while a 2025 centenary article in Cultured North East describes him as working as medical inspector of mines in 1925 and says The Stars Look Down "contains a thinly disguised account of the events at Scotswood". A Groundsure history of Newcastle mining likewise says Cronin loosely based the novel on the Montagu disaster. No statement by Cronin himself making the connection has yet been read.

The novel, published by Victor Gollancz in 1935 and serialised in the Daily Herald from late April that year, is set in 'Sleescale', a fictional mining town on the Northumberland coast, and in 'Tynecastle' (Newcastle). It follows David Fenwick, a miner's son who turns to politics and argues for nationalisation; Joe Gowlan, a former miner who grows rich from war profiteering; and Arthur Barras, son of the owner of the Neptune Colliery. Its turning point is a flood in the Neptune pit that kills more than a hundred men, including David's father and brother, after the owner has been warned of the danger and ignored it, a far larger toll than the 38 who died at Montagu.

Carol Reed's film, co-scripted by Cronin and released in Britain on 22 January 1940, starred Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood. It was shot for a week at Great Clifton and at St Helens Colliery, Siddick, in Cumberland, before studio work at Denham and Twickenham, where a replica of the Workington pithead was built; pit ponies came from the Cumberland mines and the miners' costumes were clothes bought from colliery workers.

People

A. J. Cronin (1896–1981), Scottish physician and novelist, formerly a Medical Inspector of Mines. Carol Reed directed the 1940 film; Michael Redgrave played David Fenwick and Margaret Lockwood Jenny Sunley. Alan Plater wrote the 1975 Granada series.

Legacy today

The novel is generally ranked among Cronin's best, alongside The Citadel and The Keys of the Kingdom. It was adapted for Italian television in 1971, as a 13-part Granada series written by Alan Plater in 1975, and for the stage by NTC Theatre Company in 2004. The Reed film is a New York Times Critics' Pick. When Montagu's centenary was marked at St Margaret's, Scotswood, in March 2025, Cultured North East's report of the commemoration again pointed readers to the novel.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The Stars Look Down was published by Victor Gollancz in 1935 and serialised in the Daily Herald from late April 1935; Little, Brown published it in the US on 20 September 1935. (documented fact) ¹
• Two North East accounts say the novel draws on the 1925 Montagu inrush at Scotswood: Cultured North East calls it a thinly disguised account of the events there, and Groundsure says Cronin loosely based the novel on the disaster. Neither cites Cronin himself. (unverified claim, uncertain) ^2,3
• On 30 March 1925 miners in the Brockwell seam at Montagu Colliery broke through to the flooded Paradise Pit and 38 men and boys died. (documented fact) ²
• Cronin served as a Medical Inspector of Mines in the 1920s; Wikipedia places this in the South Wales valleys, and Cultured North East says he was working as medical inspector of mines in 1925. (documented fact) ^2,1
• The novel's key incident is a flood in the Neptune coal mine that kills over 100 men, including David Fenwick's father and brother, after the owner ignored a warning. (documented fact) ¹
• Carol Reed's 1940 film was shot for a week at Great Clifton and St Helens Colliery, Siddick, Cumberland, with a replica of the Workington pithead built for studio scenes and pit ponies from the Cumberland mines. (documented fact) ⁴

Mines

• Montagu Colliery — Tyne and Wear
  North East accounts describe the novel's Neptune pit flood as loosely based on the 1925 inrush at Montagu, which killed 38 men and boys.

People

• A. J. Cronin (1896–1981) · author, from 1935 — Wrote the novel, published in 1935, and co-scripted the 1940 film.

Regions

Northumberland, Tyne and Wear

Real-world mining concepts used here

Inrush

Sources

1. (secondary) The Stars Look Down (novel) — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Pit disaster centenary to be commemorated (Tony Henderson, 28 March 2025) — Cultured North East
3. (secondary) Newcastle Mining History: Toil, Tragedy and Evolution — Groundsure
4. (secondary) The Stars Look Down (film) — Wikipedia

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026