Bush's second opera, "Men of Blackmoor", composed in 1954–55 to Nancy's libretto, is a story of Northumbrian miners in the early 19th century; Bush went down a mine as part of his research. It received its premiere at the German National Theatre, Weimar on 18 November 1956. Like "Wat Tyler" in Leipzig, the opera was successful; after the Weimar season there were further East German productions in Jena (1957), Leipzig (1959) and Zwickau (1960). In Britain there were student performances at Oxford in 1960, and Bristol in 1974. In December 1960 David Drew in the "New Statesman" wrote: "The chief virtue of "Men of Blackmoor", and the reason why it particularly deserves a performance at this historical point, is its unfailing honesty ... it is never cheap, and at its best achieves a genuine dignity."