Pictures of Miners' Strikes reveal struggle for a way of life

Mar 4 2009 The Journal

IT is an event that has become a part of post-war history, an event that changed the political, economic and physical landscape of Britain.

Twenty-five years ago tomorrow, the miners’ strike began. Not every miner walked out at once, some never walked out at all. And – as it turned out, crucially – those that walked out did so without the backing of a national ballot.

This week, The Journal is looking back at the miners’ strike of 1984-85. The memories relayed to us have told of a people who remain fiercely proud of their resilience at a time of crisis.

We have heard from the people who took action, the pride they held in their communities. We have heard from the women who cooked meals for the families of striking miners.

Few regret their roles. And why should they? What history tells us is that the miners lost and that the power of the unions was broken by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government, which had carefully prepared for the struggle.

Yet outside the coalfields – where support for the miners was patchy and sparse – there has come to be a recognition that the miners had a far better case then they thought in 1984-85.

It is now seen as a shocking waste that the mines have closed and that the rich seams underground remain untapped. In an era when Britain has to rely on surly occupants of the Kremlin for gas to keep our lights on this waste of our own resources seems close to madness.

And there is a recognition too that the lifeblood has been drained from communities for no good reason, that too much has been sacrificed in the name of crushing Arthur Scargill.

But the strength of those North East communities remain in the words and memories of the people who were there, and images like those on these pages.