Information from Wakefield Socialist History Group:
REMEMBERING THE MINERS’ STRIKE
1pm to 4pm, Satruday 7 December at the Red Shed, 18 Vicarage St S, Wakefield WF1 1QX
Forty years on, we have three speakers who will cover different aspects of the strike. After the speakers, there will be time for questions and discussion from the floor.
KITTY REES will talk about the support groups that emerged to support the miners and that were often critical to the industrial action continuing.
GRANVILLE WILLIAMS will revisit the biased media coverage of the miners strike in 1984-85 and contrasts it with documentaries which have appeared on the 40th anniversary of the strike, with a particular focus on Strike: An Uncivil War.
DAVE PARRY will cover his personal reflections on his lifetime connection and work in the coal industry, with the Miners’ strike of 1984/5 a central part.
Dave writes: “It is no exaggeration to say that Britian’s power and wealth was built on coal. Yet the coal industry on these islands is virtually no more. The people who worked in it and the communities dependent on it are passing into history. On 18 December 2015 Britain’s last deep mine – Kellingley – closed. Recently, on 30 September 2024 the last coal-fired power station closed at Ratcliffe-on-Soar. Peak production of the UK coal industry was way back in 1913 – an astonishing 287 million tons. In 1920 1.2 million people were employed in the British coal industry.
I published a book in 2023 – A Mirror on the Past. It is a personal reflection on the coal industry and my very small part in it. The book is not an academic study – it’s a memoir of a life “in the shadow of coal.” The Miners Strike of 1984/85 features strongly in the book because of its obvious significance for everyone in the UK, not just those connected with coal. As an NUM activist and (later) Branch Official it contains my experiences and insights, for better or worse.
In addition to the book, I will make reference to another publication – Jobs not Jail. This pamphlet outlines the work done by the South Yorkshire Defence Campaign during and after the strike. It fills in a gap and adds to our knowledge and understanding of that epic period in coalfield history.”
All are welcome and admission is free. Snacks provided!