Politics, clubs and the Miners’ Strike, 1984-85
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The Miners’ Welfare was a distribution centre for food. The distribution was controlled by the union people. The other thing they did, they organised holidays with other countries. The Miners’ Welfare organised holidays in the strike. What happened was we had a public draw, and anyone who got chosen put their names in a hat, and those that were drawn out, the families in Belgium paid for the children to go. There was also clothing. Clothing was sent to the Miners’ Welfare. That was another thing that happened. We had a fantastic theatre group came and did an evening’s entertainment for us at the Miners’ Welfare. Fabulous! I can’t remember the name of the group, but one of them appeared in Coronation Street many years ago. That was a really fantastic night. They came as a gesture, solidarity if you like, ‘We support the miners’ sort of thing. ‘We’ll give you an evening’s entertainment.’ That was really good. 180
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If Arthur Scargill ever came, he couldn’t go to the Top Club, the Legion or the Officials’ [Club]. He could go to the Granby or the Miners Welfare, only those two places. He wouldn’t be allowed through the doors, because of the political 181 affiliation.
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The Miners’ Strike of 1984-85 was a terrible struggle for many communities around Doncaster. Despite the many hardships that people had to endure, this difficult period saw communities pulling together with incredible resolve. The working men’s clubs often became the base of operations for the strikers who would meet there every morning to get their strike allowance (£1 per day) and to get the latest update on picketing tactics. Soup kitchens were established there by women’s groups, often affiliated to the Barnsley-based Women Against Pit Closures group. Even 26 years after the strike, people’s memories are vivid, and emotions still run high.
Many clubs were used as distribution points for food and clothing, which came from all over the country and from abroad to be sorted and given to the miners and their families. These distribution centres were usually situated at the local miners’ welfare club. Drinks were reduced to half price; the profit margins of clubs were cut to the bone to enable members to retain some degree of social life. In fact, the prolonged duration of the strike brought many of the clubs to near bankruptcy. However, as is usual in close-knit communities, once the strike was over, the miners supported the clubs and restored their finances, thereby enabling them to flourish once again, cementing their symbiotic relationship which has existed for so long.
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A lot of our members were miners, and we were instrumental in helping them and their families by way of food parcels, and they used to come out here and socialise, and that overcame their problems hopefully, but we did help them 182 tangibly by giving food parcels.
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They used to have a soup kitchen, not at this club, at the welfare, in the welfare hall, during the strike. They used to send parcels from London and wherever, and these miners, from here, went down to London, and walked over London Bridge with buckets, collecting money from all the well-to-do people, and all these big shops like Harvey Nichols and places like that. They used to bring the money home, get the groceries, parcel them up in boxes and each family got a box of groceries 183 from the club.
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You had two meetings: the NUM official meeting and then the unofficial meetings. They were held in the smoke 184 rooms.
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