1984 Sam Batley
The importance of the 1984 Miner’s Strike remains, though young people in the Doncaster area may not know or care what happened thirty years ago. If the young knew this area was once a prosperous industrial town, as opposed to a Chav kingdom of the “’Ere mate - ya got 10p for bus t’Stainy?” variety, it might instill some respect for the place. I’m not expecting to completely turn heads here but, if the working ethos of the miners was remembered, then maybe pride rather than disrespect would be handed down. If our region bands together, with the pride of a town's previous life, then perhaps we will be able to start rebuilding the communities that suffered under the pit-closure program. What were the miners fighting for? Why didn’t they go back to work and earn money instead of going without it? What the miners were fighting for 30 years ago wasn’t about the security of their own jobs but the security of their sons' and grandsons' jobs.
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The preservation of a society and community that worked in harmony was worth the fight and worth going without pay - even if that became a year long battle with a bitter end. What has been lost in the succeeding years is the idea of unity. For many people, the closure of the pits ripped out the heart of this area and took with it the solidarity and community spirit.
National Union of Mineworkers. When I learnt about what happened I felt a huge injustice - what if things had gone the other way? This year marks the strike’s 30th anniversary and many South Yorkshire pit villages have been organising marches and community events, to allow us young ones to see what pit village life was all about.
You may find it odd that I have this interest; as a 23 year old, born six years after the strike had finished.
Attending an event in Goldthorpe, a place now seen as a poverty stricken Chav Town, I witnessed people march through the streets commemorating the brave men and women of the strike. I felt a huge amount of pride walking alongside them, a sense of pride I think anyone with a soul would get. Seeing the banners and hearing the brass bands and stories of solidarity, you can’ t help see the unity they had.
I was brought up in a pit village and live in one now. There are still glimpses of that bygone world, whether it is a wink from an old boy in the pub or the blackened soil of the pit-tip wasteland. My dad was also a miner and heavily involved with the
Although the pit has gone, the spirit of 1984 still endures. If this feeling is shared it will remain and the younger generation will know they stand on the shoulders of proud Yorkshire people and that they are worthy of much more.
We may never get these times back, but we can try our best to understand those that were there and why they endured the longest fight of their life. And I bet when you hear them reminisce, they will say: ‘We did it for you, lad.’
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