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I was never brave enough to work underground and by the time I left school in 82 the pits were coming to an end.
What I can remember is being addicted to the news reporting the strike. Running battles with the police on horseback. Lorry drivers delivering/collecting with cages over their windscreens. Reports of the police waving their dockets in front of the miners. ''Scabs'' having their cars vandalised.
Any of you lot involved?
I was 10/11, at the time.
Lived not far from Penallta pit. I was in the junior school catchment area so I remember alot of kids had free school meals. The chap opposite my house worked there too. I can remember the jazz bands were very active at that time as well. They were well connected to Penallta and had many parades through the area with the banners etc
I have a mate who was a young boy when the strikes was on, he recalls a lot of the time his mum couldn't put any food on the table, mum and dad would go without food to feed the kids
My next door neighbour was hospitalised, broken leg & shoulder if I remember correctly. He was off work for about 6 months afterwards.
in a pub in ystradgynlias a bloke tried to sell me his red duffel coat got chatting,the landlord stuck a news video ,on red duffel coat man [jack bastard]steaming into the old bill they only had 1 clue who he was. i declined the offerOriginally Posted by valleys caveman
my mate in his red duffel coat got him.
Unsure whether to reveal this, but my mother's cousin was the Senior Deputy Chairman of the NCB at the time of the strike, serving under firstly Derek Ezra and then Ian McGregor. Though I never met him (a retired headmaster), I often visited his parents on my own when I was lad.
I researched his career recently. As early as 1973, Ezra received a plan of action from Wilfred Mirion (a former Chairman of the East Midlands NCB Division) which proposed 1) automation to replace miners at the coalface; 2) changing shift patterns; 3) an attempt at gasification of coal in seam to eliminate the need for any underground work-force and 4) a pit incentive scheme to politically divide the area Unions. This last prong was because Mirion had identified that the executive of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) would become increasingly politically oriented towards the left, rather than peopled by moderate men.
The plan was adopted and my relative was one of two men who implemented it. He was involved in negotiations with Scargill and McGahey and fronted several meetings with miners, receiving a CBE for his efforts.
I don't support the NCB, but during my research I was struck by the proliferation of photos in book after book of striking miners, their militant wives, picket lines - which were all so newsworthy and graphically aroused feelings of solidarity with the miners. On the other hand, sections of the workforce broke away from the NUM, disagreeing with their stance, and formed a new union - just as was predicted.
I also saw that my relative genuinely was 'a coalman'. He was a highly qualified engineer. But it was obvious to him that mining coal was becoming an increasingly expensive business and that mechanisation (which meant the loss of jobs) was the only way to go forward. In hindsight, and with the present-day move to cut coal mining as part of the war against global warming, running down the mining of coal in the UK was inevitable - it was a battle that couldn't be won.
The NCB was maligned - but there are several books which deal with the strike (many of which imo are obviously biased). Some can be found in Google Books such as Britain's Civil War over Coal: An Insider's View by David Feickert.
I was employed by the NCB (British Coal at the time of the strike) in the scientific department. 1984 wasn't a great time to be in the industry. At the time and on reflection it looked (let's be generous) as if King Arthur (Scargill) was out-played by Thatcher's lot. A lot of NUM members who I 'worked' alongside were not happy about being forced to go on strike. Their socialist ideals demanded that union should be supported but knew that they wouldn't win this battle.
As we in the scientific department were regarded as British Coal staff were invited to do a lot of overtime work to keep the collieries safe for an eventual return to work (Ha). Not all of us wanted to take the money but a lot of the younger members of the department had no issues about not supporting the strikers.
As I say it was a very difficult time in the industry but there was no doubting the determination of the government to grind the miners into the ground. Very strong feelings and divisions stoked by newspaper and television lop-sided reports. May Ian Mcgregor "rot in hell".
A minor, very minor outcome was me being offered redundancy at the grand old age of 43. Hey ho.
One by product of the demise of the pits was the flooding of the labour market, particularly construction. Certainly not knocking the ex miners but the redundancy pay/severance pay, whatever it was called, subsided retraining enabled them to square up their debts and make a fresh start. The ‘go to’ industry was construction. Cardiff and I’d imagine places like Sheffield, Newcastle, Barnsley etc were hit by the working man’s worst nightmare ‘Glut of labour/lack of work’. We still had our ‘city’ mortgages & bills to pay and, unfortunately, peace work was the norm on sites, the ‘new tradesmen’, fresh from their crash courses were undercutting us left, right & centre due to their relatively lower outgoings. Our little Saturday fiddles went west as well, especially for valley based brickies, chippies, for years the miners had the cash to have these minor house improvements done (it made the world go around), now they were doing them themselves.
I stress that I’m not knocking the lads at all, they had to do what they had to do but I lived through it and the situation in my trade was dire, we’d done four year apprenticeships and the six month diluties (as we called them) were killing us. Where we’d once had the whip hand it now became a dog eat dog world, negotiating money had gone out of the window, it was take it or leave it.
All part of that woman’s master plan in my opinion, keep the workers in fear for their jobs. Legitimate unrest in the workplace completely quelled, 15% interest rates for those of us with mortgages meaning a fair wedge to be shelled out monthly. People with a council house having the safety net of rent subsidies should work dry up being encouraged to buy said council house to put that monthly noose around their necks.
We had the added blow of East Moors closing in Cardiff as well which flooded the labour market a few years previously as well. The knock on effect of the crushing of the pit men & steelworkers reached far & wide not just in their communities.
Ironic though how the greedy and ruthless attitudes of those in power of those days has come back and bitten society on the arse. Apprenticeship & training schemes were obliterated, the short sighted reason being that it wasn’t cost effective having youngsters making mistakes, working at a slower pace, having time off site to attend college etc. The result being now that decent tradesmen are at a premium and demanding the type of remuneration that must sicken any of those advocates of Thatcherism who are still around who wanted the likes of me kept firmly in my place in the pecking order.
So, the miners strike did define the intervening years, no long term investment in pit communities to provide sustainable long term employment to replace the coal face. Quangos like the WDA milking money off their government mates , building phoney units on ‘made up’ trading estates, then disappearing when the grants dried up and these units employing low paid staff changing hands and types of business many times over the years.
Bit of a long rant for a Saturday morning, sorry for that. F*ck Thatcher & Up The City.
Very eloquently written.
The bigger picture and knock on effect was never covered by that cow she just wanted to smash the unions.
Hungry people and destitute communities were just collateral
Well played Splott Parker.
My old man worked underground from 1919 - 1954 and dissuaded me from the coal face, he always mentioned the conditions in his early years.
Well said, and it was called the “economic miracle”. What happened in 2008 and all of the suffering caused by “we’re all in it together” austerity had its roots in the Thatcherite eighties with its deregulation of financial markets.
It’s enlightening talking some of the old stagers up here in Treherbert about what the mining villages around here used to be like. The soot that used to appear on washing hung out to dry is not missed of course, but when you hear about things like the cinemas, theatres, sports halls, small businesses and shops which closed in the years after the mines went, it’s heart breaking.
The only villages in the Rhondda past Tynewydd where I live are Blaenrhondda and Blaencwn - the first named has a post office and a working mens club which is rarely open these days and that’s it, while the other has just a pub/hotel which I’m not sure whether it has reopened after look down. There used to be another village close to Blaenrhondda called Fernhill, but it doesn’t exist any more - it was demolished soon after the mines were.
Dreadful woman . It wasn't just the miners strike.
The sale of council houses pitted those who could afford against those who could not and was the start of sink estates where the most vulnerable were shoved ......they couldn't be offered decent council housing .....that had all been sold
Privatisation of everything that wasn't nailed down
Private finance in the NHS and social care ....leaving the mess we have today where profit is put before people
Thanks Thatcher
The social cost cannot be measured. The bastards were clever enough to run the country, yeah right, but not clever enough to find an alternative solution to the loss of heavy industry, then again did they want to? Permanent, long term employment is vital to everyday life, gives people confidence, a few bob in their pockets, the dignity of not relying on handouts. Youngsters can’t be riding around football pitches on mopeds at three in the morning if they’ve got to be up for 6 till 2.
Thing is now though, as the years have gone by, relying on handouts doesn’t bear the stigma it used to (and shouldn’t I may add), I fear it’s gone too far and it’ll never be got back. There’s a couple of lost generations all due to that woman’s vision. I often say that I’m glad I lived in the era I’ve lived in, even though in my previous post I bemoaned those dark Thatcher years. I fear things aren’t going to improve any time soon and society is going to continue to crumble unless we get a government that can grab things by the scruff of the neck and drag the country back to decency. The gap between the haves and have nots is staggering and a lot of the haves are among the shadier section of the population.
I’ve not got the answer but there’s got to be some clever f*ckers with the brains to sort things out. I’ve no faith in anyone in politics at the moment sadly.
I'll echo some of those sentiments Bob.Well said, and it was called the “economic miracle”
It’s enlightening talking some of the old stagers up here in Treherbert about what the mining villages around here used to be like. The soot that used to appear on washing hung out to dry is not missed of course, but when you hear about things like the cinemas, theatres, sports halls, small businesses and shops which closed in the years after the mines went, it’s heart breaking.
The only villages in the Rhondda past Tynewydd where I live are Blaenrhondda and Blaencwn - the first named has a post office and a working mens club which is rarely open these days and that’s it, while the other has just a pub/hotel which I’m not sure whether it has reopened after look down. There used to be another village close to Blaenrhondda called Fernhill, but it doesn’t exist any more - it was demolished soon after the mines were.
I grew up in Aberfan, Merthyr Vale colliery in sight of my parents house and heated the pit hooter daily. Played football for a local boys club that was just outside the grounds of Deep Navigation.
The miners also contributed to a number of local services which were benefits of the community. In Deep Nav's case most miners contributed a few pence to the Boys club. Miners Gala's, local events and services all receiving money from the miners also.
In relation to the 'strike', I was 12 or 13 when it started. It had a big impact on me as I saw mates rummaging for coal on tips, soup kitchens, food parcels for families within the close community.
Throw in the death of David Wilkie and a number of suicides, probably brought about by the strike, the whole human wasn't lost on me at all.
Families fractured, communities shattered and then left to get on with it.
agree 100% Bastard of a woman, she was.
Splott P is correct about the construction industry being flooded with labour in South Wales, which was a massive contributor towards prices stripped to the minimum and a take it or leave it attitude from shit house contractors. was getting £1 per square metre in 1992 render or skim. To earn anything decent I'd have to lay 100 mts a day. And pay a labourer out of that.
Good post. One thing I’d add is that I worked in manufacturing in the valleys at the time & the workforce was predominantly women. I interviewed many ex-miners & many had the attitude that they had a god given right to work and that we should replace our female employees with them.
My Dad was a NCB civil engineer, he was made redundant in 1981 when the project he was working on was scrapped. He was in a team planning the ‘Margam Super Pit’, the plan was to close a number of local pits and work their coal reserves from one modern mine which would also extract the large seam from under Margam Mountain. This would have been a state of the art and highly profitable mine, providing secure, well paid jobs at the heart of the South Wales coalfield, Thatcher couldn’t face that possibility and put a stop to it. Anyone who says the pits were closed for economic reasons needs to do some research they were shut out of hatred towards the unions and communities the Tories knew would never support them.
Do you think that was more of a cultural thing though. Sexism was a given back then in many communities and plenty of men had been conditioned into thinking that the most important role that they possess was to provide financially for their families.
Yup, an attack on workers having some power and a say in the decision making and what best served their communities. Almost a dirty concept these days as it seems that working people have been conditioned into worrying about millionaires, billionaires and where they'll put their money. Economic viability and an attitude that we as workers must bear a large proportion of responsibility when the super rich **** up. Sanitised through and through. Just be grateful for a job yeah?
Why is this thread not on the politics section there is no football content?
I was a Sunshine miner (opencast) at the time.
Very interesting reading some of these. I was a toddler at the time but obviously I know the basic history. Very interesting to read personal stories.
For what it's worth, from a Cardiff perspective, I think people feel more positive about the valleys in recent years. It's natural beauty (quite staggering in parts, definitely more dramatic than some national parks) is really shining through and it retains an enviable sense of community and a culture as unique as many in the UK.
Through a very difficult past the valleys have a positivr future I hope.
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