Emotionally-charged launch for miners' strike 40th anniversary exhibition in Chesterfield

The opening of the commemoration event in the Market Hall Assembly Rooms stirred up emotion, with men and women welling up as Carmel O’Toole and Andy Hoult sang songs 100,000 Heroines, Farewell Johnny Miner and Women of the Working Class against a backdrop of colliery banners. The songs were written for the strike, some of which were composed in Derbyshire.

In the first of the speeches, John Burrows, former area treasurer of the Derbyshire NUM, recounted some of the key moments of the strike in Derbyshire and the way that the law was used to squeeze the union’s funds in an effort to force them back to work. He commended the young men of North Derbyshire for their resilience that many older miners doubted at the time. John praised the role of the women in the coalfields for their actions, sustaining the strike, fundraising, picketing and feeding the miners’ families.

Steve Brunt told of his experiences as the flying picket organiser at Arkwright Colliery. He told of the police methods of maximising arrests so that men could not return to the picket line as they would face at least a week in jail if caught doing so. Steve reminded the audience that the strike wasn’t about money, or conditions at work – it was about jobs. The men at Arkwright didn’t need flying pickets from Yorkshire to bring them out on strike – they picketed their own pit on hearing of the decision to close Cortonwood in South Yorkshire. If they could close that pit, after giving guarantees, no pit was safe. Unfortunately those fears were borne out, and even the Notts pits that thought they were safe eventually felt the axe.

Kate Alvey of the Chesterfield Women’s Action Group spoke of the key work carried out in defence of jobs and communities. She told of the determination of local women to support the miners. The food parcels, one per week costing £2.50, were given to the families. Rabbits and live chickens were brought into the strike centres at one point! Kate told of her mortgage arrears, but said she would have lived in a tent rather than abandon the strike.

Colin Hampton, co-ordinator of the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centres, said that the miners’ strike held lessons for today: “Politicians in the last few weeks have been spreading division in our communities. But striking miners who went out on the streets collecting saw men, women, young and old, black and white, gay, lesbian and straight, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Sikh all chucked into the bucket, because if the miners’ union could be broken then we would all be on the radar from the attacks of those that seek to divide us.”

The event closed on a rousing note as the women came together to sing once again Women of the Working Class, their anthem of 84/85 which was written in Derbyshire.

All the speakers agreed that they had no regrets about their decision to strike and would do it all again.

The exhibition will run at the Market Hall Assembly Rooms through March. People are invited to pin up photos of loved ones and family members involved, as well as recording their reminiscences.