Jane Nellist, Coventry Socialist Party
On the night before the official announcement of the miners’ strike in March 1984, I was in the home of Ethel Hood, along with National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) leaders of the Keresley pit in Coventry and my partner Dave Nellist, Coventry Labour MP at the time, when they got the news that the strike was on.
Little did we know at the time the momentous year that lay ahead and the impact it would have on communities across the country.
Reading ‘From a Rock to a Hard Place – the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike’, which has been updated for this year’s 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike, brought back so many memories of that year of struggle. The book is an important contribution to working-class history.
Beverley, who was a librarian from a Nottinghamshire mining area, and whose father was a miner, has drawn together first-hand testimonies, photos and documents from those working-class men and women whose voices are rarely heard, and who lived through that year-long struggle.
Her book weaves the recollections of others with her own experiences living in a pit village at war with a vicious Tory government.
She captures the reality of the brutal actions of Thatcher’s government which used every tool the state had to try and break the miners’ resolve to defend their jobs and livelihoods.
The Tories had planned well in advance, even bringing in new laws to stop striking workers getting benefits in an attempt to starve miners back to work!
The 1984-85 miners’ strike in Britain wasn’t just a fight for the men down the pits. Miners’ wives and families played a crucial, and often undocumented role.
Beverley writes: “Women began to realise that they could become active in other areas. For one thing they had to raise funds and collect money to buy supplies”.
They formed groups like the Women Against Pit Closures. These women organised fundraising events, collected money, and spoke at rallies. It changed their lives and developed real fighters for their communities and class. The book highlights how their confidence and ability to organise grew.
Donations for striking miners and their families came from across the world. Food, clothes and toiletries and, most importantly, money! Women went on international speaking tours to raise the issues and the need for funds. Coventry miners’ wives even travelled to Afghanistan.
Holidays in other countries were organised for children hosted by international trade unions.
They ran ‘soup’ kitchens (most of them served two-course meals) and distributed food parcels, keeping families fed during a harsh year. Their activism wasn’t just about supporting their husbands; it was a fight for their families and communities.
I helped out on my day off at the kitchen in Keresley where a full meal was served to families including children, because families couldn’t afford packed lunches or school meals (children were not entitled to free school meals). Using very limited kitchen space it was incredible to see the quality of the meals produced.
Big vats of curry from the Asian community were delivered, which went down really well. I saw how working-class solidarity broke down any prejudices that may have been held.
Beverley also makes a really important point about how the confidence of working-class women developed: “They had come to realise there was a big world out there, full of possibilities. Many took on training courses and embarked on university degrees.”
She also includes stories from journalists and photographers, such as a 26-year-old John Harris who captured the iconic photograph of Lesley Boulton, herself a photographer, as she was about to be hit by a mounted policeman at Orgreave in June 1985.
He writes: “I saw Lesley Boulton trying to help an injured guy on the ground. The cop on the horseback was coming toward her, baton raised. He shouted: ‘I’m having you next bitch!’ I quickly click-clicked. That was it! The cop was never named and no disciplinary action was taken.”
John is still taking photographs and was recently on the National Education Union picket line taking photos of striking teachers!
While local Labour Party members raised thousands of pounds for the striking miners and many MPs, especially those in coalmining areas, spoke up in parliament, the Labour Party and TUC leadership were woefully lacking in their support for the miners’ strike. The Labour Party is even worse now than it was then under Neil Kinnock!
Beverley’s book tells the real story of the hardship, humour and solidarity of a community of working people. More importantly, it gives a voice to those who fought so hard against the power of the state that was being used in an attempt to crush them as they fought to save their jobs and their industry.
It has lessons for us today in that we need to build the power of the unions to defend working people and also build a new political party to fight for a socialist society.
