Scott Jones
National Museum Cardiff exhibition ‘Streic! 84-85 Strike!’ brings the Miners’ Strike to life, telling the story of that year, very movingly, through the voices and personal photos and objects of miners and their families in Wales. The bits on what Christmas 1984 was like for miners’ kids is particularly touching.
The curator is Ceri Thompson who was a striking miner himself, and you can tell. He says: “At the heart of the dispute was a fight to stop pit closures and save jobs. It was a tough year but also a year that saw immense tightening of communities, of families doing everything they could survive, and people outside of the mining communities fighting side by side with the miners for a fair deal.” The exhibition shows this and more.
Supporting the strike throughout and fighting for solidarity and victory was the Militant (forerunner of the Socialist Party), and the paper pops up in the main video. There are also museum pieces on display donated by Vi John, a Militant member during the strike in South Wales and a leading member of the women’s support groups.
The exhibition is also brought to life using a quarter-scale replica headgear, colliery roof supports, miners’ work clothes, lamps and badges, National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) lodge banners, the biggest lump of coal I have ever seen and a model of Oakdale Colliery, which was the local pit in my hometown.
The struggle in the coalfields during the strike and the tens of thousands of ordinary miners who stayed out for a whole year are an inspiration to those who have come after them and the exhibition is a fitting tribute in this anniversary year, as well as an educational experience for those who don’t yet know the story.
- Streic! 84-85 Strike! runs until 27 April 2025 is ‘pay what you can’ with a minimum price of £3
Further reading
- A civil war without guns – the lessons of the 1984-85 miners’ strike by Ken Smith, £7
- Red Violet – a brief memoir of the 1984-85 miners’ strike by Violet John, £5
- Ken and Violet were both supporters of Militant and members of miners’ support groups during the miners’ strike in South Wales
- Buy from www.leftbooks.co.uk