A new war of words

NOT many events can tear a nation apart in the way the 1984 miners' strike did.

Labour left-winger Dennis Skinner described it at the time as a war and he was not far wrong. The strike divided families and split the nation. By the end, Mrs Thatcher had brought the miners to their knees, along with virtually the whole union movement.

Twenty years on, the emotions - and in some cases the hatreds - still run strong.

Since it was such a significant event in our social history, it is not surprising that a slew of books about miners and mining have been brought out to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the start of the strike. They range from first-hand accounts of the strike in the form of a miner's diary, to a novel and, more generally, a pictorial history of the mining industry itself.

Brian Elliott, a miner's son and a former teacher turned writer, was teaching in the West Yorkshire mining community of Royston near Barnsley during the strike and saw the impact it had first hand.

"As a social historian I would say it was the most significant social and political event in modern times," says Brian, 57, who now lives in Doncaster.

The pit closures that followed the strike saw communities dispossessed of their living. Families were broken up and the landscape of Britain changed - politically but also physically when the pits closed and the land was put to other uses.

The changes were not all bad, Brian concedes - mining was a dangerous and dirty job. "It changed some lives for the better, in terms of the fact that they some miners did find different jobs and opportunities, and perhaps their health was better as a result," Brian says. "But it also resulted in a great deal of family heartbreak."

For the striking miners and their families, the hardest times were towards the end of the strike, when morale was low and the strain of living without a proper income for months was taking its toll. "The December and January period was very bleak for a lot of families," Brian recalls.

The strike is brought vividly to life in Brian's latest book. A year or so ago, his publishers received a manuscript from Silverwood miner Bruce Wilson. It was a transcript of a diary he had kept throughout the year-long strike, covering major clashes such as Orgreave, as well as the day-to-day hardship and comradeship of life on the picket lines.

Brian set out to edit the diaries and the result is Yorkshire's Flying Pickets, published by Wharncliffe Books.

What impressed Brian about the diaries was how honest and unflinching they are. "It is a totally honest account of what it was like to be with the front line pickets, no holds barred, a wonderful document," he says.

The diary is uncompromising, recounting with unflinching detail bloody events such as the battle for Orgreave.

"It wasn't long before heavy fighting broke out," Bruce's diary entry for May 29, 1984 reads. "We laid in wait to ambush the convoy of lorries... The scene could have been taken from the film Spartacus: all hell let loose. It rained bricks and stones. Windscreens were smashed again. We made our way back to the rest of the pickets on the lane and there was a line of police in front of us and plenty of 'Here we go, here we go.' Then it was Zulu. In the crush I went down on the ground. Shouts of 'are you taking any prisoners, Mr Simpson the number one policeman at Orgreave, were heard."

As well as the violence, however, the diary also recounts the hardship experienced by the miners' families and the comradeship that saw them through.

"Gay's mum sent us a food parcel, containing a few things that we could not otherwise afford," Bruce's entry for Christmas day 1984 reads.

"The kids did not do too bad as we took them on a round of Christmas parties... Gordon, one of my younger brothers, sent us a Christmas card but when I opened it he had sellotaped a tea bag inside! 'Have a drink on me!' was his motto. Any other time and we would have found it funny but it's a hard time for us... we hardly had any coal, we were burning old shoes, in fact anything that would give off a bit of heat and provide us with warm water."

Yorkshire's Flying Pickets is a first-hand account of what it was like to be caught up in one of the most significant social and political events in our recent past.

Another new book by Brian Elliott, this time published by Sutton, uses photographs to document a way of life that is fast disappearing.

Brian was given access to private collections and also the NUM archives to put together Yorkshire Miners, which features 250 photographs that chronicle the lives of miners. A series of remarkable pictures by photographer Jeff Poar reveal the cramped, dirty and claustrophobic conditions underground, and the tremendous comradeship that made them bearable.

Finally, while the Selby coalfield hasn't yet been consigned to history, it soon will be. To preserve the memory of the mines, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust has put together Up Sticks And A Job For Life: Voices From The Selby Coalfield. This features interviews with scores of people who worked on the coalfield - miners, pit deputies and managers among them - as well as their families, to provide an enduring record. A copy is being given free to every Selby miner but it will soon be available to buy as well.

Yorkshire's Flying Pickets, edited by Brian Elliott, is published by Wharncliffe Books (01226 734555) priced £9.99.

Yorkshire Miners, also by Brian Elliott, is published by Sutton, priced £11.99. Signed copies are available from the author, priced £11.99 plus £1.50 P&P, by writing to 12 Ash Dale Road, Warmsworth, Doncaster DN4 9NG.

Up Sticks And A Job For Life is published by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust and will be officially launched in April. To reserve a copy call the trust on 01709 760272.

Updated: 08:49 Wednesday, March 10, 2004