It was the most divisive conflict in a generation. 40 years ago nearly 170,000 coal miners went on strike. For a year, miners and their families were pitted against the government. And against each other. Miners’ Strike: A Frontline Story, captions, BBC 2024
40 years on the feelings are still as strong in me. ibid. miner
Our livelihood and who we are was being destroyed. ibid.
All Yorkshire miners go on strike to try and stop the closures. The NUM leadership calls for every miner in Britain to join them. ibid. caption
Though some Nottinghamshire miners decide to join the strike, the majority continue to work. ibid. caption
We were being used. ibid. rozzer
Orgreave: The miners are met by 6,000 police officers equipped with riot gear, dogs and horses. ibid.
An item of news which I think you’ll find interesting. Next month Prince Charles will be making a two-day visit to this area … This colliery has been chosen for an official visit. Play for Today: The Price of Coal I: Meet the People, board meeting, BBC 1977
He [boss] wants some flowers and some decoration in front of the office. ibid. supervisor to young painters
We’ve got to stop sucking up to these buggers. ibid. miner
Miner: There’s been an explosion on 15s!
Above ground: Message received and understood. Play for Today: The Price of Coal II: Back to Reality, explosion in pit
There’s been an accident and we’ve all got to come home. ibid. son to mum, dad missing
It makes you wonder what it’s all for sometimes. ibid. wife of miner
Orgreave Coking Plant, Yorkshire, 18th June 1984, Day 104 of the Strike: It was a beautiful morning. Not a cloud int’ sky. I can remember birds singing. Strike: An Uncivil War ***** comment, Netflix 2024
All the police guiding you in. Never seen this before. Because normally they’d stop you on the motorway and make you walk six, seven miles. ibid.
This was the arena of violence. They had set it up. Otherwise, they would never have let us in. ibid.
The miners’ strike of 72 and 74 were about wages … All the miners in the country came out on strike. ibid.
Mrs Thatcher is determined she is going to break the monopoly power of the trade unions. ibid.
Margaret Thatcher is preparing herself for what she knows will inevitably be a confrontation. ibid.
Behind the scenes they were creating a paramilitary police force. ibid.
The Government lies. And here is the document to prove it. ibid.
Mr McGregor had it in mind of the three years 1983/85 that a further 75 pits would be closed. ibid. Government document in national archives
It were about them beating you up. ibid. miner
For the first time in this country you see the use of the short shield and the baton, all straight out of the manual. ibid. comment
They had absolute permission to do whatever they wanted that morning. ibid. miner
By mid-morning the picketing had turned to rioting. ibid. TV news
It destroyed communities. ibid. miner
Behind those closed doors there’s been awful lot of suffering. ibid.
And they could do anything they wanted. ibid.
A few days after the miners marched back to work, the Home Office hosted a party with senior police officers and civil servants to celebrate the end of the strike. The guest of honour was Margaret Thatcher. ibid. caption
In 2016 the Conservative government ruled out an Inquiry into policing at Orgreave. 40 years on, the miners continue their search for answers. ibid.