The miners strike 1984

Anniebach - just to be clear, neither I, nor my father's colleagues, were excusing the behaviour of some of the police during the miner's strike.

Thank you for the info about the programme Roseannie I watched it last night on iplayer. It brought back so many memories and made me cry. Not least because I could hear my mother's voice in those South Yorkshire accents, but also because it was heartbreaking to see how scarred those areas still are. I'm afraid I had little sympathy for the scabs they interviewed. I might have had more sympathy had they interviewed anyone who had gone back for reasons of hardship over and above that which all the other families were suffering, but that didn't come across. It's hard wired that you don't cross a picket line, they must have grown up with that so I don't understand how they can now say it's time to move on. Those communities can never move on.

Agree nightowl. I worked in a former mining community in the north west for many years. The community spirit was still there in the older generation, but the younger people had no work, no fight left in them, and drug/alcohol abuse was high. The result of this was that many grandparents found themselves full time carers for grandchildren. Alongside this, they'd be continuing to try and support their adult children, with all the stress that goes with that.
Reflecting on my work there has made me feel angry again, about the way in which once proud mining communities were slashed and burned. It was clear that if the mines closed, communities would suffer, local business would collapse as their customers were reduced to claiming benefits. Grandparents in their 60's and on benefits, no work prospects, and caring for young grandchildren. That is one of the consequences of closing the pits, especially without ensuring the development of other employment opportunities.