It began with the announcement of 20,000 job losses and the closure of twenty pits.
Mass strike action spread across the coalfields of Britain with the support of the National Union of Mineworkers and its President Arthur Scargill.

Angered by this the Tories seized the trade unions' funds and denied miners all state benefits and their wages.

The police were sent in to break up the picket lines which led to many violent clashes.

20,000 people injured or hospitalised
200 people served time in prison or custody
2 people killed on the picket line
3 died digging for coal during the winter
966 people were sacked for striking.

The worst hit of course were the families.

Many of the miners, the most fervent ones anyway, stayed out for a full year - living on union hand-outs and what jobs they could pick up on the side.

How would any wife and mother react to that?

"We are women, we are strong,
We are fighting for our lives
Side by side with our men
Who work the nation's mines,
United by the struggle,
United by the past,
And it's - Here we go! Here we go!
For the women of the working class."


WOMEN AGAINST PIT CLOSURES
20th Anniversary

INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATION
1st, 2nd & 3rd OCTOBER 2004

INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATION
Wortley Hall, South Yorkshire
Organised by National Women Against Pit Closures

Women from all round the world join together with WAPC
to celebrate women's contribtutions to class struggles
in the 20th century.

FOR MORE DETAILS INCLUDING A BOOKING FORM
CONTACT BRIDGET BELL ON BY E-MAIL:
 nwapc2003@yahoo.com

======================================


20th ANNIVERSARY
1984/85 MINERS'S STRIKE
CELEBRATIONS IN THE MINING COMMUNITIES

======================================

FRIDAY 5th MARCH 2004 - LONGANLEA, SCOTLAND
A NIGHT OF CELEBRATION
Loganlea Miners Welfare Club,
Loganlea, West Lothian, Scotland
A night of speakers, music, buffet and raffles. All proceeds from this charity night will be sent to the Miners Convalescent Home in Culross, Fife. Tickets priced at £5.00.

SPEAKERS:
Sacked Miner: Councillor Bobby Young
Former Scottish Area Executive member: Willie Clarke
Cath Cunningham,
(Fife Miners' Women's Action Group)
Music by "FIERY JACK"
For further information contact:
 Alanoneworld@aol.com

======================================

SATURDAY 6th MARCH 2004 - STOKE ON TRENT

A DAY OF CELEBRATION
POTTERIES MUSEUM & ART GALLERY
Bethesda Street, Hanley, Stoke on Trent

Organised by the North Staffs Miners Wives Action Group and featuring:

• Yvette Vanson's film 'Battle of Orgreave'
• with speaker Mike Mansfield QC (leading civil rights barrister)
• Banner Theatre's new show about the 84/85 Strike

PLUS INVITED SPEAKERS:
Arthur Scargill
Tony Benn
NUM General Secretary, Steve Kemp
Women Against Pit Closures (WAPC)

FOR MORE DETAILS CONTACT:
Brenda Procter at following e-mail:
 brenandphil@ntlworld.com

======================================

FRIDAY 12th MARCH 2004 - LOTHIANS

from 7.30 pm Friday 12th March 2004
MAYFIELDS LABOUR CLUB
Nr Dalkeith, Lothians, Scotland
Details to be announced

======================================

SATURDAY 20th MARCH 2004 - BARNSLEY

MEMORIAL DAY for DAVID JONES & JOE GREEN
at NUM Offices, Huddersfield Road, Barnsley
10.45am - 4pm

David Jones and Joe Green were two young miners killed on picket lines during the strike and this is an annual event held in their memory

10.45 am outside NUM Offices for wreath laying
Lecture and speakers to start at 11.00 am

starting with memorial lecture by
DENNIS SKINNER MP
Additional Speakers:
Ian Lavery (Chair, NUM)
Brenda Proctor (Chair, Women Against Pit Closures)
Meeting chaired by Steve Kemp, Gen Sec NUM

followed by a social at Barnsley Trades Club,
Racecommon Road, Barnsley

Organised by Justice for Mineworkers Campaign & NUM

For more details:
e-mail:  njmc84@yahoo.co.uk

======================================

SUNDAY 28th MARCH 2004 - SHEFFIED CITY HALL

RALLY FOR SOUTH YORKSHIRE NUJ
(and supported by the NUM)
"20 years after the Great Miners' Strike"
7.30 PM SHEFFIELD CITY HALL BALLROOM
(OPEN AT 6 PM FOR STALLHOLDERS TO SET UP)

SPEAKERS INCLUDE
Ken Capstick
Paul Foot
Ann Richards (Women Against Pit Closures)
Local Trades Unionist

This rally is being Organised by the South Yorkshire NUJ
and sponsors include Sheffield and District RMT, Yorkshire FBU

The Rally features a photographic exhibition plus stalls

The Rotherham Advertiser is producing a 24-page special
on the strike Friday, March 5.

======================================

FRIDAY 2ND APRIL 2004 WORKSOP TOWN HALL

WORKSOP & DISTRICT TRADES UNION COUNCIL
6.30 PM TO MIDNIGHT

Concert by Worksop Miners Welfare Band PLUS:

"Burning Issues" a new play produced and performed by the Banner Theatre Group. "Using drama, video, music and song, Burning Issues conveys the mixture of emotions and attitudes which the strike and the subsequent pit closure programme continue to evoke. It is a powerful and moving piece of multimedia theatre which brings this important struggle to life and recreates a story that many younger people will not know."

Guest Speakers including MPs, leading Trade Union officers, local councillors and a representative from the Women Against Pit Closures movement

DISCO/KARAOKE

BUFFET AND LATE BAR

Admission is £2 and will be STRICTLY by ticket only. Tickets are in short supply and are likely to go quickly.

For tickets contact:
George Bell 01909-484109; Phil Whitehead 07775566532; Mick McCusker 01909-486797; John Scott 01909-474322

[A similar event is planned at Whitwell Community Centre on Thursday 1st April 2004.]

======================================

SATURDAY 24th APRIL 2004 - MANSFIELD

organised by Notts Area NUM
A social evening of song, speakers and comradeship
For more details: Keith Stanley (Notts NUM) 01623-621611

======================================

SAT 1st MAY 2004 - YORKSHIRE AREA GALA . BARNSLEY

YORKSHIRE GALA IN LOCKE PARK, BARNSLEY
organised by the NUM Yorkshire Area
For more details: Steve Kemp 01226-215555 ext 555

======================================

SAT 5th JUNE 2004 - 20th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT SHEFFIELD

SHEFFIELD ARENA
Organised by the NUM
For more details: Steve Kemp 01226-215555 ext 555

======================================

SATURDAY 12th JUNE 2004 - ASHINGTON

NORTHUMBERLAND MINERS' PICNIC
Organised by the Northumberland NUM
For more details contact: (01670) 850374

======================================

SATURDAY 10th JULY 2004 - DURHAM GALA

DURHAM GALA Saturday 10th July 2004
Organised by the Durham NUM
For more details contact: (0191) 3843515/7

======================================

11 - 13 JULY 2004 - CONFERENCE ON THE MINERS' STRIKE

CONFERENCE ON THE MINERS' STRIKE
Northumbria University
For more details contact Anne Suddick
email:  Asuddick@aol.com

======================================

SAT 24th JULY 2004 'HERE WE GO AGAIN' - BARNSLEY

'HERE WE GO AGAIN'
Worsbrough, Barnsley, at the Miners Welfare Club
organised by Worsbrough History Society
For more details contact Ian Paisley:
e-mail  ian@syfab.org.uk

======================================

'HER WE GO AGAIN' IN FILM
The following film theatres are planning a season of
films celebrating the 84/85 Strike:

Sheffield Showroom Cinema, Paternoster Row, Sheffield
Contact Ian Wild on e-mail
 ian@showroom.org.uk

Stoke Film Theatre
Contact Brenda Prenda Procter on e-mail:
 brenandphil@ntlworld.com

Cambridge Independent Cinema
Contact e-mail:
 trish.s@picturehouses.co.uk

======================================

FROM MARCH 2004 - BANNER THEATRE PRESENT
BURNING ISSUES - THE MINERS 1984 - 2004

A new show to mark the twentieth anniversary of the 1984/5 Miners Strike.

Coal fed the furnaces of British industry for 150 years. At the same time, the men who won the coal from Britain’s coalfields became a beacon for justice and workers rights, not only in Britain but across the world. In 1984 Margaret Thatcher set out to extinguish that beacon, destroy the National Union of Mineworkers, along with pit communities from Scotland to Kent and, if necessary, the industry itself. The battle that ensued proved to be a pivotal moment in British history.

Burning Issues celebrates the miners’ heroic struggle and looks at what it tells us about Britain and British democracy in 2004. Through a combination of music and song, drama and film, Burning Issues allows the mining communities to tell their own stories in a powerful and moving show of anger, outrage, resilience and courage.

Touring from March 2004

Banner Theatre will be touring Burning Issues from 6 March until Easter 2004. The show will open in Stoke on Trent and then tour to mining community and other venues in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, Scotland, South Wales, Yorkshire and Kent. Confirmed bookings so far are:

Saturday, March 6: Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke on Trent: 1.45pm
For more details ring 01782 281240

Tuesday, March 9: Dewsbury Town Hall, DEWSBURY,
West Yorkshire: 7.30pm
(Sponsored by Kirklees Unison)
For more details ring 01484 511826

Thursday, March 11: Blackwood Miners Institute, BLACKWOOD,
South Wales: 7.30pm
For more details ring 01495 224425 / 227206

Friday, March 12: Greenside Social Club, RYTON, Tyne & Wear: 7.30pm
For more details ring 01207 545511

Saturday, March 13: Hetton Community Centre, HETTON-LE-HOLE,
Tyne & Wear: 7.30pm
Details to be confirmed

Thursday, March 18: Maerdy Community Centre, RHONDDA,
South Wales: 7.30pm
For more details ring 01443 733417

Friday, March 19: Ammanford Miners Theatre,AMMANFORD,
South Wales: 7.30pm
For more details ring 01269 595427

Thursday, March 25: Citadel Arts Centre, ST HELENS,
Lancs: 8.00pm
For more details ring 01744 735436

Friday, March 26: The Picket, Hardman Street, Liverpool: 8.00pm
(for the National Union of Journalists annual conference)

Thursday April 1: Whitwell Community Centre, WHITWELL,
North Notts: 7.30pm
For more details ring 01909 509447

Friday, April 2: Worksop Town Hall, WORKSOP,
North Notts: 7.30pm
For more details ring 01909 509447

Saturday, April 3: Selby Arts Centre, SELBY,
North Yorkshire: 7.30pm
For more details ring 01924 258202

Thursday, April 8: Hebden Bridge Trades Club, HEBDEN BRIDGE,
West Yorkshire: 7.30pm
For more details ring 01422 845265

Saturday, May 1: Yorkshire Miners Gala, Locke Park, BARNSLEY: 2.00pm
Details to be confirmed

More performances are being arranged. Please refer to the Banner Theatre website at www.bannertheatre.co.uk for further information.

You'll also need to check your local listings closer to the day for details.

For a performance, we need a hall or other venue with a ceiling height of 8’ 6”, a performance area measuring 15 feet by 15 feet, access to six 13 amp sockets and level access to the performance space (ie no stairs). We bring all our equipment, including set, PA, lighting, musical instruments, video and mixing desks. We also supply promotional leaflets and support to promote the show through the local and regional media.

The normal fee for a performance is £800.00, although we are prepared to negotiate on this amount where communities are unable to raise such a figure. We are keen that the show is seen by mining community audiences.

If you would like to book BURNING ISSUES please contact
Banner Theatre on 0121 682 0730 or via email at office:
 banner@blueyonder.co.uk and/or
 ian.gasse@poptel.org

You can find out more about Banner from our website:
www.bannertheatre.co.uk

The show has been supported by Arts Council North West, Arts Council West Midlands and Stoke City Council.

======================================

FROM MARCH 2004 - STRIKE BABIES' BABIES PRESENT
CORNBEEF AND MAGGIE

Strike Babies play called "Cornbeef and Maggie". This is being organised by Royston WAPC group in co-operation with their local school. The producer is Jo Kyle of 'Bridging The Gap' project and it will be touring throughout the anniversary year. More details available in January: Contact  catherinewilkinson2001@yahoo.com