|
Post by rhonddalad on Sept 26, 2008 2:07:57 GMT -5
In Tony Benn's Diaries 2001-2007 entitled 'More Time For Politics' he describes attending the funeral of Betty Heathfield in Derbyshire, a lady very active in the miners' strike of 1984/85 and I believe the wife of Peter Heathfield General Secretary of the NUM Derbyshire, at the time of the strike.
Tony Benn gave a brief address. I quote ' I was told I had to be brief, so I said "Comrades" and described what an inspiration Betty had been. I talked about her work in the miners' strike and the lunacy of the Government's policy; I reminded them of the time Jimmy Nolan, the Liverpool docker had come to Chesterfield Labour Club (because the "Women Against Pit Closures" had inspired the "Women of the Waterfront") and had said "What is the difference between a terrorist and a Liverpool woman". And we were all shaking in our shoes, and he said, "You can negotiate with terrorists".
|
|
|
Post by erichall on Nov 25, 2010 7:42:03 GMT -5
Had a cousin who's husband and son both worked at Cortonwood Colliery, the closure of which sparked the start of the 84 strike. She kept her family going throughout the strike, joined women's support groups and was a tireless worker for the strike, fully supporting all the strike's aims. How did she keep her family going? She kept up her job cleaning at the local Area headquarters! She is still adamant that what she did was right, and that her job had no influence whatsoever on the strike.
|
|
|
Post by spanker on Oct 17, 2011 16:20:19 GMT -5
Eric did we ever meet you at Ireland colliery? Is this the same Eric that had blonde hair?
|
|
|
Post by spanker on Jan 15, 2012 15:12:58 GMT -5
We still have an active voice from the women of the coalfields, they have recently made their voices felt at the local cinema in Chesterfield, they made their presence felt at the first day showing of the Iron Lady. It made the local news and ran in the local papers, i remembered a few of the ladies from the picket lines and soup kitchens of the 84/85 srike,still as determined and still as rock solid. Ironically the cinema complex is built on another vast employer site of Chesterfield which was steel.
|
|