'We were the vanguard of the trade union movement, and we'd got to be eliminated.' Read more
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1. Coal Dust in Our Veins
'We were the vanguard of the trade union movement, and we'd got to be eliminated.'
2. 'Scabs'
'You had to run the gauntlet and I were covered in spit and all sorts.'
3. Arthur and Maggie
'We'd been beaten by militancy before. We were not going to be beaten again.'
4. Flying Pickets
'I'm not saying I'm proud of what I did, but I reverted to guerrilla warfare.'
5. Women against Pit Closures
'Oh, are you a feminist now?' 'No, I'm an ordinary housewife with a brain.'
6. Policing Pickets
"I weren't right happy. I mean, they threw bottles and stuff and bricks at us."
7. Battle-Weary
"He fetched truncheon down on the lad's top of his head. He went, whack! It haunts you."
8. Defeat
"I were put in the lowest rated job, in the isolated part of the pit. We were victimised."
9. An Era Ends
'It was one of the most awful decisions I had to make. But there was no other choice.'
10. Legacy
'Some of the mindset from the past is gone. It's smaller - my family comes first.'