Strike84 Images from the 1984 Miners Strike UK (Short Version).

In 1984 I spent 12 months photographing the Miners' Strike in the UK. The dispute started when the Conservative government, led by Margaret Thatcher, announced the closure of Cortonwood Colliery in Yorkshire. This was to be the first of 20 pit closures with the loss of 20,000 jobs. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) responded by calling for a national strike.

Twenty years later in 2004, I revisited some of the mining communities that I had originally photographed. This resulted in a touring exhibition called 'Strike84'. The whole experience has been an uplifting one but tinged with sadness. It was good to see old friends again but at the same time, sad to see what has happened to these once proud communities.

Images and editing: Martin Shakeshaft
Music: Dave Bowmer

More Images can be seen at www.strike84.co.uk

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• www.docphot.org
• miners
• strike
• 1984
• uk
• thatcher
• scargill

[yorvik21]

still having a party , when THATCHER dies

[bolloxinator]

@dhelmo The scrounging is going on at the top of the food chain mate, not the bottom. Corporations dodging taxes to the tune of around 7 billion a year, bankers getting bailed out for greed and mismanagement and still giving themselves multimillion bonuses while we get a VAT hike, unaffordable energy prices now the tories have taken the leash off, and billionaires squirreling money into offshore accounts to dodge tax.

Look upward, not down. The tories created the so-called benefits trap.

[pezz12345]

@petehall1985 The human side of things don't matter to a tory mate. It's all about "growth" and fucking figures to them. They say Thatcher left the economy "healthy" but I don't know who for. Not for us who lost our jobs, when they floggedoff or shut down all our industries. The money those yuppies and city slickers spent on cocaine and prositutes came from those selloffs, the price was paid by us and our communities.

[WiseEarthMan]

@bolloxinator Its not about political parties as you well know there are only 2 in contention all the time in most western societies.They are one and the same working for the Banking Elite....Its made to look like Democracy..Prime example Obama and his false promises..They tell you what you want to hear until you suffer and then..its too late

[London2272]

@aeronuk1 Yeh but the it was this bastard Thatcher and her tories that fucked british industry, so they get that extra special heartfelt and deserved hatred.

[rodfavra123]

@yorvik21 im coming to that party!

[dhelmo]

all you spoon fed/dole scrongers dont know what we went through to bring our familys up, and what are you paying to heat your homes up now eh.

Thatcher is a twat full stop, the ira had the right idea back in 1994

[aeronuk1]

All you people attacking Thatcher and the Tories let off the real enemy, the Globalist financiers pulling the strings in both main parties. Their long term aim has always been to de-industrialize and hollow out the UK..it doesn't matter which puppets they use to do their dirty work., Thatcher, Blair, Cameron..the big decision makers are the faceless money men.

[julie95779]

i remember 1984 as if it was yesterday it was a time when nobody any thing but we stood together. It was wright to fight for our mines

[petehall1985]

just a curious thought but what was the cost of runing the pits and redundancies, i doubt it was 350k a day surly downsizing the operation slowly allowing for voluntary redundancy, retirements and no new staffing whilst setting up new industry over say 3-5years would have been better. the young people who would have traditionally started down the mines do apprenticeships and a slow evolution takes place rather than a mass slaughter?