Look Back in Anger: The Miners' Strike in Nottinghamshire 30 Years on

284 Pages·2014·2.2 MB·English

by  Harry Paterson

Look Back In Anger
The Miners’ Strike in Nottinghamshire
— 30 Years On
Look Back in Anger:
The Miners’ Strike in Nottinghamshire — 30 years on
by Harry Paterson
Printed version published in 2014
This ebook version published in 2015
by Five Leaves Publications,
PO Box 8786, Nottingham NG1 9AW
www.fiveleaves.co.uk
Copyright © Harry Paterson, 2014, 2015
ISBN: 9781910170106
Table of Contents
Preface to the eBook edition
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1: The Story of the Blues
Chapter 1: Back to the Future
Chapter 2: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Chapter 3: Anarchy in the UK
Part 2: Fields of Fire
Chapter 4: Mac the Knife
Chapter 5: Two Tribes
Chapter 6: Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves
Chapter 6: Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves
Chapter 7: Cruel Summer
Chapter 8: State of Shock
Chapter 9: Wrapped Around Your Finger
Chapter 10: Almost Paradise
Chapter 11: Hammer to Fall
Chapter 12: Do They Know It's Christmas
Chapter 13: Everybody Wants To Rule the World
Chapter 14: We Built This City
Chapter 15: A View To a Kill
Chapter 16: Don’t You (Forget About Me)
Chapter 17: Wake’s Wake
Nottinghamshire Collieries
Afterword
Abbreviations
Endnotes
Preface to the eBook edition
Sun Tzu, a man who knew a thing or two about conflict, once said that if you
wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by. If time is
a river then Nottinghamshire’s tiny band of miners’ strike veterans – fewer than
2000 from a 32,000-strong workforce in 1984, fewer now – waited patiently for
thirty years.
On January 3rd 2014, Cabinet Office documents pertaining to the strike were
released to the National Archive. Finally the bodies started floating by. First in
ones and twos and then in a deluge as the truth finally emerged; a truth that is
examined in detail in the following pages.
The miners’ strike is without precedent. Among many aspects that marked out
the dispute as entirely different from any other industrial struggle that preceded
it, were the sheer tenacity, bravery and commitment displayed by its participants.
One Hucknall miner spoke to me of the moment he nearly caved in and went
back to work. “It were November and just about everything in the house had
been sold to keep the debts manageable or to buy food, or burned to keep us
warm. I didn’t have any furniture left downstairs apart from a couple of kitchen
chairs and a table. Me front room just had a couple of orange crates and I were
sat on one chucking shoes onto the fire to warm the house up for the kids coming
in from school. The stink were bloody horrible. Leather and plastic and that
didn’t burn that well but it were all we had. For some reason folks seemed to
think we were desperate for footwear so they sent all sorts and we had piles of
the things. I were burning the shoes and I thought, ‘Why am I putting me kids
through this?’ I just burst into tears. I were cracking and were going to go back
to work. But we were doing all this for our kids in the first place! We knew the
sort of future they’d have if Thatcher won, so I gen me sen a shake and just gor
on wi’ it.”
It is in no way an exaggeration to point, also, to the miners’ strike as the moment
when policing in Britain underwent a change of epoch-shaping proportions. It
was the end of one style of policing in the UK and the start of another. While
corruption runs like a foetid stream between the two decades, linking the 70s and
the 80s, it was Britain’s most turbulent industrial dispute that saw policing
change to an overtly political function. Since the strike, politically motivated
police abuse of power and deep-rooted corruption are now commonplace.
Orgeave, Hillsborough, the Stephen Lawrence scandal and the use of undercover
officers to infiltrate ‘subversive’ environmental groups – even sleeping with
activists and fathering their children – has led to widespread revulsion and
distrust of the police in many parts of the UK.
When the strike was over and the breakaway Union of Democratic Mineworkers
emerged, key Notts Working Miners’ Committee members provided its nucleus.
UDM leader Roy Lynk was awarded an OBE for ‘services to trade unionism’
and after paving the way for mass pit closures and privatisation, he and
Nottinghamshire’s former strike-breakers settled in for the long period of
prosperity and security promised them by a grateful establishment. To their fury,
they too were betrayed as Nottinghamshire’s pits were closed. In contrast to the
promises lavished upon them during the strike.
Today the UDM is a husk, with barely 300 members and its former President,
Lynk’s successor, Neil Greatrex, is an acute embarrassment to his former
organisation. The former UDM chief had had his fingers in his Union’s till and
was convicted on 3rd April 2012, of fourteen counts of theft.
The legacy of Nottinghamshire’s working miners is one of greed, cowardice and
treachery. Little wonder that that legacy should culminate in theft, fraud and
outright corruption. And the complete destruction of an entire – and once mighty
– industry.
***
Like many of my generation, the miners’ strike was my political baptism. I was
seventeen when it started and the miners went back to work on my eighteenth
birthday. It’s a story I’ve wanted to write for a long time and I was well placed to
write it. Since moving from Scotland in 1978 I’ve lived in Nottingham ever
since and as well as my father having been a miner, I married into a
Nottinghamshire mining family. Dozens of friends, relatives and acquaintances
were strikers or active in one or other of the strike support groups that flourished
during the battle. Their experiences were truly remarkable and having first-hand
access to those stories was both a privilege and a writer’s dream come true.
Since the first edition of the book, which came out on March 1st of this year,
I’ve been humbled and genuinely stunned at its reception. Emails from dozens of
readers indicate that the book struck a definite chord. This is a delight, of course.
The promotional activities in support of the book took me all over the UK and I
met many people who took this story to their hearts. To know that something
you’ve written has touched so many people, so deeply, is meat and drink to a
writer. Especially when such feedback comes from the very people who feature
in the book. One encounter that moved me deeply came from a former striking
miner’s wife. At the end of a signing in Waterstones, she approached me and,
with tears in her eyes, asked me to sign her copy. She then went on to say that
despite knowing pretty much every detail of the events I recounted – after all,
this woman had lived something about which I’d merely written – she found the
book so gripping she was rooting for the strikers all the way through and was
heartbroken at the end. Despite knowing, of course, exactly how the story ended!
I confess I was deeply moved by her reaction (the very same reaction was
shared, incidentally, by the editor of Nottingham Live). This new edition, then,
affords me the opportunity of, once again, expressing my admiration and
gratitude to the men and women who fought the miners’ strike. They are my
family, my friends and my people.
While Look Back in Anger is – you will have guessed by now – an unashamedly
pro-strike account, the research has been scrupulous, painstaking and wide-
ranging. Critics may well disagree with my conclusions but attacking the
narrative on grounds of factual accuracy will require a brave or foolhardy
character.
I’m delighted to have the opportunity to make some additions to the original text
and this ebook edition contains material that, for one reason or another, wasn’t or
couldn’t be included in the two print editions. Chief among these is Dave Potts’
story. Dave, like tens of thousands of striking miners, suffered grievously during
the strike and for a long time afterwards and a vengeful establishment ensured he
paid a heavy price for his class loyalty. Frustratingly, Dave and I only managed
to hook up as the second edition was going to print and we simply didn’t have
time to include his experiences. I’m more pleased than you could imagine to be
correcting that omission here.
There is also a list of abbreviations (accessed through the table of contents)
which did not feature in the earlier editions. I do read the feedback we receive,
as does Five Leaves, my publisher, and this was something that cropped up in
several messages from readers. So, for those of you reading the electronic
version, you will be spared having to Google ‘ACAS’ ‘NACODS’ ‘BACM’ and
the rest.
I must mention Henry Richardson. If you know anything of the strike and the
miners, you’ll know his name and I need say no more. If you don’t know Henry
then this book should tell you all you need to know regarding the character and
moral courage of the man. I first met Henry thirty years ago during the white
heat of the strike in Nottinghamshire. More recently he has been invaluable in
indulging my incessant questions in my search for the utmost detail and accuracy
regarding the striking miners’ herculean struggle in the County.
I am proud to count Henry among my friends and I am delighted that he has
written a personal introduction to this edition. I am sure you will agree that the
thoughts of those directly involved are worth any amount of academic studies by
establishment scholars. The history of the working class should be recorded by
the working class and there are few as qualified as Henry Richardson.
Finally, I would like to dedicate this edition to my beloved granddaughter, Fae
Iris Paterson, who arrived just a few months after publication and ensured the
release of this book would be only the second best thing that happened to me this
year. I hope Fae, eventually, and you – will enjoy reading Look Back in Anger as
much as I enjoyed writing it.
Slàinte mhath,
H.P.
Nottingham, September 2014
Acknowledgments
The first thing I learned when starting to write this book, is that it wouldn’t be
written alone. My name might be the only one on the cover but it really is a team
effort. Look Back in Anger probably wouldn’t have appeared at all without the
input of others. The reader will, hopefully, indulge me for a moment while I pay
tribute to some individuals without whom there would be no book.
Firstly, my deepest gratitude is extended to my father, James Stewart Paterson.
Confronted by a rebel child, determined not to learn to read simply because ‘The
Auld Yin’ insisted he would, he eventually raised a son with a deep and abiding
love of books and for language. Throughout my career he has been not only my
staunchest supporter and critic but also my unofficial editor. A supremely
intelligent man, with a traditional classical education behind him (a rarity, in
those days, for a working class lad from a poverty-blighted family in Alloa), The
Auld Yin is, rarely wrong on matters of grammar, syntax, spelling and
punctuation. His observations, comments and critiques have been invaluable at
every stage of my career and so it has proved here too. Thanks, Dad.
Mick Wall is one of the world’s most respected and successful authors,
journalists and broadcasters in the field of contemporary music, Mick’s
friendship, mentoring and practical advice sustained me in the darker moments
when confidence was low and doubt set in. Mick also gave me my first real
break in my day job; that of music journalist and from there everything else
flowed. After thirty-five years at the literary coalface no one knows better than
Mick, and I got his accumulated wisdom, knowledge and experience gratis.
Sincerely and fraternally, brother.
Few have a deeper knowledge of just about every aspect of the miners’ titanic
struggle than former NUM official, author, social historian and activist, Dave
Douglass. Widely known throughout the labour and trade union movement,
Dave was right in the thick of events during the year we’ll never forget. His
strength was in his ability to deliver insight and analysis regarding the decision-
making process of the NUM leadership, the areas where that differed from the
views of the wider membership, those aspects of the dispute most commonly
misrepresented in the dozens of accounts since and perspective from outside
Nottinghamshire.
As an author with several titles to his name and some forty-odd years in the
industry and the NUM behind him, you’d expect the man to have picked up a
thing or two and so he has. I’ve leaned on Dave’s own published work for some
parts of the book that are not directly concerned with Nottinghamshire. Where
there might be errors, they are mine. Where there are none, thank Dave.
Dave’s opposite number, you might say, David Amos, deserves a mention, too.
Doctor Amos, as he subsequently became on leaving the pit, is a rarity, as I soon
discovered; a former strike-breaker prepared to defend his position and go on the
record. In addition, he provided access to and copies of important documents
from his private archive, all of which have, I believe, lent richness and depth to
the text.
Ross Bradshaw, my editor at Five Leaves, is probably the bluntest and most
witheringly honest man I’ve encountered in my career thus far (with the possible
exception of Classic Rock magazine’s Senior Features Editor, Dave Everely; hi,
Dave). From savaging my first efforts with a finely-honed blend of genuine wit
and excoriating scorn, Ross has, nevertheless, been a true believer. He believed
in the book, he believed in me and, thanks to him, what you now hold in your
hands is infinitely better than it ever would have been had I been left to my own
devices. ‘Lenin does Mills and Boon’ indeed, Ross. Thanks for everything, pal.
Let’s do it again sometime.
SheWhoIsNeverWrong, my wife, Sue Paterson; miner’s daughter and child-
veteran of the Great Strike herself. As well as not killing me during a year in
which I left a trail of papers, documents and books all over the house so that, at
any time, I could lay my hands on whatever I might need, she has cheerfully
shouldered the burden of running every aspect of our lives and those of our kids.
Sue also provided the excellent photo of Bestwood headstocks which formed the
basis of the cover artwork by Pippa Hennessy of Five Leaves.
It’s often been suggested by Sue that I’m not the easiest of people with whom to
live. Those who know me will, I’m sure, share my astonishment on learning this.
Despite that, Sue has ensured, often at great personal inconvenience, that I’ve
always had the time to do what I needed to do to meet the deadline. Managing
all this with a debilitating illness as well is an act of humbling selflessness.
My most heartfelt thanks must be extended to Henry Richardson, Ray Chadburn,
Keith Stanley, Bob Collier, Kevin Parkin, Michael Hogg, Brian Walker, Eric
Eaton and Jimmy MacDowall as well as to the many other former miners who
gave generously of their time but wished to remain anonymous. These men,
more than any others, have made the book, for better or worse, what it is.
Thanks must go to Notts NUM Ex-and Retired Miners’ Association, the NUM
both in Nottinghamshire and nationally, former members and officials of the
Communist Party, Labour Party, Socialist Labour Party, National Coal Board and
TUC.
Let the record also show my gratitude to the following; James Reeve for the loan
of various research materials; journalist, author, recovering Trot and,
stylistically, one of my biggest influences, my good friend David Osler; the
incomparable Seumas Milne, something of a journalistic hero of mine; my boss
at Bass Guitar Magazine, Joel McIver, for his interest and encouragement; Paul
Mason; artist and cartoonist, John ‘Brick’ Clarke; former NCB official, Brian
Evangelista; Jim Aspinall; Louise McDaid; Ken Capstick; Mel Hepworth;
Nobby Lawton; Sam Metcalf; widow of Gordon and sister-in-law of Dennis,
Helen Skinner and all the contributors to the excellent Facebook page, 30th
Anniversary of the Miners’ Strike.
I suppose I ought to mention the members of The Order of The Jack; a noble
fraternity which meets bimonthly to consume Jack Daniels and fine Indian
cuisine. Neil Cross, Phil Meynell and Gavin Fowkes, members of that illustrious
Order, have actually been of no help whatsoever. Indeed their continual and
merciless ribbing might even be described as a hindrance. They did, however,
provide light relief and a distraction when the going got tough so, er, thanks,
brothers.
Finally, thanks to all those who follow my work in the various publications for
which I write and who emailed to express interest, support and encouragement
and to all my friends on Facebook who did so much to promote the book and
spread the word. I was touched by your kindness and remain so.
Look Back in Anger: the Miners’ Strike in Nottinghamshire – 30 Years On is
dedicated to the memory of Maurice ‘Mog’ Wake and Iris Wake. ‘Loyal to The
Last’, may they both rest in peace.