Overview

A unique perspective on the 1984 85 UK Miners' Strike from a husband-and-wife team who reported on it in person at the time. Press photographer Williams' striking images and journalist Powell's text give an in-depth look at life in the South Wales Coalfield before and after this momentous period. -- Books Council of Wales

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9781800995031

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This volume is published to mark forty years since the beginning of the miners' strike in 1984, and conveys with clarity and emotion 'the story of defiance and solidarity against the odds' before, during and in the aftermath of the strike. All those interested in the recent social, industrial and communal history of south Wales will value this volume where the human interest is immense, and many familiar names appear here too. The lasting hardship, deep-rooted sense of solidarity and conflict so apparent during those months come through strongly in this volume. A series of evocative black and white photographs taken by journalist and editor Richard Williams (now a freelance press photographer) are supported by a well-researched and well-written text by his wife, press journalist and television editor Amanda Powell. Every so often there are concise passages in blocks called 'Richard's reflections' on the course of events. From the poignant final years of the industry to the upheaval caused by open-cast mining, Richard Williams's photographs paint a vivid picture, revealing the profound impact on livelihoods and communities. Throughout, the text is notably fair-minded to both the Thatcher government and the belligerent striking miners. Amongst the themes described in this study, which spans the period November 1981 to July 1985, are the tensions and clashes which led to the strike, the events during those months and its effects, both short term and lasting. Most of the events depicted took place in the Ogmore, Garw and Llyfni valleys, and the most prominent pits depicted here are Garw/Ffaldau colliery, Blaengarw, the Wyndham and Western Collieries, Nantymoel, and the Coegnant colliery and Maesteg washery, Maesteg. Many of the activists involved who were captured by the camera of Richard Williams during 1984-85 have been interviewed for the purpose of this study, and they are asked pointedly whether they would be prepared to repeat these experiences today. The overarching theme which comes through potently in this volume is that of a resolute extreme right-wing Conservative government, determined, through the agency of Ian McGregor, to close large numbers of coal mines (allegedly uneconomic in the view of the uncompromising Thatcher government), pitted against proud communities desperately fighting to protect their jobs and, by implication, their communities and their welfare, knowing full well that mass unemployment and economic dislocation would be the inevitable outcome. Following the failure of the strike, there was an inevitable deep-rooted sense of disappointment and frustration that the coal industry was being wound up in south Wales, as elsewhere. The implications of the strike were immense. Proud families were compelled to rely on the resources of food kitchens and freely distributed food parcels, and there were hardly any new clothes or treats for the children. Also, fewer state benefits, as a result of the enactments of the government, were available to them than to the striking miners of the 1970s. Other themes which are apparent in the volume include the prominent role of the women who campaigned with extraordinary vigour, raised funds, some later in their subsequent careers embracing political activism with gusto. Especially compelling in this context is the account of Margaret Thatcher's address to the Welsh Conservative Party Conference in Porthcawl, June 1984, when the strike was well underway, an event which provoked a fierce reaction which was well-publicized throughout the world. The accounts of the subsequent careers of some of the principal actors in this compelling story is particularly interesting, and a useful glossary of some of the more technical terms in the volume is included. Congratulations to the Lolfa for this well-produced volume. -- J. Graham Jones @ www.gwales.com

Author Information

Richard Williams grew up amongst the communities of the South Wales Coalfield. In a 35-year-career at one of the UK's major news organizations, which saw him photographing presidents, prime ministers and celebrities, he became a staff photographer and picture editor for the Western Mail newspaper. Award-winning writer Amanda Powell started as a print reporter at the Glamorgan Gazette and the South Wales Argus, later spending three decades as a journalist, producer and editor at BBC Cymru Wales, finishing as Editor of the news and then sport websites. She then returned to her roots in print, as a feature writer for the Western Mail Saturday Magazine.

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