thatcher and scargill

I remember New Years eve parties at Easington Welfare Hall, you could walk from the back of the hall to the dance floor and knew everyone you passed, great times..never to be repeated...

Every shop in the colliery was taken, 3 banks, motorist shops, clothes shops, etc, etc....now its half boarded up...:(


I left the pit and went to work at the Jewel in the Tories crown.....Nissan...:rolleyes:
Had to to go through 2 written tests, practical tests, and interviews and finally got a start, i worked there for 10 months on a temporary contract, then one friday i got a tap on the shoulder saying all the temps were getting finished...when, i said....today...the supervisor said... :mad:

I think every ex miner will agree, the hearts of our communities were ripped out....:mad:
 
Winton said:
Costs less to import the stuff these days the munes arnt cost effective in this country
Click to expand...

Utter crap. As Scargill said it was the economics of the madhouse. Every other country that mined coal at the time subsidised their coal industry, Thatcher decided to stop this. For starters think about the money spent on wages for the miners - 35% of that came straight back as tax and NI. The rest was spent in local communities, creating and maintaining jobs and livelihoods, creating more tax and NI and VAT for the exchequer. Now this money goes direct to the Australian, Polish, South African etc economies and we don't get a penny of it back. Do the proper cost benefit analysis and importing coal ends up costing us more money than our own subsidiesed industry would have

China is now a massive net importer of coal - it imported more coal than any other country in history in 2012. A lot of British coal was of high quality (anthracite) and could now be earning significant trade income if we still had a mining industry.

The miners strike was about one thing and one thing only - the destruction of the Trades Union movement. It had nothing to do with coal being economical or not and everything to do with destroying the NUM as a force of organised labour. The mines (and communities) were just collateral damage for which we are still paying the price 30 years later
 
write a book as safety man said,you could write a enc.....a however you spell it.couple little stories come to mind.1 remember one morning scab bus arrives half on it were just DUMBIES dressed up on it,WELL just as its about a MILKFLOAT had to give way,well that milkfloat contents {BOTTLES}all got emptied at bus.hehehe.2 remember one night on picket line started snowing,just on corner of road was a ballord.so we makes it into a copper + hat,out of snow.next thing you know while sitting in cabin BANG,go outside @ yes copper tried to run it over,smashing all frontend of panda car.hehehehe.them WERE the days.
 
write a book as safety man said,you could write a enc.....a however you spell it.couple little stories come to mind.1 remember one morning scab bus arrives half on it were just DUMBIES dressed up on it,WELL just as its about a MILKFLOAT had to give way,well that milkfloat contents {BOTTLES}all got emptied at bus.hehehe.2 remember one night on picket line started snowing,just on corner of road was a ballord.so we makes it into a copper + hat,out of snow.next thing you know while sitting in cabin BANG,go outside @ yes copper tried to run it over,smashing all frontend of panda car.hehehehe.them WERE the days.


remember number 2 I was there nearly got lifted for laffin
 
Just watched the ITV news, Easington was on, there are some nice places in my home village but they chose to show the worst views....and you know what...i'm pleased they did :exclam: But will it make a difference investment wise....not a hope in hell...:mad:
 
am pleased a started this thread, some great reply's and story's.

only today, a was in the allotment's with the old lad's and the story's and banter was first class.
a'v worked in factory's, engineering and ship yard's, but don't think the same banter and togetherness will ever be like it was with pitmen........!

cheer's lads
davey
 
What a lot of people don't realise is that the government are still screwing the miners by taking millions from our pension fund every year.
 
wavy davy said:
What a lot of people don't realise is that the government are still screwing the miners by taking millions from our pension fund every year.
Click to expand...

Good point, and yes its a good thread Davey, allotments were a great place to get together, leeks, pidgeons, the miners retreat...:) Me dad had one for years, he built a shed out of old bricks back in 1962 his allotment overlooking the pit and its still in the allotment today, every time i see it it brings back memories, not all good ones though, when he sold it he left my sledge in it..:(:D
 
Stewart 1971 said:
Utter crap. As Scargill said it was the economics of the madhouse. Every other country that mined coal at the time subsidised their coal industry, Thatcher decided to stop this. For starters think about the money spent on wages for the miners - 35% of that came straight back as tax and NI. The rest was spent in local communities, creating and maintaining jobs and livelihoods, creating more tax and NI and VAT for the exchequer. Now this money goes direct to the Australian, Polish, South African etc economies and we don't get a penny of it back. Do the proper cost benefit analysis and importing coal ends up costing us more money than our own subsidiesed industry would have

China is now a massive net importer of coal - it imported more coal than any other country in history in 2012. A lot of British coal was of high quality (anthracite) and could now be earning significant trade income if we still had a mining industry.

The miners strike was about one thing and one thing only - the destruction of the Trades Union movement. It had nothing to do with coal being economical or not and everything to do with destroying the NUM as a force of organised labour. The mines (and communities) were just collateral damage for which we are still paying the price 30 years later
Click to expand...

agree on all that you have said there and with what came out recently that proved scargill was right and maggie was a liar, just wonder if that memo was ever leaked to a certain few?
ha!! i did think i had posted a lot longer reply to your post but obviously i hit something i should'nt have doh!!
 
How mad are you lot? It's a shame the pits were closed I agree a lot of my relatives were down the mines including my brother. You really think thatcher closed the mines for pleasure? No it was the fact having the mines open was costing the government millions of pounds a year to subsidise it that's why. And the main factor was the pit mans hero scar gill demanding more money and he though he was bigger than the government he forced the government to look else were once he called a strike. But all this tosh about thatcher closing the mines is exactly that tosh. I wonder how much scar gill got a week while all the lads were on the front line with no wages because I know that tosser was still getting paid.
 
Topcast said:
How mad are you lot? It's a shame the pits were closed I agree a lot of my relatives were down the mines including my brother. You really think thatcher closed the mines for pleasure? No it was the fact having the mines open was costing the government millions of pounds a year to subsidise it that's why. And the main factor was the pit mans hero scar gill demanding more money and he though he was bigger than the government he forced the government to look else were once he called a strike. But all this tosh about thatcher closing the mines is exactly that tosh. I wonder how much scar gill got a week while all the lads were on the front line with no wages because I know that tosser was still getting paid.
Click to expand...

Topcast having lived through the politics of that era let me tell you I think you are misguided in your views about why the mines were closed. As those who have posted have already said most countries subsidise (even to this day) their mining industries because it is so expensive to develop areas where coal and other minerals can found.

Scargill was not the pitman’s hero as you said although was revered by many. As I said in a previous post I did not like the man for the way he got the miners out on strike and the timing of the strike. He was never my hero.

What closing the coal mines was all about was choice of fuel for the power generation industry. The government was faced with a choice of either continuing with coal to fire power stations or look at cheaper short term solutions. The government could have gone through a programme of de-sulphurisation at the power stations which meant they could continue to burn coal but cause less pollution to the environment. Instead they chose to go with natural gas and nuclear generated energy.

If you look at that legacy today, the very same tory government is in power, natural gas is running out and they still haven’t got nuclear as a viable alternative as they won’t spend the money to build the power stations.

Closing the coal mines was probably inevitable as there was already a programme in place to close the least viable mines and between 10 – 30 mines were always closed annually. It was the manner in which they were closed and the speed which shocked the working people of the day. Imagine closing every car plant in the UK and all the jobs associated with the plant over such a short period and seeing all of the devastation that would cause to families and communities
 
I take your point they are valid however to blame thatcher for closing the mines is miss guided it was not a quick process there was a year long strike was that not a contributing factor in it and also the pay demands of the greedy?. Yes other countries are possibly funded but not to the degree that our were. Also the people working in the mines in other country are on pennies compared to the British miners. So you can't compare other countries to ours I'm regards of cost. Possible there mines are still running because they didn't have scargill helping the course. The same man is still living in his goverment paid rented 1.5 million pound house. He was only doing what was best for him
 
Topcast said:
I take your point they are valid however to blame thatcher for closing the mines is miss guided it was not a quick process there was a year long strike was that not a contributing factor in it and also the pay demands of the greedy?. Yes other countries are possibly funded but not to the degree that our were. Also the people working in the mines in other country are on pennies compared to the British miners. So you can't compare other countries to ours I'm regards of cost. Possible there mines are still running because they didn't have scargill helping the course. The same man is still living in his goverment paid rented 1.5 million pound house. He was only doing what was best for him
Click to expand...

thatcher closed the mines , the shipyards , steel works, heavy industries , because of her hatred towards the unions and working class simple to understand , unless your a torrie
 
cod magnet said:
thatcher closed the mines , the shipyards , steel works, heavy industries , because of her hatred towards the unions and working class simple to understand , unless your a torrie
Click to expand...

And didn't the last government admit allowing 5 million more into the country to rub the noses of the 'right' into it....much to the detriment of the rest of the country who have seen their wages cut to try and compete, also impacting on jobs, housing and services?
 
cod magnet said:
thatcher closed the mines , the shipyards , steel works, heavy industries , because of her hatred towards the unions and working class simple to understand , unless your a torrie
Click to expand...

Rubbish the unions spoiled more thingts than they made good more pay great more holiday great oh wait we cant afford to pay all these peoples wages right strike is the answer most closed as the world became cheaper the british worker thought we deserved to be paid more than anyone else doing ther same job in the rest of the world
 
cod magnet said:
thatcher closed the mines , the shipyards , steel works, heavy industries , because of her hatred towards the unions and working class simple to understand , unless your a torrie
Click to expand...

i take it your pro labour? what have they done for the working class man?allow more debt allowing 120% mortgages that has caused the market crash?well done mr labour
 

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