THE DAY THEY SHUT THE PIT 1984

[@michaelsteele9782]

I was at the pit gates one morning u couldnt see the rd .must of been 15000 mines their i was seat in the bus stop roof was only 14 years old .i will never forget get this .i lived on staveley st and recall mines fight with police and running battles .each day . It was a hard place to grow up was edlo in them day and it even worse now .i moved out of staveley st in 2000.sold everything i had and moved to Australia with just a suitcase and three kids .

[@AngloSaxon449]

I've heard coal is now £35 a bag and rising, get them pits open and let's start mining again

[@oleggorky906]

You won’t even be able to legally purchase it to burn at home soon. From the 1st of May, this year, it will be illegal.

[@AngloSaxon449]

@@oleggorky906 what the government dont know wont hurt them😁🤫

[@oleggorky906]

@@AngloSaxon449 I know what tha means, fella! I’ve no doubt that some people in rural areas will probably still have some stocked and will continue to burn it (though they risk a big fine, if caught).

[@AngloSaxon449]

@@oleggorky906 did you know that any laws that the government try to enforce require the consent of the governed in order to become law?, that part of our English constitution. Look up the English constitution party for more information on your rights 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@oleggorky906]

@@AngloSaxon449 Yes, I did hear some of the Sovereign and Common Law arguments a few years ago. The trouble with that though is that people went to jail for taking a stand on some issues, so it won’t work on everything because , they - the government - argue that they have the right to pass Acts and Statutes. I don’t profess to know a whole lot about it, but I wasn’t convinced by some of the arguments that people involved in the FMotL movement were putting forward, like John Harris. It was confusing and seemed to rest on archaic interpretations of language and linguistic gymnastics. It was a bit much for me and really hard to understand (or ‘stand under’!) if I am honest. That being said though, when a council official tried to fine me some years ago in Barnsley for ‘littering’ after I had been sat on a wall on a warm spring day, having forgotten to pick up my can of pop when I got up to move on, I just told him “No contract” when he tried to badger me into giving my name and address. He then told me that he was going to go into the local government building that I had been in just a few minutes previously and get my details from them. I just walked off and told him that he wouldn’t because he would need a court order before they would be prepared to disclose, seeing as such details are regulated under the Data Protection Act and no judge is going to grant a court order over a can of pop. I mean, seriously, what a jumped up chump! He wasn’t happy, but that’s his problem. He wasn’t even obeying the guidelines which stipulate that he is supposed to inform me of what I did and then give me the opportunity to rectify the mistake, but jobsworths like him are tosspots anyway. I certainly didn’t consent to him trying to get me to sign that I agreed to be fined, which is what he was trying to do, the snake. If I had have signed, I would have effectively signed a contract; hence that is why I told him to sex and travel, albeit in a polite fashion (or else he might have tried to make out to the police that I was using threatening behaviour, like they are apt to do). So yes, I know what you mean and that is one example of ‘Policing by Consent’. My experience is that Common Law will help on small matters such as that and blocking Implied Right of Access when those Capita goons come trying to harass you about a Television License. But I don’t know how it would work out with burning coal because they will claim all sorts of environmental bull. I find the idea of it all laughable; the notion that they would forbid someone from burning coal but they rarely take action when the water companies discharge raw sewage into rivers and onto beaches, which they have been doing for a number of years on a daily basis now, under both Labour and Tory governments and local authorities who all turn a blind eye to the practice. I know that people will still use coal. I also know that there is a certain kind of anti social snoop that will report those people. But as to what happens then, I am not sure if refusing to acknowledge consent of that law will help them if they are taken to court, because the people who run the country are all.glorified bullies who employ a gang in blue to do their bidding. However, from what I see, the majority of people aren’t going to have the guts to go the Gandhi non compliance civic disobedience route: on this or any other issue anyway; they have already given their consent by their silence as all our freedoms have been stripped away. In fact, soon, most people will just meekly report to their Town Hall, or otherwise designated local authority building, when the government tells them that they want them to have identichips fitted ... at their own not inconsiderable expense, of course.

[@michaelsteele9782]

My grandad was Gordon laland .I remember Frank as a kid and a I remember alot of faces in this .

[@Rosco-P.Coldchain]

I remember the day vividly I can still hear both my grandads shouting at the television as they both spend their lives in the mines..I remember the feeling in the community too as there were 4 pits in a square mile in my area of Yorkshire…Look at us now paying for over priced rubbish from Poland and in the middle of an energy crisis when we had the capacity to withdraw coal for years to come but no tories no best…

[@Mark-vq5dz]

Sad thing is they could get coal sent round the world cheaper than we produced it....and Arthur wanted to take on a govt waiting for him....as intransigent as him..he could have kept loads more open if he had accepted that pits with massive geological issues were closed and men moved elsewhere...he wanted regime change however, the mi ers were his tools to do that...and once divided, he lost before he started.

[@deanstanley5799]

Edlo pit at beginning

[@jamesnicholson2503]

Loads of pits' in South Wales was shuting and protesting.

[@melgrant7404]

Thatcher was importing coal.

[@IanLanc]

And still being imported to this very day despite most collieries still able to produce high quality coal, shame on the government for turning their backs on british workers.

[@nialloneill5097]

And they stockpiled it ready for the strike, and prepared some power stations for oil instead, so they were not as reliant on coal. Knowing something about the coal used for power stations, the surplus coal in their stockpiles became an issue, as it was too oxidised to use on its own, and this burnt the furnaces and caused a number of issues, so they had to constantly mix the stocks with fresh coal. They did this through coal from Scab areas, and imported coal, a lot from Poland, who had decided long ago to repay Britain a debt from WW2, via coal sales. I recall in this same period, Germany was greatly subsidising this industry in their country, but we had a group of Tories who were hell bent on revenge for 74. I know because I was management for a few yrs, and they told us 2-3 yrs before the strike that they would get rid of Scargill and close at least 80 pits. In the end more than that went, and although at times it was a terrible industry to work in, what about the jobs, the people, the money, the community. Humans would normally think of these things, and find ways to support any necessary closures, but not the Tories, as they were inhuman. They were clearly desperate to destroy Unionism, and with it the power of the working man,and more or less did so, and the country has never been the same since!!! In the scene at Cortonwood pit lane end, my family lived within a few hundred yards for many yrs, most of them working in the mines, particularly Cortonwood. The fields and canal in the background are where I played out for all my childhood, and youth. Happy days. I cannot say the same about my experiences in the coal industry, nor in relation to the politics and lies involved, and it taught me how the grass roots man at the bottom could not trust his institutions, be it the govt, politicians, anyone really, and this pt was further engraved upon my spirit by issues with councils, benefits, etc...Thus, liars, and crooks at all levels, and the those at the top do not give an f about those at the bottom!!! I see a WW3 coming due to these issues of power, greed, gluttony and corruption. Perhaps, after that, man will finally learn to live with one another peacably and respectfully, it's about time, but it will need a fundamental change from the dynamics that were prevalent in the miner's strike, for you do not need the protection of a Union, if you are being treated right. One of the main issues has been that we had had 3 distinct classes, each one not trusting the other, the rich and powerful crapping on those at the bottom, and those at the bottom becoming angrier and angrier. And distrust reigns, thus conflcits will always break out, within communities, employment, countries, hence WW3 and nukes whizzing around. We may have to open those pits, as we may have to live under the ground for a decarde, or two. MADNESS! AND THATCHER AND HER GOVT WERE RIGHT UP THERE FOR HATE AND INSANITY. LAST WORD...Cortonwood was making money, and it was the best coking coal around, apart from S Wales, which could not be mined economically due to geological faults.So they lied about reason for closure. All a set up, to destroy Unions, just as Falklands was a set up, to keep in the Tories, as that conflcit coud have been easily avoided. So again using working class lads as cannon fodder, to serve their imperial agendas, and the ruling elite do not give an f about those at the bottom, not a f. I look forward to a new way of living!!! Strength to all former miners, and their families, and blessings too!!!!!!!!

[@paulbird3235]

@@nialloneill5097 Speaking as a former striking miner you have this spot on, the miners were used as a scape-goat for the tories to use to break the working class and de-unionise industry. With the help of Rupert Murdoch and the right wing press of course. This is why we are suffering today, Thatchers policy of selling utilities and railways have resulted in not only the worst services, but also the highest prices in this countries history. Thatcher did more to destroy the fabric of this country than Hitler ever could. And what have we to look forward to, EVER higher prices and LOWER wages,, while SHARHOLDERS and CEO's recieve ever larger PAY-PACKET'S. And BREXIT - let's NOT EVEN GO THERE, this was Boris's biggest scam of all time. What really did happened to ALL of those new HOSPITALS I wonder. This country is being run by the biggest scammers in modern times.

[@MarkHarrison733]

@@paulbird3235 Labour caused Brexit.

[@MarkHarrison733]

@@IanLanc British coal was too pollutive, and increasingly expensive to extract.

[@danieljones3955]

RIP Huw Weekes son of Phil Weekes good man and mining engineer

[@888ssss]

ah seh ? az tha shut t'pit ?

[@jamesnicholson2503]

Any from South Wales?

[@nialloneill5097]

Yes, there were a few closed after the strike, and a few worked on for over 20 yrs, bought by the miners, which is what happened at Kellingley, which was close to Yorkshire Main that never opened again to my knowledge, and neither did Cortonwood, both in the video clip, the latter being where I spent most of my life living nearby. I studied in Pontypridd, and you could see the place was suffering from previous pit closures, and I had an unerring sense that my village, and surrounding areas would follow suit, which is just what happened, although a little sooner than I anticipated! How Green is you valley was a great film, set in a mining village in S Wales, although it was filmed in the US, I think. Not great places to work in some senses, but a deep sense of camaraderie and community, and all for one, and one for all. Barnsley had over half the town owned by C-ops in the 30's, over half!!! Legacy for many miners...f_cked knees, and messed up lungs. Ah well!!!

[@philippinespaulregbruceukl7802]

Yes The ion LADY did us Bad

[@thebeast2746]

Jesus thank god I’m from Surrey.

[@oleggorky906]

What? The north too dirty for you? All got flat caps and whippets have we? 33 County Championships ... 12 more than you fancy dans. And a house here is twice as big for half the price ... yes, thank The Almighty indeed that I am not from Surrey.

[@nialloneill5097]

It wasn't a great time, and those mining villages have mostly suffered greatly since then. There are those who still love it there though, so each to their own, be it Surry, Cortonwood, Barnsley, or Edlington. Doncaster.

[@jamesfordjhfcontractingltd1627]

Nowt down that pit bottom lad