Cambridge and the Miners' Strike 1984-85

Witness Evening

A Witness Evening was held at Anglia Ruskin University on 17 November 2014, following the remarkable success of the film Pride which had been shown in cinemas.

The event was dedicated to the work of the Cambridge Miners' Support Group which raised many thousands of pounds as well as food, toys, clothing, etc for striking miners and their families. Members of the public in the Cambridge area and beyond were invited to talk about their personal recollections of the strike and appeals were circulated by community groups, the Labour Party and the Trades Council for those with first-hand memories of supporting the miners to come forward.

Eighty-five 85 people attended, with 'witnesses' invited to speak about why they supported the strike, what they did, and about some of the friendships that were formed with men and women in the pit villages.

Flyer promoting a Miners' Strike witness evening event at Anglia Ruskin University

The event included an exhibition of photographs, illustrations and commentary taken from three scrapbooks compiled by Lucy Munby, the support group's Treasurer. A month-by-month chronology of what took place in Cambridge was produced using the scrapbooks as its basis.

There was also a display of objects and memorabilia, including miners’ lamps and t-shirts, donated by those who attended.

Conveners

  • Mary Joannou
  • Lucy Bland

Invited speakers

  • Alison New, Cambridge Miners’ Support Group
  • Lucy Munby, Cambridge Miners’ Support Group
  • Vivien Bailey, St Albans Miners’ Support Group

'Witness’ speakers

  1. David Skinner (ARU) who had worked with the Haringey Miners’ Support group, spoke about support from the Greek and Cypriot communities in London.
  2. Sue Kington spoke about her work with the Woodcraft Folk and how they worked with the children of the mining community.
  3. Chris Bailey spoke about the tensions between striking miners and the police on picket lines and how the miners had been treated as criminals.
  4. Lee (Durham/University of East London) gave some specific information about mining practices. The term ‘scab’ went down through generations.
  5. Barbara Parr (ARU Library Assistant) had assisted in support groups for mining communities in Sheffield and Nottingham.
  6. Paul Marris (ARU/Unison) had worked at the GLC on a video project about the strike later at Sheffield Hallam University.
  7. Ken Coutts (Economics Faculty, University of Cambridge) had set up Cambridge Journal of Economics, a co-operative.
  8. Frank Wilkinson (working class background, Ruskin College, came to Cambridge in 1970s) was a huge inspiration during the Miners’ Strike, he kept the campaign going. “NEVER cross a picket line”.
  9. Tony Carter (Transport & General Workers’ Union) set up collections at Marshall’s, etc. Dismayed at lack of support from the TUC.
  10. Tom Woodcock (Trades Council) requested a booklet to come out of the event.
  11. Lucy Munby, Cambridge Miners' Support Group, requested donations for the collection.

Vivien Bailey, Sue Kington, Paul Marris, Lucy Munby and Frank Wilkinson were all subsequently recorded on video.

See the original advertisement for the Witness Evening (PDF)