#durham miners gala

[weepingwidar]

Tom McGuinness (British, 1926-2006) - The Big Meeting (Durham Miners Gala) (1976)

[dieselfutures]

The Big Meeting - Durham Miners Gala

[28whitepeonies]

Approx. 3 of you will be interested in this but I went to Durham Miners Gala yesterday and what a cracking day it was, even though it was torrential rain for half of it x

I hadn’t been since pre-pandemic and it was really joyful to see so many people out, including Jeremy Corbyn and I got chatting to some folk from the Women’s Banner Group. I also got some cracking union merch and a new Kurdish scarf - if you’ve not been before it’s a really great event that draws in trade unionists and activists from all over.

[semioticapocalypse]

Tony Ray-Jones. Durham Miners Gala. Great Britain. 1969

Follow my new AI-related project «Collective memories»

[zvaigzdelasas]

In an impassioned speech union boss Mick Lynch told a huge crowd at the Durham Miners' Gala : "We're back. The working class is back. We refuse to be meek, we refuse to be humble and we refuse to be poor anymore."

Even with Gala favourite, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attending the event, the star turn was the RMT general secretary who got a rapturous reception. His high profile defence of his members in the recent rail strikes has provided a boost to Britain's union movement.

He took aim the Conservative party and its battle to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is to resign. "I don't give a monkey's who the leader of the Tory party is," he said.

Labelling it a party of billionaires and a public school elite, he said: "We cannot tolerate anymore their ruthless pursuit of profit. We have to be ruthless in our pursuit of social justice."

9 Jul 22

[frozen-fountain]

For the weirder asks: 1. who is/are your comfort character(s)?, 33. the last adventure you’ve been on?

Who is/are your comfort character(s)?

Do I have them? I suppose I watch some of my favourite scenes from Red Dwarf and Community when I'm sad, and that helps, so those casts. Also Vivi from Final Fantasy IX keeps me grounded when I start thinking about too many unhelpful things.

33. The last adventure you’ve been on?

Not all that adventurous since I know the area quite well, but I went to the Durham Miners Gala at the start of last month. It's my first since Covid and I got to make some new pals, eat festival fried food, and be around lefty working class folks in a way that's indescribably rejuvenating.

[cathkaesque]

I had a conversation at Durham Miners Gala with someone who was pretty cool but they said, “I’m so pleased to see you doing something for the movement, so many trans people are just, trans trans trans, my transition, my journey, but when you ask them what they’re doing for the rest of the movement they’ve not got a clue.” The difficulties and pains of transition are very all consuming and, frankly, I would love to talk about it more with others. I would love more than anything to be able to talk about what i’m going through with comrades and be able to expect, at the very least, a little bit of empathy. But that’s not what you get, because everyone would rather you focus on other, more Relevant issues, so you largely keep to yourself and work as hard as possible, in an attempt to try and show these people, that look, you too are human, you are good at what you do, and people like you deserve respect and assistance. I see the same with so many trans women doing labour movement stuff, so many who are the backbone of organisations, whose work is rarely acknoweldged, and never get the chance to speak openly about what we’re going through because we don’t want our comrades to reveal their prejudices that lie just below the surface. It sucks man

[milliedoesdenim]

The miners’ strike 1984-1985

The miners’ strike was a pivotal moment for British history. Miners’ left their pits to fight the attempts of the Thatchers government to close the collieries, break the minors’ union and the labour movement in genera, and open the way to free market economy in which deregulated financial capitalism would be set free by the Big Bang of 1986.

“Close a pit, kill a community”

The all male occupation had the support of their wives as they saw the mines as an opportunity to their children. They put together support groups, soup kitchens and made packages for the striking miners families, raised money within pubs and clubs to help fund the strikers. Behind the women were politically active members of the local community and country as a whole, including Greenham Common women and gay and lesbian activists, who saw this struggle as a tipping point between social democracy, civil liberties and the welfare state and of the one hand, and on the other, neoliberalism, authoritarianism and austerity.

The defeat of the strike led very quickly to the closure of most pits, a general deindustrialisation of the economy, the rapid privatisation of nationalised industries, the shattering of organised labour, growing unemployment, the hollowing-out of mining and other working-class communities, and a steady increase in social inequality in British society.

The strike invented a rebirth within the community. Many ex miners’ went back to college to get degrees for a new career path as so did women. They took jobs such as teaching, support workers ect. The children of mining families, brought up during and after the strike, made the fullest use of the expansion of the university sector. The strike had politicised mining families and encouraged many of them to become involved in other causes, to become local councillors or even MPs. And while the pits closed, the heritage of the mining industry was preserved through mining museums, the revival of banner-making for the Durham miners’ gala, and the political struggle continues through the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign.

www.history.ox.ac.uk. (n.d.). The Miners’ Strike of 1984-5: an oral history. [online] Available at: https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/miners-strike-1984-5-oral-history. ‌

www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Miners strike | industrial action | Sunderland | Wearmouth Colliery | TV Eye | 1984. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/4ytXyQxK_2Q?si=_1jnki7xrn5gMrzW [Accessed 10 October. 2023]. ‌

[whatsonmedia]

Durham Miner's Gala: Anti- protest Law Threatens!

The Durham Miner's Gala is a powerful demonstration of the unity, cohesiveness and devotion to their community. Forged in labor and working-class culture, of the people who live and work there. It has become a national festival that gives voice to working-class values of struggle and solidarity. The Big Meet of today, where thousands will give voice to the policies that mirrors the views of British people. What is Durham Miner's Gala The event which will be taken over the streets of Durham, with the crowds packing out the streets to march in what is described as Britain's biggest celebration of trade union and community values. The Durham Miners Gala, the world's greatest celebration of community values and working-class culture. It is a hugely popular Miners Festival Service since 1897. The Durham Miners Gala What is the Plan? Three banners will process into Durham Cathedral accompanied by brass and silver bands, to be blessed by the Bishop of Durham. The banners, accompanied by North Skelton Band, the Durham Miners Association (DMA) Brass Band, and Stanhope Silver Band will parade into the cathedral from 2.30pm.The banners to be blessed are Coxhoe Colliery; Hetton Lyons and Durham Aged Mineworkers Homes Association (DAMHA). Celebrating its 125th  anniversary. DAMHA will be accompanied by Stanhope Band, which is marking its 200thanniversary. Why is it celebrated? The event is celebrated since 1871. This is to celebrate the County Durham's mining history which is marching bands, colliery banners and speeches from trade unions. Miners Banners can be thought of as the regimental colours of the National Union of Mineworkers and it's associations like the Durham Mechanics and the Durham Enginemen. They colourfully displayed the name of their lodge and colliery, also carried emblems of Religion, Socialism and in some cases Communism. The Durham Miners Gala How will Anti-Protest Law threaten the future? The future of the gala would be catastrophic if the future galas were not prevented by new measures under the Public Order Act. Parliament passed secondary legislation last month that empowered police to stop protests they believe “may” cause “more than minor” disruption. The Gala of Miners is the best way to move the workers for a greater cause. This can also be turned into a greater movement against the capitalist regime. As Marx had said, "workers of the world Unite", it is the time to unite and end the oppressive regime. For more- https://www.durhamminers.org/gala https://youtu.be/p5xt6IASM4A Read the full article

[afirewillrise]

8/7/23

Durham miners gala is probably one of my least favourite days of the year, it's an excuse for a giant booze up, it's a day of having to deal with drunk and disorderly conduct all day, but the plus side is I always go in to work super early to make sure I can get in, I go get some breakfast and eat it by the cathedral and I just think to myself how does this even exist, it really puts life's problems in to perspective a little, okay I'm an emotional mess a lot of the time, but people had to build this with pullies and levers, it's mad, and it looks nicer than anything we build today.

I won't go on a big rant because I'm sure I could on gala day, what was good though;

-Not only did I get to enjoy my traditional pre gala breakfast but a friend came with me, it's really cool knowing some of your friends are totally up for getting up and coming in to town with you at 6am just to keep you company and talk utter nonsense together,

-I got to proper geek out with someone at work over tv shows as we tried to decide what our favourite tv shows of all time were, it's Buffy, I deliberated, but this was always the answer.

-One of my friends got a promotion, he's coming to be a manager with me, it means I get to work with my friend much more than I do now and I'm super happy for him and his family, I was really nervous so I was properly chuffed when I found out he got the job.

[shepherd-of-the-trees]

This weekend I'm going to the annual Durham Miner's Gala i.e. a massive trade union festival/march which always has a lovely anti-Tory sentiment, and oh boy everything considered the atmosphere is going to absolutely electric lmao

[themaninthegreenshirt]

Durham Miners Gala [1970]

Two "ladies" more at home at the coal face than the kitchen sink, enjoying the procession.

[thefamoustownofyeadon]

Odd ways my dad made money. Day 5- Durham Town.

Prior knowledge required1-Strong sturdy boxes2-Pedlars3-Flags, balloons, windmills, inflatable animals4- Coining it in (making lots of money at great speed) 5-The impact of lots of beer on twenty-year-old miners on a very hot day6- Public humiliation of 11-year-olds!

My dad claimed we were descended from Irish Travellers. We were not. I have checked it out, but there was Irish Eddie who flogged sewing machines and life assurance. He was so convinced of this ancestry that he named our house Romany Rye after the classic novel by George Borrow. In any event, he liked the idea of being a traveller. He also liked to combine going to events which linked up to other parts of his life. So for example in July 1968, when I was almost 11 we went to the Durham Miners Gala. That was because he was a union steward and a very political chap…but he liked to combine that interest with making money

It’s part of the incredible ignorance of people in the south of England that most there have never heard of this event which is something like a mass picnic of 150,000 miners and their families on Durham Race Course in July of each year. Mining communities from across the country were represented, and they each brought their brass band and crucially a colourful banner. They marched through the winding streets of medieval Durham. Many scores of them. And crowds lined the streets five deep to watch. I have been twice in the last six years, including with my eldest grandson when he was eleven. Some of the photos are his. 

Now, of course, there is a political element to all this but I am going to skip over all that and concentrate on how we sold a £140 worth of Union Flags, as well maybe another £60 worth of balloons and inflatables. In 1968 that was a fortune. Dad and I travelled up by train on the Friday evening bring potted meat and dripping sandwiches with us wrapped in greaseproof paper. We slept out on benches on the station platform with our sturdy boxes tied to our legs. Dad was convinced somebody would try and run off with our stock. 

Breakfast would have been a bacon sandwich then we set off up and down streets of terraced houses selling balloons to the kids. I remember it was raining heavily. I could then blow up 200 balloons one after another and conduct trade at the same time. We walked miles, selling all the way as we went. His aim was to cover all our expenses by mid-morning so after that, every minute of the day was pure profit. That’s how he explained it. 

Then at around 12.00, we headed for where the colliery bands formed up and then sold flags all along the two-mile route. We had to keep ahead of the procession so we walked and sold at pace. Flags only now.At the County Hotel, which is the mid-point on the route each band would perform a few seconds of its speciality to the politicians on the balcony. That year it was Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Barbara Castle and TUC leader Vic Feather. I remember seeing them which must mean I can boast that Harold Wilson once saw me selling flags. Ditto our Barbara as we called her. 

There is always a bit of show biz in street trading. Dad covered one side of the road and I the other. We both had our sturdy boxes but of course, he carried the greater weight. As I ran out he would throw a great bundle of four dozen flags up into the air and I was would try and catch it. I never did and the crowd would laugh and cheer… which got them more in the mood for spending. 

At the gate, to the racecourse, there is the remnant of a stone farm gate and a great boulder next to it. We stood there and sold inflatable ducks and windmills to the 150,000 people who walked past us. By then the sun was out and dad sent me to have a look at all the colliery banners and to get myself some dinner.

 We worked till early evening to catch all the people coming out again, but we stayed too long. A lot of the young men were very drunk. One group walked towards us. Dad sad something like “get outa road, David these lads a full of ale are looking for trouble”. Dad was a Pacifist and a Boxer. That’s a hard concept to explain but by this stage in his life, he was not keen on getting into fights. The lads asked for five of everything we had, laughing all the time thinking it a big joke. The daftest of them announced they wanted to go double or quits on the toss of a coin. So we stood to lose the value of all that stock or get double the amount. Dad wisely chose to go with that, and he won. The lads paid up, but as they were doing so one of them dropped burning paper into dads box which was full of plastic stuff, and of course, it ignited immediately and burnt fiercely. In truth, there was very little there and the loss was not much. We just had one less box to carry home. 

Writing this it has struck me that just about everything we did over that weekend would be illegal now or in other ways not allowed. None of it caused any harm to anybody but we do not tolerate things so much now. That feels very sad. And of course, trying to explain this kind of life to my 11-year-old grandson was impossible…I might as well have been talking about Martians.