1984: The Strike
3rd March 1984
Striking miners bring the North to a standstill by blocking the M1 and A1.
Violence flared between miners and stranded motorists when 200 Yorkshire pickets travelling to Creswell colliery were turned back by police.
12th March 1984
Resistance to the strike without a national ballot is greatest in Notts, with many miners ignoring their calls to stop work.
Militant strikers travel here to picket.
One flying picket from Yorkshire dies at a disturbance in Ollerton.
An extra 3,000 police are available to help Notts Constabulary ensure that miners wanting to work can.
5th April 1984
Notts’ miners reject NUM executive recommendation not to cross picket lines.
12th April 1984
NUM president Arthur Scargill and the NCB break down within an hour.
13th April 1984
Creswell’s worst night of violence is reported in the Guardian after 1,000 pickets clash with police. Windscreens are smashed, a miner is knocked from his motorbike and a steel rail is laid across railway lines.
20th April 1984
Creswell miner David Leech turns his family saloon into a ‘battle bus’ in a bid to return to work.
4th May 1984
The Guardian reports on one of the largest demonstrations in Worksop as 2,000 miners and their families take to the streets.
8th June 1984
Sixteen striking miners from Manton pit are given permission by their union to cross the picket line to carry out vital safety work.
15th June 1984
Bassetlaw District Council makes a donation of 2000 to striking miners, but council insists it is not ‘an endorsement of the strike’.
6th July 1984
The Guardian reports on the worst scenes of violence at Harworth when mounted police charged at pickets in the shopping streets.
Mothers were forced to shelter their children in shop doorways to escape the mayhem.
17th August 1984
Striking Manton miner, and father of three, Chris Cheetham, is arrested after causing criminal damage in a protest. In the 24th week of strikes he tells the Guardian his family is getting further into debt. They have had the TV and video repossessed and his son is sent home from school for not having school trousers.
“But we’d eat grass before going back. Even if they take everything off us we’ll stick it out,” he said.
31st August 1984
Pirate broadcasters block Notts radio to broadcast pro-strike propaganda and clips from speeches of Arthur Scargill.
21st September 1984
Maltby Colliery is the scene of some of the worst violence in the strike.
5th October 1984
Rebel Manton miner Bob Taylor claims he and his family received death threats after he returned to work. A group of men try to force their car off the road.
19th October 1984
Christine Payne, convinces her husband Michael Payne to contact the Guardian to confirm he is still out on strike. Rumours he had returned to work resulted in Mrs Payne being abused by other women and their Manton home being battered with bricks.
2nd November 1984
Notts Chief Constable Charles McLachlan apologises for police behaviour on the picket lines.
6th November 1984
Dublin’s High Court freezes 2.7m of NUM funds. The order covered 8.7m, but by the time the judge was contacted, 6m had been transferred.
The NUM contests the decision and maintains the strike is in accordance with its rules.
Labour leader Neil Kinnock calls on the miners to respect the rule of the law.
The NCB claims there is a ‘surge’ back to work with 55 of the 174 pits now working.
19th November 1984
Another 2,282 return to work with the number now working standing at 62,000. North Wales’ NUM ends its strike.
25th February 1985
3,807 go back to work but 51 per cent are still on strike.
3rd March 1985
There are scenes of fury outside the TUC’s HQ as NUM decides to call off the strike.
Shouts of ‘scum, scabs and traitors’ greet the delegrates who voted 98 to 91 to return to work on Tuesday.
It is agreed to go back to work without an amnesty for miners dismissed during the dispute.
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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