'I still hold my head high over crossing picket line'
ONE Dinnington miner still 'holds his head high' about his decision to cross the picket line and go back to work.
It was just after Christmas in 1984 that Colin Cole, of Leopold Avenue, made the choice that still triggers 'dirty looks' on the high street today.
After 10 months of trying to survive on the 1 a day pay from working on the picket lines, Colin decided he had no other option but to go back to work.
"It was a question of survival, and I just didn't know how else I was going to carry on," he said.
"I had been manning the picket lines, but in the December, I crossed them to go back to work."
"No-one really said anything to me at the time. They just let me pass through. I never got involved in any kind of violent skirmishes."
Colin, who spent 11 years working at Dinnington pit, spoke of the difficulty and heartache of his time on strike.
"I was going through a divorce at the time, and I was only allowed to stay in the house from 9pm to 9am."
"I had to live off food parcels that were given to us about once a week, with some basic food. There wasn't that much help given out in the community."
"It was an horrendous time, – there was no money coming in and it was really difficult to even just stay warm."
Now a grandfather-of-four, Colin is still feeling the effects of breaking the strike today, and has not set foot in the town's Barleycorn Club for 25 years.
"I was barred from the club and I have never been back in. I am sure there are still people who talk about me when I pass them in the street and disapprove of my decision."
"But I have no regrets about what I did, and I still hold my head high – just as I did when I first crossed the picket lines."
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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