Fig 1: Margaret Thatcher, then Leader of the Opposition, and Broxtowe MP, Jim Lester, on an underground visit to Moorgreen Colliery in 1976. 

Thatcher letter to Notts working miners

In September 1984, a letter from Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was sent to all working Nottingham Area NUM branches, praising them for the stance they were taking. This received an angry response from the Annesley NUM Branch. (Fig. 5).

Fig 2: Letter from Sherwood Conservative MP, Andy Stewart, which accompanied the Thatcher letter to working Nottingham Area NUM branches. Source – David Amos collection. 

Fig 3: The letter from Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, to working Nottinghamshire miners. Source – David Amos collection 

Fig 4: A furious response to the Thatcher letter from the Annesley NUM branch. Source – Notts Free Press, 2nd November 1984. 

Fig 5: Vandalised image of Margaret Thatcher at the Nottingham Trent University’s 2019 travelling exhibition, ‘Dealing with the Past: Coal, Community and Change 1965-2015’. Photo Credit – David Amos

“May I say how greatly I and most other people appreciate what you are doing, you are an example to us all”.  Margaret Thatcher to working Nottinghamshiire miners, September 1984.

“We are not, as one would assume from your letter, working for the good of a Tory Government”. Steve Williamson, Annesley NUM Branch Secretary, replying to Margaret Thatchers letter.