Fig 1: The 1984-85 British Miners Strike Conference at the Institute of Social Movements, Ruhr University, Bochum.
The British Miners Strike in 1984-85: New Perspectives Forty Years After.
The Institute for Social Movements at the Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany, was the venue for the 40th anniversary international conference of the 1984-85 British miners strike. The conference took place over one full day and two half days from 19th to 21st March 2025. The Organizing Committee were: Jörg Arnold (Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History, Munchen – Berlin), Stefan Berger (Ruhr-University, Bochum), Marion Henry (Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne University), and Jim Phillips (University of Glasgow).
Fig 2: The Institute of Social Movements, Ruhr University, Bochum, conference venue.
The main aims of the Conference were;
- Internationalising the 1984-85 miners strike
- Re-evaluating the politics of the 1984-85 miners strike
- Looking at the cultural impact of the 1984-85 miners strike both in the UK and beyond.
The provisional conference programme can be viewed at https://histoire-sociale.cnrs.fr/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Flyer-Miners-Strike-Conference-Bochum-19-21-March-2025.pdf Plans are afoot to publish the Conference proceedings in a Journal type publication.
Fig 3: Conference agenda and notes.
Day One: Wednesday, 19th March 2025
The afternoon session of day one of the conference saw contributions on the European involvement with the 1984-85 miners strike. In the first session, Christoph Seidel presented on the German Miners Union and the strike, followed by Nicolas Verschueren who gave a paper on the decline of coalmining in Belgium and the 1984-85 strike.
In the second session, Francois Prigent looked at the French solidarity involvement with the minority strikers in the Midlands NUM Area of North Staffordshire, citing the book, ‘Struggle without End: The 1984-85 Miners Strike in North Staffordshire’. The NUM Midlands Area was one of several NUM Areas who voted overwhelmingly to work in area ballots which took place in mid-March 1984. Ruben Vega followed with a paper on the involvement of the Asturian miners with the 1984-85 strike.
The early evening session saw a viewing of the 1987 film, ‘The Last Strike’, by independent film maker, Dominique Masson. The film followed the fortunes of a group of strikers at Bold Colliery in the moderate Lancashire coalfield.
Fig 4: Juliane Clegg presented on ideology and pragmatism in Margaret Thatcher’s policy in the 1984-85 miners strike.
Fig 4a: Lewis Mates (left) from Durham University presenting on ‘Anarchism and the Miners’ Strike’ and John Pateman (right) presenting his paper, ‘Class Struggle and the NUM: The Role of the Communist Party of Great Britain in the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike’.
Day Two: Thursday, 20th March 2025.
The morning session of the second day of the conference was dedicated to the politics and sexual politics of the 1984-85 miners strike. Papers in the first session were given by Juliane Clegg on the ideology and pragmatism of the Thatcher Government in the strike, followed by Lewis Mates who explored the role of anarchism in the 1984-85 strike. John Pateman concluded by looking at the role of the Communist Party of Great Britain’s in the strike.
Fig 5: Discussing the sexual politics of the 1984-85 miners strike with reference to the 2014 film, Pride.
The Greenham Common Womens Peace Camp, Women against Pit Closures and the 2014 film, Pride, all featured in the second morning session on day two which discussed the sexual politics of the 1984-85 miners strike. Rania Jelloul and Athena Loucanov, Marie Cadadi and Gianmaria Colpani all gave papers in this session.
Fig 6: Justice and the law in the 1984-85 miners strike was the subject of the first afternoon session of day two.
The afternoon session reviewed the subject of justice and law in the 1984-85 miners strike with papers presented by Joanna Gilmore on legal solidarity in the strike, the juridification of industrial relations by Rebecca Zahn and the Thatcher Governments attack on civil service trade unionism in the 1980’s by Nokolai Wehrs. Interestingly, whilst mention was made of the legal cases later in 1984 which saw the NUM funds sequestrated, there was no mention of the May 1984 legal action to prove the strike illegal in the Nottinghamshire coalfield.https://miningheritage.co.uk/legal-action-notts-working-miners/
The arts and the 1984-85 strike was the subject for the second afternoon session on day two with an emphasis on the involvement of popular music and musicians. Papers were given by Malo de la Blanchardiere and afterwards by Jeremy Tranmer, who made reference to the promotional video for the Style Council 1984 single, ‘Shout to the Top’, in his paper entitled, ‘Stuck in an Eighties Grove? The Miners Strike in popular music since 1985’.
Fig 7: Peter Arkell joined the conference by Zoom and recalled his memories of being a front line photographer in the 1984-85 miners strike.
Fig 8: First day of picketing at Bilsthorpe Colliery, NCB North Nottinghamshire Area, on 12th March 1984. One of the iconic strike images by front line Chad photographer, Roger Grayson. Photo Credit – Chad Newspaper
The evening session of day two was dedicated to photography and the 1984-85 miners strike with Peter Arkell joining via Zoom recalling his memories of photographing the strike from the front line. Michael Kerstgens followed with his personal memories of photographing the strike at the front line at Cynheidre in South Wales and Wombwell in the Yorkshire coalfield. In the Nottinghamshire coalfield, an excellent collection of front line strike photos exist which were taken by Chad newspaper photographer, Roger Grayson, now retired. (See Fig 8).
Fig 9: David Amos showing the Coal, Conflict and Closures section of the Mining Heritage website.
Day Three: Friday, 21st March 2025.
The third and final morning of the conference looked at how the strike and its aftermath were remembered. Former Nottinghamshire miner and coalmining historian, David Amos, looked back at the Nottinghamshire coalfield, its collieries and miners in the early 1980’s, dispelling some of the myths which have appeared over the last four decades. Robin Baillie, from the National Galleries of Scotland, discussed the problems in the representation and struggles of remembering the 1984-85 miner strike, making reference to the exhibition, ‘Before and After Coal: Images and Voices from Scotland’s Mining Communities’. David Amos showcased the ‘Coal, Conflict and Closures’ section of the Mining Heritage website which tells the story of the 1984-85 strike in the Nottingham coalfield through documents, iconic photographs and local media from the time. https://miningheritage.co.uk/1984-85-miners-strike-in-notts/
Fig 10: Top table at the Roundtable discussion at the conclusion of the Bochum conference.
The conference concluded with a roundtable discussion reflecting on the 40th anniversary of the 1984-85 miner strike making reference to publications, television documentaries and commemorative events from January 2024 to date.
Blog by David Amos
Posted by Mining Heritage admin – 11th May 2025
Fig 11: Picketing at Annesley Colliery during the 1984-85 miners strike. Photo Credit – Chad newspaper
Fig 11: Site of Annesley Colliery picket line 40 years on in March 2024. Photo Credit – David Amos