Yorkshire nostalgia: Miners strike begins in March 1984... YEP reports from the day

This month in 1984, the strike which defined an era and set the country on a new path with regard to its industrial relations, the repercussions of which can still be felt today: the Miners' Strike began on March 6.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Feb 2017, 05:48 BST
Updated 1st Mar 2017, 07:52 BST
File photo dated 18/06/1984 of riot police watching as pickets face them against a background of burning cars at the Orgreave coke works in Yorkshire during the miners' strike. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Sunday December 11, 2016. Home Office files concerning events at the Battle of Orgreave are due to be released next year among a cache of records relating to the 1984 miners' strike. See PA story POLITICS Orgreave. Photo credit should read: PA WireFile photo dated 18/06/1984 of riot police watching as pickets face them against a background of burning cars at the Orgreave coke works in Yorkshire during the miners' strike. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Sunday December 11, 2016. Home Office files concerning events at the Battle of Orgreave are due to be released next year among a cache of records relating to the 1984 miners' strike. See PA story POLITICS Orgreave. Photo credit should read: PA Wire
File photo dated 18/06/1984 of riot police watching as pickets face them against a background of burning cars at the Orgreave coke works in Yorkshire during the miners' strike. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Sunday December 11, 2016. Home Office files concerning events at the Battle of Orgreave are due to be released next year among a cache of records relating to the 1984 miners' strike. See PA story POLITICS Orgreave. Photo credit should read: PA Wire

It was Yorkshire miners who sparked the strike of a generation, coming out on strike over colliery closure plans.

However, in the days leading up to all-out industrial action, it was a plan to change meal breaks which brought the entire South Yorkshire coalfield to a standstill. The walkout involved 14,000 men and 15 pits. Meanwhile, Yorkshire’s 5000 pitmen were poised to walk off the job over plans to shut down pits.

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Scotland’s 14,000 miners signalled their solidarity. In the coming weeks, the nation would become used to reports of ‘flying pickets’ as striking miners crossed county borders to protest outside other pits.

But the strike would ultimately result in failure, it’s caused smashed by a better prepared and more determined Tory government, led by Margaret Thatcher.

The strike, which remains controversial even today, ran until March 1985.

Related topics:South YorkshireMargaret ThatcherScotland