The miners’ strike started in Yorkshire in the spring of 1984 and within days half the country's mineworkers had walked out in a row over pit closures. The biggest industrial dispute in post-war Britain pitted thousands of miners and their trade union against then prime minister Margaret Thatcher and her government, which supported plans to shut 20 coal pits. These rare photos, plucked from the YEP archive, showcase the raw emotion of the dispute at pits around God’s own county. READ MORE: 21 of the best photos take you back to Yorkshire in 1983 YEP RETRO NEWSLETTER: Sign up for our free monthly email digest of Leeds nostalgia

1. Orgreave
A picket inspects a line of police officers outside the Orgreave coking plant in June 1984. | PA

2. Selby
A lonely vigil for the pickets at Wistow Mine in May 1984 they man the gateway in the early hours. A blazing brazier keeps away the morning chill. | YPN Photo: YPN

3. Castleford
Wheldale Colliery became a blazing scrapyard in November 1984 as frustrated pickets renewed their struggle to save the strike at the pit. Pictured are police in riot gear near a smashed street lamp. | YPN Photo: YPN


5. Wakefield
Striking miners queueing for food parcels at Sharlton Miners' Welfare in October 1984. | YPN Photo: YPN

6. Leeds
A line of police contains pickets in a side street opposite Allerton Bywater Colliery in August 1984. | YPN Photo: YPN