Miners’ Strike memories pulled together for 40th anniversary with "heartbreaking" testimonies

The 40th anniversary of the Miners' Strike is being remembered with the "heartbreaking" testimonies of both the strikers and those branded scabs after they decided to return to work.

Next week marks 40 years since tens of thousands of mineworkers walked out in what became one of the defining events of late 20th century British history but has left families and communities divided to this day.

The anniversary is being marked by a new exhibition at the National Coal Mining Museum, in Wakefield, and chief executive Lynn Dunning said the aim has been to make sure the perspectives of all those involved are represented.

She said this includes the memories of the miners and their families who were on strike for a year.

But it also includes those who decided they had to return to work and those in the coalfields where most miners defied the call to walk out from National Union of Mineworkers president Arthur Scargill – most notably in Nottinghamshire.

Ms Dunning told the PA news agency: "The exhibition is really to try and give a voice to as many different opinions and experiences as possible."

"Quite often we hear a lot from the men who were on strike."

"We wanted to tell those stories but, also, redress the balance a little bit this time by hearing from some of the men and their families who didn't go on strike and the impact that had on them and how they were treated in their communities but, also, the miners who went back early."

"We're all familiar with the stories of people struggling to put food on the table, to pay their mortgages, etc. And some people did feel the pressure, as the strike went on, to go back to work early."

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