Yorkshire Miners Gala Parade : Doncaster 1982 (Alan Burnett)
There was a palpable feeling of being at the end of an era. Working class solidarity and hand-hewn coal scraped up against Thatcherite Britain like seismic plates itching for a fight. Within two years of these photographs being taken, that fight was in full swing and you can almost read the outcome on the faces of the marchers.
Love the looks on their faces, especially in that second photo.
ReplyDeleteVery evocative photos, Alan. I was living in London in 1982_83 and though I knew nothing about the miners union, I recognized that this was a struggle between immoveable objects and unstoppable forces. It happens that I owe a great debt to the labour union actions of 1982 as a slowdown on the London Underground one evening gave me an opportunity to chat up a young woman on Victoria Station platform that eventually led me to meet my future wife (a different lady and a long story). Solidarity Forever!
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