Há 30 anos

A heróica greve de um ano
dos mineiros ingleses contra Thatcher

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The former coal mining communities in North East England form the subject of this elegant artists' film by American artist Bill Morrison. Their story is told entirely without words, yet the film is far from silent: it features a remarkable original score by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.

Focusing on the Durham coalfield, yet portraying a story of universal themes, The Miners’ Hymns depicts the hardship of pit work, increasing mechanisation, the role of trade unions in organising and fighting for workers’ rights, and the renowned annual Durham Miners’ Gala.

The Durham Coalfield extended from the River Tyne in the north, to Bishop Aukland in the South. Coal mining expanded rapidly across this area in throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and the population swelled. Much of the cultural and economic heritage of County Durham resulted from this growth in the mining industry which, at its height, employed almost all the non-agricultural population in over 300 mines.

The film cuts between archive footage from different eras spanning 100 years – from grainy footage of primitive conditions from early last century, through large scale mechanisation, and up to the historic year-long Miners’ Strike of 1984-5.

The Miners’ Hymns celebrates social, cultural, and political aspects of the now extinct industry providing a timely reminder of economic and political choices made a generation ago regarding the role of labour in a corporate-based economy – the repercussions of which continue to be felt today.

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MI5 "counter-subversion"

Dame Stella Rimington (Director-General of MI5, 1992 – 1996) published an autobiography in 2001 in which she revealed MI5 'counter-subversion' exercises against the NUM and the striking miners, which included the tapping of union leaders' phones. However, she denied that the agency had informers in the NUM, specifically denying that then chief executive Roger Windsor had been an agent.[42]

Iron Hand

With all the clarity of dream
The sky so blue, the grass so green
The rank and file and the navy blue
The deep and strong, the straight and true

The blue line they got the given sign
The belts and boots march forward in time
The wood and the leather, the club and shield
Swept like a wave across the battlefield

Now with all the clarity of dream
The blood so red, the grass so green
The gleam of spur on Chestnut flank
The cavalry did burst upon the ranks

Oh, the iron will and iron hand
In England's green and pleasant land
No music for the shameful scene
That night they said it had even shocked the queen

Well alas, we've seen it all before
Knights in armour, days of yore
The same old fears and the same old crimes
We haven't changed since ancient times