Women in the miners' strike, 1984-5: Charting changing gender roles in working-class communities in post-1945 Britain
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Department Name: History
Abstract
This project's overall objective is to co-produce, with women from coalfield communities, a comprehensive study of women's activism during the miners' strike of 1984-5, and a new history of continuity and change in working-class women's lives from 1945 on. Working-class women's activism during the miners' strike was unprecedented in scope and key to keeping the strike going. The time is right for a major oral history project on the strike, using it as a lens to examine working-class experiences and subjectivities more broadly in postwar Britain.
We will address the project's overarching aim via the following research objectives:
1. We will co-produce with women from coalfield communities a major new oral history project: the first major study of women's activism in coalfields during the miners' strike, examining the causes, forms, and consequences of activism. This will involve 75 new oral history life-story interviews, 10 group interviews and one reminiscence day.
2. The research will be co-produced throughout through single and group oral histories. Findings will be shared and debated with interviewees and communities through 10 public workshops. The project website and monthly e-newsletter for all project associates (interviewees and other interested parties) will be another route for sharing findings. Research will also be shared with communities through the temporary exhibition at the National Coal Mining Museum (NCMM) and online exhibition. Understanding one's own history is key to the vitality of communities, and the project aims to significantly impact coalfield communities' understandings of their own recent history.
3. Our monograph (written in the 2 years after project) will be the first major historical analysis of women's activism in the miners' strike.
4. It will also, however, encompass a wider study of working-class women in coalfield communities' lives since 1945: their experiences, identities and subjectivities. Our interviews will be life-story interviews, allowing us to examine continuity and change over the long-term. We will hone in on questions about 'feminism' in interviews, to develop important new understandings of the impact of 'Second Wave' feminism on British society after 1968, and of the 'vernacular' discourses of gender equality which circulated in post-1945 British society; the latter have been largely overlooked thus far in existing historiography.
5. We will enhance public understanding of women's activism during the strike, working-class women's lives, and feminism, through our temporary exhibition at the NCMM and the permanent exhibition on the project website. Tapping into significant popular interest in the miners' strike and the history of 'ordinary' people, the project will highlight the importance of women's political activism (histories of activism and politics often focus on men). We also aim to provoke people to think about what different meanings 'feminism' can have. A workshop with feminist groups and History Acts will impact on contemporary feminist groups' understandings of feminist history and intersectionality. 2 complete lesson plans for Key Stage 3 history teachers (also on the project website) will enable school students to grapple with the sources and issues.
6. Our work will transform the research landscape, significantly impacting on the historiography of postwar Britain, including theoretical and methodological debates, and gender and feminist studies. We will present at 2 international conferences and disseminate our findings to academic audiences through a monograph and 3 peer-reviewed journal articles.
7. We will produce a major new collection of life-story oral history interviews with working-class women, to be archived at the National Coal Mining Museum (along with new physical archival collections relating to the strike). This will create a major new resource for historians to further develop understandings of working-class life in postwar Britain.
We will address the project's overarching aim via the following research objectives:
1. We will co-produce with women from coalfield communities a major new oral history project: the first major study of women's activism in coalfields during the miners' strike, examining the causes, forms, and consequences of activism. This will involve 75 new oral history life-story interviews, 10 group interviews and one reminiscence day.
2. The research will be co-produced throughout through single and group oral histories. Findings will be shared and debated with interviewees and communities through 10 public workshops. The project website and monthly e-newsletter for all project associates (interviewees and other interested parties) will be another route for sharing findings. Research will also be shared with communities through the temporary exhibition at the National Coal Mining Museum (NCMM) and online exhibition. Understanding one's own history is key to the vitality of communities, and the project aims to significantly impact coalfield communities' understandings of their own recent history.
3. Our monograph (written in the 2 years after project) will be the first major historical analysis of women's activism in the miners' strike.
4. It will also, however, encompass a wider study of working-class women in coalfield communities' lives since 1945: their experiences, identities and subjectivities. Our interviews will be life-story interviews, allowing us to examine continuity and change over the long-term. We will hone in on questions about 'feminism' in interviews, to develop important new understandings of the impact of 'Second Wave' feminism on British society after 1968, and of the 'vernacular' discourses of gender equality which circulated in post-1945 British society; the latter have been largely overlooked thus far in existing historiography.
5. We will enhance public understanding of women's activism during the strike, working-class women's lives, and feminism, through our temporary exhibition at the NCMM and the permanent exhibition on the project website. Tapping into significant popular interest in the miners' strike and the history of 'ordinary' people, the project will highlight the importance of women's political activism (histories of activism and politics often focus on men). We also aim to provoke people to think about what different meanings 'feminism' can have. A workshop with feminist groups and History Acts will impact on contemporary feminist groups' understandings of feminist history and intersectionality. 2 complete lesson plans for Key Stage 3 history teachers (also on the project website) will enable school students to grapple with the sources and issues.
6. Our work will transform the research landscape, significantly impacting on the historiography of postwar Britain, including theoretical and methodological debates, and gender and feminist studies. We will present at 2 international conferences and disseminate our findings to academic audiences through a monograph and 3 peer-reviewed journal articles.
7. We will produce a major new collection of life-story oral history interviews with working-class women, to be archived at the National Coal Mining Museum (along with new physical archival collections relating to the strike). This will create a major new resource for historians to further develop understandings of working-class life in postwar Britain.
Planned Impact
The project will impact:
- women in coalfield communities with whom we will co-produce the research;
- coalfield communities more broadly, via community groups, local history societies and family history networks;
- National Coal Mining Museum of England (project partner);
- general public, particularly those interested in history of mining, 'ordinary people', and women;
- school students/education;
- feminist activist groups.
The new oral histories and archival collections will benefit the NCMM, giving them new resources to use in future research and exhibitions, in particular on women, and expanding their holdings relating to coalfields outside of Yorkshire (which they are keen to do). In a time of reduced funding for heritage, we will produce a temporary exhibition with the museum and impact positively on their long term resourcing.
We will significantly impact on the women from coalfield communities with whom we will co-produce this new history. Many of these women were involved in a unique and highly significant moment of history; their activism helped to sustain the miners' strike for an entire year. Co-producing new narratives and understandings of the strike, women's place in it, and women's changing lives across the postwar era will reconstitute networks of women which generally disintegrated after the strike. Women will have the chance to reflect, singly and together, on the strike and on their lives more broadly. It is important that the voices of women, particularly working-class women, should be heard, valorised and recorded for posterity; this still happens too rarely.
We will hold public workshops to debate findings, inviting local history societies, family history networks and community groups. This will provide a chance for communities to feed into the research and reflect on their recent history, change and continuity over time, and changing gender roles and activism. A community's sense of itself rests on an understanding of its past; participating in commemorating and analysing history can be a powerful experience for communities, generating shared understandings of place, history and politics.
The general public, particularly those interested in the strike and in the social and cultural history of women, the working class, and 'ordinary people', will be able to access the research through the temporary exhibition at the NCMM (listening posts will remain up for 5 years in the museum), and the online version of the exhibition. There is much public interest in these themes, as suggested by films like Pride (2014), and Billy Elliott (2000); and by the success of popular history books written by academics - such as Selina Todd's The People (2014). The project has the opportunity to significantly impact on popular understandings; the temporary exhibition at the NCMM plus permanent exhibition on the project website will make people rethink the importance of women to the winning of the strike, and think more broadly about social change and gender.
School students will be provoked to think about the importance of women's activism, and about activism, trade unionism, gender, and local history, via the dedicated educational resources that will be produced. Two lesson plans will be developed in conjunction with the NCMM's existing teachers' networks, plus Holy Trinity school in Barnsley (another project partner). Our project partner in Barnsley will trial these resources; links made in the other coalfield communities will be used to publicise the resources to schools there, giving students in these areas the chance to learn about their own local history, engaging them with their own past.
We will work with History Acts, a radical history forum run by Birkbeck which brings together historians and activist groups; we will jointly run a 2 hour workshop bringing together three contemporary feminist activist groups to discuss our research findings and their significance for activism today.
- women in coalfield communities with whom we will co-produce the research;
- coalfield communities more broadly, via community groups, local history societies and family history networks;
- National Coal Mining Museum of England (project partner);
- general public, particularly those interested in history of mining, 'ordinary people', and women;
- school students/education;
- feminist activist groups.
The new oral histories and archival collections will benefit the NCMM, giving them new resources to use in future research and exhibitions, in particular on women, and expanding their holdings relating to coalfields outside of Yorkshire (which they are keen to do). In a time of reduced funding for heritage, we will produce a temporary exhibition with the museum and impact positively on their long term resourcing.
We will significantly impact on the women from coalfield communities with whom we will co-produce this new history. Many of these women were involved in a unique and highly significant moment of history; their activism helped to sustain the miners' strike for an entire year. Co-producing new narratives and understandings of the strike, women's place in it, and women's changing lives across the postwar era will reconstitute networks of women which generally disintegrated after the strike. Women will have the chance to reflect, singly and together, on the strike and on their lives more broadly. It is important that the voices of women, particularly working-class women, should be heard, valorised and recorded for posterity; this still happens too rarely.
We will hold public workshops to debate findings, inviting local history societies, family history networks and community groups. This will provide a chance for communities to feed into the research and reflect on their recent history, change and continuity over time, and changing gender roles and activism. A community's sense of itself rests on an understanding of its past; participating in commemorating and analysing history can be a powerful experience for communities, generating shared understandings of place, history and politics.
The general public, particularly those interested in the strike and in the social and cultural history of women, the working class, and 'ordinary people', will be able to access the research through the temporary exhibition at the NCMM (listening posts will remain up for 5 years in the museum), and the online version of the exhibition. There is much public interest in these themes, as suggested by films like Pride (2014), and Billy Elliott (2000); and by the success of popular history books written by academics - such as Selina Todd's The People (2014). The project has the opportunity to significantly impact on popular understandings; the temporary exhibition at the NCMM plus permanent exhibition on the project website will make people rethink the importance of women to the winning of the strike, and think more broadly about social change and gender.
School students will be provoked to think about the importance of women's activism, and about activism, trade unionism, gender, and local history, via the dedicated educational resources that will be produced. Two lesson plans will be developed in conjunction with the NCMM's existing teachers' networks, plus Holy Trinity school in Barnsley (another project partner). Our project partner in Barnsley will trial these resources; links made in the other coalfield communities will be used to publicise the resources to schools there, giving students in these areas the chance to learn about their own local history, engaging them with their own past.
We will work with History Acts, a radical history forum run by Birkbeck which brings together historians and activist groups; we will jointly run a 2 hour workshop bringing together three contemporary feminist activist groups to discuss our research findings and their significance for activism today.
Publications
Sutcliffe-Braithwaite F
(2021)
'Reopen the Coal Mines'? Deindustrialisation and the Labour Party
in The Political Quarterly
Sutcliffe-Braithwaite F
(2022)
Vernacular Discourses Of Gender Equality In The Post-War British Working Class
in Past & Present
Sutcliffe-Braithwaite F
(2023)
Women and the Miners' Strike, 1984-1985
| Description | This project's overall objective is to co-produce, with women from coalfield communities, a comprehensive study of women's activism during the miners' strike of 1984-5, and a new history of continuity and change in working-class women's lives from c. 1945 on. In order to achieve this we have completed the collection of a major new bank of oral history life-story interviews (with just over 100 women) with women from coalfield communities across England, Wales and Scotland. This is deposited in the archive at the National Coal Mining Museum for England for future researchers to use. In interviewing women, and in running a reminiscence day at the National Coal Mining Museum, we have been able to discuss in an open-ended way with the women involved in making history - in the dramatic moment of the strike and in the less dramatic course of their everyday lives - how it should be recorded and remembered. This has meant that the special exhibition at the National Coal Mining Museum (29 Feb. 2020-3 Jan. 2021) and online version of the exhibition have been shaped by how those involved thought their story should be told. The PI and Co-I now have a book contract to publish the first book focusing on the experiences of activist and non-activist women in the miners' strike in coalfields across England, Scotland and Wales. This will showcase the project's findings about the importance of not only women's activism, but also women's paid labour and their emotional and practical labour in the home to keeping the miners' strike going. We also have an article forthcoming in Past & Present which transforms understandings of change in gender roles in postwar Britain, by showing that even before the impact of second-wave feminism, working-class women were developing important new ways of thinking about equality between the sexes. |
| Exploitation Route | The bank of interviews deposited at the National Coal Mining Museum for England are a useful resource not only for other academic research, but also for media organisations and/or educational providers looking for sources to use to tell rich and interesting stories about working-class women's lives in postwar Britain, trade unionism, family, activism, feminism, work, and a host of other themes. |
| Sectors | Education Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://www.coalfield-women.org |
| Description | The project documented and encouraged reflection on a much wider spectrum of experiences and impacts of the miners' strike than had previously been recorded. It had impact through creation of a new archive, the process of gathering an oral history archive, events, an in-person and online exhibition, media coverage, and educational events and resources. The project preserved diverse cultural heritage and enhance museum collections. It recorded and preserved life-story oral history interviews with 104 working-class women (in 86 separate interviews). Working-class women are underrepresented in British archives, and (because mining was a uniquely male occupation) women's lives are especially poorly documented at the NCMM. Between August 2019 and December 2020, the project team provided the NCMM with audio files, permission forms, metadata and detailed interview summaries for all the interviews, enabling their permanent deposit and use by museum staff, researchers and the public. As the Museum's curator reported, 'most of our collections are interviews with men', making the project's materials 'interviews with 100 women from coalfields across Great Britainextremely valuable to us'. 'his is the first oral history collection to preserve the memories of women with a whole breadth of experiences in the miners' strike - including women whose husbands worked through the strike, or who returned to work, as well as women who themselves went on strike or worked through the strike', the curator commented. The experiences of working miners' families are particularly underrepresented: the stigma attached to working during the strike has rendered these memories 'unsayable' for many. The curator concluded that, 'Showcasing women's voices was particularly important to us' ; the archive collection 'will enhance our ability to make women's history central to the Museum' and 'gives us many more ideas for different stories to tell'. The project also transformed understandings of women's activism through participatory events. During the life of the project (2018-20), the project team organised a series of 16 public participatory events (of which 3 were held on Zoom due to Covid-19 restrictions). These events changed how both women involved in the strike and members of the public understood this decisive moment in British history. Several events were augmented by a 14-minute film (https://bit.ly/3ubEVFZ) based on the research and interviews, produced by the project team. Held in Aberdare (3 events), Barnsley, Bristol, Doncaster, Durham, Fife, London, Nottingham, Stirling and Wakefield (2 events), these community-based participatory activities included, for example, a Reminiscence Day at NCMM, 2 community dinners at Cynon Valley Museum, and a stall at the Durham Miners' Gala. The in-person events attracted c. 275 attendees to discuss and reflect on the research findings while the Gala stall enabled the project to talk to hundreds of gala-goers across the day. 3 further online events (themed around Kent, Wales and feminism) attracted 112 attendees. When the book came out, a launch event for interviewees and others held in Senate House, University of London, attracted over 100 attendees, including interviewees from as far afield as Scotland. Feedback from events demonstrated the project's impact on understandings of women's roles in the strike. One interviewee, who supported her striking husband and worked for a wage but was not involved in any activism, said she had felt previously that she 'didn't really do anything'; after attending a project event at the NCMM, she saw the significance of her actions differently. At the Durham Miners' Gala in 2019, attendees commended hearing 'a breadth of stories': otherwise, they said, you have a 'distorted' view of history. An attendee at Aberdare was surprised to learn 'how many different ideas people have about the strike; some want to forget it and some think although it was a loss, it was a victory in the women's core'. Attendees valued hearing women's voices and recognised that the project's interviews added new perspectives to history. At a 2020 online event, one commented it 'Made me think about the strike from the point of view of the women', while another reflected 'you get so much from intonation. They sounded resourceful and proud.' At a Welsh event, one attendee wrote, 'Still feel emotional about it now especially hearing personal testimonies'. Attendees gained new recognition of the complexity of feminism in the strike: a London event attendee was especially interested to learn that 'Working class women aren't really that interested in the concept of "feminism" which is largely a middle class topic. Practical equality with men is more important'. The Policy and Communications Support Officer for Wales TUC highlighted the importance of events such as the Aberdare event, 'looking at social history from the perspective of women, because this aspect is so often overlooked'. Participants also gained a new understanding of the experiences of strike opponents. One interviewee described how her interview led her to re-evaluate her thoughts about the divisions between striker and non-striker: 'thinking back on a certain person [you realise], that they probably did that because of this reason, whereas at the time you thought, "oh I hate you"'. Event attendees valued the opportunity to 'hear some of the views [] about the more private, negative feelings towards the strikes'. The project's findings about the power of women's and community support in trade union struggles, and the transformative nature of the strike for many working-class women, also informed contemporary political discussion. Sutcliffe-Braithwaite and Thomlinson were invited to speak at Bristol Transformed (8 March 2020), an annual festival of politics and culture organised by activists, on a panel alongside interviewee Sian James (MP for Swansea East 2005-15), to an audience of c. 40. A co-organiser of the event reported that 'their research showed' how 'vital' women's activism was to the strike, noting its 'hugely inspiring lessons for activists today'. She confirmed: 'Feedback was positive, with people reporting being surprised by the extent of the role of women in the miner's strike, in particular around the organising of food and soup kitchens'. This legitimised the approach of National Food Service Bristol, as the Director explained: 'Florence and Natalie's research [] confirmed our organisation's theory of change by demonstrating the power of bringing people together around food, and [I] have found it useful to consider how we can bring this into our organising.' The project's public events supported cultural organisations by engaging new audiences within the heritage sector. An initial event with the Cynon Valley Museum in South Wales was full to capacity with 59 attendees. This included 'regulars' and 'many who had travelled a significant distance'. Discussions were 'very engaged' and 'went on after the end time', and visitors 'look[ed] at other exhibitions in the museum', too, the Museum Coordinator noted. This success led the team to organise two Community Dinners and one online event specifically aimed at attracting under-engaged groups to the local museum. The two Community Dinners drew 49 attendees; 50% of those who completed feedback forms were not frequent visitors to the museum previously, and 100% said they were likely to visit again. The coordinator concluded: 'These events were immensely valuable to us - as a museum with no local authority funding - in our goal of being a "useful museum", embedded in the community. They attracted new visitors, many of whom said they planned to return to the museum, and enabled us to offer regular visitors an enhanced cultural offering'. Without such partnerships, he reflected, the museum lacked 'capacity to offer many history-based events', or to 'directly communicate to the public university-based research focused on underrepresented histories (women's and working-class history) based in our local area'. The project's eventsis added 'hugely to our profile', with attendees including Welsh Assembly Member Vicky Howells. The project also furthered public understanding of women's and working-class Activism. In 2019-20, Sutcliffe-Braithwaite co-produced the 'Women in the Miners' Strike' exhibition with the NCMM curator and interview participants. It launched in the NCMM's 'Mining Lives' gallery on 29 February 2020. An online version of the exhibition maintained public access to its highlights, interviews and project video during the Covid lockdowns. The exhibition changed interviewees' and viewers' perceptions of what constituted history, and they used it as an opportunity to reflect on a new kind of history. At a 2018 event at the NCMM discussing the production of the exhibition, one interviewee wrote in answer to the question of whether she thought her actions were 'historic', 'I hadn't but I am now thinking that everything you have done could be called history - people's history'. The exhibition launch in Wakefield attracted 59 interviewees and family members. Some travelled from as far away as Kent, demonstrating that this opportunity to commemorate their experiences was valued by members of former mining communities. At the launch, one wrote, 'This has made me think about how we record our stories for future generations in our own words'. The exhibition encouraged the reinterpretation of a range of women's activities during the strike. By demonstrating the significance of women's paid labour alongside women's activism, it prompted visitors to reflect on household economics and gender roles. As one visitor commented, '[it] made me recognise how so crucial housewives' salaries/wages were to miners' households'. Another interviewee wrote, 'talking to other attendees, I thought most people were involved in women's activism, but many like me were working to support families'. The online exhibition attracted a global audience (including viewers from Australia, Finland, Greece, New Zealand, Norway, Spain and the US). Viewers used it to inform creative outputs. A fiction-writer awarded a bursary by Literature Wales for a coming-of-age novel set in Wales during the strike used this 'really interesting and helpful' resource to research her novel. One interviewee used quotations from the online exhibition in a project about the aftermath of the coal industry in Kent for a photography degree. She noted that 'The quotations from the exhibition underpin the second part of the project entirely', and that through the project 'I sometimes feel I have stepped back in time, and have a huge affinity with the women's experience all those years ago'. Media engagement with the project further amplified the research's impact impact, with coverage in local and national newspapers and broadcast journalism. The publication of the book in 2023 was covered, for example, on Radio 4's The World Tonight, and several journalists attended the book launch held in February 2024. The creation of educational resources and events in a range of schools in coalfield areas has also allowed the work to have impact on how local history, women's history, and the history of working-class activism is taught in schools. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Title | Bank of oral history interviews |
| Description | This collection of oral history interviews (with over 100 women) forms a substantial new research for understanding the lives of working-class women, particularly women from coalfield communities, in postwar Britain. Most interviewees were born between 1940 and 1968, and are drawn from coalfields in England, Scotland and Wales. The interviews are life-story interviews covering interviewees' whole lives, with an emphasis on questions relating to gender. This is an invaluable new resource for historians and other scholars researching questions relating to working-class life, gender, and a host of other topics. The resource is now available for researchers at the National Coal Mining Museum for England archive. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | None yet |
| Description | 'Deep Place' research team |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Department | Bartlett Development Planning Unit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I used the oral history method we used in the AHRC project to interview further women, plus men, involved in the mining industry and mining communities in Co. Durham, to develop historical knowledge about the changing economic and social infrastructure of mining communities. This was then used to inform policy development in the present. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Durham Miners' Association have provided venues and used their networks to publicise the project and to host our events. Bartlett School of Planning colleagues have undertaken research using focus groups and data analysis. |
| Impact | We produced a short report on our pilot work: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/planning/sites/bartlett/files/sacriston_report_2021_final.pdf We published an article in Regional Studies: John Tomaney, Maeve Blackman, Lucy Natarajan, Dimitrios Panayotopoulos-Tsiros, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite & Myfanwy Taylor (2023) Social infrastructure and 'left-behind places', Regional Studies, DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2023.2224828 We published a short book as part of the RSA's Policy Impact series: John Tomaney, Maeve Blackman, Lucy Natarajan, Dimitrios Panayotopoulos-Tsiros, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, and Myfanwy Taylor, Social infrastructure and left behind places (2024). |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | 'Women in the miners' strike' special exhibition at the National Coal Mining Museum for England |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This exhibition was launched in Feb. 2020, and will remain up until 3 Jan. 2021. It will reach the general public and aims to change how important women are seen as being to the history of the miners' strike. There is an online version with some of the material from the physical exhibition here: www.coalfield-women.org |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | http://www.coalfield-women.org |
| Description | Barnsley Women and the 1984-5 Miners' Strike, Friday 28 June, 2.15pm - 4pm |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Event shared project findings relating to women and the strike in Barnsley with general public and participants in the project. Feedback forms suggested participants had gained new perspectives on the strike, local history, and the importance of women in history. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Community Dinners at the Cynon Valley Museum, 1 February, 18 February |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The first 2 of 4 Community Dinners at the Cynon Valley Museum, these involved talks from the project team, plus interviewees, plus a representative from the local Food Bank. Participants reported in feedback forms that many had gained a new perspective on the role of women in the miners' strike, and the struggle and hardship experienced by many in the strike, and by Food Bank users today. Many reported that they had not been frequent visitors to the museum before, and 100% said they were more likely to return to the museum in the future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Digging Deeper: The Women of Nottinghamshire's Coalfields, Wednesday 24th April, 2pm - 4pm |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public event sharing findings with interviewees and other interested members of the general public relating to findings in Nottinghamshire. Feedback forms suggested attendees had learned more about local history and changed how they thought about the miners' strike in the area and women's role in history. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Durham Miner's Gala, Saturday 13th July |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We had a stall at the Durham Miners' Gala, sharing project findings relating to women and the miners' strike with attendees. Discussions suggested many of those we talked to gained new perspectives on the strike, the role of women in the strike, and the importance of women in history. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Exhibition launch at the National Coal Mining Museum for England, Saturday 29 February |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | We held a launch event for 49 attendees, mainly interviewees for the project plus their friends and family members, mainly from Yorkshire, the North East, and Kent. We discussed the project findings and interviewees had the chance to look around the special exhibition. Feedback forms suggested many of those we talked to gained new perspectives on diversity of roles women took on in the strike, and gained a strong sense of pride about their stories being showcased in a major national museum. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Feature in the Western Mail Weekend Magazine, June 22, 2019, pp. 4-8 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Cover story and 5 page feature about women in the miners' strike in South Wales, based on interviews with our interviewee Kay Case and an interview with PI Sutcliffe-Braithwaite. Given the nature of the impact it is impossible to track audience responses, but the newspaper has a circulation of 13,500 and it is to be hoped that a substantial feature on this subject will have impacted on readers' understanding of women's role in the miners' strike and on women in history. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Film screening and launch event for Women and the Miners' Strike |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Organised a screening of the 1984 film 'Not Just Tea and Sandwiches', with Q&A with the filmmakers, and panel discussion of the book 'Women and the Miners' Strike', for project interviewees, public, media and undergraduates/graduate students/academics, at Senate House, University of London, on 23 Feb. Feedback emphasised the inspiring nature of the event, and the new perspectives on women's actions in the strike that participants developed, eg: "I am so inspired by the strength of the women who held the heads of the men high." "[One thing I found interesting or surprising was] women's paid work was crucial to sustaining the miners' strike" "[One thing I found interesting or surprising was] that the book challenges stereotypes of the wife behind the miner." "[One thing I found interesting and surprising was] how moving the testimonies of interviewees was and their appreciation of Florence and Natalie's work bringing their stories to a wide audience - making them history." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Interview for BBC Radio 4 PM Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project's exhibition launch was covered by Radio 4's PM programme, 7 March 2020, 17:00-17:30 (average listener figures 700,000. The Broadcast Journalist who produced the package reported afterwards that it had been very successful in showcasing women's history, and very original voices on the programme. I do not have any data on impact but the journalist felt that the package conveyed original new insights into history that were surprising to him and would hopefully have a similar impact on listeners, prompting them to reflect on aspects of history they had not known about. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Interview for BBC Radio Kent |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | PI was interviewed on 20 July 2020 about the research by BBC Radio Kent (12:10-12:30). The interview included two segments from the oral history interviews, bringing these narratives to a wider audience; the presenter and producer were very enthusiastic about the significance of remembering this often-forgotten local history in Kent. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Interview for VICE TV programme 'Rise up' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | PI on the project was interviewed for a VICE TV series 'Rise Up', titled 'British Miners', shown on American channel VICE TV (161) on Sunday 15 November 2020. Vice TV has more than 30 million monthly viewers and is distributed in France, Australia, and the UK. Rise Up tells inspiring stories of socialist activism; the producers wished to integrate women's varied and vital contributions and this led them to contact the PI to discuss the research findings; their feedback was that including the research findings enabled them to present history in a gender-balanced and inspiring way. I do not have data on the impact on viewers hence I cannot confirm that there was an impact but the wide distribution of the programme suggests it will have had an impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Interview on BBC Radio 4 The World Tonight programme, October 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interviewed about our book Women in the Miners' Strike, and what new findings and stories our research uncovered. The interviewer and producer were very positive about the value of the research to bring greater awareness of women's role in history, and to shed new light on parts of women's history that are not well-known. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Interview with Simon Greaves |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Spoke with Simon Greaves about our research into the strike, he emphasised he was pleased to have new research to report on to give a fresh angle in discussing the story of the miners' strike. He published the piece in the Nottingham Post. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Interview with Yorkshire Post |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Natalie Thomlinson interviewed by Yorkshire Post about women in the miners' strike, published November 2023 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Interviewed for BBC Wales podcast on the miners' strike, 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interviewed for BBC Sounds podcast on the miners strike - a multi-part series, the producer said that parts of the interview were 'spine tingling' and that our research expertise would enable them to tell a much wider variety of stories about women's participation in the strike than are usually acknowledged. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Online public talk focused on Women in the Miners' Strike and Feminism |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Due to Covid we could not run an in-person event focusing on this topic, so we ran it online, which enabled us to reach an international audience including academics, activists, and members of the public. Feedback was positive, with attendees reporting they changed how they thought about feminism and social class. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Online public talk focused on Women in the Miners' Strike in Kent |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Due to Covid our in-person event in Kent was cancelled; this event focused on showcasing our research findings relating to women in the miners' strike in Kent; as it was online it attracted an international audience, and feedback was very positive. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Oxford University Press podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Interviewed by Oxford University Press for their books podcast. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Reminiscence day, National Coal Mining Museum for England |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | 8 men and women attended an afternoon-long workshop. The women had already been interviewed for our project. The aims of the day were several: 1. bringing together men and women involved in the miners' strike to discuss their experiences together adds another element to our research, allowing us to track the interactions of individual memory and public memory (a major area of interest for oral historians). 2. bringing together these men and women to interview each other on camera, with a professional videographer, has enabled us to produce a 13 minute film for use in further engagement activities, showcasing some of the key findings of our research in the words of the people involved. 3. bringing people together to discuss their experiences in the strike changed several people's minds about the strike, and their own activities in it. One woman noted that she hadn't thought much of her activities - she supported her husband but didn't get involved in any activist groups; she had now reassessed the importance of what she did during the strike. 4. we discussed how those involved in the strike wanted it to be remembered; the co-production of history is a core part of our project methodology. This day enabled us to discuss in detail how those who made history think it should be told, which will shape our future public engagement events and exhibition. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | School visit, St Bede's Catholic Comprehensive School, Peterlee, Co Durham |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Thomlinson gave three hour longs talks (repeated) to approximately 150 year 9 students about the miners' strike in County Durham, with a particular focus on women. These students had already undertaken all three of the planned lessons that we had provided in the educational resource pack. Thomlinson was told that the students 'really enjoyed it'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | School visit, XP Academy, Doncaster |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | On the 4th November 2021 Thomlinson gave an hour long talk about the miners' strike in Doncaster to c. 100 Year 7 students, with a particular focus on women. They completed homework where they asked family members and friends about their memories of the strike that was adapted from the educational resources we have made. On the fifth November, Thomlinson led four separate oral history workshops with each form, adapted from the educational resources we had made for the project. This was in preparation for them interviewing former miners' and miners' wives who had been involved in the strike, who were coming into school the following week. Staff reported that 'they've really engaged with it because it's their community. They've really loved the homework from resources where they've been asked to speak to people they live with about the strike.' Further sessions followed in 2022 and 2023, and XP Teacher Sarha Hannam gave the following feedback: "We do an expedition about migration where students interview asylum seekers about their personal stories and experiences. I have been helping staff to plan these sessions using your advice around oral histories. You've really inspired me to ensure oral history is used in the history curriculum at XP. Their stories have been curated and displayed in the French gate. We do a lot of work with 'experts' and interviewing members of the community. Another example of this is our year 11 interviewed men who used to work at the Doncaster Plant Works which is the site we study for the 'History Around Us' course." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023 |
| Description | Talk at Bristol Transformed Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 2 researchers on the project spoke at a festival of left-wing political ideas, on a panel with a woman interviewed for the project, to discuss women's activism in the miners' strike and lessons and inspiration for activism today. The festival organisers reported much interest, and debate about the ideas discussed particularly in the National Food Service Bristol organisation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Talk at Doncaster Heritage Festival, Saturday 11 May, 1.30pm |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public event sharing findings with interviewees and other interested members of the general public relating to findings in Doncaster. Feedback forms suggested attendees had learned more about local history and changed how they thought about the miners' strike in the area and women's role in history. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Talk with Year 9 Dover Girls Grammar School at Kent Mining Museum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Delivered talk to Year 9 group from Dover Girls Grammar School at Kent Mining Museum in July 2022. Dover Schools Grammar School teacher Tom Millard responded to the question "Has this changed your approach to teaching community history? If so, what/how exactly?" as follows: "Yes it has. We made a start on local history like this when we looked at local volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. This was a move away from our previous local study of Dover Castle, a site with huge significance but one that every student knows plenty about already. Our KS3 curriculum has to have local history elements. Previously I would have done this as a unit on Dover through time but now I think it's better to scatter local history throughout our units of study. Therefore, I would put this unit into a wider study on protest and reform or post WW2 culture and make at least one of the lessons very local specific. I like the focus on archiving community stories which is a key focus of your resources and this will continue." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Women in the Miners' Strike in Scotland: Two Events |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public events: Friday 21 June, 6.30pm - 8pm, Dysart Community Hall, 1 West Port, Dysart, KY1 2TD and Saturday 22 June, 11.30am - 1pm, Bannockburn Miners' Social Club, 36 Morrison Drive, Bannockburn, Stirling, FK7 0HZ Sharing findings with interviewees and other interested members of the general public relating to findings in Scotland. Feedback forms suggested attendees had learned more about local history and changed how they thought about the miners' strike in the area and women's role in history. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Women in the Miners' Strike in South Wales, Saturday 4 May, 2pm - 3.30pm |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public event sharing findings with interviewees and other interested members of the general public relating to findings in South Wales. Feedback forms suggested attendees had learned more about local history and changed how they thought about the miners' strike in the area and women's role in history, as well as making links with Food Bank use today. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |