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
(2022)
Vernacular Discourses Of Gender Equality In The Post-War British Working Class
in Past & Present
Sutcliffe-Braithwaite F
(2021)
'Reopen the Coal Mines'? Deindustrialisation and the Labour Party
in The Political Quarterly
| 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 | Public narratives of women's experiences in the miners' strike had previously focused on activist women, telling a simple story of 'liberation' through activism in the strike; this research project demonstrated how partial that story was, documenting much more diverse experiences. The project had impact through: (1) ensuring these more diverse stories are preserved as part of the historical record in a new archival collection at the National Coal Mining Museum for England. (2) transforming how women involved in the strike understood the significance of their own actions, and how members of the wider community understood women's role in the strike, impacting on health and wellbeing and community - this impact came about through our special exhibition at the Museum, our online exhibition, public events, online events, and coverage in newspapers, TV and radio. (3) drawing new and underengaged audiences into a local museum with whom we partnered, the Cynon Valley Museum, and enabling them to offer an enhanced history offering. It thus contributed to the commemoration and cultural understanding of the miners' strike - in all its complexity - and challenged conventional wisdom about the strike, and about who 'makes' history. (4) developing educational resources to enable teachers to run a series of KS3 lessons on oral history, women's history and the miners' strike. The project recorded life-story oral history interviews with over 100 women, which are now held in the archive of the NCMM, preserving the voices of working-class women, who are still underrepresented in the archive - particularly in the NCMM's archive, because mining was a uniquely male occupation. This represents a significant collection and has already enabled the museum to present more stories focusing on women in the museum through the special exhibition, 'Women in the Miners' Strike', on display from Feb. 2020 to Jan. 2021. Many interviewees participated because they felt it important to contribute to processes of commemoration, and commented that they felt that participating validated their sense that their stories were important and needed to be preserved. For example, one interviewee said she wanted 'the next generation to remember'; another said, 'people like myself [] that voice was never heard, really'. The more diverse histories of women in the miners' strike revealed in the research project reached many individuals; in 2019-20, the project spoke at 15 events presenting the research findings, in England, Wales and Scotland. Through all these channels, the project impacted on how women involved in the strike, and members of the public more broadly, understood this important moment in history, changing perceptions in often profound ways. Many who engaged with the project gained a new understanding of the diversity of women's experiences in the strike. One participant in our 2019 South Wales event commented they were surprised by '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'. Two activist women who we spoke to at the Durham Miners' Gala in 2019 emphasised the importance of seeing 'a breadth of stories', otherwise, they said, you have a 'distorted' view of history. The project showed how important women's paid labour was in the strike, and not just women's activism. This transformed how some women evaluated the significance of their own actions: at our group Reminiscence Day in 2018, one striking miner's wife who supported her husband and worked for a wage in the strike but didn't get involved in any activism, said she had felt previously that she 'didn't really do anything'. Now, however, she saw the significance of her own actions, and felt 'better'. Many also gained a new understanding of the marginalised experiences of those who opposed the strike, and this could lead to re-evaluation and reconciliation. For example, one interviewee described how the interview led her to re-evaluate her thoughts about this divisive period of history: '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"'. Others were able to connect their new understanding of the strike with contemporary British life. One participant at a South Wales event wrote, 'Still feel emotional about it now especially hearing personal testimonies. Relevance today with foodbanks, universal credit, austerity Britain'. Many made this link, connecting the shame that some miners and their wives felt during the strike in relying on food parcels and soup kitchens and with how some foodbank users might feel today. Co-production was central to this project throughout: interviewees and event participants discussed how they felt the history of women in the strike should be understood, and this fed directly into the special exhibition. This process changed how some saw 'history' itself. At our Reminiscence Day, we asked if participants thought their actions were 'historic'; Roni Chapman, who was on strike herself in 1984-5, wrote, 'I hadn't but I am now thinking that everything you have done could be called history - people's history'. Many interviewees commented about how 'proud' they felt to see their stories in a museum exhibition. The events engaged new audiences with the heritage sector. After the project's first event with the Cynon Valley Museum in Aberdare, South Wales, the museum coordinator tweeted that it was 'amazing' to see the museum 'so packed'. This led to a programme of 4 Community Dinners aimed at attracting new and underengaged groups to this local museum. The first 2 events drew 49 attendees; of those who completed feedback forms, 50% said they were not frequent visitors to the exhibition previously, and 100% said they were likely to visit again. The museum coordinator commented that these events were extremely valuable for a museum with no local authority funding in their goal of being a "useful museum", embedded in the community, enhancing their ability to offer high-quality and original events focused on history. Sutcliffe-Braithwaite has been invited to sit on the Academic Advisory Board for the history and heritage experience that is being developed with HLF funding at Redhills, the 'Pitmen's Parliament' of the Durham Miners' Association. She has also been invited to visit and run events for the new Kent Mining Museum opening 2022. Both of these advisory roles have come about because of the project's work to develop new understandings of the role of women in mining communities and trade union activity. The project also developed and promoted to teachers lesson plans and resources for a series of Key Stage 3 lessons on oral history and the miners' strike. Thomlinson has run a series of events using these resources at schools in Durham and Yorkshire, with teachers showing great enthusiasm for the way these resources have inspired students to find out about local and family history and connect it to larger themes. |
| Sector | 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 | https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/planning/sites/bartlett/files/sacriston_report_2021_final.pdf |
| 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 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.' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| 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 | 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 |