'Our heritage must not be forgotten' - Watch as crowds brave the weather to flock to Durham for annual Miners' Gala - video Dailymotion

Sunderland Echo

Durham city has been hosting its 138th Miners' Gala.

Transcript

00:00♪♪♪

00:26Hiya!

00:28Ha ha ha ha ha!

00:34Okay, then Jimmy, why did you come down here to Sherham?

00:36Why is it important to support this event?

00:38Tradition. The mining heritage should be kept alive.

00:41Are you from a mining background?

00:43Not really. I'm from a mining village.

00:45A lot of my friends had parents who were miners,

00:47but I'm not from a mining background.

00:49Which village are you from?

00:50Sherham village.

00:52I just think it's important because

00:54it should never be forgotten for what they've done,

00:56and things like that.

00:58I think it's the 40th anniversary of the miners' strikes as well,

01:00so particularly important this year?

01:02Yeah, very important. It'll always be important,

01:04no matter what anniversary it is,

01:06because it's sort of dying off a little bit,

01:08but hopefully it'll keep going for many, many more years.

01:12You're not put off by the weather today?

01:14No, no. I may not have been coming down since I was little.

01:18My daughters have been coming.

01:20I've got my granddaughter here now.

01:22It's just, like I say, it's just tradition,

01:24and it's something that should be withheld.

01:26It's part of Durham, it's part of Durham life.

01:41Kevin Allen, just how significant is the Miners' Gala event,

01:44and why is it important it continues

01:46with the region's traditional history?

01:48The Durham Miners' Gala

01:50is the biggest event of its type,

01:52a gathering of trade unionists

01:54and their supporters,

01:56labour movement supporters,

01:58in the whole of Europe.

02:00It's the biggest in Europe.

02:02The first gala was held in 1871,

02:04when there was numerous pits

02:06in the county of Durham.

02:08Today, we haven't got any.

02:10The last pit in Durham closed in December 1993,

02:12and that was way above the pit I worked at.

02:16The reason why it's that vitally important

02:18is because

02:20it gives us a sense of identity.

02:22It is our identity.

02:24It tells our younger generation,

02:26this is where you come from,

02:28this is your heritage.

02:30Be proud of that heritage,

02:32because the whole country was built

02:34on the back of coal.

02:36Coal fired the industrial revolution

02:38and provided the benefits we enjoy today.

02:40So the gala is relevant

02:42because it's an act of defiance

02:44against those who would oppress us.

02:46It's an event

02:48which signifies

02:50comradeship,

02:52friendship,

02:54peace,

02:56and love.

02:58That's what it's all about.

03:00It's a coming together of people

03:02who want a peaceful world,

03:04who want a decent world.

03:06This gala epitomises that,

03:08and it's vitally important it continues,

03:10and it will continue

03:12long into the future.

03:14You can see it today,

03:16the weather's not the best.

03:18It's damp, it's drizzling, raining,

03:20but there's still thousands and thousands

03:22of people on the streets of Durham

03:24marching with the magnificent banners

03:26and the bands.

03:28That's what it means to the people,

03:30not only in Durham, but around the country

03:32and indeed around the world.

03:34We've got international guests

03:36at the gala every year.

03:38We've got people from around the country

03:40every year. It's the most significant

03:42event in the country.

04:12Miner's Strike 1984,

04:14we knew that, well, what I did

04:16was I said that we needed

04:18to get women involved.

04:20If we didn't get the women involved, I knew the strike wouldn't last.

04:22Because, believe it or not,

04:24in mining communities it's women that ruin,

04:26and they would have forced the men back to work.

04:28So my job was to

04:30go around each of the villages,

04:32try and get support groups together,

04:34get women to do stuff.

04:36And at first those women wanted to provide

04:38males, which was fine.

04:40But eventually it grew,

04:42and they did all manner of things.

04:48At first it was canny,

04:50but as the strike went on,

04:52bills came in,

04:54electric bills, mortgage companies

04:56were at the families

04:58who were going to be evicted.

05:00So we had to

05:02provide food, but we also

05:04became an advice centre,

05:06giving people advice on where they could

05:08go, who could help them,

05:10how they could stop themselves being

05:12evicted. So it

05:14was really hard, because women were trying to

05:16be everything. They were trying to keep

05:18the home together, they were trying to

05:20support the husbands, they were trying to

05:22look after their bairns.

05:24It was really hard.

05:26I know the mines are now closed, but how

05:28important is it that we remember on days like today

05:30our mining heritage, and know

05:32what our privileges grew up on?

05:34We are showing today, like we show every year,

05:36thatcher wanted to wipe

05:38us off the earth. She hasn't done it.

05:40We're growing, we're out there, we're still

05:42fighting. And that's

05:44the importance of today for me, to show

05:46solidarity. All the trade unions, that's

05:48what's good now, it's not only the miners,

05:50it's other trade unions coming together,

05:52we're all supporting each other,

05:54and we're fighting this on the same front.

06:06Thank you.

'Our heritage must not be forgotten' - Watch as crowds brave the weather to flock to Durham for annual Miners' Gala

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