Strike

4. The S Word

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Episode notes

Nottinghamshire was the flashpoint of the miners' strike – ninety per cent of the men there carried on working, and so their pits carried on mining coal and keeping the lights on across Britain.

For the ten per cent who were out on strike, it was a tough time – seeing friends crossing picket lines and lacking the scale of community support that the miners had in South Wales.

Presenter Jonny Owen was born in the valleys but now lives in Nottingham. He has friends on both sides of the divide, and in this episode, they tell him how they came to the decision they made about joining the strike.

The divisions created by the strike live on. To this day, when Nottingham Forest plays clubs from Yorkshire, their fans are called scabs by the other team’s supporters.

Jonny explores the meaning and resonance of the S word – scab – and remembers his father’s refusal ever to spell it out. His father also told him it was much harder to be a striking miner in Notts than in South Wales. In this episode, we hear how right he was.

Presenter: Jonny Owen Series Producer: Clare Hudson Executive Producer: Steve Austins Assistant Producer: Ffion Clarke Development Producer: Branwen Davies Sound Designer: Meic Parry Sound Editor: Adam Whalley Composer: Richard Llewellyn Series Consultant: Dr Ben Curtis Commissioning Editor: Bridget Curnow