Strike

The miners’ strike of 1984-5 had a profound impact on Britain’s politics, economy and society. For those on strike, and their families, it felt like an existential struggle to save not only their jobs, but their communities, and the life they knew.

Jonny Owen was just 13 and growing up in Merthyr Tydfil when it began. As it was kicking off, his parents told the family that they were going to give a substantial share of their wages to the striking miners for the duration of the dispute. His father and grandfather had worked underground.

Jonny couldn’t understand how anyone could argue with the decision to strike – after all, they just wanted to keep their jobs.

The miners lost their fight, and today, the South Wales Valleys suffer deep-seated problems – low skills, unemployment, and high sickness rates.

Jonny, a filmmaker, now lives in Nottingham – an area that could not have been more different from South Wales during the strike, with nine out of ten miners going to work throughout the dispute. His friendships cross the divide between the men who went on strike and those who didn’t – and the scars are still deeply felt forty years on.

In this series, he talks to people who were at the heart of the strike – on both sides – as he tries to make sense of what happened and why.

The conflict was bitter, the battle lines were stark, but the old certainties seem to shift like sand beneath his feet. Join him on his journey into the heart of one of the most tumultuous events in 20th-century Britain.

Strike is a Bengo Media Production for BBC Sounds.

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