labour shut more mines than the tories, alot of the miners didnt want to go on strike, i know as i've spoken to a lot of people up the valleys

@@vikingsmb Yes Labour shut more pits in the 60s but that was at a a time of full employment. You could finish in the pit on a Friday and start in a factory on the Monday, probably with a better wage. There was a documentary series similar to this made then about the Rhondda called The Long Street. In it the boss of the South Wales coalfield was interviewed at Mardy pit. When asked what the biggest challenge facing the industry he said it was managing to attract enough manpower. When Thatcher shut the pits manufacturing had already been decimated and there was nothing else. I've worked with former miners and still do. I've lived among them and drank with them and have yet to meet one who was against the strike. There were mixed opinions about how Scargill handled the strike, especially on whether he should have held a ballot, but not on the strike itself. That's why not a single miner returned to work at Mardy before the strike ended.

redic 5