12/03/2014 Newyddion 9

The miners' strike of 1984.

A long and bitter dispute which divided communities.

Those who crossed the picket line...

..faced the wrath of the local community.

Breaking the strike meant letting down colleagues...

..and losing friends forever.

Tonight, for the first time in 30 years, one who returned to work...

..speaks bluntly about his experiences.

I didn't expect it to be so difficult.

I was afraid of what would happen next.

For those who stayed loyal to the strike, there's no forgiveness...

..even today, for the strikebreakers.

There are people I still won't talk to.

And there are people I'd cross the road to avoid talking to...

..or avoid looking at their faces.

The strike got the better of some.

The strain became overwhelming and life wasn't worth living.

Gethin wasn't Gethin.

Did he change?

Yes.

Three decades after the strike in one of the South Wales valleys...

..the scars of 1984 remain deep...

..and the shadow lingers on over Cynheidre.

Pontyberem, the Gwendraeth Valley, Carmarthenshire.

A village which is home to almost 3,000 people...

..but few of those still work in their local communities.

It was a different story in 1984.

These housing estates were home to dozens of miners.

In 2014, a father and son and two former colliers...

..Malcolm and Terry Davies, still live on Ffordd Aneurin.

But they no longer work in the coal industry.

Life and the area have changed.

There's unemployment in the area because everything just shrank.

And everything has become alien.

In those days, you knew everyone who worked on site with you.

I count this as a site - the council...

..or the village of Pontyberem, everyone knew each other.

In 1984, Malcolm and Terry both worked at Cynheidre Colliery.

The father was part of the rescue team...

..and the son was a member of the NUM committee.

Workers came to Cynheidre from the Llanelli area...

..from Gower, Carmarthen, Llanpumsaint - everywhere.

I have fond memories, stories and fits of laughter...

..which are just wonderful.

You don't get that these days.

But in March 1984, the laughter came to an end.

Amid fears that the government would close pits across Britain...

..the NUM decided to make a stand and go on strike.

In Cynheidre, the majority of the workforce of 1,300...

..supported the strike.

We had to fight for our livelihoods...

..or we would have been trampled over.

What then?

This memorial talks about the valley uniting as a family...

..during times of tragedy and disaster.

But the miners' strike put a different sort of strain...

..on this familial community.

As the strike continued, things went from bad to worse financially.

Things were tight and making ends meet was a huge struggle.

The community helped and food and clothes parcels were distributed.

But some miners still had doubts over whether the strike was wise.

In Cynheidre, after 10 weeks without an income...

..some wanted to return to work.

REPORTER: Do you want to go back to work?

Yes. We don't see how we can win. They won't sit around the table.

We feel that we've lost.

Philip Jones worked as a loco driver in Cynheidre in 1984.

He was 34 and a member of the NUM.

Three decades on, Philip Jones still lives in Pontyberem.

His life has changed since the strike...

..and he's had to leave the valley to find work.

For almost 25 years, he's worked at a supermarket in Carmarthen...

..stocking shelves.

Despite joining the strike in 1984...

..he disagreed with the industrial action from the start.

We went to work one night...

..and we couldn't get in because there were pickets there.

Well, in my view...

..if the strike was lawful, we wouldn't need pickets...

..because no-one would go in.

But we didn't need pickets to come from other mines...

..to stop us going to work.

In November 1984, after eight months on strike...

..Philip Jones was one of the leaders of a group...

..which crossed the picket line and returned to work.

It wasn't a very nice feeling...

..when the police picked up your children and took them to school.

It wasn't nice.

I'm not saying I'm proud...

..of what I did...

..but, at the end of the day, they didn't give us a choice.

For those still on strike, seeing colleagues who were once friends...

..abandon the strike and being paid made them feel betrayed.

Although those who returned were expecting trouble...

..one claims that some reacted disgracefully.

Around a dozen women...

..broke into our lockers...

..and they urinated and defecated in our lockers.

To me, that was disgraceful.

Disgraceful.

They were pigs.

Those who returned to work were called 'scabs'.

Miners at Cynheidre made up 90% of those...

..who crossed the picket line in South Wales.

For Philip Jones, his home became a haven and a prison...

..at the same time.

Did you go out?

No. There was no point.

You had 'scab' written on the wall outside the house.

But, erm... who cares about that?

You could live with that?

Yes, I could.

But it wasn't just the miner who was targeted.

One of the girls had problems at school - the oldest.

Those who supported the strike had children in the same school.

They pushed her up against the wall and said...

.."Your dad's a scab and you're a scab."

Well, she was nine years old and didn't understand.

She came in tears and didn't want to go back.

Philip Jones and his colleagues who broke the strike...

..needed the police's help to get to work every day.

There was no love lost between them on the picket line.

They should expect the same welcome from the pickets.

Around a quarter of them here this morning were from Cynheidre.

The rest are from local mines. They feel as strongly as we do.

They can expect the same welcome from us...

..but I don't think they'll have the nerve to turn up.

Dorian Davies was a young miner in his 20s during the strike.

He was fully behind the action.

Unity is important in any industry.

Maybe less so today, but in those days...

..in the sort of industry we worked in...

..unity was absolutely vital...

..to secure working conditions which were acceptable to all.

Today, Dorian Davies holds driving courses...

..for people who've been caught speeding.

For those who backed the strike...

..he says the years since have not been easy.

I think many of us still feel the affects of that strike.

In our hearts, in our heads but also financially.

Think about it, as I said, a year without a salary.

We had to go into debt...

..in order to survive.

To a degree, people are still paying for that.

For over a decade, Howard Watkins has been retired from his work...

..as a driver for a government transport agency.

In 1984, he worked at Cynheidre.

After eight months on strike he decided that enough was enough.

But by crossing the picket line...

..he angered colleagues who were still on strike.

I came home from work one day and I lived here at the time...

..and there must've been around 102 pickets outside the house.

Outside your house?

There was a field on the other side and they were in there.

They left a board behind which said "Welsh scab."

That's what it said.

I had an Alsatian at the time.

If I'd let him out, he would have gone at them.

He was angry... really angry.

Howard Watkins had the full support of his wife in returning to work.

Despite his colleagues' anger...

..she says her husband did the right thing.

I'm glad we made a stand.

Had you let people down?

They were foolish to go without pay.

I'd rather be behind Maggie Thatcher than Scargill.

Those who broke the strike in Cynheidre had fears...

..that NUM leader Arthur Scargill was trying to mislead them.

They felt he was exaggerating the threat to the future of the mines.

It's quiet in Pontyberem today...

..unlike when I was here on January 7th 1985.

This hall was full and the miners had gathered...

..to listen to Arthur Scargill at the height of the strike.

Hundreds of miners gathered to listen to their leader.

Almost 90 workers had returned to Cynheidre by the start of 1985...

..and Scargill wanted to make sure the strike didn't sway any further.

Now is the time to negotiate a settlement of this dispute.

To recognise the depth of feeling on the part of the miners.

One of the miners at the meeting was Alan Jones...

..or Alan 'Tal' as he was known by colleagues at Cynheidre.

We're a small community in the village and it was difficult...

..and not just for the miners.

Everyone felt it.

It trickled down to the shops.

That's what everyone was talking about.

"So-and-so has gone back to work."

It affected the whole community.

Pontyberem is home to the first Menter Iaith set up in Wales...

..Menter Cwm Gwendraeth.

It's where Alan Jones works now as an IT officer.

He had to retrain after losing his job following the strike.

A lot has changed in the community.

It's not as close as it used to be years ago.

If you're lucky enough to have a job...

..you have to travel to Llanelli and Swansea...

..or even further for some.

But there's not much work available in the valley.

-MINERS CHANT:

-Here we go, here we go!

After a year-long strike...

..the miners went back to work in March 1985...

..having lost the battle and a year's salary.

After the break, we'll hear more about the scars of the strike...

..and how its shadow still lingers today.

Once you have a scar...

..it never goes anywhere.

That scar might be there...

..as the English say, until my dying day.

And we'll hear about the heartbreak of one woman...

..who says the strike led to a personal tragedy.

It was very stressful some days.

There was a lot of crying.

Cynheidre in the Gwendraeth Valley, 2014.

The traces of the mine which was once central to the community...

..have disappeared.

In November 1984, 17 men crossed the picket line in Cynheidre...

..and over the following weeks, around 70 returned to work.

But they were a minority in an area which supported the strike.

People have long memories in the mining villages behind me...

..and forgiveness is short...

..especially when you're talking about 'scabs'.

Even 30 years after the strike, some people have told us...

..when they see someone who broke the strike, they cross the road.

When Arthur Scargill came to Pontyberem...

..Malcolm Howells was vice chairman of the NUM committee at Cynheidre.

30 years later...

..he has nothing to say to colleagues who broke the strike.

When I go to funerals and so on, it's very difficult...

..when you pass a colleague and you can't say anything.

You still feel that way?

Oh, yes. It's in the blood.

I'd say it's in the blood. It's very difficult.

The ex-union official believes 'scab' is a label...

..that will stay with those who crossed the picket line forever.

Even as children, they'd say "He was a scab."

You'd think, "What's a scab?"

As you get older you understand.

Well, it's been 30 years now.

The same name was used and it's still used.

Philip Jones and his wife Enys still notice how the strike...

..shapes people's attitudes.

Before the strike, people spoke to you...

..but after the strike they didn't look at you.

It didn't bother me...

..because I just got on with my life.

I had two children to look after and the husband was working...

..so we had money coming in and we could get on with our lives.

A week before the strike, the couple signed to buy a house...

..and were hoping to leave their council house.

But with the strike, they lost all their savings.

The ex-miner says he had no choice but to return to work.

I had to look after myself and my family.

If you don't look after the family...

..what's the point of camaraderie?

You know?

You can be friends and go back to work.

That person doesn't change at all.

The other person changes...

..because this person has done something...

..they don't think is right.

Some miners who stayed on the picket line...

..still feel that the strikebreakers betrayed them.

With the sort of work you do underground...

..you have to be able to rely on the people you work with.

To trust them.

You've got to have that before you can feel safe at work.

Thinking of going back to work with people who broke that agreement...

..was heartbreaking.

The anger continues today.

There are people I still won't talk to.

And there are people I'd cross the road to avoid talking to...

..or avoid looking at their faces.

Dorian Davies lived in Tumble during the strike.

Dozens of Cynheidre miners lived in the village.

There was a strong community spirit in the area.

But for those who were on strike it was a difficult year.

June Brown's husband worked at Cynheidre.

It's lucky we were around here. We were all together.

If someone didn't have something, we all helped, and that was it.

In many mining homes, the uncertainty created tension.

Oh, it was often a strain.

There was a lot of crying.

I can imagine, because you didn't know what to expect.

No.

Gethin Brown was June's husband.

Aged 52 and a father to a young daughter...

..the strike left its mark on him, according to his wife.

Gethin wasn't Gethin.

Did he change?

Yes.

He'd say a few things if I asked him...

..but he didn't say much.

In May 1986, the police discovered Gethin Brown's body...

..in a lake in Llanelli.

His widow believes she wouldn't have lost him if it wasn't for...

..the strike and questions the value of the dispute.

Do you ask that often?

Yes.

If there are things I can't do...

..I call him all kinds of things.

The beginning of March 1985...

..almost a year after the dispute started, the strike came to an end.

The miners returned to work but the battle had been lost.

When they came back a year later...

..they said they were coming back with their heads held high.

But their heads weren't high.

Their heads had dropped.

EXPLOSION

The battle to secure the future of Cynheidre was also lost.

In 1989 the pit was closed and the iconic towers were demolished.

At 53 years of age, people like Malcolm Davies...

..also lost any hope of finding work.

I was trying to find somewhere to work.

I was prepared to do anything.

I was confident I'd find something but nothing materialised.

It was the end of the line for many generations of ex-miners...

..and many believe those who crossed the picket line...

..contributed to the death of an industry which sustained...

..the area for over a century.

We tried to persuade them not to go but they were determined to go.

I feel strongly about what they did to the industry.

They were to blame.

What you did was help the government...

..to break the spirit of the worker in Wales...

..break the spirit of the unions...

..break the spirit of the industry.

You destroyed the future for Welsh communities.

If you and the others had stayed out...

..some would argue that the coal mines might still be open.

Maybe you were part of the reason they closed.

Not at all.

No-one gained anything.

After a year-long strike, no-one gained anything.

Every worker lost out.

They lost a year's pay.

For what?

In terms of work, the years since Cynheidre closed have been bleak.

The average household income in Pontyberem today...

..is around £22,000 - almost a thousand less...

..than the average for Carmarthenshire.

Since the strike, no major employer has come to the area...

..to replace the coal mines and a significant gap has been left.

The scars of '84 are still there.

The scars will never go.

Once you have a scar...

..it doesn't go anywhere.

The scar might be there...

..as the English say, until my dying day.

There's no doubt one or two will say, "Good riddance."

Each to their own.

There are few traces of the existence of Cynheidre today.

But the fight over the future of the pit...

..was worth fighting, according to many who stood on the picket line.

Believe it or not, there is some pride in the fact...

..that we stood up for what we believed in...

..and fought for it.

We lost but we have that feeling that we made the effort...

..to fight for our future, our families, our country if you wish.

30 years after the strike...

..Cynheidre is just a distant memory.

Isn't it time to bury the past, reconcile...

..and forgive?

For some things there is no forgiveness... ever.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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