Mid - Winter glory - Wattle tree where we stopped for a cup of tea !
Gunnedah Town Hall
56 Day Preston Underground Coal Mine Stay Down Strike – The World’s Longest Ever!
On 26 March 1986, 91 coal miners were told they were to be retrenched from the Preston Extended Colliery in Gunnedah. Knowing that these sackings heralded the closure of the Preston and Gunnedah pits and the end of underground mining in the Namoi Valley, 14 miners commenced what is still today the world’s longest stay-down strike lasting 56 days.
The courage and determination of the 14 stay-down miners (only seven of whom were on that retrenched list) sparked enormous public support. When they emerged from the pit on 17 May, they had won back the jobs of the 91 retrenched miners and secured the futures of the Preston and Gunnedah mines.
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