The Gala developed out of the miners' trade unionism, with the first Union being established in 1869 The Durham Miners Association organised the first Gala, that was held in 1871 in Wharton Park, Durham. The Gala was not held during the 1st and 2nd world wars.
An estimated 175,000 strong gathering of people were at this year’s Durham Miners Gala - the biggest for 50 years!
It was the 131st Miners Gala here in Durham City where miners of old used to march from their pits, headed by their own brass bands gathered for ‘The Big Meeting’
My Union at the Gala!
NCCC Ist Thalmann Battalion - 12th International Brigade
International Brigade flag and Banner - 1936 to 1939
A Morning Star Photo
And this coffin will be wheeled out — literally, it is on wheels — at future Galas as a reminder of the lasting hatred felt towards the woman responsible for the destruction of Britain’s deep-mined coal industry.
The coffin was made by ex-miner Mick Woods, who worked at South Yorkshire’s Manvers Main colliery which was shut by the Tories in 1988. Later he worked at Kellingley in Yorkshire, Britain’s last operating pit.
Mick was involved in organising the funeral pyre lit at Goldthorpe in South Yorkshire on the day of Thatcher’s funeral, April 17 2013.
IN memory of Bob Crow 1961-2014 who said ‘If you fight you may lose but if you don’t fight you will always lose’
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