146. Thursday February 7th, 1985.

I travelled up to Scotland yesterday with Fred Taylor and spent the night at Willie and Marlene Forsyth’s house in Penicuik. It was great to see them again but very sad to hear that Willie has been sacked.He is very worried because he’s certain the strike is going to be sold out. I agree with him but still feel confident that no deal will be signed without all the sacked miners being reinstated. We can’t betray these men who have fought so hard to win the strike, or the lads who gave their lives and the lads in jail. It’s unthinkable.

   I spent the whole of today in the Sheriff’s court waiting to be dealt with for my arrest at Bilston Glen on July 25th!! It never happened because the bastards have adjourned it yet again until March 7th! Justice my arse! The three lads who did get dealt with were all found guilty, one of them getting a £150 fine and the other two got £75 fines, with only 8 weeks to pay! One of the lads was John Scott from Westoe, and unfortunately for him his witness gave evidence that contradicted his. Another wasted journey for me.

145. Monday February 4th, 1985.

I got up at 4am this morning so I could get down to Westoe for the mass picket called in response to Westoe NACOD’s voting for a return to work, but only if there wasn’t a hostile picket at the gates. It was brilliant!! Over 500 men turned out to face one senior pig, as requested by NACOD’s. We were VERY hostile as we marched up to the pit gates with the ‘Zulu’ chant being shouted loudly. Just like the good old days. We spotted a man sitting in a car beside the pit, and when we asked him who he was he told us he was a reporter from the Shields Gazette, notorious amongst the pickets for its pro – scab, pro – NCB stance. He was lucky to get away alive as we began to rock his car and almost turned his world upside down.

   The Deputies leader was very arrogant in his short discussion with our officials, resulting in a hail of paimt bombs, stones and traffic bollards raining down on the Deputies, forcing them into a very undignified retreat. Things then started to get out of hand and a car was overturned. Unfortunately it was owned by a local TV rental company who have threatened to stop all credit to striking miners. At least they wont have to watch the shit being poured out constantly about the return to work!

   A Deputy’s car was also covered in paint because its owner had been particularly outspoken against us. He has already been bleating to the local media, and has hung a sign on his car naming the NUM as the ‘hooligans’ responsible. No doubt his action will result in further abuse, but whatever he suffers it will not be a fraction of what we have suffered for the past 11 months!

   The Shields Gazette had a field day in tonights edition, calling us ‘hooligans and thugs’, and reserving special indignation to report the ‘horrific experience of their innocent reporter’. As innocent as Robert Maxwell or Rupert Murdoch! The sooner this nasty, tatty little rag goes bankrupt the better for the people of South Shields!

   The Tories are going in for the kill, announcing the closure of Frances Colliery in Scotland with the loss of 500 jobs, with more to go if the stike continues. Bastards!!

144. Thursday January 31st, 1985.

I received a letter through the post from the manager of Westoe Colliery appealing for me to return to work so that the pit can be saved. Apparently it is in danger of being flooded so badly we won’t be able to save it if we don’t return to work NOW! Bollocks,it’s blackmail. They’ve tried bribery and that didn’t work so now it’s blackmail. The letter ends,’Remember, it is YOUR JOB and YOUR future at stake and requires YOUR decision NOW!’ The bin got my response!

The Lodge has asked for our Safety Rep to be allowed down the pit to assess the situation but the manager, predictably, has refused. The fact of the matter is its not us he wants back, it’s the Deputies in the NACOD’s union because without them he can’t get the scabs back down the pit. NACOD’s have so far refused to cross our picket lines because they know they will have to work with us once the strike is over, but that doesn’t mean anything to the NCB and they are really being put under pressure. I’ve no sympathy with the bastards at all because if they’d joined the strike at the start we would have won this bloody strike months ago!

As expected, the NCB have refused to talk to the NUM unless they agree not to oppose pit closures. How can the bastards expect us to do that after all the shit we’ve been through? Bastards are just building up mens hopes and then crushing them in the hope more men will return to work in despair. 5,000 scabs now in the North East.

Four scab buses went into Westoe this morning and three men were arrested in the push. The pigs just grab anyone they can catch. The NCB are claiming 185 men working at Westoe. They neglect to mention that 100 of these are in the COSA union, 53 mechanics and the remainder genuine NUM scabs. Hardly a massive return to work from a workforce of over 2000 men! I’m proud of the Westoe pickets and always will be!