Kath and I had a long lie in this morning then got up and had a late breakfast. The girls were up early playing with their new friends and it’s great to see them enjoying themselves.
Kath spent the afternoon with some other wives and enjoyed herself. I went to a few meetings but spent most of my time talking with other miners about how things were in their areas. One thing I learnt is that they’re all a lot more organised than we are and do pickets almost every day. I’ve had enough of collecting and have decided it’s time I did some proper picketing.
Tonight we were having a good time in the Drifter Bar when Yunus came over and told me there were some striking miners from Notts who wanted to talk to some miners. Dave Farham and me went outside onto the balcony and saw 4 lads talking to a couple of the Yorkshire lads so we just listened. I was amazed to hear that three of them claimed to be on strike at Ollerton Colliery, but the other one openly admitted to being a scab! It didn’t ring true to me because no striker worth his salt would even talk to a scab, let alone socialise with one. The scab openly boasted he was a ‘working miner’ and I moved towards him, ready to throw the scabby bastard off the balcony. I was stopped by Steve Hamill, whom I recognised as the miner who had spoken at the Tony Cliff meeting in Sheffield, so I went for a piss to calm down. When I got back Ian Mitchell was having to hold Steve back! The scabs took the hint and beat a hasty retreat but they had spoilt my night and all I could do was whinge about them. Kath was relieved when we left.
