成人快手

Betty talked to us about how the strike changed her life.

What difference did the strike make to you?

It totally changed my life. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. There was a lot of laughter as well as a lot of tears but it gave me a confidence that I never realised I would ever have. I went to university which if somebody had said to me a few years before, "this is what your future holds" I would have said, "No way," and it was because of the strike when I was speaking all over the country, all over the world actually and going into universities to speak, suddenly realising I know as much as these people do about life, often a lot more, and I was determined I was going to get some education after the strike.

Our women's organisation, National Women Against Pit Closures, is still active - we are still alive 21 years on. Last year we had a wonderful weekend at Wortley Hall. Women came from all over the world. It was absolutely brilliant.听 I couldn't imagine the six of us had organised a big event like that. It was absolutely magnificent and we're still carrying on. Our group, the Barnsley Miners' Wives, raises funds for medical aid for Cuba. Ann (Scargill) and I have just come back from Cuba, another group in Royston works within the community and in local schools, and the North Staffs women are working with refugees and asylum seekers. The women in the north east are working on a website so we've got our own website as well. We're still active, we're still working together and we have our meetings, still going strong as an organisation.

Do you think the life of the women who live around here will now be different because of your involvement in the miners strike?

Some women's lives have totally changed. Other women have tended to go back into a traditional role but, even so, the strike did change them. Prior to the strike when the news came on they had to go up and do the ironing or make a cup of tea but then, during the strike, they were watching the news, they were watching it with their children, they were discussing it, they were reading newspapers - albeit second-hand ones because we couldn't afford to buy newspapers - suddenly realising there is something out there, something they could grasp. Even if they've gone back to traditional roles they've still now got that insight and they are still watching the news and reading the newspapers and becoming opinionated themselves, not just sitting down and listening to what everybody else is saying. It's changed their lives to a small degree but it's still a change.

Do you think the pits have gone forever?

They'll come back. They've got to come back.

If the mines do come back, will there be women miners?

Just before the strike ended they has passed some legislation to allow women to work down the coalmines but it was too late then, they were closing all the coalmines down. I talk to a lot of people and they say nobody should have to work down there but the women coal miners I know are distraught when their coalmines close down. A lot of them have to go into other jobs but if they could get a coal mining job they would go back tomorrow.

Do you think women working down the pit would听 feel the same camaraderie that is usually associated with men?

When the women went into the mines in America it was they who agitated for health and safety improvements, and a lot of the guys then wanted to work in mines where women worked because women were instrumental in agitating and organising to get safety measures...I had a coal-mining friend and when she said, "Jump" the male miners asked, "How high?" She was absolutely magnificent. We did one meeting in Kentucky, and the night shift came off, and one of the women miners walked into that room and she looked as though she had just come off the catwalk, her hair was immaculate, her makeup was wonderful and she'd just done a 12-hour night shift down the coalmine. It doesn't destroy your femininity, you can still be a woman and you can still do these jobs.

What are your hopes for the future?

At the moment I've had to go back to work due to financial restraints. I do enjoy doing voluntary work. Just like during the strike when there was a need for women on the picket line, a need for women in the soup kitchen, a need for women to speak - I like being in that circle, I like to fill a gap where possible.