The second of five camera rolls in which Ingrid Sinclair from Trade Films joins women from the Wearmouth Miners Wives Support Group as they march from Gateshead to Newcastle protesting against the cutting off by the North-Eastern Electricity Board (NEEB) of power supplies to their homes. In this tape Ingrid interviews women from the Durham area and from Burnhope also in County Durham about their reasons for taking part in the march, the hardships suffered by their families during the strike,...

The second of five camera rolls in which Ingrid Sinclair from Trade Films joins women from the Wearmouth Miners Wives Support Group as they march from Gateshead to Newcastle protesting against the cutting off by the North-Eastern Electricity Board (NEEB) of power supplies to their homes. In this tape Ingrid interviews women from the Durham area and from Burnhope also in County Durham about their reasons for taking part in the march, the hardships suffered by their families during the strike, their attitudes towards Ian MacGregor and Margaret Thatcher their views on the role of the mass media during the strike, their views on nuclear defence, the role of women and support groups during the strike and the social effects of pit closures. As the coach continues its journey to collect more protestors before heading on to Newcastle, the women on board sit around chatting. Ingrid Sinclair speaks to two of the women one of whom explains that they are from the Durham area and are her to give their support. She goes onto talk about the challenges they and other women have paying bills and the lack of support or sympathy from many companies which she believes is a directive from the government. She talks about media bias against the miners but doesn’t understand why they are against them. She talks about Ian MacGregor, chairman of the National Coal Board, whom she sees as only doing what Margaret Thatcher tells him to do and is only here to ‘butcher’ the mining industry the same as he did for the steel industry. The woman sitting next to her jumps in and says that the men in the steel industry should have fought for their jobs the same as the miners are doing today. On the question of why they think they [the Conservative government] want to break the coal and steel industry, they reply is that it is simply that Margaret Thatcher does not like unions and doesn’t want to know the working-class. Questions are asked about the nuclear deterrent which one of the women tentatively supports. With the coach parked beside a row of semi-detached houses more women climb aboard to passing the camera to find seats at the back of the bus. Back on the road Ingrid continues to speak with the women from before. She talks about the support group she is from and about the current situation in the village where she lives (not mentioned) with regards employment. She talks about the large police presence during the strike and wanting to know where the money to pay for it comes from. They stop talking as more women walk past finding seats, the woman smiles at them as they pass. With the camera filming those seated at the back of the bus, Ingrid gets back to the interview asks if the strike has changed the way they see Margaret Thatcher. An older woman from the village of Burnhope sits at the back of the coach with others from her local women’s support group. She talks about the work she does to support the miners, their wives and children. She only knows of a few people helping out who aren’t miner’s wives, she mentions the support of the Labour party. Another woman from Burnhope talks about the challenges for her and her husband who works away at Wearmouth Colliery as the pit at Burnhope closes some years earlier. She explains how devastating it is on the village with the colliery gone as there is little other employment available. She talks about the lack of support from people at Burnhope due to the fact that many miners and their families have moved away to find work and those who have replaced them don’t have the same connection to the industry. She explains they don’t have same community spirit with more than half the village not wanting to help the miners. She is asked about the Nottinghamshire miners who are still at works. She believes most of the miners down there now are ‘Geordies’ so get the ‘Georgie wives’ down their get them out! She talks about how the dispute has split her family as she has brothers who are still working and one who is a policeman. She doesn’t speak with these anymore. She also gives details of her husband’s experiences of dealing with the police with her husband probably now having a limp for the rest of his life following one encounter. She is critical of the lack of support from the local Member of Parliament (MP) Ernest Armstrong with regards her complaint about the police. She talks with pride about how the men of Burnhope have been picketing at Tow Law as part of a 24-hour watch. She is asked if the Labour party could do more, she thinks so and is becoming disillusioned with them wanting to know what’s holding them back. She is disappointed with Neil Kinnock but is 100% behind Arthur Scargill. She is asked about support from other unions, she has high praise for the National Union of Public Works (NUPE) and provide details on other union. At this point the tape ends.