I come from a small town in North West Wales, called Blaenau Ffestiniog. It’s a very Welsh place. In the last census about 5% only spoke Welsh and around 80% speak, read and write in Welsh. Over a century ago most of my family are recorded in every census as only speaking Welsh. The exception was my hen taid (great grandfather), Gryffydd. Like thousands of others his father had emigrated to Vermont to share their experiences and expertise to exploit slate there. Gryffydd was born in Vermont but came back bilingual. Blaenau is a town that was one the biggest suppliers of slate in the world. All the male members of my family on my dad’s side were slate miners going back generations. My dad left school at 14 for an apprenticeship in one of the mines.
The picture above is my nain (grandmother) and taid (grandfather) and my uncle Elwyn in the early 1930s. My Taid was a miner. His name was Ellis. He died in 1933 underground, aged 43. His death certificate was signed by the company employed GP. He died of heart failure brought on by exertion and exacerbated by a malaria infection. He had served in the army in India. This diagnosis that his death was linked to the infection meant no compensation and no pension. My nain was left alone and unemployed with three young sons. Elwyn was the oldest and died in World War 2. It was certainly hard. My dad, Cadwaladr, had stories about being picked on by police because he had no father. He also remembered the kindness of the Co-op. He would get a handout of shoes , school uniform etc every September. My uncle Jim started off working on Crosville buses but became an official with the TGWU. He progressed to national positions including as President of the Wales TUC. In the family he famously accepted an OBE for services to trade unions in Wales. This was when Thatcher was in power.
It was not spoken about much but there was a radicalism. My nain had been active in Plaid Llafur (Labour party). Famously she was canvassed by Plaid Cymru when in a care home. She sent them away – saying nationalism and fascism – two sides of the same coin. I remember as a child her telling me about the “Welsh Not” at her school. The UK government had passed a law that meant all schools in Wales having a piece of wood on a rope carved with “welsh not”. Any child heard speaking Welsh in class or in the playground had it hung around their neck. The child with it at the end of the day was beaten. It’s a tribute to towns like Blaenau that despite every effort over decades the language thrives.
The 1926 General Strike didn’t include the slate mines of North Wales but would have paralysed transport. I am sure my family would have been supporting.
The miners in Blaenau went on strike for 16 weeks in 1893. It had strong trade union, socialist and chapel traditions.
No traitors in this house were common posters in the strikes across the slate industry in North Wales when a small number of strikers had returned to work.
The slate mines had a system of “cabans”. These were huts made of slate. There would have been on each level underground. They were where miners had their lunch and tea. They would also pay a subscription. My dad used one and described how they would sing and write and recite poetry. They also voted on sending some of their kitty to support strikers. They were also a place for political discussion and reading. Each caban had a library of books. I remember him telling me about the arrival of a Welsh language edition of the Communist Manifesto. Workers shared news across the mine by a magazine called “Caban”. I still have a few copies.
This is from Wikipedia “The caban, the cabin where the quarrymen gathered for their lunch break, was often the scene of wide-ranging discussions, which were often formally minuted. A surviving set of minutes from a caban at the Llechwedd mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog for 1908–1910 records discussions on Church Disestablishment, tariff reform and other political topics.[103] Eisteddfodau were held, poetry composed and discussed and most of the larger quarries had their own band”
All of this in the background shaped my politics and outlook. The 1960’s when I grew up in Blaenau were particularly radical. At school, my mam had caught a train every day from Trawsfynydd to Bala. This went through Tryweryn. The UK government voted to drown the valley in 1965. I was 5. A whole village went and the bodies were exhumed in the graveyard. Nearly all Welsh MPs voted against. The water was for Liverpool. The deep hurt of this is still felt today. Cofio Tryweryn (remember Tryweryn) signs are common in Wales. A few years later Charles was invested as Prince of Wales in Caernarfon. It was a time when there was a rising campaign about language, culture and the hardships many in Wales suffered. There were many demonstration but also direct action, including bombing.
We moved to England where I learnt to speak English aged 9. By the time of the 1973 miners strike I was actively supporting the Labour party and joined on my 14th birthday. The 1970s were a tumultuous time. My family history and the unrest of the 1970s did a lot to shape my politics. I went to University in Manchester in 1978 during the Winter of Discontent.
I moved to Bedford to study at Cranfield University towards the end of 1983. I became active in the Labour Party and the Young Socialists. The miners strike started soon afterwards. Bedford was the home of the National Graphical Association. A trade union in the print industry. I contacted them on behalf of the LPYS asking if there was any contact with the NUM. it led to me taking a South Wales miner to the Labour Party General Committee a few days later. The Labour party were at first reluctant to pledge support as they thought it would be a commitment that would need to last months. A small group of us gathered in the pub and between us offered accommodation to the first group of miners to stay in the town. I had one or two staying with me continually for the whole strike. We brough together trade unions and Polish and Indian workers associations and many others and did all we could to support the strike. After the initial visit from the Welsh miners we were allocated pits in the midlands to support. John Bennet was from Hucknall Colliery in Nottinghamshire. George Smith was from Lea Hall colliery in Staffordshire. Trevor Gilbert was from Moor Green Colliery in Nottinghamshire. Brian Witts and Bob McMahon were from Littleton Colliery in Staffordshire. The youngest was 22, the oldest 35. I was 24, so a similar age to them.
Brian had an idea while staying with me. He decided to write to every trade union he could find an address for asking for badges. Swapping badges during the strike was quite a thing. His idea was to sell and raffle the badges to raise funds. He was very successful. Most days bags of badges crashed through my letterbox. As a thank you for the accommodation and my role with the support group he got hold of a flat cap and covered it in badges and presented it to me as a surprise. It’s never been worn as far too heavy.
Brian went on to write a book about NUM badges.
Reviews – Enamel Badges Of The National Union Of Mineworkers
While in Bedford they also wrote a pamphlet, again to sell to raise funds. Trevor was an amateur artist and illustrated the pamphlet. The most striking picture is of women on the picket line to illustrate his tribute to their role in the strike.
They thanked those that had supported them in the introduction. It was quite pointed. “all labour members who helped us” was one entry. They also thanked Bedford Communist Party who had one member. All members of the LPYS and Militant got a thanks. It finishes with “last but not least, Gwyn Morris for providing accommodation for us all and putting up with the peculiarities of us mining folk”. I never fully found out what this meant.
A year or so after the strike the NUM printed a large poster with emblems of each mine that was on strike. Each had a handwritten thanks at the bottom. I still have mine. I was the one of a very few in Bedford to get one.
Two years later and there was a strike in the last remaining slate mines in my home town. It lasted 7 months. I was asked to go to connect to the strikers and to cover the story for the Militant newspaper. I had several advantages. I was local, the son of a miner and I spoke the same language. Blaenau had been an outstanding supporter of the NUM strike. South Wales mining communities repaid that support during the 7 months.
Dafydd Iwan is a well-known singer and activist in Wales. Decades ago, he wrote “Yma o hyd” – we are still here. It catalogued the history of Wales with a verse that says despite all of the hardship and oppression – we are still here. A song about survival and fighting back. It is now an unofficial anthem sung at Welsh national football matches. Dafydd wrote a song for the Blaenau strikers in 1986. The words are below. This became the song of the picket lines.
Nid gofyn wnawn am gardod, na gofyn ffafr chwaith
Ond gofyn am ein haeddiant am ddiwrnod o waith.
Er mwyn y rhai fu’n aberth i lwch y garreg las,
Er mwyn y rhai fu’n brwydro ar graig a ffridd a ffas.
Safwn gyda’n gilydd, safwn fel un gwr,
Safwn gyda’n gilydd fel un gwr.
Aeth wythnos arall heibio heb son am babpur bach,
Rhaid sefyll ar y biced a byw ar awyr iach,
Rhaid peidio gwangaloni na phlygu dan y straen,
O freichiau ffrindiau fyddlon daw nerth i gario ‘mlaen.
Safwn gyda’n gilydd, sfawn fel un gwr,
Safwn gyda’n gilydd fel un gwr.
(Dafydd Iwan)
Standing together.
We’re not asking for charity or favours either,
What we ask for are our dues for a day’s work!
For the sake of those who were sacrificed to the dust of the blue slate,
For the sake of those who struggled on the rock, the soil and the face.
We’ll stand together – stand together as one.
Another week goes by without a payslip,
We must stand on the picket line and live off fresh air,
We mustn’t be fainthearted or break under the strain –
From the arms of faithful friends comes the strength to carry on.
We’ll stand together – stand together as one.
In 1986 the strike at Wapping started and lasted a year. The NGA union was the main protagonist against the Murdoch empire. The NGA were based in Bedford and ran a coach down to the picket lines most evenings. I was a frequent attender. I gained some notoriety when a friend working in a bar in Bedford noticed me on the evening news. I was walking away from the picket when, unprovoked, a policeman on a horse sped past me and struck my head with a truncheon. Bloodied and a bit concussed I got back in the early hours. Friends had no way to contact me to check if I was alright.
I joined a union in 1983 as a postgraduate researcher. It was the ASTMS. I remained a member working in the private sector and then in the NHS and then in the Civil Service. Mergers led to it being in the MSF and now UNITE. I held positions on national and local committees as well as on the regional TUC. I organised strikes and protests in the NHS and was the national secretary for the Broad Left in my Union.
Gwyn Morris