Our first assignment in Yorkshire.
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For cats; Chilli, Colin & Ted the Jacadoodle.
Vid clips;
Chilli Chasing
Ted Trotting
Ted Walking
Ted Walking
Local History;
Mining Satire;
Historical & Political Notes;
The yearlong Miners Strike 1984-85, was as a protest by the miners at Margaret Thatcher’s plan to close pits, under the guise of the National Coal Board (NCB).
It was stated by Thatcher the intention was to close just 7 uneconomic pits, but Miners Leader Arthur Scargill said he believed it was more than 20.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, some 30 years later it was revealed it was Thatcher’s intention to have 21 pits closed. Putting 300,000 people out of work.
During the 30 years the mining industry in Britain was decimated, and even more pressure was applied to cease producing coal, as it was a fossil fuel, and because the exhaust from such could not be neutralised, it should be replaced with nuclear.
However at the time of Thatcher’s government there was also concerns about the number of nuclear power stations being build, but again Thatcher said the intention was only the replace aging ones, whilst at the same time the government was obtaining quotes for the construction of more than 20 nuclear power stations.
It’s ironic that after 30 years nuclear is no longer suitable for power stations, and is de-commissioned, this leaves the fuel rods still radioactive even though they have to be buried. The best burial place found was dis-used pits under the North Sea!
Now in 2019 the government is promoting fracking, which is a FOSSIL fuel, and like coal there is at the moment no means to neutralise the exhaust, so it will have the same global warming effect as coal.
It appears that even after 30 years we have progressed by going backwards to yet another fossil fuel.
Had the science been put into neutralising coal exhaust, the mining industry could still have been booming, with an almost endless supply under our feet. There would have been jobs for more than 300,000 people, and we would never have needed nuclear, and it’s waste which will still be radioactive when the Earth ends!
The miners could have won the strike if they had a different strategy. The plan was to bring the power stations to a halt, but starving them of coal, but government spies got wind of this, and power station spent months building up stock.
When the strike started, the miners had no income, so after a year many were bankrupt. Had the miners “worked to rule for a year”, this would have starved the power stations whilst still retaining their incomes.
It was a joy to have Monty & Matty look after Ted, Chilli and Colin and our house. They took Ted out on lots of adventures in the local area including places we’d not visited ourselves, and kept us updated with regular emails and photos and even managed to coax the elusive Colin into the lounge. Ted and Chilli were happy to snuggle up with them and all three pets were happy and content when we arrived home. The house was clean and tidy when we arrived home and Monty had kindly cut the lawn for us. I highly recommendthem and look forward to their return visit in 2020.
(Received by email)