Durham Miners Gala - Banners

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Real Geordie
Ballet Girl
Posts: 267
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2015 8:02 pm
Location: England

Durham Miners Gala - Banners

Post by Real Geordie »

For those of you who might be interested in the back history of miners lodges and banners in County Durham, this is a 30 minutes length TV programme about the 100th Durham Miners Gala in 1983, which was shown in that year. The first Gala meeting was in fact in 1871, but it was cancelled during the First and Second World Wars and at other times due to strikes. The narrator was Alan Plater, a well known playwright who was born in Jarrow. The miners of County Durham from the various pit communities would assemble in Durham City and parade their banners, before enjoying the day out. It was very much a social event, as well as a political meeting. Reference is made to the Easington pit disaster @ 04:30. This occurred on 29th May 1951 when firedamp exploded causing a roof collapse. There were 81 men killed, and subsequently 2 rescuers. This programme was of course recorded in the year preceding the strike of which we are all well aware. Little did they know !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2DNvDuQ-ec

Surprisingly, the Durham Miners Gala continues even though the last pit in Durham closed in 1993. In fact in July 2015 more than 150,000 people attended the event, ensuring that the past is not forgotten. Schools in the area have taken to making their own banners as a way of recording their history, and as a salute to earlier generations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sXFwg7GjLk

This helps to explain why the banner is so prominent in BETM.
Real Geordie
Ballet Girl
Posts: 267
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2015 8:02 pm
Location: England

Re: Durham Miners Gala

Post by Real Geordie »

The Durham Big Meeting aka the Durham Miners Gala - footage from the first meeting in 1947 after the pits were nationalised (includes a few shots from the Billy Elliot introductory newsreel) through to current times - minus the pits ! The first Gala was held in 1871.

1947 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPhG4x-v1FI

2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4KbTAILP4k
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