Scabs until they die

there were plenty of pits close to nottingham all well within 20 miles..

 

What a stupid thing to say.

 

Coal mining was a filthy industry that not only contributed to the destruction of our planet, but also ended the lives of thousands of workers through illness and accidents. Better off without it.

 

Pardon me if I don't bow to your not so expert knowledge .

 

Course we are but you just don't throw communities and people on the scrapheap because you've had enough like the Tories did.
What sort of humanist are you.?

 

I corrected myself above. The info I had was from Wikipedia, and it only lists a few of the pits.

My dad was also a miner until about '93 when Houghton shut. On one level what happened was terrible for the town, and it has taken a long time to get over it. On the personal level, I was very, very happy that he was not doing that dangerous job any more and running the risk of injury or worse every shift.

Was the problem with shutting the mines, not actually shutting the mines, but not putting anything in place for the miners to go on to do? If Thatcher had come in and said "We are going to shut the pits, but we are going to do it in a controlled manner creating new jobs and encouraging people to leave through voluntary redundancy" it would probably have been a lot better for all concerned.

 

The previous labour government were also going to close the pits as well

 

You'll be able to count the people in that away stand who crossed picket lines in the 80s on one hand, if there's even a single one. If anyone thinks it'll get a powerful message across to genuine scabs, I'm afraid it's mistaken.

All the chant does is keep the cultural memory of what happened alive, which really is a worthwhile practice in creating our identity. It gets 6 and 7 year olds asking their parents what it's about and so learn about the history of our town.

It's effectively what Ring a Ring a Rosies' is in passing on the tale of the Great Plague. It has a place though.

 

cotgrave,gedling,hucknall,calverton,moorgreen,eastwood,

 

The previous labour govts had always closed pits ,but unlike the Tories made sure the miners had somewhere to go ,many Scottish snd north east miners were settled in the dearne valley area .
Anyway here endeth history lessons from Marlon , a scabs a scab always will be.

 

In a funny sort of way I agree with your musing .
I mainly do it as an ex picket , but mostly as a football fan trying to get one over the opposing fans chant , one week it's scab,scab scab, the next it's you only sing when your fishing. Or sheepshagger etc etc

 

I understand why people don't like hearing singing about the strike after all these years and also understand that youngsters may well be singing about something they have little knowledge about. But I also understand and totally appreciate that a lot of supporters were terribly affected by all that happened and if they wish to sing certain songs that is fine by me. In the past two or three games between us and Forest, I've noticed that it is actually the Forest fans who tend to give it the 'You'll never work again' stuff first whilst waving various notes around. As someone who hasn't been directly affected by this topic that particular song winds me up, so no wonder some others feel the need to reciprocate. If that's childish and living int he past, so be it.

 

I'm sure it makes sense to some to shout a word at hundreds of people who had nothing to do with an event in time every 12 months. And fair does, that's your choice.

It just seems entrenched, bitter and shows the town in large parts hasn't moved on. Pity.

 

the same labour government that came up with the plan for coal and started the huge investment into the industry?

labour shut pits that were at the end of their lives,the tories shut down a profitable industry and used the said investment to load onto collieries to make them look uneconomical.

 

Some say Scargill handled it wrongly, and maybe he did, but this whole saga was never about whether or not the coal industry was economically viable. The tories had an agenda to privatise all the state owned industries. Maggie wanted this fight, in fact she engineered it, because they had to beat the unions in order to carry out that privatisation agenda. Their policies had been stopped in their tracks by the unions in Heath's time. She had decided she was going to take on and destroy the unions come what may. As with any fight, knock the biggest over first and the rest will follow. She spent years preparing (stockpiling coal etc. subtle law changes etc.) and while I too despise her more than any other human, I have to admit she was incredibly successful. Still to this day 'unions' are a dirty word, even to some of the working class (go figure).

 

What you mean like Hartlepool get chanted Monkey hangers from almost three hundred years ago.
Gerrover thissen.

 

Myself is well and truly over. If a person is from Nottingham, I judge them on who they are and what they are like and not what happened decades ago.

Theres enough hate in this country for far too many reasons without grasping onto every last vestige of it.

 

Nottingham economy was bult on tobacco industry Raleigh cycles lace making Boots chemists and financial services. Any former miners are more likely to come from the wider Nottinghamshire area. Agreed if the strike had remained solid it would have made it more difficult for the Government but not going to be a fair resolution when a power struggle was in place. Brian Clough understood the working mans struggle and we got a good deal when Carl Tiler and David Currie were sold to Forest. True dont forget the past but focus on the game tonight.Miners Strike was pivotal in Industrial history and massive job losses show the strike was justified but other large unions and the wider labour movement did not help their cause.

 

I too treat people from Nottingham with respect unless I find out they were scabs then I fek them off big time.

 

I agree with you there and hindsight is a great thing. I was just replying to where you said "time to give it a rest and move on" you can't expect people especially the ones who lived through the strike and were part of it to move on they won't. My grandad was also part of it when he worked at Grimey so thats 2 generations of my family. I don't feel the need to give it the scabs chants but don't blame people if they want to. The forest fans don't just hear it at oakwell they get it at most northern grounds they visit just football banter to most nowadays though.