40 years ago, South Wales became an epicentre of one of the largest and most significant industrial strikes in history, as 22,000 Welsh miners downed tools as part of a UK-wide protest at the planned closure of 20 British mines.
It was a year-long event that changed the course of British industry as well as British politics, with the strikers’ eventual failure sounding the death knell for the mining industry and consolidating power for the then-governing Conservative Party. As an act of widespread resistance by working class people, the strike has also had a lasting cultural impact, providing the inspiration for everything from Welsh rock tunes (The Manic Street Preachers' A Design for Life) to Japanese animated movies (Hayao Miyazaki’s Laputa: Castle in the Sky).
Now, four decades on from that historic event, a new exhibition has opened in the National Museum Cardiff that aims to delve beyond the headlines from the turbulent year, and focus on the stories of the people who fought to protect their livelihoods and traditional way of life.
Utilising items ranging from personal diary entries and photographs to protest banners and pamphlets, the new Streic! 84-85 Strike! exhibition, takes visitors on a journey through those charged 12 months, from the summer of hope to a winter of violence. It brings to light the struggle faced by miners – now lacking an income – to simply keep their families warm and fed, and the pressure endured by each worker to remain united in the face of growing hardship.
Yet the exhibition also details the sense of comradery that developed in the face of adversity, solidifying a strong sense of community spirit that is still characteristic of the South Wales Valleys to this day.
The exhibition is curated by Senior Coal Curator of Big Pit Museum, Ceri Thompson, who was himself a miner in his early 30s during the strike years. Speaking about the exhibition, Ceri said, ‘Amgueddfa Cymru’s latest exhibition brings to life the story of the year when we went head-to-head with the government. It was a tough year but also a year that saw immense tightening of communities, of families doing everything they could survive, and people outside of the mining communities fighting side by side with the Miners for a fair deal.’
‘I’m thrilled to bring the stories representing miners, families, support groups, the police and politicians behind the Miners’ Strike to life in this exhibition on such an important anniversary year,’ he added.
The exhibition opened at the National Museum Cardiff on 26 October and will run until 27 April 2025. Tickets are available now via the museum's website, on a 'pay what you can' basis.
Find out about other exhibitions and events happening at National Museum Cardiff, or learn more about the seven national museums of Wales and what they offer to visitors.