Miners’ Strike exhibition ‘keeps memories alive’
An exhibition and film about the 1984 Miners’ Strike have brought back vivid memories for a Sunderland couple.
Bob and Juliana Heron were heavily involved with the strike.
They visited the National Glass Centre’s Northern Gallery for Contemporary
Art’s (NGCA) Collection Space to see Mike Figgis’s film The Battle of Orgreave, based on
Jeremy Deller’s re-enactment and photographs provided by the Sunderland Echo for an accompanying exhibition.
Bob was a colliery fitter at Eppleton Colliery at the time of the strike. He later became a long-serving Sunderland City Councillor for Labour and the city’s mayor.
Juliana started working life as a nurse, but was bringing up her three children when the strike started in March 1984. She became a leading figure in miners’ support groups and chaired Eppleton Miners' Wives Support Group.
She remains a long-serving Sunderland City Councillor, representing Houghton ward for Labour. She was Sunderland’s mayor in 2003.
Bob was at the Battle of Orgreave between pickets and police on June 18, 1984.
Bob said: “It was utterly
terrifying and I saw lads getting cracked over the head by police officers and being knocked out of the way by horses.”
Bob himself needed 10 stitches after a police dog bit his leg leaving him permanently scarred.
Meanwhile, Juliana was becoming a notable figure in Eppleton and the wider Durham coalfield.
Juliana remembers: “We made sure the miners were being fed and made sure the wives were supported.
“We ran a café a main course and dessert. It was a lot of meals, one week we served 1,350 meals. The film and photographs at the NGCA help to keep those memories alive.”
The free exhibition and film are at NGCA’s Collection Space in the Glass Centre until November 3.