Double premiere for Doncaster Miners’ Strike documentary

The project has been made possible thanks to National Lottery players through The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Award-winning South Yorkshire film maker Wayne Sables has interviewed miners, their families and other witnesses to create a vivid picture of the early 1980s and the impact the strike had on the South Yorkshire landscape.

Those interviews form the base for a piece that will premiere when it is projected onto the facade of historic Cusworth Hall for a special evening that will include a live brass band performance at 4.45pm on November 10.

A longer version of the documentary will then premiere at Doncaster’s Savoy Cinema at 7pm on November 28, when there will also be a chance to meet and talk to Wayne and some of the 32 people who took part in the project.

“I have spent many weeks talking not just to miners but also to trades union activists, geologists who were working for the National Coal Board at the time, academics who are now studying the strike and groups like Women Against Pit Closures,” said Wayne.

“You’ll get a great insight into everything they have to say at the Cusworth Hall launch but then the fuller version, which we’re screening at the Savoy, will give us chance to go deeper into the stories.

“This is not a political film, it’s about sharing people’s stories and experiences and about preserving an important part of a community’s history.

“With some previously unseen archive material bringing adding even more depth to those stories, I believe we have created a valuable source of information for future generations.

“And the aim is certainly now that, once we have had the premieres, we will start looking at bringing this story to a wider audience.”

Councillor Nigel Ball, Doncaster’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities, Leisure and Culture, said: “This film will ensure that recollections of the strike, and its impact, are shared and kept as part of Doncaster’s history for future generations to learn about.

“We must remember our history and 40 years ago men and women in our coal field villages and towns stood up and fought to protect their jobs, livelihoods and the very communities in which they lived.

“This cannot go unrecognised and should not be forgotten. My thanks go to Wayne for creating this film and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for their support with this project.”

The work is funded by the City of Doncaster Council and The National Lottery Heritage Fund and is part of a year long project to mark this important anniversary for many Doncaster communities.