Queen Coal? Why Remember Women of the 1984/85 Miners' Strike
Domestic Life
The extracts below are from interviews recorded with 47 miners wives who were active in the 'Women Against Pit Closures' movement. The interviews are transcribed and held in the Women's Library, London in a collection called The Betty Heathfield Papers.
"Up together in the morning. He does the dusting. I do the fire. I do the cleaning. Wash the dishes together. He does the bathroom. So workwise it was nice to have someone to help. Once he’s back in work he’s always tired. I don’t know what it is about working in the pits but you can guarantee he’ll come home and he’ll go to sleep. When my husband was home for that year he wanted me in the house with him all the time. He couldn’t go to the club and have a drink because he didn’t have any money. And when I used to go to my meeting down the Welfare Hall, his face used to be long, I was leaving him. If I went to a relation to have a chat – he’d be with me. And some days you want to get away from them."
"My husband never washed up or wiped up. He used to say ‘well, I go to work – that’s what you’re here for’, but since the strike I’ve worked and he has been away picketing, but when he hasn’t he’s cooked my meal for when I got in and he’s washed up and wiped up. So I think it’s made him realise a lot more what I had to do. [. . .] We couldn’t have got closer as a family. We’ve always been close – a happy family but somehow we’ve got closer and stronger. Maybe because I’ve supported my husband in whatever decision he’s made, I’ve supported him."
Download the worksheet on 'Domestic Life' (link below) to read more women's experiences of their families and communities during the 1984/85 Miners' Strike.
Read about domestic life for women in Post-War mining communities
Read about domestic life for Victorian mining women
Learning article provided by:
National Coal Mining Museum for England |
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