This is the story of the miners’ strike: the sudden shock of poverty; the camaraderie; the brutality.
It is the story of one man’s fight for redemption, as the wounds of an embattled generation hardened to scars.
There was blood on coal, it didn’t come for free. But it drove the factories and the steel works and the power stations. Coal seams were the black spine with which Britain stood upright.
Charlie was a miner. Son of a miner. Son of a miner’s son. And he was proud to be so. The pit villages were proud places. Miners were respected.
The mines never stopped. Twenty-four hours a day the winding engines ran. Eight-hour shifts. The only way you came out before eight hours was on a stretcher. The mines never stopped.
Until they did.
Under Country by Jonathan Trigell is published on 1 July, 2022.
Jonathan writes about the ‘Battle of Orgreave’ in June 1984, a key event in his book, in The last battle on British soil?.
