Skip to main content
Advertise with the Morning Star
Women militants of the great strike reunite
As hundreds of women gather in Durham today to celebrate their role in fighting pit closures 40 years ago, HEATHER WOOD reflects on experiences in her own mining community, Easington in County Durham
STAYING UNITED: Heather Wood, (front, centre) next to Betty Cook of WAPC, with Anne Scargill of WAPC (at the rear) at the Easington annual gala 2019

SITTING here thinking, my mind goes back to 1984. What was I doing, what was going on?

I have always been involved in my community, a close-knit mining village on the north-east coast, Easington.

My mam and dad, good colliery folk, were not afraid of hard work, in fact, there weren’t many in our village who didn’t work.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Anne Scargill (with parcel), with Betty Heathfield (centre),
Features / 11 April 2025
11 April 2025
HEATHER WOOD pays tribute to a champion of working-class women and a fierce voice of solidarity
Features / 23 December 2024
23 December 2024
HEATHER WOOD tells the story of how she led the women of her mining community to tackle Christmas 1984 with militant working-class organisation and dedication, from cataloguing each family to collecting and distributing presents
Picketers decorate a Christmas tree outside Rossington Colli
Features / 23 December 2024
23 December 2024
With solidarity coming in from across Britain and the world, PETER LAZENBY speaks to the people who made Christmas 1984 a celebration of working-class resistance in Britain’s striking coalmining communities