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TRUNCHEON FOR LUNCHEON

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I heard 'King Arthur' on the 'mike'

In a place that they called Orgreave

Fronting Miners out on strike

Urging them all to 'Believe'

He told them it was "Coal not Dole"

Said Thatcher was a clown

And every Miner has a role

To take the Tories down

 

From Notts. and Derby and the Met

Cleveland, Avon and Somerset

After their luncheons

Drew their truncheons

On a day they'll all regret

 

There were rows of angry miners there

All ready for a confrontation

Most were acting like vaginas' there

In front of the whole nation

The Miners there were all united

All together, strength and might

Scargill's sound bites all been cited

They were ready for the fight

 

From Notts. and Derby and the Met

Cleveland, Avon and Somerset

Those Police Forces

With their horses

Upon the angry Miners set

 

It was the day coal mining died a death

Their National Union breaking

It was the day all Britain held its breath

And it left Trade Unions shaking

No more will lads go down the pit

Like their forefathers before them

And trust the Police, well that was it

That Orgreave day destroyed them

 

From Notts. and Derby and the Met

Cleveland, Avon and Somerset

After their luncheons

Drew their truncheons

On a day we'll not forget

 

 

(c) Daniel Dwyran

 

(Photo credit: Steve Eason Getty Images)

1984 miners strikecoal mininghorsesorgreavepolicetrade-unionsviolence

◄ MIST ON THE MENAI

THE PLACE WHERE ONLY DEAD MEN SLEEP ►

Comments

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Patricio LG

Mon 2nd Nov 2015 05:39

a very sad time for communities losing livelihoods, no the mines were not comfortable, nice places to work but at least it was work and when closed they were viable still, towns became deserted and desecrated. thatcher had a lot to answer for, I don't think the nation has ever really recovered fully from the uninspiring treatment the Tories bashed it with, now with Cameron it never will. The unions played their part too, however weren't they fighting for safe healthy working mines against greedy profit? Nice poem, I'm sure will open up many conversations.

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Darren Lea-grime

Wed 15th Jul 2015 08:38

liked this one dan, i like the more balanced view. i have doe one on the same subject and struggled to write outside of what i saw on the news, feeling like i need to preface it first to explain that thats what it was based on. i was 18 at the time and the news reports i saw bothered me. i think you did a better job than i did!!

daz

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Ged the Poet

Tue 16th Jun 2015 21:06

Thank you very all much for your very kind appraisal on this 30th anniversary of the Battle of Orgreave. A most significant moment in British social history.

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Martin Elder

Fri 12th Jun 2015 17:13

Hi Daniel
long time no speak to . Hope you are doing well. Great poem . There was certainly a lot of politics being played with the miners stuck in the middle then. Nice to see you back in the fray again. Keep them coming.
M

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M.C. Newberry

Fri 12th Jun 2015 14:04

I think the miners' "cause" was severely undermined by
the failure of their union leadership to call a proper
ballot and to rely on public acceptance of violent
conduct in pursuit of victory for the "working man"
against an unpopular government. Both were fatal
miscalculations in a country suffering from increasing
levels of disenchantment with what was going on across
the land in industrial disputes that seemed to occur
at the drop of a hat, increasingly perceived as the work
of forces set at odds with the progress most wanted to
see.

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