Cultureshock

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Video transcript

When I was a child, all of my father's family were miners, working at Crookhall Colliery near Consett. Every year, from about the age of three, I was taken to the Durham Miners' Gala. We would congregate in the village of Delves Lane, the banner would be raised, and we would march behind the band and banner to the railway station at Knitsley, to catch a special train to Durham.

At Durham we assembled again and marched with the other bands and banners to the racecourse via the County Hotel, where all the current Labour Party leaders, such as Clement Atlee, Ernest Bevin, Aneurin Bevan and the trade union officials were on the balcony.      As a child it was a very exciting, noisy, happy occasion in the narrow city streets. At that time Crookhall Colliery had one of the best bands in the country and we were very proud of them. It took all morning for the bands to get into the city and then we children spent the afternoon picnicking and playing on the racecourse and I remember making quite a bit of pocket money collecting and returning pop bottles.   After tea the journey home began. This was a bit more lively, since the younger men had had a few drinks, and there was a lot of dancing and jostling behind the bands. The day had also been a time of meeting with families from other parts of the county and now it was time for goodbyes. The journey home was always a bit of a blur because I was usually fast asleep.

Looking back now I realize that Durham Miners' Gala, in those days, must have been one of this country's great occasions.