Department hosts public conversation about Miners' Strike

This public event was organised by Dr Tom Hamilton from our Department of History.

Attendees were given the chance to listen to Wolfson Prize winner historian Professor Robert Gildea, who interviewed families on their experience of the Miners’ Strike for a new book based on historical research.

Guest speaker, Professor Robert Gildea, is Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the University of Oxford. He has published many books on modern European and transnational history, especially on the Second World War and Europe’s 1968.

Experiences from members of our local community

Over the past two years, Prof Gildea has conducted 125 interviews with people and their families on their experience of the Miners’ Strike.

The interviews will form the basis of his new book and will in turn, be archived by the British Library.

At the discussion event, Prof Gildea was in conversation with David Wray, whose family were part of the scheduled interviews.

David was an electrician at Sacriston during the strike, and he and his wife Dorothy ran a soup kitchen in Leadgate. The pair are now part of Education 4 Action, which teaches school pupils about their northern heritage.

Read a review of the event