All Day Mining Party: Bring Out the Banners

Journeys through Old Kent Coal

The Miners' of Kent were known for their militant ways, their communities’ were built upon the spirit of the miners that marched from across the country to find work in the South East.

I met with Eileen Rowbotham a mother of five and local Labour councillor, she invited me to stay in her home in the idyllic village of Deal. I felt so at ease with Eileen, bless her.

Eileen wore a Pin the Pits rosette the whole time I was visiting Kent. She introduced me to the women of the Labour Party, the Chic Group and the Move the Miner campaign both exmining collectives.


Visiting Peter Holden and ex miner and comittee man at the Beshanger Working Mans Club we ate handmade sausage rolls and drank tea. Peter discussed how the group were keeping the social club alive by opening up the venue to the wider public. One room was decked out so that local Kids could play WII games. I wished my camera was working so I could document.

Eileen told Peter about my camera and that I am broke and fed up. She explained that I use internet cafes to do print outs for the campaign and feel very unprofessional a lot of the time.

In response to this Peter commissioned me to do a painting of a statue of a miner and that he had an SLR Camera I could use for the campaign.

On the 12th of Febrarury 2009 I recieved this letter:

Dear Rachel,

Please find enclosed, a cheque for 250 pounds. in support of your very important project Pin the Pits.

The statue is a Symbol and Monument, of the finest working class people in the world, and it will remind that they where here in Kent, and around the Country.

With Sincere Appreciation P.M HOLDEN Ex Kent Miner


The mining people of Kent, like others I have met across the country, are dedicated to passing down their stories to the next generation. The spirit of our culture is far reaching and in every former pit community there are people dedicate to memorials and heritage projects, me included. But these activities are not really about the past, they are about keeping mining culture alive and by doing so my generation can feel part of this glorious evolving story, as the spirit of our culture and belief in one another is brought to life.

Leaving Kent on my return to London I realised; mining isn't just an industry it was a proud culture and way of life.

I look forward to returning to Kent in April and thank all the wonderful supportive people of the former Kent Coalfield.

Taking Liberties

Sometimes, the synchronicity in life really amazes me. Visiting the British Library exhibition Taking Liberties, I had the opportunity to navigate through the social history of law and justice throughout the U.K. I was sure that there would be something on the coal mining culture or the strike but there wasn't.

With this thought in mind I exited the exhibition where 100 post-it notes clipped on the wall were people had wrote comments. The first note I was draw to ironically exclaimed "If you believe in DEMOCRACY try telling that to the miners in 1984".



From the recent exhibition at the British Library.

"Taking Liberties: The Struggle for Britains Freedom and Rights"

http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/takingliberties/

Bring Out the Banners

ALL DAY PARTY! honouring the 25th anniversary of the Miners' Strike.


Date: Sunday 31th May 2009
Venue: Denaby and Conisbrough Miners' Welfare,
Denaby Main Doncaster S.Yorkshire
Time: 11.00am-4.00pm


On the 31th of May this year mining people from across the country will join forces in memory of the 25th Anniversary of the 84/85 Strike.

At the Denaby and Conisbrough Miners' Welfare last week, artist and Strike baby Rachel Horne set the date with committeemen from Denaby, Conisbrough and Corton Wood for an event that will resurrect thespirit of the Old Miners' Welfare.

"People and Mining" a group of ex miners from Corton Wood, approached Rachel Horne, the founder of the Pin the Pits cultural project and campaign. Together with the committee group of Conisbrough and Denaby Miners Welfare they intend to organise a national Memorabilia fair marking the 25th Anniversary of the Strike.

Miss Horne now 24 and living in London recently held an event in the Houses of Parliament where Cabinet Ministers and MP's pledged to support the Pin the Pits Campaign that intends to see the sites of regenerated coalmines marked on Ordnance Survey reference maps. The newly refurbished sites will be recorded as Historical features, alongside Roman Forts and battle sites.

The event called "Bring out the Banners" aims to exhibit mining banners from across the country to be displayed in the Welfare as part of the event.

The group is looking for other ideas, suggestions and people who want to help out. The next meeting will take place in a month at the Miners' Welfare in Denaby Main.

To get involved contact Rachel 07728684616 or email
Pinthepits@gmail.com. Join PinthePits facebook group to find out more.



Miss Horne State:

"I used to go to the Miners' welfare when I was 17, I always felt so
inspired by the banners and the history of the building. Knowing my
grandfathers and family would have marched behind them. I always
wanted to know what it was like during the strike, when the Welfare
had be the heart of the community's political and social
activities

.....The story of our communities' history and those banners
is a history that should never be forgotten. It is important that my
generation know and understand their roots, especially as we could be
facing those economic and social hardships again....

.....Its not just about reminiscing it's about celebrating who we are,
I hope we can throw a really great party too! I am very honoured to be
curating and working on this project I feel like our grandfathers who
marched under those banners will be at peace knowing their efforts are
being remembered.

….I draw, write, use photography and film to get my message across, to
my audience. I will be screening my film at this event too. I hope it will be the
start of more celebrations of this kind".

END

The Shed

Nearby Hampstead Heath and South End Green there's a very special place called the "Shed" where writer and actor Neil Tittley live.

Recently quitting smoking because of the ban Neil started doing Snuff instead . When I hang out in the Shed I snort snuff too. This is quiet appropriate for me because snuff was used down the coalmines for centuries. My mother said it was the cocaine of her day and she would snort a pinch off her hand in the local pub.

Neil acts out Oscar Wild and has travelled the world. The Shed is full of stuff collected from all over the world. After my appearance in Houses of Parliament last November Niel said I should keep a diary along with his son Shaun. This blog is therefore dedicated to them.

In 1984 Neil was an active supporter of the Kent and South Wales Miners, because of this he invited me round to the shed to watch a film about the Strike and to drink beer. The film was very moving for me and protrayed how the spirit of the mining communities were broken under the jack boot of Thatcher and Ian McGregor. It is always shocking to be reminded of the poverty of that era, whereby, people lost everything, even having to burn household furniture to keep the house warm.
The history and memory has been airbrushed out of public conciousness. Sometimes it scares the hell out of me to think the current economic change is predicted to be worse that the 1980s.


Neil has written poetry on the miners’ and I hope to hear him perform it one day.

I spent the aftermath of my 23 birthday party in the shed watching collections of music videos from the sixites, snorting stuff and eating oatcakes with my best friend Scarlett. We usually end our conversations declaring "power two the people".

Mine the Notion: The Foundry, East London 2008

An installation of artwork appeared at the Foundry, near Old Street, London in November 2008 . With a guest appearance on the Foundry Late Late Breakfast Show on Resonance FM with Tracey Morbley too.

The Foundry was recently voted the best bar in the U.K, its a very magical east London treasure. A place you always see something new and interesting. With a deep creative atmosphere, it is packed full of artists, musician and writers. It's the sort of place where anything goes. I once took my friend Alex, who was 18 and a former coal miner, for him it was a freak show and a complete shocker. He’d never seen guys wearing tight drainpipe denims before. By the end of the night Alex was spinning on the rotating disk in the downstairs Main Room, drinking the Pitfield Beer. Anyone who has been drunk at the Foundry will know what I mean. He couldn’t wait to go back to Yorkshire to tell his colleueges what he’d been up to in London.

People might complain that the Foundry is dirty or too Shoreditch but the Foundry is just the Foundry. It’s so unique and could never be tamed or imitated.

At the radio show Tracey told me she keeps a book of news clipping of our campaign articles. I was very flatted by this and told her I would send her more of the articles. She had a son born in 1984, in South Wales and was very active during the strike. Her work as an artist combines social political issues like my own.
She has been a supporter of the project since 2006, she is a good friend with Mark Thomas and Tony Benn too. Pete Docherty hosted the poetry session on Sunday afternoons, they were later took over by Dennis Mohanagan who appeared in my film Mine the Notion. There are pictures of Pete Docherty next to the bar when he looks young and well, not like the ones you see in newspapers.

I was rubbish at publicising the event and didn’t document the artwork. The only picture I have was taken by Tracey at the Radio Show, you can see the installation in the back ground. The paste-ups where the best part for me, the rest was old work and I am bored of it now.


Tracey and Jonathan from the Foundry were really pleased with the installation, they gave me some nice feedback, I was happy with their reaction because for me the installation was boring.I wanted to create a large visual statement drawing the viewer into the visual language I had created through my drawings and collaged artworks. I hoped for the imagery to create a poetic flux around subject matter of the campaign. It was a response to my working class culture and this was exemplified through cinecam footage. The rest was assembled collages and drawings, a few of Thatcher, obviously representing the cultural shift post 1984. Some imagery was ambiguous; this is because I like the idea that the viewer can freely associate with the artwork. It is important that the viewer can draw their own meaning from the work. The piece is a retrospective and is a social commentary of British History and Northern Culture.

A French guy commented that the installation gave him an insight into the traditional British lifestyle , explaining that as a visitor in London it is very difficult to see what is authentic English. Another guy commented on the Strike and the de-industrialisation and the man's experiences during the 1980s. The work always provokes that sort of reaction from people. This was a massive improvement from last time, when someone said “no ones interested in the fucking Miners’ Strike, we’re interested in more spiritual things here”. I can understand why people aren’t interested but it always is a heart breaker to hear that people think your artwork is shit. At another exhibition an Art Director told me “the best thing Margret Thatcher ever did was great rid of those fucking awful miners”. I was so stunned an educated man could be so rude an offensive. At least I got a reaction, I guess that's what the Foundry does best.