Accession Number

B31

Series Title

THE TIMES OF THEIR LIVES

Programme Title

JOE GORMLEY

Producer

Gerald Harrison

Other Credits

Editor: M. Mulliner

Transmission Date

15/7/75

colour , mute, 09 mins 06 secs

Synopsis

Programme two in the series. Mute film opening with shots of a derelict coal mine (probably Ashton Moss pit in Tameside which closed in 1959) showing pit head wheel, decayed buildings, empty miners' restroom and old track. There are exterior shots of the Church of St Oswald and various pub exteriors in Ashton in Makerfield near Wigan. Ashton Labour Club is shown including shots of men and women drinking pints of bitter, smoking and playing bingo. The chimney of a nuclear power station exerts smoke with the coal mine in the foreground. A photograph of miners is seen. There is archive footage of miners down a pit, controlled explosions, conveyor belts and miners emerging from a mine shaft. Shots follow of three men, Lawrence Daly (General Secretary, National Union of Mineworkers ), Thomas Bell (Inspector of Mines) and Joe Gormley (President, National Union of Mineworkers) in front of an audience and Gormley is shown speaking.