This summary provides the key details from the document in 3 sentences: The document discusses John Lowe, a Nottinghamshire miner who became a leader during the 1984 UK miners' strike. It describes how Lowe rallied others to join the picket line and later became chairman of the strike committee, organizing resistance efforts. Though the miners' union ultimately called off the strike, Lowe was remembered as a hero who fought passionately for the miners' cause during the bitter dispute with the government.

1. 18 Nottingham Post Thursday December 8, 2011 Visit our website www.thisisnottingham.co.uk NEP-E01-S2 EP01 NEP-E01-S2 EP01 Visit our website www.thisisnottingham.co.uk Thursday December 8, 2011 Nottingham Post 19
Bygones
Diary tells
story of the
miner who
became a
general
NOTTS miner John Lowe was
52 years of age in March 1984.
Riddled with health issues
caused by almost 40 years un-derground,
he was off sick
from work when the National
Coal Board’s pit closure pro-gramme
was announced and
the miners’ strike erupted.
With the initial pickets by
members of the National Union
of Mineworkers (NUM) from
outside the county having
tailed off in his absence, he
attended the April monthly
branch meeting at Clipstone
feeling that something needed
to be done.
“Twelve Derbyshire lads
were outside lobbying,” he
wrote on that day.
“At one point I stood and
asked just how much we were
prepared to take, or if we were
going to stand up and fight the
closure programme.
“My final words were, ‘If
there are any men left here
with red blood in their veins,
they’ll follow me outside now
and stand beside those Derby-shire
lads’. The invitation was
accepted by 50 men almost im-mediately.
”
The dispute was particularly
vicious in Notts and parts of
the Midlands. With the major-ity
remaining at work, the
strikers were treated as lepers,
whereas other NUM areas,
such as Yorkshire and
Durham, were solid in their
support for strike action.
Notts’ reputation as a “scab
county”, fashioned when
George Spence formed a break-away
mining union following
the General Strike of 1926, had
returned to haunt it – as John
alluded to in his diary notes.
“[Tonight saw] the most dis-graceful
reaction that I have
ever seen: when ‘Spencerism’
was mentioned as a danger, the
result from the other side was
one of cheers and shouts.
“When the break-up of the
union was brought up, this was
openly encouraged again, to
cheers. I felt physically sick.”
John had been elected chair-man
of a “rank and file” Clip-stone
strike committee and
was privy to the organisation
of the strike in the Notts area as
well as at pit level. Neither
could be described as straight-forward.
The events of 1984-85 politi-cised
him. He was appalled by
the treatment of his union and
the portrayal of the miners in
the media, while feeling it was
his duty to fight for the jobs of
Bitter dispute: Pickets at Clipstone Colliery in 1984 rally support for their cause.
“If I was to be asked whether
people could turn into giants,
politically and industrially, as
a result of a battle with the
management and the Govern-ment
and the police, I would
put him in the top ten of those
people. ”
The aggressive policing of
the picket line saw many
strikers arrested at Clipstone,
John among them.
“I stood my ground because
of my intention to check the
line, a regular practice I have
followed right through the dis-pute,
” John Lowe wrote in his
diary.
“A local constable amongst
them was saying, ‘Mr Lowe, go
back please’.
“I asked repeatedly what I
was doing wrong and, if I was
causing an obstruction, to tell
me how and where. My ques-tions
were ignored while the
officers continued to jostle
me.
“I sat on the grass, telling
them I was refusing to move;
two grabbed me, one on each
side, by the arms and pulled me
to my feet.
“I pulled back and one of
them must have lost his footing
because the one to the left of me
fell, pulling me down with him
which in turn pulled the one on
the right down on top of me.
“What followed then is
something of a nightmare: I
was conscious of at least three
other officers on the floor hold-ing
me down; one said ‘put the
handcuffs on him’ and I re-ceived
a clip to the right side of
my jaw followed by a forearm
brought viciously down across
my throat.”
Ultimately charged with ob-struction
and assault, John’s
faith in law and order was des-troyed
forever.
Despite the myriad diffi-culties,
there were moments of
hope.
Support for the Clipstone
strikers arrived from unexpec-ted
sources around the country
and beyond: money and goods
were sent while children were
hosted on holidays. Within the
intense fires of hardship,
friendships were forged.
Such contacts meant that
Christmas 1984 was an uplift-ing
time for their families
when it could so easily have
broken their will.
“Time for the kids’ party fi-nally
came around and right
from the start the place was
bursting at the seams: not only
the kids – around 90 – but
mums, dads, grandparents and
even the ones with no kids.
“Not for one moment did the
tempo and enthusiasm slacken
and I, for one, was completely
knackered by the end. Maggie,
you should have been there to
see just how beaten we are!”
But in the spring, the fight
went away from the NUM.
There was a crushing drift
Journalist Jonathan Symcox talks about his
new book which remembers with deep pride his
grandfather John Lowe and the stand he took
during the 1984 Miners’ Strike
Standing together:
Clipstone NUM members with
John Lowe, front left
On this day in
1985
THE Republic of Ireland was
stepping up its bid to land Bri-an
Clough as manager of the
national side.
President Des Casey was to
send a letter to Forest chair-man
Maurice Roworth, offi-cially
asking permission to
open negotiations. Casey’s
only previous contact with the
Forest chairman had been on
an informal basis.
Clough remained the Repub-lic’s
top choice to replace Eoin
Hand, who had resigned the
previous month after Ireland
failed to land a spot in the 1986
World Cup.
The Forest boss had made
encouraging comments about
the opportunity to discuss the
position with Casey, who was
in London with Irish FA ex-ecutive
member Dr Tony
O’Neill.
But the chances of Ireland
actually landing Cloughie were
seen as slim.
n A Nottingham firm was beg-ging
British Telecom to take
away a new telephone system
and bring back its old one.
Dunkirk Metals had bought
the new five-line Pentara 100
Merlin system for £3,000. Since
its late-November installation,
company bosses said, they had
been isolated.
“Not a day has gone by
without the phones breaking
down – we ’ve had 15 different
BT technicians in trying to fix
it, without success,” said dir-ector
Andrew Spalding.
The scrap metal company
had a Queen’s Award for In-dustry
and an annual turnover
of £12m – but a fat lot of good
that did it if the phones didn’t
work.
The firm had hoped the new
phones would improve effi-ciency.
“But it’s costing us a for-tune,
” Mr Spalding said.
“It was a bit of a joke at first
but enough is enough. We’ve
asked them several times and
we want it taken away and our
old system brought back.
“The problem is not the new
technology. The problem is that
they don’t seem to know how it
works.
“On some days there have
been up to three engineers try-ing
to put it right.
“They put in new circuits
and it works for a while – then
cuts out.”
Seating used by
yobs is removed
SEATING which has attracted
antisocial behaviour on a
Ripley walkway has been re-moved
by the council.
The seating formed part of a
sculptured archway installed
in 2004 on part of the Ripley
Greenway.
The project saw a landscaped
walkway on a former railway
line near to Park Street and
Albion Street transformed into
a trail for cyclists and walk-ers.
Since it was installed, the
sculpture – made from a fab-ricated
concrete and recycled
glass – has become the focus for
complaints from residents who
live nearby about noise, an-tisocial
behaviour and vandal-ism.
The council also said the
area has also become a magnet
for underage drinking and bon-fires
– particularly in the last
12 months.
As a result of the number of
complaints, Amber Valley Bor-ough
Council has decided to
remove the seating part of the
structure to deter people from
congregating there.
Councillor Liz Bowley, cab-inet
member for green and
thriving places to live, said:
“The Greenway is a wonderful
asset and is there for everyone
to use with respect. If people
can’t respect public property
then that’s a shame but we have
to take action to protect the
neighbours’ quality of life.”
Help to survey
features of river
ARCHAEOLOGISTS are to
carry out an audit on part of
the banks of the River Trent.
People can join Nottingham-shire
Community Archaeolo-gists
on the survey of the river
between Laneham, Dunham,
Trent Port and Littleborough,
on Thursday, December 15.
The audit day includes a
walk along the riverbank, not-ing
down archaeological fea-tures
and taking pictures and
GPS locations.
People should meet at Lane-ham
Church, in Church Lane-ham,
opposite the Ferry Boat
Inn, at 10am. The afternoon
session will start at Marton
Church at 2pm.
People should bring suitable
footwear and clothing.
To book a place call Emily
Gillott on 0115 9772160 or
07917212554.
Pupils planting
for the future
SCHOOLCHILDREN hope
their hard work planting bulbs
in their community will pay off
come spring.
Youngsters from Brinsley
Primary School planted wild-flower
bulbs and trees at Brins-ley
Headstocks nature reserve
on November 25 as part of Na-tional
Tree Week.
The Year 2 pupils planted
native hazel trees and snow-drop
and bluebell wildflower
bulbs to make the park more
attractive and attract wildlife
to the area.
The event was led by the
Greenwood Community Forest
Team on behalf of Broxtowe
Borough Council.
Gill Grievson, community li-aison
officer, said: “It is im-portant
to involve local chil-dren
to plant trees and bulbs in
their community. Hopefully
they will come back to see wild-flowers
next spring and in fu-ture
years.”
back to work which left John
and his colleagues hanging on
at the start of March.
“This report is the hardest
I’ve ever had to try and write. I
feel so full of emotion – ang er,
frustration, shame, bewilder-ment.
I’m finding great diffi-culty
in putting my thoughts
to gether.
“Mid-afternoon the news
came through that the [NUM
dele gates’] conference had de-cided
narrowly, 98 to 91, that
the strike was at an end. Al-though
expected, it came as a
body blow, well below the belt.
My wife cried tears for me that
I couldn’t cry for myself; they’ll
probably come later.
“I feel so proud of her for the
support she’s given in spite of
all the difficulties and
heartaches she’s suffered.
When the history of this dis-pute
is written, the Elsie Lowes
of this world will surely stand
out above everything: Thatch-er
pales into insignificance and
will never bear mention in the
same breath.”
John Lowe died in 2005, and
his funeral was marked by nu-merous
NUM banners and ref-erences.
As speeches re-membered
him, his fellow
strikers unashamedly inter-rupted
with cries of “General
John ” – the moniker they gave
to this unlikely hero.
For that is how he is re-membered
by his colleagues,
despite the loss of their in-dustry.
“John Lowe was a big man in
Nottinghamshire, ” Mansfield
MP Alan Meale announced at
the launch of John’s published
diaries.
“He came right from
nowhere to become a leader of
men. He was decent, honour-able,
a trade unionist first and
foremost and a community per-son.
If we follow the principles
this man had, there is hope for
us all.”
n If Spirit Alone Won Battles:
The 1984-85 Miners’ Strike in
Nottinghamshire is published
by Pen and Sword (£12.99).
‘General John’: Clipstone miner John Lowe.
CLIPSTONE’S COAL
COAL was first mined at
Clipstone Colliery in the
early 1920s – after the
Great War had delayed the
sinking of its shafts – and
the model village of New
Clipstone sprung up
around it on the old Army
camp.
Initially sunk to a depth of
640 yards to exploit the
Barnsley tophard seam, in
the 1950s the shafts were
deepened to 920m to
exploit other seams. This
saw the old steam winders
scrapped in favour of
Koepe friction winders,
which required the iconic
65m headstocks still
standing today, the tallest
metal headstocks in
Europe.
The National Coal Board,
which took over
management of the pit
from the Bolsover Colliery
Company in 1947, closed it
in 1993 and it was
reopened the following
year by RJB Mining.
The headstocks and
winding house have been
protected with Grade
II-listed status since the
colliery’s definitive closure
in 2003. Several attempts
have been made to
demolish them.
Under arrest: Officers hold down John Lowe as he is arrested.
My wife cried tears for
me that I couldn’t cry
for myself; they’ll
probably come later
John Lowe
future generations.
Dennis Skinner MP, the
famed “Beast of Bolsover”,
provides the foreword to a new
book of John’s experiences – If
Spirit Alone Won Battles: The
1984-85 Miners’ Strike in Not-tinghamshire.
He recalls knowing John as a
young man in Clay Cross be-fore
encountering him again as
an activist during the strike.
“Early in the dispute I did a
big meeting at Worksop set up
principally to galvanise the
local NUM forces in Notting-hamshire,
” writes Mr Skin-ner.
“And there was John Lowe –
and he wasn’t just a member of
the crowd! He was asking ques-tions,
making speeches…I had
to say to someone, ‘is that the
same fella?’ And the reply was
yes! It was a revelation to me.
Students hit heights as they prepare for world of work
A COLLEGE principal has
praised her students for their
success in vocational qualific-ations.
Vision West Notts achieved a
95 per cent achievement rate
for vocational qualifications
studied last academic year – up
two per cent on the year be-fore.
The college had 6,611 stu-dents
who achieve a range of
BTEC, NVQ and professional
Chance to see award-winning girls’ choir
TICKETS to see Mansfield
girls ’ choir Cantamus perform
this Christmas are still avail-able.
The choir is due to perform
at the Palace Theatre, Mans-field,
at 7.30pm on Sunday,
December 18, and tickets are on
sale for £15.
The concert will be a special
occasion for the choir because
former members who left in
the summer will be presented
with silver goblets to thank
them for their work.
There are also seats available
to see the choir perform on
Friday, December 23, at Not-tingham’s
Royal Concert Hall
at 7.30pm, with prices ranging
from £12 to £20.
Saxophonist Alistair Parnell
will perform with the choir on
the night.
The Cantamus concert on
December 17 at Southwell Min-ster
is already sold out.
Tickets for the Nottingham
and Mansfield concerts are
available from Sheila Haslam
on 01623 627764 or at sheila-haslam@
ntlworld. com.
Tickets for the Royal Centre
event can also be bought by
calling 0115 989 5555.
The choir was set up in 1968
and has won many competi-tions,
including the World
Choir Games.
qualifications in areas such as
performing arts, childcare,
hairdressing, health and social
care, fashion and textiles, con-struction
and sport science.
Courses ranged from
entry-level to university-level,
with more than half of the 461
programmes run by the college
gaining 100 per cent success
rates.
Principal and chief executive
Asha Khemka said: “The col-lege
has enjoyed great success
in recent months, first with our
best-ever achievement rates for
A-levels and GCSEs and now
our vocational students have
demonstrated equally high
standards.
“Vocational learning equips
people of all ages with the prac-tical
skills for the world of work
combined with essential the-ory
that underpins their know-ledge
of the subject.”
Delight:
Principal
Asha
Khemka
has seen
vocational
students
match
successes
in
A-levels
and
GCSEs.
Health walk at
nature reserve
PEOPLE are being invited to
take part in a health walk at
Attenborough Nature Reserve.
The walk, on Monday,
December 19 from 10am, will
last for about an hour.
Anyone who wants to take
part in the free event should
meet at the nature centre.
For more information, con-tact
the Attenborough Nature
Centre on 0115 972 1777.