The Durham Miners' Gala is a large annual gathering and
labour festival held on the second Saturday in July in the city of
Durham, England.
It is associated with the coal mining heritage (and particularly that of miners'
trade unionism) of the
Durham Coalfield, which stretched throughout the traditional
County of Durham. It is also locally called "The Big Meeting" or "Durham Big Meeting". In the context of the Durham Miners' Gala, "gala" is usually pronounced rather than the more common pronunciation .
Its highlight consists of a parade of banners, each typically accompanied by a
brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...
, which are marched to
the old Racecourse, where political speeches are delivered. In the afternoon a miners' service is held in
Durham Cathedral
Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...
, which may include the blessing of any new banners.
History
The gala developed out of the miners' trade unionism, the first union being established in 1869. The
Durham Miners' Association organised the first gala, which was held in 1871 in Wharton Park, Durham. At its peak during the 1950s and 1960s the gala attracted more than 300,000 people. Despite the decline and eventual closure of all of Britain's deep mines the event has continued and in the 2000s has attracted attendances estimated at 100,000.
The gala has seen infrequent cancellations since its founding. It was cancelled from 1915 to 1918 because of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
; in 1921, 1922 and 1926 because of strikes; and from 1940 to 1945 because of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
The gala was "a serious political gathering" for much of its history "forgoing the carnival buzz" until the "strike victories in 1972 and 1974 promoted a more jovial atmosphere," which continues to this day in a celebration of working class and mining heritage.
The
1984–85 miners' strike, which saw miners across the Durham Coalfield strike, also led to the gala being called off in 1984.
The most recent cancellations were in 2020 and 2021 because of the
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
The event has also been associated with the left wing of the
Labour Party. In 2012 Labour Party leader
Ed Miliband addressed the 128th gala; he was the first Labour Party leader to speak at the gala for 23 years, the previous being
Neil Kinnock in 1989. In 2015, all four candidates in
the Labour leadership election appeared at the gala, but only
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
, who had already secured the endorsement of the Durham Miners' Association, was asked to give a speech.
In September 2019, a feature-length documentary about the Durham Miners' Gala was released.
Peter Bradshaw in a review for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' described the documentary as a "rich, heartfelt and intimate tribute" to the gala.
Banners
Most banners in the gala represent lodges of the
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in the Durham Area. However other unions have also been represented, particularly in recent years, as well as union banners from other parts of the UK, including NUM lodges of the Yorkshire branch and South Wales.
They are made of silk, are rectangular and hang from a cross member, from which guide ropes are held by those carrying it.
[Durham Miner Project – Banners of Durham Miners' Union 1869 to the present]
Many banners contain explicit socialist or communist references, having renderings of
Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
,
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
, and other prominent figures such as miners' leaders, or politicians.
Chopwell, often referred to as "
Little Moscow",
[Roy Lambeth's Durham Miners Gala Banner Photographs. 1983]
has the only banner (the 1955 version) that contains images of both Marx and Lenin (as well as the
hammer and sickle). The 1935 Chopwell banner toured the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and is thought to reside somewhere in Moscow today.
Socialist expressions also take the form of captions—for example, "Socialism through evolution" and "Need before greed" (on Blackhall Lodge's banner).
Christian themes having a socialist resonance also figure on some banners.
Three successive banners of Lumley Lodge (1929, 1960, 2005) have depicted the "Lion and Lamb" and "Turning Swords into Ploughshares" images from the
book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah ( ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah ben Amo ...
on either side, uniquely the only all biblical banners in the Durham coalfield.
More recently residents in former pit villages have restored or even created banners. This has involved the reintegration of collieries that had left the gala. Some banners, such as
Spennymoor's, represent a ''group'' of former local collieries rather than individual ones. These have received funding from the
Heritage Lottery Fund.
[Durham Miners Gala – Heritage Lottery Fund]
References
Further reading
*
External links
Friends of the Durham Miners' GalaDurham Mining Museum
Videos
2023 Durham Miners' Gala2011 Durham Miners' Gala2009 Durham Miners' GalaBowburn banner (2007)NASUWT banner (2010)Spennymoor banner (2006)Murton Band (2004)
{{authority control
British trade unions history
Miners' labor movement
Mining in County Durham
National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)
Labour festivals
Durham, England
1871 establishments in England
Recurring events established in 1871
Political events in the United Kingdom
Festivals established in 1871
Socialism in England