Every July the beautiful cathedral city of Durham is transformed for the historic Durham Miners' Gala, and the streets are filled with colorful banners and brass bands.
I've long wanted to see the Durham Miners' Gala. I grew up in St Helens in the north of England, which is best-known for glass-making. But there were collieries too, and with an uncle and a grandfather who both worked in the coal mines I've always been aware of the tough and dirty work that the miners do in the pits.
Although we were a long way from Durham, their annual Miners' Gala was not just a physical get-together for the Durham miners, but was a spiritual gathering of miners from everywhere in Britain. Whether you lived in a mining town in Lancashire or Yorkshire, in south Wales or Scotland, you were there supporting the miners in Durham, as they celebrated the work they were proud of, and remembered their colleagues who had lost their lives.
So to be in Durham last Saturday was a very special day for me. It's rare these days to see such a gathering of working men, especially as the last coal mine in Durham closed in the early 1990s. The miners who helped to build Britain will never be forgotten, though, and it was heartening to see so many young people in the brass bands, continuing the musical traditions, and to see the older men proudly marching. And if there was an occasional tear in my eye, it must have been caused by the wind blowing in off the River Wear.
To read more about the Durham Miners' Gala, click here.
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