FORMER miners marked the 20th anniversary of Easington pit closing today. But was it a party? And was the timing a coincidence? Mark Tallentire went in search of answers

“WHERE there are pits may be bring destruction.

“Where there are communities may we bring strife.

“Where there is work may we bring unemployment.

“Where there is hope may we bring despair.”

So said a banner headed ‘Thatcher’s Prayer’ which was unfurled and held aloft by ex-miners as they processed into Easington Colliery club, in east Durham, this morning (Wednesday, April 17).

They were, of course, misquoting the prayer of St Francis of Assisi, repeated by Lady, then Margaret, Thatcher on her arrival at Downing Street following her landmark 1979 election victory.

Some said the seven-hour get-together, which passed off fairly peacefully, was to mark the 20th anniversary of the closure of Easington pit, its arrangement pre-dated Mrs Thatcher’s death and that it was on her funeral day was purely coincidental.

No-one would be celebrating her passing and there would be “nothing distasteful,” this group – including Durham Miners’ Association (DMA) chairman Alan Cummings and club vice-chairman Tom Fenwick - said.

Others, however, said quite the opposite. Dave Hopper, DMA secretary, who wore a T-shirt saying ‘A generation of trade unionists will dance on Thatcher’s grave’, said a party was just what it was and it would be a “good knees-up”.

“I am vindictive. I’d have shot her,” he added, speaking in front of the club’s plastic smoking shelter at about lunchtime – after just one pint.

“I am bitter. I wish she’d died 50 years ago – or never been born.

“People are entitled to their opinions. What I’m saying is what I believe.”

The Northern Echo:

PLACE IN HISTORY: A cage once used by miners to descend to the coal seams marks the site of Easington Colliery, which closed 20 years ago

Some said the so-called party was little more than a few old miners getting together for a quiet drink in their local club, perhaps with a few old photographs to jog the grey cells.

Others said they had seen coach-loads carrying hundreds of sympathisers from across the country pull into the club car park and inside there was music, comedy and glasses raised to toast the death of an 87-year-old dementia sufferer.

The truth was, probably, somewhere in the middle - and likely varied from one table to the next. The assembled media, making quite a scrum and causing much bother for traffic on busy Seaside Lane, were left guessing, as no press were allowed inside the club.

But whether you agreed with what Mrs Thatcher did or not, one couldn’t help but feel in death, as so often in life, she had, ultimately, won.

The anger, hatred and consuming unforgiveness so evident in a club car park today can’t hurt her where she is now – only those who insist on clinging to it.