50,000 expected to attend Miners’ Gala milestone (From The Northern Echo)

50,000 expected to attend Miners’ Gala milestone

8:10am Friday 10th July 2009 in

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THE streets of Durham City will be thronged tomorrow, as the region’s biggest trade union gathering reaches a historic milestone.

Up to 50,000 people are expected to take part in the 125th Durham Miners’ Gala, as colourful banners and brass bands snake through the streets of the city, keeping alive the tradition of the Durham coalfield.

Tomorrow’s Big Meeting promises to be an extra special occasion for a number of reasons. Not only is it the 125th staging of the Gala, and held 25 years since the start of 1984-85 miners’ strike, but tomorrow’s activities will include the 100th Miners’ Festival Service at Durham Cathedral.

Gala co-ordinator George Robson said: “I think it will be an evocative occasion, particularly at the cathedral, as any kind of centenary is a huge occasion.

“Weather permitting, there will be more people than ever thronging the streets of Durham.”

First held in 1871, in Wharton Park, the Gala moved the following year to its present venue on The Racecourse, where it grew to become one of the biggest events in the Labour movement’s calendar.

Over the years, speakers have included prime ministers and Labour Party leaders, from Keir Hardie and Ramsay MacDonald to Harold Wilson and Neil Kinnock, along with figures such as Ernest Bevin, Manny Shinwell – and even future Fascist leader Oswald Mosley.

This year’s speakers include Durham Miners’ Association president Dave Guy, general secretary Dave Hopper, Ian Lavery, president of the National Union of Mineworkers, and Bob Crow, general secretary of the railway union, the RMT.

Gala veteran Dennis Skinner, the Labour MP for Bolsover who first spoke at the Big Meeting in 1978, said the event still has a political relevance.

He said: “I think people leave the Gala feeling better – I really do. It is the kind of place where they get lifted in good times and in bad.”

As many as 70 banners are expected to be proudly unfurled on the day, including three new ones from Westoe, Boldon, and South Hetton miners’ lodges.

There will also be a commemoration of two of County Durham’s worst pit disasters – the explosion at West Stanley, 100 years ago, when 168 men and boys died, and the Easington disaster of 1951, which claimed 83 lives.

The new banners and memorials will form part of the cathedral service, first held in 1897. It has taken 112 years to reach its centenary because of gaps during the two world wars.

About 2,000 people are expected to attend the 3pm service, at which the banners will be blessed by the Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Tom Wright.

Mr Robson said the future of the Gala now lies with people who perhaps have never seen coal.

“It is down to the next generation, hence the banner groups involving the children in educational projects. It is down to them to keep the event going.”

Bands start marching from about 9am, stopping for the traditional salute from the VIPs on the balcony of the Royal County Hotel.

Speeches from the stage will start between 12.15pm and 1pm, and the bands will leave the field for the cathedral service at about 2.30pm.

In the afternoon, people will be able to enjoy a range of entertainment and stalls set up on The Racecourse.