Miners' Strike 40th anniversary: Year long exhibition opens at National Coal Mining Museum

84/85 – The Longest Year opened on 6 March - exactly 40 years to the day since the beginning of the strike and will run until the anniversary of the end of the strike, Monday 3 March 2025.

The free exhibition focusses on the experiences of miners and their families, giving a voice to three different points of view: striking miners, those that went back early and those that didn’t strike at all.

Walking through the space, visitors will uncover the story of the Miners’ Strike from those that experienced it with opportunities to listen to interviews, watch archive footage, read compelling quotes, absorb powerful photography and see artefacts from 1984/85.

Following on from a public call out in November 2023, over 100 people across the country came forward with their memories of the strike.

Each of these memories have been added to the Museum’s collection and a number have been featured in the exhibition.

This public call out will remain open for the rest of the year for people to share their own stories (anonymously if preferred), allowing future generations to discover them at the Museum for decades to come. The Museum intends to refresh the exhibition and to collate these submissions later in the year.

Designed with local specialists, InchPunch, the exhibition is equally split between the three experience categories and allows visitors to bypass or take in each section in their own time. With opportunities to reflect and share thoughts, visitors can also contemplate what they are willing to strike for 40 years on.

Alongside the exhibition, a packed events programme is planned with workshops, performances, discussions, film screenings and more throughout the year. More details are to be announced on the Museum’s website, ncm.org.uk/84-85

Anne Bradley, Curator (Oral and Social History) said: “This exhibition has been a real team effort and we are extremely grateful for the contributions of the public. We hope we have created a safe space where these experiences can be gathered and told, preserving them for future generations”.

The National Coal Mining Museum for England is based at Caphouse Colliery near Wakefield.