A former Sheffield student’s film will be included in a national exhibition to mark 40 years since the miners’ strike.
Jake Dannatt created the film Wath Main Colliery – Then and Now: A Miner’s Memories as part of his undergraduate studies in History and Politics at the University of Sheffield, where he graduated with First-Class Honours last year.
Mr Dannatt said he initially produced the film to help preserve the legacy of Wath Main Colliery, which he feels is being forgotten. The colliery closed in 1988 and a man-made lake now sits on the former pit top.
“The younger generation can’t even picture a society that had coal-mining,” said Mr Dannatt, 23. “There’s no sign at all around the lake that there used to be a mine there.”
After being released last May to positive reviews, the National Coal Mining Museum for England selected the film for their exhibition, 84/85 – The Longest Year, on the 1984 miners’ strike, an industrial action which led to massive pit mine closures. The exhibition opened on 6 March and runs until 3 March 2025.
The film follows his grandfather, Adrian Hughes, who was a deputy at the Wath Main Colliery at the time of the strikes in 1984. Although his grandfather’s union did not strike, he refused to cross the picket line. He talks of his memories of the strike and the colliery itself in the film.
Mr Dannatt, who is from Wath-upon-Dearne near Rotherham but lives in Sheffield, said it was vital these stories were platformed in such a poignant year for South Yorkshire.
“The generation affected by strikes won’t be around forever,” he said. “While their stories are there to be told and we can record them, we need to.”
The exhibition’s opening date coincided with the 40-year anniversary of the National Coal Board announcing 20 colliery closures, essentially galvanising the year-long strike. According to BBC News, about 75% of Britain’s 187,000 miners went on strike to fight against these closures but were unsuccessful.
The film formed part of his ‘Making History Public’ project at the university, which he made alongside a dissertation also focusing on the strike.
The dissertation allowed him to speak to other families impacted by the strikes, where he learned of some heart-wrenching experiences. This included one family who were unable to hold a funeral for their two-week old baby because they could not afford it.
Mr Dannatt’s film will run until the end of June.
