Appendix: biographies of oral history participants

Alan Blades grew up during the 1960s and 1970s in Greengairs, a mining village adjacent to Airdrie in North Lanarkshire. Alan worked at Bedlay colliery between 1979 and 1982, following in his father’s and brother’s footsteps. He transferred to Solsgirth upon closure and was a participant in the 1984–5 strike. After taking redundancy in 1997, Alan later worked at the Chungwha factory at the Eurocentral industrial estate near Airdrie, where he now lives.

John Brannan was born in 1948 and grew up in Viewpark, North Lanarkshire. His father worked as a miner in the Lanarkshire coalfield before later taking a job at the Tunnock’s factory in Uddingston. John started work at the Caterpillar factory as an eighteen-year-old, and subsequently became the engineering union covenor at the plant. He was involved in several major strikes at the plant before leading the occupation against its closure during 1987. John latterly entered the building trade and was also a leading member of the Caterpillar Workers Legacy Group which marked the occupation’s thirtieth anniversary.

Tommy Canavan grew up in a mining family in Croy, North Lanarkshire, between the late 1940s and mid 1960s. He followed his father and grandfathers into the mining industry by entering Cardowan colliery during the 1960s and subsequently transferred to Solsgirth, Clackmannan, following Carodwan’s closure in 1983. Tommy was a National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) representative at Cardowan and was active in Lanarkshire during the 1984–5 strike.

Jessie Clark grew up in Douglas Water, South Lanarkshire, during the 1920s and 1930s. Her father was a victimized miner, and a member of the Independent Labour party and later a Communist. Jessie shared his political convictions and went on to marry another Communist miner, Alex Clark. She was first employed in domestic service during the 1930s before taking a job in the Douglas Castle colliery canteen during the 1940s. Jessie subsequently worked in local government.

Gilbert Dobby was born in Coalburn in 1946 where he grew up in a mining family. He entered local collieries as an apprentice engineer during the 1960s before transferring to Nottinghamshire after major closures in the South Lanarkshire coalfield during the late 1960s. Gilbert subsequently returned to Scotland during the early 1970s, working at collieries in Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and West Lothian. Gilbert took redundancy after Polkemmet was closed after it flooded during the 1984–5 miners’ strike, which he supported throughout the year. Gilbert subsequently became a driving instructor and then a school caretaker before retiring.

Willie Doolan grew up in a mining family in Moodiesburn during the 1950s and 1960s. He began work at Cardowan colliery during the early 1970s where he was active in both the NUM and the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). After Cardowan closed he transferred to the Longannet complex. Willie has continued his connection with coalfield culture through the Moodiesburn Miners Memorial Committee’s efforts to commemorate the memory of the Auchengeich pit disaster of 1959. In 2017 he was elected as a Labour councillor for Gartcosh, Glenboig and Moodiesburn.

Pat Egan grew up in a mining family in Twechar, North Lanarkshire, during the 1960s and 1970s. He followed in his father’s footsteps by entering Bedlay colliery in the late 1970s. After Bedlay closed, Pat transferred to the Longannet complex in Fife, and later moved to Glenrothes, but he was also active in Lanarkshire during the 1984–5 strike. Pat then worked at the Longannet complex until Castlebridge colliery closed in 2002. He is now employed by Unite the Union.

Billy Ferns was born in 1936 and grew up in Glasgow. His father worked at Cardowan colliery where Billy later found work. Billy moved into National Coal Board (NCB) housing in Bishopbriggs and was a highly active picketer during the 1984–5 dispute. He transferred to the Longannet complex after Cardowan closed, before retiring after taking redundancy during the late 1980s.

Barbara Goldie grew up in Cambuslang during the 1930s and 1940s. Her father worked in local collieries and was an active trade unionist. Barbara’s sister and two brothers worked at the local Hoover factory. Barbara had a range of jobs including work at the Templeton’s carpet factory in Glasgow.

George Greenshields grew up in Coalburn during the 1960s and 1970s. His father and brothers had worked in local collieries and continued to commute to collieries further afield after the final closures in the area during the late 1960s. George worked at the large opencast site at Dalquhandy from 1978 until the early 1990s. He is now a Labour councillor for Clydesdale South.

John Hamilton was born in Kirkmuirhill, South Lanarkshire in 1949. He grew up in a mining family in Lesmehagow and entered local collieries during the mid 1960s. John subsequently migrated to Canada in 1969 but returned to Lanarkshire during the early 1970s. He re-entered mining in 1980 when he started work at Bedlay and then transferred to Polkemmet in West Lothian but left the coal industry before the 1984–5 strike.

Marian Hamilton grew up in Shotts during the 1940s and 1950s. Her father was an iron moulder, and her grandfather had been a miner. She worked at the Hartwood hospital and married Willie Hamilton, a local miner. They briefly migrated to Windsor, West London, during the 1960s but subsequently returned to Shotts.

Willie Hamilton grew up in Shotts between the mid 1930s and early 1950s. He entered the coal mining industry, following his father and grandfather, working in the Shotts area at Stane colliery and then Kingshill 3 before transferring to Polemmet in 1974. He was trained as a shotfirer and subsequently rose to the rank of overman. Willie interspersed his coal mining work with jobs in manufacturing and eventually left the coal mining industry during the late 1970s.

Ian Hogarth was born in Springboig, Glasgow, in 1928 where he grew up adjacent to the Lanarkshire coalfield. His father was an accountant for Bairds and Scottish Steel. Ian entered the NCB’s management training during the early 1950s. He was the ventilation officer at Cardowan before being made responsible for ventilation across the Central West Area. In 1959, Ian transferred to the NCB’s Scottish headquarters at Green Park in Edinburgh where he remained until retiring in 1987.

Jimmy Hood was born in Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire, during 1948. His family on both sides were strongly connected to the mining industry. Jimmy trained as an engineer in local collieries before transferring to Nottingham following the closure of Auchlochan 9 in 1968. Jimmy was a leader among the minority of striking miners in Nottinghamshire during the 1984–5 strike. He subsequently returned to stand as the Labour candidate for Clydesdale in 1987 and remained the local MP until 2015. Jimmy died after suffering a heart attack in December 2017.

John Kay was born in Glasgow in 1925 and worked in engineering factories before migrating to New Zealand, where he lived from 1949 to 1957. He joined the Communist Party there and became increasingly active upon his return to Glasgow. John became a full-time organizer for the CPGB during the 1960s, first as Glasgow secretary and then as Scottish industrial organizer, which was a post he retained until retiring in 1990. John died following illness in November 2019.

Margaret Keena grew up in Newton Rows, Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, during the 1930s and 1940s. Her father was a miner at Newton colliery as were many of her other male relatives. Margaret’s sister went on to work at the Hoover factory, while Margaret was employed in a range of jobs which included working in a textile factory and as a bus conductor.

Duncan Macleod’s father and both grandfathers were miners from the Carluke area of South Lanarkshire. His father subsequently moved to Derbyshire in order to join the police force. Duncan was born there in 1953. The family later moved back to Carluke in the 1970s and Duncan stayed in the town while working as a telecommunications engineer before retiring.

Marian Macleod is from Law near Carluke, South Lanarkshire, and still lives in the Carluke area. Her grandfather worked at local collieries before major closures affected the area during the 1950s. Marian found work at Honeywell’s factory in Newhouse before she later became a purchasing director for Motherwell Bridge.

Peter Mansell-Mullen grew up in the south of England during the 1930s and 1940s. After graduating from Oxford with a PPE degree, Peter joined the NCB as a manager during the early 1950s, where he met his wife, who was also a management trainee at the time. Peter trained in Nottinghamshire and then became an NCB Area secretary in Cannock, Staffordshire. Peter later moved to NCB headquarters at Hobart House, London, where he became director of manpower.

Jennifer McCarey grew up in Mossend, North Lanarkshire during the 1970s and 1980s. Her mother and father were both active trade unionists. Jennifer’s father was the convenor for non-manual workers at Ravenscraig, having followed his father into the industry. Jennifer was an active Labour party member and supporter of the 1984–5 miners’ strike. She subsequently became a professional trade union organizer in Birmingham during the late 1980s. Jennifer now works for Unison in Scotland.

Bill McCabe was born in Viewpark, North Lanarkshire during the early 1960s. His grandfather had been a coal miner in the area while his father and brother both worked at the nearby Caterpillar factory in Tannochside. Bill followed them into the factory during the 1980s and became a shop steward before being highly involved in the occupation against its closure. Bill latterly worked in North Sea oil and then insurance but has remained a committed trade unionist.

Scott McCallum grew up in a mining family in Cardowan village. His great-grandfather, grandfather, father and brother were all coal miners. Scott was at primary school during the 1984–5 strike and was taken on demonstrations with his family. He subsequently became a joiner in the Stepps area before moving to Dundee.

Mick McGahey was a third-generation communist miner. His grandfather was jailed for his activities during the 1926 general strike and miners’ lockout and forced out of the Lanarkshire coalfield, but returned during the 1930s. Mick’s father became president of the NUM Scottish Area in 1967, which led the family to relocate to Liberton on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Mick worked at Bilston Glen colliery in Midlothian from the early 1970s until he was victimized following his arrest during the 1984–5 strike. He now works at the Edinburgh Royal Hospital where he is the Unison convenor.

Michael McMahon grew up in Newarthill, North Lanarkshire. His grandfather was a miner, while his father was employed at the Terex factory in Holytown where Michael also worked as a welder. Michael became an active trade unionist at the factory and was chair of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) youth committee during the mid 1980s. He also joined the Labour party. Michael left Terex to study politics and sociology at Glasgow Caledonian University during the 1990s and and represented Hamilton North and Bellshill and then Uddingston and Bellshill as an MSP between 1999 and 2016.

Siobhan McMahon grew up in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, during the 1980s and 1990s. Her father and paternal grandfather both worked at the Terex factory in Holytown while her maternal grandfather was a miner. Siobhan worked for her father as an MSP’s researcher before becoming a Labour Central Scotland list MSP herself between 2011 and 2016.

Angela Moohan grew up in Livingston in West Lothian. She joined the Labour party Young Socialists and the Militant tendency as a seventeen-year-old during 1984 and subsequently became involved in miners’ strike solidarity activities. Angela has retained a strong involvement with the labour movement and later married and started a family with Brendan, a striking miner she met through the strike.

Brendan Moohan grew up in Musselburgh, East Lothian during the 1960s and 1970s. His grandfather had been a Communist activist who was blacklisted out of the Lanarkshire coalfields and migrated across central Scotland following the 1926 general strike and miners’ lockout. Brendan followed his father into employment at Monktonhall colliery in Midlothian. He was arrested during the 1984–5 strike and then sacked. Brendan subsequently studied community education at Edinburgh University and is now a youth worker with West Lothian council. He was active in the Militant tendency during the 1980s and remains a member of the Labour party.

Sam Purdie was born in the Ayrshire mining village of Glenbuck in 1936. His family moved to Muirkirk when Glenbuck was depopulated in 1954. Sam worked as an engineer at Kames colliery and then Cairnhill mine before leaving mining to study at Ruskin College, Oxford. He subsequently worked for Marathon, which built oil rigs at Clydebank, and then Bechtel internationally. Sam left the Labour party for the Scottish National Party and stood for the Nationalists in South Ayrshire during the 1970 by-election and subsequently general election. Sam is presently involved in campaigning to preserve the memory of Glenbuck.

Anthony Rooney was born in Bellshill in 1938 where he grew up in miners’ rows. His father and both grandfathers worked in local collieries. Anthony found work at the Caterpillar factory in Tannochside where he was a shop steward. He has also been a longstanding Labour activist in the Bellshill area of North Lanarkshire.

John Slaven grew up in Birkenshaw, North Lanarkshire, between the mid 1960s and mid 1980s. His parents had moved from Glasgow to Tannochside where his father took a job at the Caterpillar factory, which opened in 1959. John’s mother also subsequently found a job at the factory where she was involved in the 1987 occupation against its closure, which took place after his father had taken redundancy in the early 1980s. John had been involved in the local Labour party but left Lanarkshire for London after leaving school in 1985. While in London, he took a job on the railways and became an active trade unionist. He now works for the STUC in Glasgow.

Mary Spence was born in Hamilton in 1944 but moved to Hampshire shortly afterwards. She returned to Lanarkshire with her father in 1959. Mary’s father came from a coal mining family but had entered the civil service. Mary felt that this established a large social distinction and created tension with her grandmother who looked after her father’s father and brothers when they suffered from coal mining related illnesses. Mary later moved to East Kilbride where she worked as a teacher.

Margaret Wegg was born in 1941. She grew up in Cardowan village in Scottish Special Housing Association housing, which was secured through her father’s employment at Cardowan colliery. Margaret had several jobs including working as a typist before starting work at the Cardowan colliery canteen. She was made redundant when the pit closed in 1983 and subsequently became a leading Women Against Pit Closures activist in the area during the 1984–5 miners’ strike. Her husband Jerry was a miner at Cardowan colliery, and he subsequently transferred to Castlebridge colliery in Clackmannan.

Rhona Wilkinson was born in 1968 and is from a mining family background in Breich, West Lothian. Her paternal grandfather worked at local collieries in the West Lothian area. Rhona’s mother’s family were also of local mining heritage. Her father worked as an engineer in local foundries. Rhona works in the public sector and lives in Fauldhouse.

Nicky Wilson grew up in Easterhouse on the eastern outskirts of Glasgow during the 1950s and 1960s. He entered Cardowan colliery as an apprentice electrician during the mid 1960s and subsequently became a Scottish Colliery, Enginemen, Boilermen and Tradesmen’s Association (SCEBTA) representative at the pit. Nicky transferred to the Longannet complex after Cardowan closed and was active during the 1984–5 miners’ strike. He is now the NUM’s Scottish president.