Kit Habianic's Blog - Posts Tagged "scargill"
The Battle of Orgreave
Until Our Blood is Dry
The field stretched across a hillside, looking down on the coke plant. Below them, a line of police stood ten deep, long shields glittering coldly. Scrapper shuddered. The couple of thousand miners and supporters were well outnumbered by the boys in blue. Behind the shields, he saw dog handlers, muscular Alsatians straining at the leash, and other officers on horseback.
Time passed and heat rose as the sun hardened in the sky. At the top of the field, some boys from Kent kicked a ball between them. Scrapper stripped down to his vest, tied the arms of his sweater around his waist, tried not to stare at a group of knottyhaired students sprawled against a tree trunk, breathing clouds of pungent smoke.
The lines of police and dogs and horses drew closer together, shifted into a solid mass. The miners did the same. Scrapper sensed both sides waiting for some kind of signal. Then he heard it – the far-off growl of engines. On the road beyond the hedgerows, a lorry was approaching the plant.
The mood darkened so fast, he thought clouds had closed around the sun. All at once, his boys were shouting, bodies crushed against him, carrying him forwards. A slow, heavy beat rose from behind the line of long shields, batons thudding on Perspex, daring the miners to come down.
The cry went up: ‘The workers. United. Will never be defeated.’
Goosebumps studded Scrapper’s arms and legs. He and his butties, stood shoulder to shoulder with men from the other coalfields, with trade unionists and newspaper sellers and students.
Tears pricked his eyes. He was proud – so fucking proud – to be a part of it.
Until Our Blood is Dry
