British museums remember the 1984 miners’ strike
Their exhibits suggest the country is tired of division
The danum Gallery, Library and Museum in Doncaster feels the need to explain something to visitors to one of its exhibitions. “A trade union”, a screen in the gallery informs them, “is an organisation of members who are employees in a particular industry or service”. The gallery goes on to explain what coal is, and provides a lump of the stuff for illustration. It seems odd, until you realise how few Britons are now members of unions and how very little coal is mined or burnt in the country. Forty years is a long time.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Forty years on”
Britain March 16th 2024
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