It is the last remaining symbol of the once-great Northern coalfield and its workers are the region's sole survivors of a dying breed.
Ellington miners make their feelings known.
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Twenty years may have passed, but as the miners of Ellington Colliery clock on for their shifts today they could be forgiven for thinking that not so much has changed from the dark days when Britain's pitmen walked out at the start of the year-long strike. Now - just as in March 1984 - the Ellington miners are working in a climate of almost continual fear and uncertainty over the future of their jobs and their pit and the devastating impact which closure could have on their families. Ellington Colliery might be the last deep mine in the North-East but its fate, and with it the final severing of the region's traditional links with the coal industry, could be settled within a matter of months if a crucial review concludes that it does not have a viable future. Today the 400 workers at the colliery, which has been dubbed the Jewel in the Crown of North-East mining, continue the battle for survival without any thoughts of using strike action to press their case. But two decades ago Ellington was at the very eye of the storm erupting over Arthur Scargill's claims that the Thatcher government was about to decimate the UK coal industry and close up to 100 pits. Even before Britain's miners began the bitter strike in defence of their jobs, collieries and communities, Ellington hit the national headlines over an incident which reflected the growing feelings of fury and frustration in the coalfields. Just days before the start of the national walkout, National Coal Board chairman Ian MacGregor - an American import dubbed by pitmen and their leaders as Thatcher's hatchet man - was sent crashing to the ground by a mob of angry miners during a visit to the pit. Mr MacGregor, 71, who had revealed plans for 20 pit closures with the loss of 20,000 jobs, visited Ellington to speak to colliery officials and examine pit plans and tried to avoid a crowd of 400 jeering pitmen who wanted to talk to him about the future of the industry. He was one of about 12 people knocked to the ground when a small fence collapsed during a melee. He was the first to go down as the crowd of miners surged forward and then some NCB officials and members of his police escort landed on top of him. A shocked and stunned Mr MacGregor was carried by police officers to a waiting car and as he was driven off, angry miners banged on the roof with their fists. Another car which had brought him to Ellington had all of its tyres let down and food splattered across its bonnet. The incident - captured by TV cameras and shown all over Britain on news bulletins - reflected the escalating tensions in the industry and was a taster for some of the violent scenes which erupted on picket lines and demonstrations in the ensuing months. It led a horrified Margaret Thatcher to issue a defiant "stay firm" message to the NCB and Mr MacGregor over their plans for the industry and urge them not to be intimidated. Less than three weeks later Ellington, along with other pits in the North-East, was plunged into Britain's longest-ever industrial conflict as the strike began. In 1952 there were 182 collieries in the North-East employing 147,000 men. By the time of the 1984 strike there were just over 20 employing 26,500. Flying pickets from mines in County Durham quickly saw Ellington's miners join the strike and the action remained rock solid for about eight months before workers began trickling back in November 1984. Ian Lavery, now national president of the National Union of Mineworkers, was a young mining apprentice at Ellington when the strike started. His pitmen father and brothers were quick to join it and, even though as an apprentice he could have gone in to work with the blessing of the union, Ian refused to cross the picket line and remained solid with his Ashington family. His experiences during the strike ignited his passionate interest in trade unionism and politics and set him on the path to the top job in the NUM, and a 20-year career of fighting to protect pits and jobs, especially at his beloved Ellington. "I was the only mining apprentice in Northumberland who didn't continue working when the strike started. It was the start of my politicisation and I attended every strike meeting, rally and demonstration I could and was arrested several times while picketing. The whole experience set me on the road to where I am today because at the time I didn't have any direction in life. I don't think any of us could have envisaged then that less than 20 years later Ellington would be the only pit left in the North-East. "Ian MacGregor told the miners that Arthur Scargill was telling us lies and deceiving us when he said up to 100 pits could close but now people know it was the truth. Ellington is still here today because it has been the best colliery in the Northern coalfield, but even it has been at risk for the last 10 years and continues to be so. The colliery directly pumps £13m a year into the local economy and I remain determined that it should continue." Mr Lavery added: "The importance of its survival is shown by the fact that Northumberland and the North-East is still reeling from the effects of pit closures which have been horrific and changed the face of the region. Towns like Ashington and Blyth have never fully recovered." After the strike ended, Ellington Colliery - underpinned by its vital supply contract with the nearby Alcan aluminium smelting and power station complex - continued to thrive while other pits in Northumberland and County Durham fell by the wayside, blighting their communities with the scourge of unemployment. However, for the last decade it too has seen its future placed under almost continuous doubt and uncertainty. Geological problems and the ever-present drive to cut production costs and become more lean and efficient have meant its miners have been unable to rest easy. It currently has coal reserves estimated to last until about 2007 but its future is uncertain pending the conclusion of a formal review of its mining operations and prospects launched by owner UK Coal in December. Related stories:
Between a rock and a coal face - March 08 2004 Page 2: Pit that broke production records over decades | 
