"I'll jump on truck at back." "I'll jump on truck at back." "Thanks." "Right!" "Kids, can you put me on the right road for Darlington?" "Where's Darlington road?" "Beyond that field." "Ta." "(LAUGHING)" "Go." "Oi!" "Oi!" "Hey up, mate!" "You in a bit of bother, then?" "Cocky young bastards from Durham picked us up on the way from the mine." "Wants a bloody good hiding." "Call themselves the Defence Volunteers." "Give a bloody cup full of sovereigns I could get one of 'em on his own." "Hmm." "I've never been up here before, like, in t'coal fields, you know." "What mob are you in, like?" "Yorks and Lancs." "Was." "A deserter?" "Aye." "It's immaterial to me, lad." "I've got no time for the army." "And they're not welcome around here." "Are you a regular soldier?" "21 year, man." "Seven down, 14 to go." "So I hopped it." "You been in the army?" "No, mining was a reserve occupation, unless you were humbugged into going in, like." "When Kaiser's war were over, we got sent to Ireland." "Well, lots of Irishmen in the pits over here but they all buggered off back to Ireland to fight for the free, free Ireland." "Sinn Fein, however you call it." "Sinn Fein, aye." ""Ourselves alone" is what that means." "It just about sums us up just now, been on strike 12 weeks." "You going to burn it?" "Aye." "Get rid of it." "That's why we got sent from Ireland, you know, to face you lot." "A land fit for heroes." "Gotta be a bloody hero to live in it." "Can you just hold that?" "All right." "Come on, you two, less of the playing around and come wash this coal." "Okay." "Hello, pet." "Hello, love." "Hello." "This is Ben Matthews, by the way." "Hello." "Hello." "Found him lost on the moor, like." "I said I would show him the right road to Darlington, yeah?" "And where have you been?" "I don't want to talk about it just now, love." "I think this bath wants tipping, doesn't it?" "I'll give you a hand." "If you don't mind, Ben." "Hey?" "Jenny, will you give a hand?" "Get the back." "All right." "Right, right." "MOTHER:" "Come on, you two." "(HORSE CART APPROACHING)" "Come on, then." "Put it over there." "Aye." "Yeah, that way." "Whoa." "Good girl." "Hello, Joel." "You all right, bonny lad?" "Hello, Andy." "How're you keeping?" "Well, making a living, man." "You know." "Is that it?" "What do you mean, like?" "It's hardly worth coming for, man." "A lot of sweat went into getting that lot." "Can you give us a hand with this?" "Can we feed the horse?" "Yes, you can." "Give it a good shake." "There's carrots in the bottom of there." "Carrots?" "For a bloody horse, lad?" "Here's us nearly starving." "If that doesn't eat, I don't eat." "By the way, Joel." "This'll be the last time I'm here." "How's that?" "Well, I've got a contract now, man." "You know the bloke that's got them fields beside Percy?" "Aye." "Contract with him." "That's all right, isn't it?" "So it's hardly worth coming down here for two or three bags." "Well, I told you it's all right." "Sorry, man." "Try that one." "All right, thanks." "Ta." "Want some money now?" "Uh-huh." "All right?" "What's this?" "Three bob." "That's tuppence a bag less than what you gave us the last time you were here, man." "Ah, but that's time and prices." "Terrible..." "Oh, give over, Andy, man." "I'll be lucky to get 22 bob a ton for this muck, honest, man." "I'm off anyway, Joel." "I'll see you round." "All right, then." "Ta-ra." "Can I have the feed bag, son?" "Good lad." "Ta." "Ta-ra, Mrs Barnett." "Come on, love." "There we go, now." "Here's your jacket." "Thanks very much." "Did you put that riddle away, Jenny?" "Yeah." "Well, it was good a good hand you gave us, Ben." "I think you deserve half of this money." "Don't be daft, man." "Go on, we can split the shilling." "No, no." "Are you sure?" "Not at all." "It's a pleasure." "Well, thanks a lot." "Where is Darlington road, Joel?" "Well, I think the best way to go is..." "See them trees?" "Yeah." "Go through the trees, you come to a field, drops down onto the road, carry along that road and it brings you onto the main road to Darlington." "Say, about 20 mile or so." "Is it so far?" "Oh, it's all that, like." "I'd better get off, then." "Anyway, son." "Anyway, all the best." "And I hope things sort themselves out pretty soon." "Ta-ra." "Hey, Dad." "Ben, can you come back a minute?" "What's up, man?" "It's looking a bit like rain." "You want to stop at my place for the night?" "It's that all right?" "Yeah." "Don't want to see you getting soaking through." "Great." "Thanks very much." "Are you sure?" "Yes." "(SHEEP BLEATING)" "Hey, what's that over there?" "It's the Winning men." "What's all that about, like?" "Empty bellies, that's what it's about." "(SHEEP BLEATING)" "(PEOPLE CHATTERING, INDISTINCT)" "I know you fought in the last war, things were different then." "MAN:" "If there's one thing about the pit that's closed now, there's nobody getting killed and there's nobody making money off our backs." "So, they might as well be shut." "This is very true, but that doesn't do you any good." "Look here, Jack..." "I'm only here to discuss..." "Frank Hodges put his resignation in, Jack, because he didn't believe in the cause." "Why did you not accept it?" "Or do you believe the same as him?" "It's like you're all tarred with the same brush, man." "Well, never mind about Lloyd George." "Let's worry about us." "The subsidy, of course..." "Listen, are you gonna stand by us?" "We're all standing together." "I couldn't agree with you more but we must honestly look after ourselves." "Well, that's a cheeky kid." "(ALL TALKING AT ONCE)" "Well, there's a lot of people after you, flower, you can have another one." "Thanks." "Right." "Tap." "Tap." "(CHILDREN CHATTERING)" "Come get your tea." "What, Mam?" "Come and get your tea." "MAY:" "Mary James has been to the guardians today." "She got some assistance." "JOEL:" "Well, you're not going down." "I'll have no help from them bloody people." "MAY:" "Well, we need help just as much as anybody else." "JOEL:" "Just you and yourself will go on down there." "Is everybody finished, then?" "Yes, thank you." "Will you help me to clear this table, Jenny, please?" "Will you two go and see to the baby?" "BOY:" "I want to go out and play in the street, Mam." "You'll do what I say." "Go up them stairs and see to that baby." "BEN:" "Thanks very much, Mrs Barnett." "(BABY CRYING)" "(FOOTSTEPS CLOMPING UP STAIRS)" "Listen, do you know that chap speaking to the meeting on the corner there?" "Oh, it's Bassett." "What's he do?" "He's a union organiser, like, you know." "Some fellas think he does a good job, you know, but I fail to see it." "Who owns pit?" "Oh, a fellow called Pritchard." "King Coal Boss Man they call him." "He owns everything around here." "Lock, stock and bloody barrel." "Including the magistrates, the police." "Even that lamb stew we've just ate." "'Cause you see, the government took over the pits during the war because they couldn't trust the unions." "For a while that lasted, they courted them all with higher wages and a national agreement for all miners, wherever they worked." "Yeah." "That was a good thing." "But now they've handed the pits back to the bloody bosses, well, the first thing they do is try putting 'em in our place by tearing up all contracts, they stuck bloody posters up, stating what terms they want over employment." "In some cases, cutting your wages in half." "In half, yeah?" "And getting back to what you call a district settlement, which means miners competing against each other." "I see, and that's what started ball rolling off, like?" "That's right." "But we wouldn't accept." "We never will accept, either." "So what they've done, they get their kin to sign an Emergency Powers Act." "Three days later, your fellas start turning up, carrying guns, marching up and down like bloody tin guards" "and that's it, you know?" "(BABY CRYING)" "Shh, shh." "It's okay, there." "It's worms again." "She looks aggravated there." "She is." "Bring that light a bit nearer." "What's up, Joel?" "Bairn's got worms." "We'd better take her in with us tonight, I think." "I'll change her first and then give her a feed." "(INDISTINCT CHATTER)" "Joel, what's the chance of me staying on a couple of nights?" "Just until I get me bearings?" "I don't know about that, Ben." "Christ man, if I get caught helping you, man, I'll be for the high jump." "No, you wouldn't, I'd see to that." "And my company is off up to Lanarkshire coal field, they're not likely to come back." "If anybody says owt, man, just say I lied to you, you know, that you didn't know owt about it, like." "Just a couple of days, you say?" "That's all, just till I get me feet." "We'll leave it till tomorrow morning, we'll talk about it then." "Okay, ta." "Hey, Jenny, what's all them lights over there?" "Oh, it's the Adcocks, working their rented fields." "What, this time of night?" "Yeah, round the clock." "Almost prefer nights, 'cause they're too ashamed to be seen." "Do you smoke?" "No thanks." "I might be staying on a couple of days." "I had a word with your dad, like." "Yeah, Dad said something about you being a deserter." "Who else knows about it?" "Nobody, just us." "What did you desert for, anyway?" "Well, I got chuffed off with soldiering, I suppose." "What happens if they catch you?" "Couple years in Glasshouse, I expect." "Is that a prison?" "Military prison, you know." "Hmm." "Well, I've seen nothing." "Ta." "(CHILDREN CHATTERING)" "Hello." "(CHILDREN EXCLAIMING)" "MAN:" "What did you throw that down here for, like?" "Someone from this village has done this." "And I wanna know who." "(ALL SHOUTING)" "Daft bugger." "What are you trying to do, man?" "Somebody from this village is responsible for that." "MAN:" "How do you know that?" "Because they were seen carrying it through the streets of the village last night." "We'll get them." "MAN:" "It wasn't me." "You look a bright kid." "Did you see anybody carrying the sheep?" "Leave her alone." "Anything you have to say to this family, say it to me, all right?" "All right?" "To me, not to the bairns." "Bairns and women are targets now." "SERGEANT:" "All right, then." "I can arrest any one of you, anytime I want, under the Emergency Powers Act." "I don't even need a warrant." "While this strike lasts, you're allowed to breathe" "and that's all you're allowed to do." "If any one of you as much as looks sidewards," "I'll have you." "And my advice to you is to stay at home and stay clear of Durham." "And remember, every inch of land that you can see and all that lies beneath belongs to someone else." "And don't you forget it." "Just hang on there." "(VILLAGERS MURMURING)" "MAN:" "We've told you, man, it was none of us!" "Oh, here we bloody go, here we go." "MAN:" "There's summat going to happen now." "You." "You." "What?" "You." "What do you want?" "You, never mind hiding your face." "You know who I want." "You!" "Yes you, come on." "You, you, you, come on." "(CROWD MUTTERING)" "(ALL TALKING)" "We've told you we've done nowt." "OFFICER:" "We've got four men to see Mr Pritchard." "(DRILL SERGEANT SHOUTING)" "(SERGEANT SHOUTING)" "Never seen anything like this in all my life." "SERGEANT:" "Get on with it, man!" "Attention!" "Company!" "(SHOUTING ORDERS)" "Right, get them out." "Come on, quickly." "Just wait there." "(CHILDREN PLAYING AND CHATTING)" "What do you call that game they're playing across there?" "Croquet, isn't it?" "Some poncey game." "Mrs Woolston?" "Mrs Woolston wasn't in your school." "No thank you, we don't want any more." "Thank you very much." "But I think it's Mrs Wolstenholme?" "Giving odds, Tommy, are you?" "No..." "Even more on the black 'un." "The police have brought four men in from Esh Winning." "They're outside the house." "All right." "Thank you, Jenson." "I think we'd better all head inside." "It's coming on with rain." "Come along, dear." "Water's running down the back of my neck." "Put your collar up, man." "Mmm-hmm." "And your cap's sticking up there." "(SIGHS)" "BEN:" "Bloody hell, it's buggered their tea party, hasn't it?" "Would you like to come this way, lads, please?" "Who's he shouting at?" "BUTLER:" "Would you like to come..." "Talking to us?" "Yes, please." "Come on, lads." "Howay." "Howay, Tommy, come on!" "Take your bloody time!" "If you'd just like to stand in that far corner." "All right, mate." "(SIGHS)" "Look, Joel had better do the talking, eh?" "Right." "Yeah." "There's no point in all of our blabbing on, is there?" "Right." "You're better with your words, anyway." "Fair enough." "Take your cap off, Tom." "(PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)" "Right, come this way." "The men from Esh Winning, sir." "PRITCHARD:" "All right, thank you, Sergeant." "Thank you." "Did you get very wet?" "JOEL:" "No, just a bit damp down the one side, Mr Pritchard." "I'm sorry you got left standing outside." "Oh, I think there're some sandwiches left." "Would you like something to eat?" "(ALL AGREEING)" "If the rain didn't spoil your appetite." "Would you bring some of those sandwiches and some beer, please?" "Oh..." "Oh, do sit down." "I don't know who stole the lamb and I'm not going to try and find out." "No doubt it was a collective theft." "But I do think we should respect other people's property." "But tell me, are things really so bad?" "Well, I'm not saying who took it or what happened to it." "But I would have thought our conditions were known without having to tell you, Mr Pritchard." "Well, there's always the guardians." "I'm told they are very liberal with the rate payers' money." "Well, it's not everybody likes to go to the guardians, they treat you like muck." "Even though you're committed to paying every penny back" "after the lockout's over." "Lockout?" "But this is a strike, not a lockout." "You are free to return to work any time you like." "Aye, under what conditions, though?" "Under the fairest possible conditions, taking into account the situation in the industry." "What's your name?" "Joel Barnett." "And yours?" "Billy Shepherd." "Tom Crisp." "John Hardcastle." "I take it that you all work at Esh Winning?" "Yes." "Some refreshments, sir." "PRITCHARD:" "Ah, good." "That's it, good." "Now, uh, bring it over here, will you?" "That's right." "And put them over here in front of the desk, please." "Right, thank you." "Now, then, come along." "Help yourselves, please." "Thank you." "Thank you." "PRITCHARD:" "Is that all right?" "Mmm-hmm." "I find it very distressing to see so much poverty among people that I really love and respect." "But for all the world," "I cannot understand why decent, upright men like yourselves should allow this thing to continue." "Well, in the past we've always been able to settle our differences and our disputes." "Without any interference from outsiders and political upstarts." "Well, even those people who were sympathetic to our problems, even they're rather like strangers intruding into a family quarrel." "Oh, I find it all so dreadfully sad." "You know, what you're really doing is putting the welfares of your families in jeopardy." "They're the victims, your wives and children." "They're the ones that really suffer." "They don't see this senseless conflict as a strike or lockout." "To them it's a cry of pain." "You see, coal has got to be sold at a profit." "And at the moment, the price of coal is falling." "And if those people who invest their money in our industry don't show a reasonable profit, they'll take their capital and invest it elsewhere." "And then, of course, there'll be no mine and no jobs, either." "So, we've got to ensure a reasonable profit." "And that, very regrettably, means a reduction in wages." "There's no alternative." "Do you suppose that" "Lenin and his gang of Bolsheviks would tolerate strikes in Russia?" "Here you have the protection of the constitution, in the most democratic country in the world." "But at the same time, if what you're about inflicts hardship and suffering and threatens the security of the country, then that could lead to the curtailment of certain personal liberties." "Something which would be very regrettable, but at the same time, necessary." "Well, there's none of us want to see the country on its knees, Mr Pritchard." "But at the same time," "I don't see why everything should be put all right at our expense." "PRITCHARD:" "But we've all got to make sacrifices." "We're in this together." "We've got to help one another." "Well, the way I see it, the boot's always been on the other foot, like." "Whatever we've had, it's been taken off us." "We've got nowt left now, have we?" "JOEL:" "Nothing." "PRITCHARD:" "But you've got pride, dignity, loyalty." "Now, you can return to work on Monday morning and encourage everybody else to do the same thing." "The union, they're the fellas that say when we go back to work." "PRITCHARD:" "But you are the union." "Aye, we..." "I suppose you're right, like, but..." "Uh..." "Do you mind if I smoke?" "PRITCHARD:" "No, no." "By all means, do." "Would you like a cigar?" "I don't smoke myself, but I'm told they're quite good." "Yes, I'll have a cigar." "Thank you." "PRITCHARD:" "And how about you?" "Oh, it's stopped raining." "How the hell do you light it?" "BEN:" "Got to chaw the end off of it." "Bite it off?" "Uh-huh." "Sure?" "(COUGHING)" "Jesus." "PRITCHARD:" "Why don't we go out of doors?" "They arrived here yesterday." "General McReary asked me if I would accommodate them." "There's another full company bivouacked over there in that field, the other side of these trees." "What's the idea of all the military, Mr Pritchard?" "The tents and guns and drilling all these soldiers?" "Well, it's nothing to do with me." "What, the place is already swarming with police and soldiers, man." "There's been no trouble as far as I know." "No, there's nobody looking for a scrap from our end..." "Well, it's government policy." "There's nothing we can do about that." "What you scared on, like?" "Oh, we're not feared." "Oh, by no means." "Concerned, yes." "Anticipating what might happen, but not afraid." "(MURMURING)" "See, many people believe, and I'm inclined to agree with them, that the root cause of our trouble is the decay of the religious spirit." "I reckon if you look after things on earth, Mr Pritchard, heaven should take care of itself, like." "Well, you see, this erosion of the Christian spirit has brought society just to the very brink of disintegration." "Everywhere there is mistrust, hate, bewilderment and fear." "Democracy is based on the rights of property." "Upon men repudiating the use of force and relying instead on the weapons of reason and common sense." "Violence has no path in the British way of life." "Those of us who hold economic power and shoulder the burdens of leadership and authority must vigorously attack all the social injustices and evils." "But they cannot be cured by strikes and pamphlets advocating the use of force." "In this country, it's revolution by consent." "That's our way of doing things." "What's this fellow work at, Mr Pritchard?" "I don't know." "I didn't ask." "Hmm." "No." "No, nobody of that name here." "You're quite sure of it, huh?" "Yes." "If he worked at Esh Winning, his name would be in this book." "Nowt." "Not a thing." "Aye, you'll not have heard beat of orange drum, have you?" "Orange drum?" "No, what's that?" "Well, it's in Ireland, you know, when pogrom started, Protestants whipped up to fight Catholics." "And what us regular soldiers refused to do, bloody Black and Tans did." "They reckon a right hard bunch of fellas, huh?" "Aye, half of them's convicts." "And the rest were the scum left over from t'war." "You know, soldiers with a taste for blood." "Lloyd George sticks a gun in their hand, pays 'em 10 bob a day and turns 'em loose on civilians." "Depends what you call hard." "All that we've got to go on is what the newspapers tell us." "I caught a couple here last week in this." "Did you?" "Now this place is just about swept clear of rabbits." "Aye?" "Everybody's at the game now." "Right?" "Yeah, that'll do fine, that." "Yeah, about eight weeks ago, just after the lockout had started, a bunch of Welsh miners were down here holding meetings, you know." "Aye." "One of them slept on our floor." "A fella very much like yourself." "He was a very educated fella, this, seeing he was a miner." "He spoke like a preacher, you know?" "Did he talk about Lenin much, then?" "Lenin?" "He talked about nothing else, man." "Before he left, he gave us a list of books to get and read at the library." "But when I went to the library, they didn't stock them." "Oh." "So, I wrote to him and he wrote back to me." "And a week later..." "I receive a pile of books and pamphlets, you know?" "Oh, did you get through them?" "Did you understand them, like?" "Well, I read an odd page or two, you know, but I found it very difficult." "Yeah, I know." "Far as I can see, what Lenin drives at is that workers' problems, you know, like the war and your lockout, and what's happening in Ireland and all that, it shouldn't be up to little groups of people to sort out." "It should be t'workers from all over t'world get together and sort them all out together." "Ah, but that's easier said than done, man, you know." "In all good faith, we elect men to represent us in the House of Commons, what do they do?" "Sitting drinking bloody tea all day." "Aye, I know." "And chatting to bloody Pritchard and his cronies." "(SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)" "(OFFICER SHOUTING)" "(SOLDIERS MARCHING)" "Stand at ease!" "Does Joel Barnett live here?" "Mam!" "What's the matter?" "Does Joel Barnett live here?" "Yes." "Well, we have information that a soldier deserted from the army about two days ago near this village." "There's also evidence that your husband's been seen with him." "No soldier here." "Well, we have a search warrant, so could you come outside, please?" "My husband's not here!" "Private Philips, inside." "He's not here." "(CROWD MURMURING)" "What do they want searching your house?" "Private Raymond." "Man outside the door." "All right!" "This side." "Get through them and don't move." "(CROWD TAUNTING)" "MAN:" "Go on, big lad." "MAN 2:" "Yes sir, no sir, three bags full, sir." "Well done!" "MAN 3:" "Soldier, wipe your bloody nose." "Sergeant, can you come and have a look at these?" "Right!" "Stay by the door." "Head back to bloody Ireland where you came from." "Go over and search that house there." "Right, I'll look." "You go inside." "Right, Hayes, get the girl." "What do you want?" "GIRL:" "Leave them alone!" "(ALL CLAMOURING)" "(SHOUTS) Leave her alone!" "(PEOPLE YELLING)" "GIRL:" "Jenny!" "Jenny!" "Take care of these, Sergeant, and go up to number 16 with Philips." "Right, sir." "Right, Philips." "Let's go." "(DOOR CLOSES)" "Where is he?" "Lost your tongue?" "Hmm?" "He has been here, hasn't he?" "Otherwise, why the books?" "Did he make love to you?" "Did you sleep together?" "Hmm?" "You fucking little slut!" "Listen to me, you little slut!" "I know you've been harbouring a deserter." "We all know." "We got a good description." "Do you understand?" "Look, why can't you just get yourself out of here?" "Now, listen." "Do you know what'll happen to him if he's caught?" "He'll be shot." "Now, where's he gone?" "Look, I don't know." "(SHOUTS) Where's he gone?" "Answer me." "Which way did he go?" "(SHOUTS) Answer me!" "Oh!" "Oh, watch yourself." "It's all right." "Have you ever tickled trout before, Ben?" "Aye, when I were at home, like." "Have a look under here." "There's one over there." "What do you mean?" "Take my jacket." "How's that?" "(LAUGHING) Hey!" "Good lad!" "Oh!" "(LAUGHING) Have you got fish?" "(LAUGHING)" "All right, get out. (LAUGHS)" "JOEL:" "Aw, frigging Jesus!" "Oh!" "Go on, let's have ya." "Aw!" "God!" "Your bloody cap!" "Aw!" "Jesus bloody wept!" "(SIGHS)" "Hey up, there's two more just fallen out of your britches." "You know, Joel, since I was 17, colour of life's just run blood red." "I've been saturated in it." "I once watched a German being shoed like a horse." "Nails driven through his bare feet." "You watched him?" "I were laughing." "You callous bastard." "Oh, aye." "That's what army does for you." "Anyway, they'll have me." "I just want to dig a hole and fucking hide." "Well, you can count yourself lucky, can't you?" "Me, I can't opt out." "I've got a wife and kids to support." "I've got to stay and fight these bastards in order to live." "GIRL:" "Dad!" "Dad!" "Dad." "Mr Barnett!" "Jenny's in an awful state!" "JOEL:" "How's that?" "The soldiers have been." "You what?" "The soldiers have been." "The soldiers came and bashed her." "What have they been doing to you, love?" "Nothing." "I want to know what they've been doing?" "Well, he just hit us a few times." "Who was this?" "One of those army officers." "I don't know who it was." "You know his face, do you?" "Oh." "Never forget that face." "That looks bloody sore, that." "It's all right." "You all right?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "It's all right, don't fuss." "You look a bit bloody shaken, I'll tell you." "Look, I'm sorry, Joel." "It's my fault." "It's nothing to do with you, Ben." "It's their fault, it's nobody else's but theirs." "It's no bloody man at all that's done that." "(SIGHS)" "All right." "Whatever you got in mind, Joel, count me in, you know." "I'm tempted to break his lousy back, I tell you." "Joel, I'd better go, by chance they come back." "I'll go and get me stuff." "There's no need to." "Me mother's up there doing your packing now." "She'll be down in a minute with your things." "Took those books of yours." "Those communist books, thought they were his." "BEN:" "What books is them?" "Them books the Welsh miner sent us, the ones I was telling you about before." "BEN:" "Hmm." "BILLY:" "He went round Tommy's and all." "JOEL:" "Never." "BILLY:" "Aye, had the old woman out in the street." "His mother, you know." "JOEL:" "Oh, the fucking bastard." "You're all back, then, are you?" "All right?" "Do you realise what's been going on here while you've been gallivanting on them moors?" "JOEL:" "I know what's happened." "You know?" "You should have damn well been here!" "I've been trying to get something for our bellies, that's where I've been." "MAY:" "Never mind your belly, what about us?" "Oh, shut up, woman." "Damn soldiers trailing up and down the house." "Knocking her about!" "You weren't here to see to us then, were you?" "Just keep it down." "I won't!" "Keep it down!" "I've just had enough, I'm damn sick!" "I'm sick of you and your mouth." "I'm sick of the lot of it." "I'm sick of you and your mouth." "(BABY CRYING)" "It's all right for you." "All over the moors, yes, you!" "Running all over with your mates." "Yes, it's fine." "But what about us here?" "Did you care?" "Did you ever think about us?" "I've been off looking for something to eat, haven't I?" "Something to eat." "Don't make me laugh." "Where is it?" "Jenny's put it in the kitchen." "Has she?" "Hmm." "I bet it's bloody good!" "I bet it is!" "Sorry, Mrs Barnett, I wouldn't have stayed if I... (SHOUTS) And you can bloody sod off, you!" "And take your bloody stuff with you." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Now, cut it bloody out." "I won't bloody well cut it out!" "I'm sick of everything!" "Shut up!" "I'm sick of you!" "Shut it!" "I'm bloody sick!" "(BABY CRYING)" "Just bloody shut it, button it, I'm telling you." "I'm bloody leaving you, Joel Barnett!" "I don't know how long I can stand it!" "I can't take no more!" "I just told you to shut your bloody trap, you've got too much of it." "Now, cut it out!" "(BABY CRYING)" "JOEL:" "Oh, Jenny will show you the way to the main road, man." "Thanks a lot, Joel." "Ta-ra." "Ta-ra." "BEN:" "I'm going now." "Run with me." "It's just beyond those trees up the way." "Don't suppose I'll clap eyes on you again after today, will I?" "Well, I might come back, like." "Anyway, if I did, I'd probably find you wed to some bloke." "Not me." "I'll bet you're courting now." "Aye." "I bet you are, hey?" "I'm seeing this fellow, but I'm not keen on him." "There you are, then." "If I came back you'd have a pack of kids galloping around you." "I don't fancy being a pit man's wife and living in one of these houses." "Half a dozen kids tugging at your skirts, and over the eyes in debt." "Oh, I've got some apples." "Have you?" "Yeah." "Mam gave us some." "Put me jacket down here." "I thought your mother didn't like me." "Oh, bark's worse than her bite." "She's just tired and fed up, I suppose." "You can't blame her, like." "Mmm." "Great, that." "Innit?" "Mmm." "You ever been to Darlington, Jenny?" "Once." "Went to a dance there once about a year ago." "Do you dance?" "A bit." "Not so good, like." "Two left feet." "Good at Irish jigs, though, you just stamp about." "That officer today..." "What about him?" "Nothing." "Except if they're all like him, then I don't blame you deserting." "Army caters for blokes like him." "Get a kick out of slapping people about." "Mmm." "Well, I've been hit harder than that before." "It's just..." "I didn't expect it to happen." "Budge up a minute." "Got summat for you." "What is it?" "It's a bit creased, like." "Oh, it's lovely." "What's this here?" "It's a shamrock." "Got it in Dublin." "Who for?" "Nobody in particular." "Put it on." "Look all right?" "Looks great, that." "Thanks." "How old are you, Jenny?" "Sixteen and a half." "Why?" "Just wondered." "How old are you, anyway?" "Twenty-one." "You look older than that." "Get going?" "All right?" "(VEHICLE APPROACHING)" "What's that?" "I thought it might be military, it's not, like." "Come on." "Might get a lift." "Hey, pal!" "Excuse me, are you from around here?" "Yeah, what you want, like?" "I'm looking for a place called Esh Whining or Esh Winning or something." "JENNY:" "I'm from Esh Winning." "Oh, good!" "I thought we'd never find it." "BEN:" "What you want it for?" "Well, we've got a load of food." "We've collected it from Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds." "All the workers, you know, they've collected it for all the villagers who are out on strike." "God!" "I can't believe it." "Why should anybody want to send us food?" "Are you sure you've not got it wrong?" "Not at all, I've got enough to feed an army." "All as we want to know is where Esh Winning is and we'll deliver it." "I'll tell him." "If you go straight to the top of this road..." "Yeah." "...and turn left, about two miles along, you'll see the signpost." "Lovely." "Thank you very much." "All right, ta-ra." "Ta-ra." "That's great, that, like." "Yeah, it's great." "You coming back, then?" "Oh, I shouldn't, really, should I?" "Oh, there's going to be a great feast, man." "I bet you're starving." "Aye, I am." "I could eat a burro donkey." "Come on, let's get on." "(ALL SHOUTING EXCITEDLY)" "BOY 1:" "Move!" "BOY 2:" "Where are you from?" "Where'd you come from?" "Liverpool." "We've had a whip-round for food, you know." "There's veggies, of course." "There's all sorts, like." "(ALL CHEERING)" "Have this for it!" "Aye, love." "All right, lads, come on, let's get it unpacked." "This'll keep us going for a while." "(VILLAGERS CHATTERING)" "(TRUCK ENGINE STARTS)" "Sign at the bottom." "You keep one, okay?" "All right." "Good luck." "(TOOTS HORN)" "Put this one down here." "WOMAN:" "These are oranges." "MAN:" "Oranges." "Hey up!" "Hey up!" "Come on, come on." "Look out." "I'd make yourself scarce if I was you, man." "Aye, okay." "(CROWD MUTTERING ANGRILY)" "Hey, Joel." "That's that bloody officer that had a go at your Jenny." "Leave it to me, Shep." "Hands off." "Get out of the way." "This is our stuff, this." "This is our stuff!" "Quiet!" "Quiet!" "Right, what's wrong?" "Where did you get this?" "Couple of lorries have just brought it for us." "I know lorries brought it." "Where did it come from?" "That's what I want to know." "It's a gift." "It's a gift?" "Aye, it's a gift from people in Manchester and Liverpool, they've clubbed together and sent it up for us." "That's very convenient of them, isn't it?" "It is." "Excuse me, please." "Come on, now, just stand back." "I want no bother." "Hey!" "A gift?" "(ALL TALKING AT ONCE)" "I suppose you've got evidence of this?" "Evidence?" "Evidence." "For all I know, all this food could have been stolen." "MAN:" "What do you mean, stolen?" "He's got a ticket." "He's got a ticket." "Show him the ticket!" "Show him the ticket." "Here." "Here you go." "There you are." "Merseyside and District Relief Organisation." "And that's my signature, there." "Next to the fella that brought it." "You're going to have to do better than that, lad." "What are you talking about "do better than that"?" "I've just given you bloody proof, man." "Anybody in here could have just wrote this out and signed it." "Rubbish!" "(ALL EXCLAIMING)" "It's a worthless scrap of paper, that." "It's no proof at all." "MAN:" "Why are you putting it in your pocket for?" "That's evidence." "That's good enough." "Look, it makes no difference what we say because this fella has already been briefed about this lorry." "SERGEANT:" "Your name's Shepherd, innit?" "Aye." "SERGEANT:" "Aye, I know your name, lad." "Hey, Sergeant, I were the first one to see them lorries." "It were me that showed them how to get here." "Oh, is that right?" "You just stand there a minute, lad." "That was a very daft thing to do, man." "Wasn't it?" "Oh, bugger this." "You know they're looking for you." "If they're going to catch us, they'll catch us." "They're not taking that bloody food." "(MURMURING)" "MAN:" "He's not getting this food." "MAN 2:" "Don't bloody touch it!" "I'm sorry, but we're going to confiscate this food." "(ALL EXCLAIMING)" "If you'd just..." "If you'd just go back to your homes, the food will be taken away and checked and stored in a safe place, you know, for further..." "OLD MAN:" "We're hungry now, though." "LADY:" "This is where it starts." "Constable, put the food in the wagon, please, will you?" "You take that, Sergeant." "(CROWD CLAMOURING)" "Put those bloody oranges down!" "Put them down, just down there." "(MEN SHOUTING)" "In line, advance, at the double." "(ALL SHOUTING)" "(EXCLAIMS)" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "MAN:" "Not so bloody brave now, are you?" "MAN 2:" "Will you stop?" "MAN 3:" "Pack it up, hey." "Come on!" "Pack it up." "(PEOPLE CLAMOURING)" "JOEL:" "Hey!" "Come on, cut it out." "Get off." "Get off." "(GUNSHOT, WOMEN SCREAMING)" "JOEL:" "For God's sake, let's have some bloody order here!" "There's plenty bloody grub for all of us." "But we've got to make it last." "And every family is going to get its fair share." "Look at this bloody lot here." "That to me is bloody stupid." "Nearly a full sack of flour wasted!" "Because yous haven't got the patience to wait till we get summat set up and organised." "The grub's a godsend." "It couldn't have come at a better time." "But for God's sake, let's have some common sense and get this stuff put back." "Come on, Mrs Anderson, get that stuff put back." "That's better, isn't it?" "All right, young son." "You took summat, didn't you?" "No, I've got nothing." "JOEL:" "Come on, you did." "Now, come on, put it back." "(CHILDREN LAUGHING)" "JOEL:" "By God, you had some in there, didn't you?" "I think the best thing we can do, Fred, is get this locked up in the institute." "Take the flour, Fred." "Right." "You, come here." "What do they call you, then?" "MAN:" "Stick it in his gizzard, Shep." "Come on, what's your bloody name, man?" "Hunt." "Captain Hunt." "We all know what that stands for." "Right then, Captain Hunt, all that food's gotta be lugged round to the institute." "So start moving, come on." "MAN:" "Come on, camels." "Come on, the bloody lot of you, move!" "You've got a day's bloody work for a change." "Come on!" "Hup, hup, hup, two, three, four." "Hup, hup." "Hup, two, three, four, hup, hup..." "SHEP:" "Right wheel!" "MAN:" "Keep your balance, man!" "Keep your balance." "All right there?" "Yeah." "Take it easy." "Get out of that one." "You still got time to get away from this place, Ben." "No, I won't get out of the village, they'd nab us." "You'll get far enough away not to associate yourself with what's been going on here." "No, I'm stopping here, man." "I'm going to see it through." "You're going to be taking a chance, mate." "Think we'd better have a word with this lad." "He's not too keen on the smell, mind." "I think his nose is a bit down near his arse, you know." "I demand our release immediately." "There's not a cat in hell's chance of that, lad." "HUNT:" "Assaulting and holding prisoner members of His Majesty's forces is a very serious crime indeed." "You could all be charged with treason." "Do you realise that?" "It'd be a bigger bloody treason to desert our wives and kids." "The army knows we came to this village and they know why we came." "They're probably out looking for us right now." "The longer you keep us here, the worse it will be for you all." "Look here, lad." "I think you've been sent down here without fully understanding what's going on." "All we want to do is put our story, our side of the story, and leave you to make your own mind up." "I'm not interested in your side of the story," "I can't afford to be." "I'm just an army officer carrying out my orders." "You've got your orders, I know all about it." "But that doesn't stop you from telling the difference between what's right and what's wrong." "Does it?" "This morning, for instance..." "Personal feelings and opinions don't even enter into it." "Not even when Pritchard gets you to take food away from women and children?" "The military is under the control and authority of the government, not Mr Pritchard." "He closes the pits, he locks you out, he's hoping that we'll crack and go back on half pay." "He tries starving us and the government send yous fellas down to back him up." "Where's the bloody difference, eh?" "We're just here to protect the community." "We are the community." "We are the community." "Yous are the ones that's got the guns against us." "This is ridiculous." "Watch it, son." "I'm not the slightest bit interested in your arguments." "I'm not arguing with you." "It's nothing to do with me." "I'm just trying to explain!" "I suggest you save your explanations for the court." "And that goes for the rest of you as well." "You bloody bastard!" "(ALL CLAMOURING)" "Joel, leave him, man!" "Leave him!" "Settle down." "Settle down." "You want a fag?" "A fag?" "I'll kill the bastard." "No, calm down." "Army's full of them sort." "I've seen them all before." "He'd blow bloody village up, then write a report out about it." "The young bastard." "Given half a chance, he'd bloody shoot everybody in this room and not bat a bloody eyelid." "All right?" "Oh, I hate them bastards, me." "Hey, hey, hey!" "What have you got there, then?" "Huh?" "What have you got there?" "Binoculars, man." "Confiscated them off the big chief." "TOMMY:" "Well, you don't look the part, you'd better give him them back." "I can see right into Anderson's back kitchen here." "TOMMY:" "Lovely." "MAN:" "If those soldiers don't get back to Durham, this place is going to be swarming with them." "Half an hour we've got." "Oh, longer." "Two or three hours at least before they get here." "Well, whether it takes two hours or three or four, we've got to get ourselves organised." "Well, tell you one thing, we could write a letter." "Get a petition up and send it up to Pritchard." "Hand it over." "There isn't time." "No, hang on, a letter, we can send it up and explain to him exactly how we were provoked into this." "JOEL:" "Look here, Tom." "He was the bastard that sent the troops here in the first place." "Well, look here, but..." "JOEL:" "What satisfaction will you get out of a fellow like that?" "Well, he could be the bastard that can pull them out, then." "If he sent them in, he can pull them out." "MAN:" "He's not going to do that, man." "How's he going to pull them out?" "We're up to here now, man." "(MEN ARGUING)" "Pritchard won't pull them out for us." "Well, he's a suggestion, there's nobody else's coming up with them, is there?" "Okay, let's hear some suggestions." "(ALL ARGUING)" "That was only a suggestion." "JOEL:" "Right, let him finish." "I'm saying, I'm finished, it was only a suggestion." "Let's hear what yous have got to say." "Well, there's only one thing before we start," "I would like to say," "I don't know anybody's circumstances at home." "You could have an invalid or any other cause." "But before we get further committed, is there anybody would like to withdraw at this stage?" "What?" "(ALL TALKING)" "Without loss of face..." "You must be kidding, lad?" "No, I'm not." "MAN 3:" "We're in this together, aren't we?" "Yes, but everybody's circumstances is not the same." "We're all in the same bloody boat, as far as I'm concerned." "We've got all this food here, outside we've got women and kids." "Let's plan to get shot of this first." "Not now, but after the meeting, that's the first thing, get rid of that." "Now, as for negotiating with Pritchard, let's negotiate, not with Pritchard, but let's get somebody, it could be the local parson, it could be the priest or anybody, to negotiate on our behalf." "Let's hear what this lad has to say." "He's got some experience." "Go ahead, man." "All right, Joel?" "JOEL:" "Carry on, lad." "Well, I'm no, you know, I'm no expert at politics and I don't know a right lot about this strike," "I've only been here a couple of days." "But I've just been over in Ireland." "And I've had a lot of practice at attacking villages just the same as this one." "And I'm not proud of it." "And I tell you, if army decides to move in here, you've no bloody chance, like." "TOMMY:" "That's exactly what I've been telling them." "Do you honestly think they'll use the guns on us?" "BEN:" "I'm bloody sure they will." "On their own people in the village?" "Yes, they will." "It's the same people that's in charge of Ireland, it's the same lot." "(ALL ARGUING)" "Well, you've got that officer there." "I mean, he's the guy who's in charge of the soldiers." "You were talking to him." "You know perfectly well he doesn't understand." "He hasn't a clue what's going on." "I mean, he just takes his orders and he's told to shoot down people, he'll shoot down people." "What about Churchill?" "He turned the soldiers on the Welsh miners." "They didn't fire their guns." "No, but they bayoneted them." "You wouldn't like a bayonet up the arse, would you?" "This plenty of cases on record, where workers have been shot, but never employers." "We've got to get back to the union." "This is the only place that we've got strength." "And this is our only solution." "So, we've got to get back and call in Bassett... (ALL DISAGREEING)" "He's all we've got left..." "JOEL:" "You're wrong, Bob!" "They've got Bassett." "Not us." "What do you mean?" "Like he said there, they're going to come in here anyhow and going to knock hell out of us." "They've got all the guns." "And they've got all the cards and all." "They're going to have us knackered in any case." "BEN:" "Well, there's one card old Pritchard hasn't got." "(ALL) What's that?" "Well, the pit." "The pit?" "Yeah, the pit." "All that ironmongery up there." "(ALL TALKING AT ONCE)" "Well, listen, there's all that gear up there." "It must have cost Pritchard a packet." "That's not counting coal underneath." "Well, what do you want us to do about that?" "Well, there must be some way of disabling it." "Threaten Pritchard with disabling pit." "There must be a simple way of doing it." "What, setting fire to his pit, do you mean?" "Hey?" "Setting fire to his pit or what?" "JOEL:" "Two ways you can do it." "Flood it?" "I've never heard nothing so bloody stupid in all my life." "Hold on, Tommy." "(ALL TALKING)" "No wonder half the country is running around seeking this fella." "If that's the type of prank he gets up to." "The other half of the country is looking for us buggers." "BEN:" "It's a bloody good idea, lad." "There's no other alternative." "Or else, we'll stand a chance at least of saving something out of this bloody mess." "If we threaten to take his pit off him, threaten his bread and butter, maybe they will come to some sort of terms to say, "Well the lads couldn't help it, were forced into it."" "(ALL TALKING)" "Let's consider it." "You're going to threaten to take his pit off him, we're not threatening to blow his bloody pit up!" "There's no alternative but to blow his pit up." "Exactly, if you don't threaten to blow it up they gonna be here with bullets." "We're looking." "We're looking." "What makes you think it's a good idea, Shep?" "Well, from Pritchard's point of view, we are about as expendable as the mice that run about the bottom of the pit." "That is true." "That's right." "There's two million unemployed." "And with two million who can work," "Pritchard can pick and choose who he wants to work for him." "JOEL:" "That's right." "So you know what's going to happen after this, don't you?" "Victimisation." "And we'll all be out of our jobs, out of our houses." "We have to get a guarantee from him that there will be no victimisation." "And the only thing that we've got to negotiate with apart from them" "is that bloody pit!" "MEN:" "Hear, hear!" "And that's what we've got to use." "Well, think of what you're doing, man." "Think of what you're doing." "That will be enough." "Enough of this!" "You're trying to get back to the pit for to get more money." "You're going to have no bloody pit to go back to." "(ALL ARGUING)" "The only idea, the only idea that people have come up with." "We're not going to crow." "We're not going to go to a bloody craven figurehead." "There's one left, and that's it." "That's what we've got." "Let's do that." "Joel, there must be some simple way of putting that pit out of action, cripple it completely." "JOEL:" "Well, there's two ways you can do it." "We can pull the safety man out, stop the pumps and flood the pit." "Or we can rig the shaft up with dynamite." "They tried flooding the pit at Utley." "It's a wet pit." "What happened there, before the water got anywhere near flooding the pit..." "It doesn't matter." "It doesn't matter, you've got the shaft rigged up with dynamite." "If the flooding doesn't work..." "That's the other alternative." "That's the other alternative, innit?" "I'll say what I have to say." "I think it's stupid." "If you vote for it, fair enough, I'll go with you." "Doesn't matter what you say, I'm not a bloody coward." "If we back down, it's the blacklist." "And that means we're out." "Out of our houses, kicked out of everything." "Now, I have a suggestion to make." "I suggest we draft up a letter stating what we're going to do, what our intentions are, and send it up to Pritchard." "But in the meantime, we send a runner down to the coal fields, down to every pit in the coal field." "Let them know what the situation is up here." "And let them send a delegate." "We'll hold a meeting, up here." "And that's my suggestion." "(MEN MURMURING)" "Well, look lads, do yous all understand what we're going to vote on?" "SHEP:" "Aye." "BILLY:" "I think so." "First of all, we're rigging a pit up with dynamite." "The second thing, we're sending an open letter to Pritchard telling him if there's any victimisation for the action we've taken here today, we'll blow his bloody pit to kingdom come." "(ALL TALKING)" "Well, I think we should take a vote on it." "All those in favour, show their hands." "Ten to one." "(ALL TALKING)" "All right, then, we'll blow it up." "MAN:" "Are you in charge here?" "I am." "What do you want?" "I've got a note here." "Been drawn up, signed by all the committee." "It's a few terms for Pritchard to agree to." "And you take it back to him and tell him if there's any foolery whatsoever, and we see either one soldier or policeman enter this village, we're going to blow this bloody pit to kingdom come." "Now, you see that he gets this." "Right?" "And quick." "I only hope you know what you're doing." "We know what we're doing, we don't want any advice off you or any of your cronies." "You'll take that to Pritchard, quick." "Where's Tommy?" "Tommy." "I want you to go up that bank up there, and you see one soldier, just give that a bloody goodun." "All right?" "I'll give you a hand, Tommy." "(MOTOR REVVING)" "There you are." "Right." "Careful with it." "Once you get out there, I want you to check for a signal." "Rope there?" "Yeah." "Put some more on this structure, there." "It'll block the whole shaft if this comes down." "Here it is, Tommy, lad." "Get yourself a look through the binocs." "Well, I can't see nothing through there." "There's nothing to see." "Yous got to pull these out." "Mmm-hmm." "Come on, have a try with that." "That's more like it." "See owt?" "Aye, but there's nothing to see." "Nothing around, like." "Thy must be blind, Tommy, lad." "There's nowt wrong with them, you know." "Howay." "I can see Pritchard coming with me own eyes." "A long way better than with them things." "And all his dragoons." "Uh-huh." "I mean, out of all of it," "I bet you've never seen a day like today, have you?" "Never!" "In all my 50 years of mining, I've never seen nowt like this." "Marvellous." "Well, you know, it should've been done years ago, this." "It's long overdue." "We tried it, man." "In '93." "But we hadn't a chance, man." "The other side matched us in every move." "When they were finished, we were down to practically eating grass." "A lot had gone back then." "I lost the wife in '93." "Did you?" "Aye." "She was complaining of her back." "So I give her back a rubbing." "And then I left for the meeting." "And when I got back, she was dead." "And her hands were all cold." "I must have caught her in the act of dying." "SHEP:" "Hey, Tommy, swing your crate, lad." "Hey?" "We've got company, man, swing it!" "(WINDING CLACKER)" "Hey!" "Hey, we've got company!" "(CLACKER WINDING)" "You asked me to come alone, and I have." "Well, that's very kind of you, isn't it?" "I think we'd better go inside." "(CROWD JEERING)" "Ben?" "Yeah?" "I think you'd better take a few lads and go and scout the road." "I trust those bastards as far as I can throw them." "Okay, leave it to me, Joel." "Is it Jack?" "Jack, can you take Concert Road?" "Take a few of the lads and if anybody comes, troops or owt," "get back here sharpish, all right?" "Right." "You take Lanchester Road." "Is that all right?" "You have plenty of them..." "Well, that's the problem." "We should have had twice as much." "Is all this really necessary?" "Aren't you going a little too far?" "Was sending troops necessary to take away our food?" "Ah, it's just a simple misunderstanding, that, you know." "It could've easily have been, uh, remedied." "There wasn't time." "Besides, if your past performance is anything to go by, sir, you wouldn't have made a bloody great deal of difference, would it?" "Now see here, I came here to help, not to be insulted." "Well, you might as well get yourself back home, because we didn't want you." "(SCOFFS) You'd just like that, wouldn't you, eh?" "Of course." "That's just what you want!" "Of course it's what we want." "You just listen to me, for a change." "There's only one authority here." "Apart from Mr Pritchard, that is." "And that's the Trade Union." "And I happen to be its official representative." "Ha!" "Could've fooled me!" "And my concern is with those poor," "misguided people out there." "Oh, I'm scared, of course you are." "Mr Bassett, I'm sure your intentions are the very best." "But in this somewhat explosive situation, when tempers can get easily frayed," "I think it might be advisable, if you don't mind, if you were to wait outside." "But Mr Pritchard, I must try and do the best..." "Please, however unjustified their remarks may have been." "All right, then, I think this is very wrong, but still, I'll go." "There's nothing else I can do." "Sorry about that, it was my idea and I thought it might be in your interest." "John Bassett should spend more time practising what he preaches down that bloody chapel of yours." "You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds." "Well, he's a good man, but probably you're a better judge of that than I am." "(INAUDIBLE)" "PRITCHARD:" "This note, it mentions terms." "That's right, terms." "No reprisals against anyone." "No arrest or victimisation." "Just a clean slate all round." "That's all we want." "And that's asking a lot, in view of what's happened." "My information is that you attacked police and troops." "Only when they tried to take our food away and when they pulled a gun on us." "They frightened certain people in the village, including my daughter, when they raided our homes earlier today." "Well, where are they, the police and the troops?" "What's happened to them?" "Nothing." "One or two of them got roughed up a bit, but nothing serious." "They'll be let loose as soon as you agree." "Well, I can't guarantee that the authorities won't prefer charges." "Oh, I think you can, Mr Pritchard, you can guarantee us anything you want." "PRITCHARD:" "I think you exaggerate my powers of influence." "Not when it comes to saving your own pit, I don't." "(CLEARS THROAT)" "You can look, we've got the fan house wired up with cases of dynamite stacked and primed, ready with a timing device and a cage." "Want to have a look through these?" "What's happened to us?" "I don't understand all this bitterness and hate." "It never used to be like this." "We've had our fair share of rows, but we've always been able to get over them." "You know, if we're going to survive, we've got to act together as a family, the way we always have done." "We've got to have faith and mutual trust." "Then agree to our terms, all we want is a fair crack of the whip." "And I'll see that you get it." "But you cannot expect me to talk and help and discuss anything in this atmosphere of threats and intimidation." "After all, I came here alone, as you requested." "I left the troops and the police out of it." "I even brought Mr Bassett to be your spokesman." "Now, isn't that fair evidence of my good faith?" "Don't you think I deserve a little compromise from your side?" "If what you're leading up to is that you want us to make the first move, Mr Pritchard, the answer is no." "But be reasonable, Joel." "I am being reasonable." "But you're holding all the cards except one and you're asking us to hand that over." "Don't you trust me?" "You make the first move." "All right, I agree." "For your own sakes, there'll be no reprisals." "No victimisation?" "No victimisation!" "MAN:" "Oh, that seems fair enough." "How do we know we can trust you, though?" "Because I've given you my word." "And I suggest you return those binoculars from where they came." "(MEN MURMURING)" "I think that's a fair deal, Mr Pritchard." "You think so, lads?" "(ALL AGREEING)" "(BRASS BAND PLAYING)" "(CLAPPING AND CHEERING)" "Amen!" "(INAUDIBLE)" "He doesn't mind." "(INAUDIBLE)" "(CHEERING)" "(WHISTLING)" "Come here, give us a kiss, mmm..." "Bloody drunk!" "Bugger off." "Here you are." "Get yourself a drink of that one." "Hey, I went into Durham, you know." "I sold them binoculars." "JOEL:" "How much did you get for them?" "I got enough." "Why are you laughing?" "What do you reckon we've achieved for ourselves, eh?" "What do you mean, what we've achieved?" "Well, what have we won, man?" "Well, we took Pritchard down a peg or two." "Aye." "It's the first time I've ever known a pit man to have the upper hand of his gaffer." "Mmm-hmm." "Aye, go on." "Admit you were bloody wrong, man, just for once." "If you don't try something, you don't know whether it works or not." "Why bother trying it when we've already found a better way?" "We didn't intend to blow the pit up..." "It was only fairly bluff..." "Actually, you should keep quiet." "Because..." "Yes, man." "Oh, no, no, no." "I agreed with you in the first half." "You agreed with me at the beginning, and then you turned your bloody coat and went with the majority..." "I agreed to put the flood in..." "Didn't he crawl, didn't he crawl when he come in here?" "You should have seen him, he was bloody crouched." "He was bent, the toffee-nosed bugger." "You should have seen him then, he crawled in here." "(ALL SINGING ALONG, INDISTINCT)" "(CHEERING AND WHISTLING)" "(APPLAUSE)" "What do you know?" "The Rose Of Tralee." "You like it?" "(BAND PLAYING)" "# The pale moon was rising" "# Above the blue mountain" "# The sun was declining" "# Beneath the blue sea" "# When I strayed with my love" "# By the pure crystal fountain" "# That stands in the beautiful" "# Vale of Tralee" "# She was lovely and fair" "# Like the rose of the summer" "# But 'twas not her beauty" "# Alone that won me" "# Oh no, 'twas the truth" "# In her eyes ever dawning" "# That made me love Mary" "# The Rose Of Tralee #" "That's it." "(CHEERING)" "All right, your turn, Joel, come on up here." "Me?" "I'm not doing anything." "(ALL CALLING OUT)" "MAN:" "Come on, get up!" "(CHEERING)" "# Keep your feet still, Geordie Hinny" "# Let's be happy through the night" "# 'Cause we might not be so happy through the day" "# Won't you give us that bit comfort" "# Keep your feet still Geordie, lad" "# And divn't drive the bonny dreams away" "# Keep your feet still, Geordie Hinny" "# Let's be happy through the night" "# 'Cause we may not be so happy through the day" "# Won't you give us that bit comfort" "# Keep your feet still, Geordie, lad" "# And divn't drive the bonny dreams" "# Away #" "(CHEERING)" "Well, friends, we've celebrated a great victory today." "Yeah!" "Aye!" "But it's all due to the grand efforts of our chairman, Joel." "(ALL AGREEING)" "And I want you all to say with me thank you." "(CHEERING)" "You still thinking about going to Darlington?" "Well, I might go to London." "London?" "Got a sister lives there, like, with her husband." "And it's a big spot." "Might be able to get lost till it all blows over, you know." "Have you been there before?" "Yeah, I was stationed there just after me training." "I hear the women go round all painted and powdered down there." "Some do, like." "Should have seen them in Paris, though." "Paris?" "You're telling me you've been to Paris?" "Yeah, I spent a leave there once." "You men, you have a smashing time of it, don't you?" "Used to go to this place called Porte d'Orleans." "It were great there, like." "Here's me, stuck here." "Well, I mean, leave's all right anywhere." "It's them bits in-between." "If I was a fella, I'd want to see everything, do everything." "I'd like to go to places like Paris and London." "You could always get a job down there, you know." "Where, London?" "Yeah." "Costs money, doesn't it?" "Anyway, I couldn't leave me mam and dad." "You've seen how it is down here, they need the wages." "Won't always be like this, you know." "I'll be too old by then." "Anyway," "I'd better be getting up before Mam starts shouting down." "What time you going in the morning?" "Early, like." "So I mightn't see you." "I'll write to you." "Would you do that?" "Yeah." "Mind, if you don't get one, like..." "I might get nabbed." "I'm going." "See you, Ben." "Yeah." "Take care." "Yeah." "And what are you doing time of the morning?" "We're police officers." "We've got a warrant for your arrest." "What for?" "Stop it!" "Leave him alone!" "Get your hands off him, now!" "Are you Benjamin Matthews?" "For God's sake, what's the matter now?" "Leave him alone, will you?" "(CLAMOURING)" "Keep your hands off him!" "(WOMEN SHOUTING)" "(SHOUTING)" "(SHOUTING)" "(WOMEN SHOUTING)" "Leave them alone!" "(SHOUTING, INDISTINCT)"