6. A Winter's Tale

As winter arrives, the striking miners are feeling the pinch. They are getting no strike pay and are surviving on donations of clothing and food. The debts are mounting.

There seems little prospect of a deal with the Coal Board over pit closures, and thousands of miners are throwing in the towel and going back to work, with the prospect of a special bonus before Christmas. In south Wales only a few make this choice and they have to run the gauntlet of angry pickets as they go into work. The atmosphere starts to turn ugly, and there is violence in the air.

This leads to a tragedy: a taxi driver taking a miner to work is killed when a concrete block thrown from a motorway bridge lands on his car. Some believe this is a turning point for the strike, and that support for the miners now ebbs away.

Presenter: Jonny Owen

Series Producer: Clare Hudson

Executive Producer: Steve Austins

Assistant Producer: Ffion Clarke

Development Producer: Branwen Davies

Sound Designer: Meic Parry

Sound Editor: Adam Whalley

Composer: Richard Llewellyn

Series Consultant: Dr Ben Curtis

Strike is a Bengo Media Production for BBC Sounds