Alfie Joey writes about a man instrumental in gaining rights for miners – who is still relevant today
In a lovely church yard in Heworth, Gateshead, on Saturday, we remembered a man who fought for basic rights that many of us have, and yet possibly take for granted.
Two centuries ago, this gutsy County Durham born miner stood up to powerful coal bosses and demanded something that sounds obvious to us today – that working people should be treated with dignity, given a fairer working life and, crucially, that children should not be worked to exhaustion down the pits. It came at a price.
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Thomas Hepburn was born in Pelton in the mid-1790s and, after his dad was killed in a mining accident, young Tommy went down the pit himself at just eight years of age!
By 1825 he had founded the Colliers United Association of Durham and Northumberland – effectively the region's first miners' trade union and in 1831 Hepburn helped lead a major dispute which resulted in children under 12 having their working day reduced from a staggering 18 hours to 12. These days, the only shift lads that age might do is a game of Minecraft. A very, very different existence.
Then came other battles. Unfortunately for Tommy, his finest hour was followed by vicious opposition from the coal owners and he was blacklisted along with other union chiefs, leaving him struggling to find work. At one point he was trying to sell tea to miners and suffered real hardship and poverty.
He died in 1864 and lies beneath a very simple but powerful monument at St Mary's Church in Heworth. The epitaph sums up his life's work: “Shorter Hours and Better Education for Miners.”
St Mary's has been at the heart of Heworth for centuries; the present church dates from 1822 and its churchyard is packed with reminders of the area's industrial past. There is a memorial to the 92 men and boys killed in the terrible Felling Colliery disaster of 1812. There are Commonwealth War Graves too – and one of the churchyard's oddest sights, the Haddon Tomb, which looks like a four-poster bed. It is a brilliant slice of piece of Gateshead heritage and that history is not simply being preserved in dusty books. It is being brought alive by young people.
Pupils at XP Gateshead, based on the former Thomas Hepburn school site, have been studying the region's mining heritage, researching the lives of local people, inviting former miners into the school and producing books, songs, artwork and other work inspired by the communities that grew up around coal mining. One of their projects asked the question: “What do the communities of North East England owe to the miners?” The beautiful book 'From The Ground Up' was written and published by one year group and sold out at the Big Meeting.
They will be represented to today at the annual Thomas Hepburn Memorial Service at St Mary's. PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote will be keynote speaker, alongside trade unionists, Labour politicians and community folk. Durham Miners’ General Secretary Alan Mardghum and Chair Stephen Guy will lead the service with Reverand Lucy.
Bill Elliott (-not ‘Billy Elliot’ but a local legend of the folk singing Elliots of Birtley) and pupils from XP Gateshead will take part, with the Durham Miners' Association Brass Band providing the hymns.
The service has recently attracted the likes of film director Ken Loach, who spoke passionately about Hepburn's legacy and the continuing importance of solidarity. The coal mines may have gone, but the questions Thomas asked remain. Who gets a fair day's pay? Who gets a safe workplace? Who speaks up when somebody else cannot?
Two hundred years on, that miner's voice is still being heard in Gateshead.
And, thanks to today's young people, it looks certain to be heard for generations yet.