40 years on, is the truth about the Battle of Orgreave finally going to come out?

Good morning (just) to all our readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

It was, some say, as if the country broke out into civil war. The miners’ strike may now be 40 years ago but the memories of that time are as strong as ever, especially in South Yorkshire. On Saturday, hundreds gathered outside Sheffield City Hall to mark one of the most violent episodes of the year-long strike: the notorious Battle of Orgreave.

They weren’t just there to remember. To some, there was also renewed hope that a new inquiry may soon begin into what really happened that day — and why. That’s our big story today.

As well as that, we have a new exhibition all about metal at the Millennium Gallery, and the snooker ear nibbler is revealed.

Editor’s note: If the polls are to be believed, on July 5th there will be a new cast of characters in Downing Street and the House of Commons. We don’t know yet what that might mean for Sheffield. What we can guarantee is that in the run up to the election, and afterwards, we will be covering the stuff that really matters in this city. It's only possible because of our members — the everyday heroes who think what we do matters and support it. It was fantastic to see 18 more of you who join at the weekend; if you haven’t yet, then please sign up for lots more stories and access to our full archive.

Catch up and coming up

On Saturday, Daniel Timms reported back from Britain’s weirdest constituency: Sheffield Hallam. Though it has the typical characteristics of a Tory seat, it’s actually the only Labour-Lib Dem marginal in the country — where the current MP won in 2019 with a lower percentage of the vote than any other MPs in Britain. So who will take it this time? You can read that piece here. And, if you want to attend the Crookes Ecogroup hustings event for both the Sheffield Hallam and Sheffield Central constituencies — focusing on climate, nature and sustainability — then click here.

Last week, we sent out two great newsletters to our 2,179 paying members. In the first Dan visited the neighbourhood of Little Sheffield, to see for himself why some are referring to the former industrial area as the new Kelham Island. And in the second, Victoria spoke to a company which specialises in recruiting international students, to find out why they’re abandoning Sheffield Hallam. An extract from that piece is below:

Dickinson is keen to stress that he “leans to the left” and is very much in favour of international students being able to study in this country. But, if Labour is elected next month and reverses the clamp-down on dependents, then he insists there will need to be frank discussions, at both local and national level, about how to support the needs of this resulting influx of new, temporary citizens. “Sometimes when I don’t finish those sentences, I sound like Nigel Farage,” he says. “I don’t have any problem at all with large numbers of international students, as long as we are not lying to them and we have put in the infrastructure so they can have a decent life.”

This week we’ll send out another constituency deep dive — this time into the “Red Wall” constituency of Penistone and Stocksbridge. Its MP, Miriam Cates, has made headlines for her strident socially conservative views; but will she be returning to parliament in three weeks time? We’ve also got an investigation by Victoria into a new employer that has popped up in Sheffield — again and again and again. To help fund a new way of doing journalism funded by paying members rather than clickbait, please consider subscribing if you haven’t already. It costs just £1.34 a week or 23p a day if you pay for 12 months up front (£70).

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The big picture: Time to reflect 🚃

We might be having a disappointing summer so far, but the rain is at least providing Sheffield’s photographers with opportunities to get some great shots. This upside-down photo of one of Sheffield’s distinctive trams was captured by city-based photographer Anita Kucma last week.

This week’s weather 🌥

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say scattered downpours will gradually give way to more settled conditions from the south after midweek. Warming up slowly, too.

Monday 🌦 Westerly breezes and a continuation of the weekend's weather with warm sunny spells and the risk of downpours. Highs of 19°C.

Tuesday 🌦 Another day of pleasant spells of sunshine and the moderate risk of an afternoon shower, possibly thundery. NW breezes and highs of 19°C.

Wednesday 🌥 Cloud filling in somewhat, but still bright and also with a better chance of staying dry all day with light showers very isolated. Highs of 18°C.

Thursday ⛅️ Mainly dry and fine, warmer too though with a risk of cloud pushing south. Assuming we see the sun, temperatures will peak higher, at 21°C.

Friday ⛅️ Similarly settled with many places staying dry with bright or sunny spells. Pleasant westerly breezes and warm again with highs of 22°C.

Outlook: While there is a risk of showers from the west, there's also a good chance of dry and fine weather next weekend, too. Breezy with low twenties temperatures.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

The big story: Is the truth about the Battle of Orgreave finally going to come out?

Top line: As the 40th anniversary of the infamous Battle of Orgreave is marked in Sheffield, are campaigners finally going to get the full inquiry they have been demanding for decades?

Not many people under the age of 50 will now remember it, but the Battle of Orgreave was one of the defining flashpoints of the year-long miners’ strike (1984-85), an industrial dispute over pit closures that became the longest and most violent in British history.

• On 18 June, 1984, at a British Steel coking plant at Orgreave near Rotherham, a pitched battle between 8,000 picketing miners and 6,000 police took place. The police charged at the miners on horseback, with others following with truncheons and short shields.
• 95 miners were arrested on the day and charged with either unlawful assembly or riot, which potentially carried a life sentence. However, all 95 were later acquitted after the trial exposed dozens of inconsistencies in the police officers’ accounts of the disorder.

Exactly what happened on that day is a matter of controversy. Since 2012, the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign has been fighting for the full truth to come out. They allege that the police’s decision to charge at miners with mounted police effectively caused the disorder. It is also further alleged that, had South Yorkshire Police been held to account for Orgreave, the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, in which 97 Liverpool fans died, may never have happened.

• The Conservative government did consider an inquiry in 2016, but rejected it on the basis that nobody died and there was no miscarriage of justice. They also said it was too far of a leap to assume the Hillsborough disaster could have been avoided had police been held to account.
• In their general election manifesto which was published last week, Labour have promised to “ensure, through an investigation or inquiry, that the truth about the events at Orgreave comes to light”, although exactly what form this will take is unclear.
• Earlier this year, South Yorkshire Police revealed a small team within the force had been reviewing and cataloguing all the material they hold on Orgreave (amounting to 82,913 pages and 1,474 files) and also called for an “independent assessment” of this material.

Last year, The Tribune spoke to David Parry, a striking miner who was injured at Orgreave in May 1984, a few weeks before he was present at the infamous Battle of Orgreave on 18 June. He said:

The Tory governments since Thatcher have hoped everyone would forget the 84-85 miners’ strike — but the miners and mining communities haven’t. Putting right the wrongs inflicted on mining communities in those epic days is more important than ever today. If most people think it has nothing to do with them, perhaps they should think again. The assault on all our freedoms and civil liberties has intensified. When the powers that be come knocking on your door, the penny might finally drop.

Our take: One of the central responsibilities of a government is to deliver justice. 40 years on from Orgreave, those who were labelled “the enemy within” rightly want a chance to be fully vindicated. Many of those who took part in the strike are no longer with us, and those who are aren’t going to be around forever. For them, righting a historic wrong is important to make sure justice delayed is not justice denied.

A new documentary, Strike: An Uncivil War by Sheffield filmmaker Dan Gordon, premiered at DocFest yesterday (Guardian review here). It will get a full theatrical release later this year.

The Weekly Whitworth ✍️

Our cartoonist James Whitworth with his own take on our weekend story about the battle for Sheffield Hallam.

Our media picks 🔗

Snooker ear nibbler is identified — and defends his actions 👂 During the recent World Snooker Championships in Sheffield, television footage of a man nibbling the ear of a child he was with went viral. Police last week said the case was closed and that no further action would be taken, but in this piece the nibbler is revealed to be Italian forklift truck operator Stefano Voci. He has since defended his actions as a “normal means of expressing affection towards a loved one”.

The Megatron: Sheffield’s underground world 🔦 The Secret South Yorkshire series by BBC Radio Sheffield is rapidly becoming a must-listen. This latest episode explores the hidden rivers below the city’s streets and finds the Megatron, a vast man-made cavern built in the 19th century to keep the then sewage filled river away from people. (We previously sent Dan down to check it out — read that piece here.) The BBC series started in February and includes episodes on Henderson’s Relish and the Maurice Dobson Museum in Darfield.

Isn’t that ... female? 📖 The London Review of Books might only describe author A.S. Byatt as being from “the North” and “Yorkshire” but she was, in fact, born in Sheffield. We can forgive this erasure though, as reviewer Patricia Lockwood is both an American and, more importantly, a phenomenal writer herself. If you’re familiar with Byatt’s writing, this is a comprehensive and insightful retrospective. If you’re not, it’s great encouragement to seek out some of her work.

Home of the week 🏡

This stunning two-bedroom Grade II-listed semi in Grenoside was completely renovated in 2014, has en suites in both bedrooms and a downstairs loo. It’s on the market for £190,000.

Tribune Tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please email editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first poll instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

Learn ⚔️ On now at the Millennium Gallery: a new exhibition celebrating the marvel of metal in all its forms. Featuring over 100 objects from Sheffield’s designated metalwork collection, Show Your Metal explores the technological advances that earned the city a global reputation. The free show also celebrates how artists have used metal as a medium and considers the cultural and economic value we attach to this endlessly adaptable material. The exhibition is on until 29 September.

Architecture 🏗️ On Tuesday at the University of Sheffield’s Dainton Building, Professor Matthew Soules presents a free talk about his book Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra Thin. The book argues that finance capitalism has changed not only architectural forms, but also the very nature of our cities and societies, from ultra-thin “pencil towers” to cavernous “iceberg” homes and unoccupied “zombie” housing developments. The talk will last an hour and begins at 4pm.

Art 🖼️ From 15 March to 6 April 2019, in an empty factory building in Sheffield, street artist Phlegm created his signature surreal creatures in giant sculptural form in the major exhibition Mausoleum of the Giants. In this free talk at the Millennium Gallery on Wednesday, you’ll see images from behind the scenes and hear the production team talk about the impact the show had, bringing in over 12,000 visitors from around the world. The 45 minute talk begins at 6pm.