Bruce Springsteen breaks silence on his donation to battling Durham miners

Rock legend has broken his silence about his generous donation to British families during the height of the miner’s strike. The American musician was touring Britain in 1985 amidst the backdrop of heightened tensions between protesting miners and the Thatcher’s Government in County Durham.

The decision to close numerous pits to plunged thousands of families across the north east into poverty and heavy handed police tactics often led to violent running clashes on the picket lines. But amidst the darkness Springsteen made a kind gesture which has never been forgotten when he handed over a cheque for $20,000 to women from support groups backstage at a concert at in Newcastle.

He revealed: “My parents were working class people and I watched them struggle their whole lives... I’d been reading about it (the strike) in the newspapers and so it was just something that felt like it would be a good thing to do. It wasn’t a big thing, it was just a good thing to do at the time.”

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The Tory plans which caused such misery outlined the closure of 20 pits which was expected to lead to at least 20,000 job losses. Approximately 187,000 miners, who represented about three-quarters of the country’s coal-mining workforce, went on strike to fight the closures

Thousands of officers were drafted in to police the picket lines, with violence breaking out as tempers flared. The miners’ eventual defeat was the end of an era for Britain’s trade union movement and helped cement Mrs Thatcher’s reputation as the Iron Lady.

It also paved the way for the privatisation of more nationalised industries and utilities, including steel, railways, gas, telecoms and water. The closures caused long lasting misery for millions and in 2019, Sheffield Hallam University researchers said the former coalfield areas - with a combined population of 5.7 million people - continue to be dogged by deprivation and poor health to this day.

But amidst the dark days of 1985, amongst the women invited backstage to see Springsteen, were Anne Suddick and Juliana Heron who ran food banks for struggling miners. Recalling that fateful day mum-of- three Juliana Heron, whose husband Bob Heron was doing his bit on the picket line, said it all started when her friend Anna was tapped on the shoulder.

She said: “I was at the Durham Mechanics and I was told ‘Bruce Springsteen has been in touch. He wants to invite some women to his concert.’ We just knew we were going to St James’ Park. I went, Anne Suddick and some other women went. The seats were great.”

Mrs Heron explained a man then tapped her friend on the shoulder and asked her if she could “please come and meet Bruce Springsteen”. She was gone for about half an hour and she comes back and she says, ‘You’ll never believe this’,” Mrs Heron said.

“She just handed us this cheque and said, ‘Look’. I said, ‘That says $20,000’, and she said, ‘Yes, it’s for the Northumberland and Durham Miners’ Support Group’.

“And I said, ‘But he doesn’t know us’, and she said, ‘Yes, but he knows what we do’.” Mrs Heron described Springsteen as “a hero to us”.

“He didn’t do it for publicity,” she said. “He did it because he wanted to do it... It was really hard and winter was coming on. You just don’t think that someone who is in America and has a very good career would do something like that. But it is surprising how many people actually did support the miners.”

And supporting the miners was exactly what people like Mrs Heron did, splitting their duties between the strike and looking after their own young family. She and a group of other women from Eppleton got permission from the National Union of Miners to set up a kitchen.

For seven days a week, they served up hearty dishes such as mince and dumplings, broth. There could be up to three sittings a day as hundreds of hungry villagers came forward. So did their children.

And while some of the women kept the kitchen ticking, Juliana and fellow volunteer Jean Lamb made food parcels including eggs, potatoes, beans, tinned meat, especially for the single miners. The two women also made up hardship parcels for people. Every week, they went to cash and carry stores to get enough supplies.

The kitchen workers toiled hard upstairs while Jean and Juliana worked downstairs on the parcels. But it was not just Springsteen that came out in support of the miners with legends like Paul Weller and North East favourites Lindisfarne being big supporters as well.

Mrs Heron explained that backing was vital especially as the strike dragged on for a year and ultimately ended with hundreds of job losses and was the death knell for the industry. She said: “It was mixed emotions. Yes we were fighting to save the pits but we carried on fighting because Eppleton was one of them due for closure. We were fighting for a community.”

A major source of work was lost when the pit shut but ‘nothing was put in its place,” she said. Since 1984, Juliana has worked with Age Concern, Victim Support and has made a difference in her work as a councillor.

Springsteen explains more about the memorable donation in a documentary on Two called When Springsteen Came to Britain. It will be available to watch from 9.30pm on BBC Two and BBC on Saturday, May 31.