The Battle of Orgreave

[Guest pfn]

One Sheffield related film seems not to be mentioned as yet, and it was also filmed here - it is The Battle of Orgreave. It was a documentary/re-enactment and was a funded 1 year community art project, to recreate, with the help of many of the local community, original people involved and participants, the violent clash between the police and miners in 1984 which took place at the Orgreave plant, Handsworth, at the height of the miners strike. I should know as I was in it! (The film not the original battle.)

It was filmed for Channel 4, funded by Archangel and directed by big movie maker Mike Figgis. as far as I know the 60 -ish minute programme is still available.

Work on the project was filmed over a year and finally the actual re-enactment of the battle was filmed as much as possible where it actually happened. Due to the Orgreave plant now being demolished, part of it was filmed in the fields next to Orgreave village, and the second part actually in the village itself. Over a weekend, the nearby park was used as a base for camping in, for the film crew, wardrobe and equipment, catering and for battle practises with horses, police unit tactics and miners attacking! All the event was filmed by 5 roving cameras.

On the Sunday, and in front of a live audience, the battle, scripted and based on the real conflict, was filmed in two 45 minute 'halves'. Once started each half wouldnt stop unless there was a serious injury or major problem! First in the adjacent fields and then in the village. When the battle lines were drawn, 400 people were playing miners and 500 playing the police. (the real battle involved several thousand!) The police lines had regular policemen, ones with riot gear, dog teams, small shielded ****** squads and mounted police. The miners were just like one big mob! To be as safe as possible, historical re-enactors (like myself) who are used to violent big 'crowd' fights of one period or another, were mainly used, but they also included some stuntmen and some ex miners and policemen who had actually been at Orgreave. I led one of the front line miners groups.

The end result is an emotional eye opener. Finally bringing some of the hidden truth out, about the incident, the strike, the actions of the police, the government and others. As a participant it was one of the most violent re-enactments I have ever taken part in. To see the recreated battle footage you would think it was the real thing.

I will dig out some photos and an article I wrote about it and post them here.

[Guest Noise Heat Power]

I think I saw this - or a film related to this event - at Tate Liverpool a couple of years ago. Am I right that the event was orchestrated by an artist called Jeremy Deller? The film I saw was brilliant, and my little boy who was then 6 was absolutely riveted by it - in fact he still talks about it. We had quite a discussion about the miners strike as a result, as it's an event I remember very clearly due to being an irritatingly self-righteous politically minded teenager at the time!

I would be absolutely fascinated to see your photos pfn, and the article too. Good call sir!

[Guest pfn]

Hi NHP,

Yes youre right, it was a project conceived by Jeremy Deller. he even dressed himself up, in mid 80s style so he could be in the crowd of us playing miners, and was filming things for himself with a small camcorder. At one point I was taking a quick breather and talking to (pretending to console) a guy made up as a bloodied victim who was sitting on the pavement as the riot played all around us on the Orgreave village street. Jeremy came running over thinking the guy was really hurt! I said "Its your project but you cant tell what's real and what isnt anymore can you"! He was well and truly 'gobsmacked'.

As I say, very violent, very emotional, and very realistic. I only wish there had been someway of saving the unused battle footage they shot. The first premiere of it was for the event participants and was screened at the Showcase cinema in Sheffield. It was a bit like a Saturday morning matinee with shouts cheers and boos! It was then premiered at Leicester Square, as part of the London film festival before then being shown on TV. The film did cause a lot of interest and outrage at the time, as well as being a catharsis 'closure' for many of the miners and police who were there in 1984.

[Guest Noise Heat Power]

I'm quite interested in Jeremy Deller. His work tends to be very conceptual, but at the same time it has an accessibility and grasp of the popular imagination that's missing from many other artists working in the more conceptual realms. I'm not necessarily knocking them, it's just that Jeremy Deller's work is easier to get interested in.

[Guest pfn]

Here's three photos from the Battle of Orgreave filming. One of a mounted charge from a police shield wall. Orgreave village is in the background.

The next shot is the miners group I led, just before we went out to the battle filming (the 400 people playing miners they were divided up into groups of around 20 or so) The group is made up of historical re-enactors and real ex miners (from the real Orgreave battle) who were from the Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster area. I am front, bottom centre with a flat cap and badges. In the middle is an actor called Simon Kirk with a baseball cap. He played the miners leader Arthur Scargill.

The last shot is a still from the movie and the one used on the movie poster - a mounted police charge up the road through Orgreave village, exactly where it happened in 1984. Those horses seemed so large in that street. When they came at us - we ran!

[Guest Noise Heat Power]

Cheers pfn - fascinating. Looks like you made it onto the movie poster shot as well then - is that you in the cap left of centre?

[Guest pfn]

Yes thats me! Running like hell! The horses didnt seem too bad on the open field. But on that narrow street with nowhere else to go. OOHH! To also help add to the tension, all the guys playing the police ****** squads had said they would try their hardest to get hold of us - no mercy!

[Guest mega_monty]

The Battle of Orgreave re-construction took place on the fields below our house with all the crew and re-enactors camping on the field behind our house. It was the weekend of of the 16th and 17th June 2001 on a dull and overcast summers day with the odd heavy down pour on the contrary to the blazing hot sun on the actual event in 1984.

The Mounted Police only actors but realistic enough

Miners and Police return in peace after the battle

The fields of which the re-enactment took place (Sorry its far away no zoom on my camera at that time)

Actors and crew campsite, british summer time at its best lol

[Guest mega_monty]

The Real Battle of Orgreave

As a youngster when the actual battle of Orgreave occurred in the hot summer of 1984 in the fields below our house, myself, school friends and neighbours walked down the fields armed with binoculars and the odd camera in the hope we might just get a glimpse of Arthur Scargill. Not a chance but witnessed plenty of miners fleeing for their lives over the railway lines across the fields and up the hill toward Handsworth. One neighbour who's husband was a police dog handler was particularly worried because she had just done the weekly police uniform wash having just put the police shirts on her washing line.

[Guest Noise Heat Power]

Wow - startling pics there monty. Thanks a lot for those.

Looking back on all that, it seems like another age to be honest.

[Guest pfn]

http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/uploads/monthly_06_2007/post-42-1181651053.jpghttp://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/uploads/monthly_06_2007/post-42-1181651073.jpg

http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/uploads/monthly_06_2007/post-42-1181651099.jpghttp://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/uploads/monthly_06_2007/post-42-1181651136.jpg

Hi Monty.

Good to see your photos. The two photos of the miners running down onto the railway line are quite chilling. Many were more or less pushed there by the Police. If a main line express had come by there would have been absolute carnage.

This was one part of the battle we couldnt re-enact due to the danger involved. If you look at my first photo you can see why it happened. The big riot police push from down the hill in front of the plant up the hill into Orgreave village meant the railway bridge became a bottle neck for the miners running away. (Look how crowded it is during our re-enactment.) The only other way out was down the embankment on either side of the bridge.

I have also included some other shots from the filming within Orgreave village. Even at one point copying when the miners made a stand outside no 31 just as they did in 1984.

[Guest transit]

...... a special week long showing of mining films etc under the banner of "King Coal" including the above "Battle of Orgreave " re-enactment , showing at the Showroom Cinema (beside Midland Station) from Sept 10 - 15th 2009.

Link here - www.showroom.org.uk - sept brochure download available also.

.

[THYLACINE]

Hi Monty.

Good to see your photos. The two photos of the miners running down onto the railway line are quite chilling. Many were more or less pushed there by the Police. If a main line express had come by there would have been absolute carnage.

This was one part of the battle we couldnt re-enact due to the danger involved. If you look at my first photo you can see why it happened. The big riot police push from down the hill in front of the plant up the hill into Orgreave village meant the railway bridge became a bottle neck for the miners running away. (Look how crowded it is during our re-enactment.) The only other way out was down the embankment on either side of the bridge.

I have also included some other shots from the filming within Orgreave village. Even at one point copying when the miners made a stand outside no 31 just as they did in 1984.

Hey guys, your posts and pictures are fascinating, is this movie available to the general public on tape or disk? If so I would be very interested in getting a copy. I worked at Orgreave, served my time there and left in 1972. Saw newsreel of the battle on TV 12,000 miles away in Auz. I often wonder why a big, smelly, dirty place like Orgreave Coke Ovens occupies such a special place in my mind and heart?

[Guest transit]

...... a special week long showing of mining films etc under the banner of "King Coal" including the above "Battle of Orgreave " re-enactment , showing at the Showroom Cinema (beside Midland Station) from Sept 10 - 15th 2009.

Link here - www.showroom.org.uk - sept brochure download available also.

.

...preview on Calendar tonight (Wed sept 9) from 6pm , ITV 1. ;-)

[Guest joepeacockblade]

It's amazing looking at some of them photos and everything what used to be there has just been wiped out. Does anyone have a photo taken from the bridge looking down towards to coking works before the road was torn up And the roundabout was built..

[Guest pfn]

Joe- I remember seeing press images of the view down the hill towards Orgreave from the bridge area. Copies must be around in books, newspaper archives or online somewhere.

Thylacine - At the time (1984) I dont think Orgreave as a place was at the hearts and minds of so many. Its where the government/miners conflict took them to. Thatcher had turned the midlands into a police state by then in her determination - at all costs to put down the miners and their union. By device and fate the battle lines ended up being drawn at Orgreave and the rest is history. Its only since the time that Orgeave has taken a place, for better or worse, in the hearts and minds of many who were there or witnessed it in the media.

[Guest sarahwishart]

Hi everyone - My name is Sarah Wishart and I'm doing a PhD at Leeds. I'm looking at how audiences might be affected by political art. One of the artworks I'm looking at is the Battle of Orgreave re-enactment. I'd very much like to talk to original audience members who saw the re-enactment in Sheffield. If you were there on the day - I'd love to hear from you. I recently screened this in Leeds at the newly refurbished City Varieties Music Hall in collaboration with Red Ladder Theatre. We had an audience of over 300, including miners who'd been at Orgreave. It was wonderful to be able to enable people to tell their stories. If you were at the reenactment in any capacity (production team, re-enactor, audience member), I'd really like to hear from you. My website is sarahwishart.co.uk and my email is sarah@sarahwishart.co.uk

[Guest sarahwishart]

Hi - I'm starting to talk to people about maybe showing 'The Battle of Orgreave' for a free screening somewhere in Sheffield, in the hope that it might reach people that hadn't seen it before as well as maybe to reach people that might have been involved in the re-enactment. I'm holding such a screening in Leeds this Thursday at Wharf Chambers - tickets are free and we still have places - you can get them from this site: http://battleoforgreavefreescreening.eventbrite.com

If you can't make it to the event this week - but would be interested in me staging a free screening in Sheffield - please do get in touch. s.e.wishart@leeds.ac.uk it'd be great to hear from you.