Mining films - A Time to Heal and Miners' Gala Day

Material relating to the creation of the films A Time to Heal and Miners' Gala Day; includes newspapers reviews, stills from the film, photographs taken during filming, programmes from festivals, photographs of miners' rehabilitation, copies of the budget, notes on the film, proposed title layouts, list of shots, schedule of filming, books and notes relating to research carried out for the film, script, correspondence with the NUM, BBC, NCB, miners and the Central Office of Information, for A Time to Heal, and correspondence with the NUM re Miners' Gala Day, photographs and stills from the film and leaflet on Miners' Gala Day. Includes copies of the films on video.

A Time to Heal was written and directed by Derrick Knight, and produced by Derrick Knight and Partners Ltd. It is concerned with the rehabilitation of injured miners and is based on miners in Talygarn, a rehabilitation Centre in South Wales.

Miners' Gala Day was produced and directed by Derrick Knight, and sponsored by the National Union of Mineworkers. It is based on a day at the Miners' Gala in June 1960. Unlike other British coalfields, there is not a long tradition of holding galas in South Wales. In fact the first gala was held in June 1953 in Cardiff. The galas became very important social and political gathering for the miners. In the early days, the galas were very political occasions with speakers such as Aneurin Bevan. In the 1970s and 1980s, the galas became more social events, with brass bands, folk dancing and art and craft exhibitions.

The establishment of the miners' gala saw the advent of miners banners in South Wales. With a few exceptions, most of the miners' banners in South Wales date from the mid 1950s. The banners display a remarkable degree of uniformity of political outlook with such slogans as 'Workers of the World Unite for Socialism' (Abercrave); 'International Friendship: Policy: leadership: Unity' (Seven Sisters); 'The World is our Country Mankind are our Brethren' (Markham); 'For Solidarity of All Miners'(Blaengwrach); 'Onward to Socialism and the Liberation of Mankind' (Cambrian). The slogans and images which appear on the banners of the South Wales miners reveal a strong commitment to world peace, racial equality, the brotherhood of man, and international working class solidarity - everything that the miners' gala stood for.

Please contact the repository regarding this collection.

Finding aid encoded by Julie Anderson July 2003.

A paper list is available.

Please contact the repository regarding this collection.