STRIKE : THROUGH A MINER’S LENS| KEN WILKINSON

22-25 FEB 2024 | 10AM - 5PM | VICTORIA HALL | FREE

© Ken Wilkinson

Images courtesy of the National Coal Mining Museum

Marking the 40th anniversary of the last miners strike, ‘Strike: Through the Miner’s lens’ is a collection of poignant and powerful social documentary images taken by Ken Wilkinson, a miner on strike between 1984-85. 

The exhibition offers a unique and personal context to the miners strikes, bringing the viewpoint of the miners into sharp focus and putting their perspective front and center of an era typically captured through the lens of the press. 

Ken Wilkinson left school at sixteen in 1974 and started work at Askern Colliery, South Yorkshire. Askern was then a close-knit community, with most people working at the pit, the Coalite plant, or the local wood yard.

At the start of the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike Ken was already well known amongst his friends for his interest in photography. When the strike began Ken wanted to document the strike from the viewpoint of a miner rather than one recorded by a journalist. 

Many of Ken’s photographs feature his friends, relatives and work colleagues and give a unique insight into a political and social divisive era. 

After leaving the mining industry, Ken went on to work as a photographer for the West Yorkshire Fire Service.

The photographs in this exhibition have been kindly loaned by The National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield to mark the 40th Anniversary of the last miners strike.