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| image copyright South Wales Area NUM. Photography by Martin Shakesaft |
The great mining communities have long gone – destroyed by a
Tory government determined to abandon the British coal-fields in favour of
imported coal and nuclear energy. But their memory lives on in the memories of
the mineworkers and the photos and
mementos of their struggle.
Back in 2009 Past Pixels was launched to make
images of working class struggle more widely available to a newer generation.
Over the past two years it has produced collections of greeting cards
reflecting the struggle of the British mining community including snapshots of
the epic miners’ strike of 1984/85 and a collection of NUM enamel badges. Now
the company has issued a new set using images of banners from South
Wales mining communities.
South Wales Area of the NUM has
given permission for the reproduction of all the banners in their possession.
The first four banners reproduced are from the South Wales Area of the NUM,
Tower Lodge NUM, Maerdy Lodge NUM and the Maerdy Women’s Support Group.
Each card provides a short
history of the banner and another photograph, often with the banner in use. A
proportion of the income from sales will be donated to the South Wales Miners’
Benevolent Fund, a registered charity.
Past Pixel cards can be ordered online at http://www.pastpixels.co.uk or from an
increasing number of retail outlets, including the Rhondda
Heritage Park
where both the Maerdy Lodge and Maerdy Women’s Support Group banners are
currently on display. Further information about all the cards can also be
obtained by writing directly to: Past
Pixels, PO Box 798, Worcester,
WR4 4BW
