JOHN HARRIS (FL. 1980S)

HARRIS, John (fl. 1980s). 18.6.84: Orgreave. Leeds: Leeds Alternative Publications Ltd, [n.d. but 1984].

Rare poster with one of the most iconic images of the Miners' Strike.

Poster (460 x 305 mm.), caption printed in red.

INFAMOUS IMAGE OF POLICE BRUTALITY captured by the photographer John Harris during what became known as The Battle of Orgreave. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) sent 5,000 pickets to the British Steel Corporation (BSC) coking plant in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, to try to prevent access to the works by strike-breaking lorries that collected coke. The police, with memories of 1972's Battle of Saltley Gate only a dozen years before – where 30,000 pickets had overwhelmed 800 police officers – deployed around 6,000 officers, including 42 mounted police officers.

After a surge by the pickets towards the first convoy of lorries approaching the works, there were a number of charges by the police, including at least three mounted charges. There was a lull in proceedings at the end of the day when the plant closed, and many miners left the scene, leaving those behind sunbathing or playing football. At this point, police numbers overtook miners, and they advanced again, again with a mounted charge. The police pursued the pickets out of the field and into Orgreave village where the police charged through the streets.

The woman in Harris' iconic photograph is Lesley Boulton, a member of Women Against Pit Closures. The caption states she was trying to call for an ambulance when the mounted policeman tried to strike her. This is collaborated in a BBC interview with Boulton , and adds she was pulled away by someone standing behind her, the baton missing her by just a fraction.

There have been renewed calls for a public inquiry into the actions of the police at Orgreave, but in October 2016, the Home Secretary announced there would be no review.

Sold with another poster (420 x 300 mm.), Stop the police state. London: Kent Area NUM, [n.d., but c. 1984].

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