The photo above kindly supplied by Bruce Wilson depicts just one of the many scenes witnessed at Silverwood during the miners strike of 1985, a lasting image from one of the most disturbing decades the people of South Yorkshire endured. A decade which was to witness the destruction of  local industries, leaving South Yorkshire amongst the most economically depressed areas throughout Europe, a sad fate indeed for an area that had been the backbone of England's prosperity throughout the Industrial revolution, two world wars and the intervening years. A decade that left most of us pondering WHY?

On these pages you will read about the madness that prevailed during this period, the lies printed in the media, the deception, a time when miners were labelled as the enemy within, and the miners of Silverwood were to be singled out as prime targets by the real enemy within, the government and allies of one Margaret Thatcher. One only has to look at Rupert Murdoch the newspaper media magnate to realize the total lack of integrity prevalent amongst those allies, here is a man who immediately changed his alliance to the labour party when Mrs. Thatcher thankfully fell from power.

Dave Hadfield who at present [ 2007 ] volunteers for the South Yorkshire Miners' Advice Centre. worked as a miner at Silverwood  until it closed in 1994, and took part in the 1984 strike.

In the 1980's Kevin Irving, was appointed under manager at Thurcroft and then Silverwood mine.

In 1983 Gary Evans arrived at Silverwood Colliery and worked there until 1994 as a Face-worker and Deputy.

Lee Miree started work at Silverwood in 1983 as a Conveyer operator until the pit closed in1992

R. W. Stidger, in Oct 1st 1983  published an article regardin Automated steering ups longwall output concerning Coal, Lignite, & Peat-- Mining; ;CUTTER LOADERS-- ELECTRONIC GUIDANCE; LONGWALL MINING-- CUTTER LOADERS;

From the article:-

"After many stages of development automatic steering is earning its way on a 275 metre longwall face. The use of gamma rays makes this system the best developed to date. A prototype system developed by MRDE of the UK National Coal Board, is the third to go ahead at the longwall face at Silverwood Colliery."

Mick Carter, like many of the other miners, was transferred to another pit when Cortonwood was finally closed in 1985. 'I was a marked man,' he recalls. 'I had friends in management, and the first day there one came to me and said, "Mick, watch your back, kid."' This, of course, was due to his vociferous activism during the strike, but there was another reason he 'hated every minute' of his time at Silverwood. 'In a pit village you work together, and you play together. Then we were turned into commuters, and you don't have friends, you have...' Carter's voice reaches a pitch of venom, '"work colleagues". The social cohesion was gone, there was a fragmentation, and that takes some adjusting to. Most of the lads were transferred; we were shoved around like gypsies.'

Ken Rowlett who worked at the mine from 1984-1994)  as Assistant Deputy Manager was primarily in a support role to Terry Bowe Deputy Manager, and later, as the Management team was altered, he maintained the same role for Andy Devey. Basically, due to the running down of the industry the number of Deputy Managers at each colliery was increased from one to two – specifically, a Deputy Manager for Services in the case of Silverwood -Terry Bowe and a Deputy Manager for Operations for Silverwood which was Andy Devey.