Battle Of Orgreave Re-enactment Is A Bit Crap
2016-11-01
A local historical society is calling out for new members after their battle re-enactment events have failed to thrill audiences.
The Thurnscoe and Goldthorpe Historical Society have shunned the traditional re-enactments related to The Battle of Hastings The English Civil War or The War of the Roses in favour of the more recent Battle Of Orgreave, a major turning point in the 1984 miners strike. But their efforts are hampered by a lack of members.
“There are just three of us,” said Mick Batty who started the society, “me, my brother in law Dave and my mate Reg. What happens at the moment, is me and Dave dress up as coppers in outfits we forgot to take back to the fancy dress shop and Reg lobs stones at us. We chase him across a bit of waste ground, wrestle him to the ground and then bundle him into the back of my van and give him a right good kicking. It’s attracting no attention at all round here. People just think it’s a normal Saturday afternoon. And to be honest, Reg is getting a bit pissed off with it.”
The group are desperate for more local people to get involved and Mick is keen to point out that it needn’t be expensive. “It’s 1984” he said “so anyone from Thurnscoe or Goldthorpe can wear their own clothes and use the weapons they’ve got laying around the house. We’re not going to be able to get any horses so we’re asking people playing coppers to pretend. Dave knows a bloke who works on the fair who can get us as many coconut shells as we need. We want it to be true to life.”
Mick says that in addition to pickets and police they’re also on the lookout for someone to play miners leader Arthur Scargill. “It’s not easy” he told us, “We’ve been through the archives and the only other person we can find with such a distinctive comb over is Wheeltappers and Shunters compere, Colin Crompton, but apparently he’s dead.”
We approached the former miners leader for comment but the woman who answered the phone at his Monaco apartment said he was out shopping.
