If you missed my interview yesterday morning regarding the struggle of the Dirty Thirty during the Miners Strike you can click the link below to listen in to myself and author David Bell whose book inspired my song.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00f2ssy/Ben_Jackson_07_03_2011/

Just slide along to 1hr 23mins and 38secs (or thereabouts!) and you can hear the interviews and a bit of the song.

You can read the full BBC Website report into the story too. That’s here -> http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/leicester/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9416000/9416878.stm
Here’s the song itself in full:

Those in the Leicestershire area will be able to listen in to the Breakfast Show on Radio Leicester on Mon (7 March) to hear me chatting about my new song The Dirty Thirty.

I’ll be on at around 8.20am and will be joined by David Bell, the author of the book The Dirty Thirty: Heroes of the Miners Strike, which directly inspired the song.

They’ll be playing some of the song too, as well as finding out how the song came to be.

If you’re not in Leicestershire but want to listen in, they have a listen live and listen again facility online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/leicester/hi/tv_and_radio/

In the meantime, here’s the song again in youtube. I’m currently fundraising to record my new album which this song will be on.

I’ll be in Blackburn tomorrow (Thursday) at an anti cuts rally in Blackburn.

For more details, see the gigs page, but I’ll be singing two sets of four songs each in between the speeches.

Organisers are hopeful of a great turnout so do come along and show your opposition to the cutbacks.

During the Miner’s Strike of 84/85, the Leicestershire coalfields continued to work, with two and a half thousand miners working through the strike.

Despite this, thirty or so miners refused to break the strike, despite being so isolated in their local area.

This song tells their story.

I am deeply indebted to author David Bell. His book The Dirty Thirty: Heroes of the Miners’ Strike gives a superb account of what happened and is what inspired the song.

I recommend it to you. It’s a brilliant piece of social history, and David gets out of the way and lets the people themselves tell the story.

Enjoy the song. The lyrics are below:

They were called The Dirty Thirty
So they wore that name with pride
As the only striking miners
They stood against the tide
And if you call them heroes
They would surely disagree
But the dirty thirty and their kin
Are all heroes to me

Let me tell you a story
For I really can’t ignore
The happenings in Leicestershire
In 1984
Two thousand and five hundred
Walked across that picket line
But a tiny band of miners
Would not go into the mine

They were called The Dirty Thirty
So they wore that name with pride
As the only striking miners
They stood against the tide
And if you call them heroes
They would surely disagree
But the dirty thirty and their kin
Are all heroes to me

The railwaymen at Coalville
They backed the miners too
And when a coal train came along
They would not let it through
And the women they were mighty
Maybe mightier than the men
They suffered so much hardship
But they’d do it all again

They were called The Dirty Thirty
So they wore that name with pride
As the only striking miners
They stood against the tide
And if you call them heroes
They would surely disagree
But the dirty thirty and their kin
Are all heroes to me

So here’s to Malcom Pinnegar
Or “Benny” to his friends
Who led the Dirty Thirty
Till the strike came to an end
And here’s to all the other lads
So principled and true
And those who stood beside them
As a worker’s meant to do

They were called The Dirty Thirty
So they wore that name with pride
As the only striking miners
They stood against the tide
And if you call them heroes
They would surely disagree
But the dirty thirty and their kin
Are all heroes to me

On Saturday 5th February there will be a march and rally in Liverpool against the ConDem cuts featuring Tony Benn, myself, and also the Liverpool Socialist Singers.

The march assembles at Exchange Flags at 11.45pm and will walk to the Anglican Cathedral for 12.30pm to hear speakers including TONY BENN and David Prentis (General Secretary of Unison).

The speakers and the music will be inside the Cathedral. I’ll be doing three or four songs – including the ever popular Oh Mr Cameron song so sharpen your lyrical guillotines!

Spread the word and invite everyone you know. Defend our jobs and services!