Durham Miners' Association

The Durham Miners Association (DMA) will continue its programme of community advice surgeries in Tanfield Lea on Friday 16 June 2023.

The DMA was represented at the funeral of much loved and respected community and union stalwart Les Simpson.

Born in 1939, Les was a miner at Usworth, Washington, from the age of 15 until 1973, when he joined the area drilling team working in collieries across the County Durham, before moving on to work in other coalfields.

Everyone at the DMA was saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Melvin.

The former miner was a tireless and inspirational campaigner for his community and one of the greatest champions of the Durham Miners Gala.

The Durham Miners Association (DMA) will continue its programme of community advice surgeries in Dawdon on Friday 3 February.

The Durham Miners Association (DMA) is beginning a new programme of advice surgeries in coalfield communities. The first will take place in Sacriston on Friday 2 December.

The official film of the 2022 Durham Miners Gala will premiere on Sunday evening (20 November 2022).

After a three-year absence due to Covid 19, the Gala returned in style. It was the biggest Big Meeting in decades – and film crews were there to capture it all.

A new film of the extraordinary poem 'Durham Beatitude' by William (Bill) Martin created for the return of the Durham Miners Gala and shown for the first time on the giant screen at the 2022 Big Meeting.

The poem mourns the victims of the 1951 Easington Disaster. The moving and powerful film combines its words, spoken by its author, with images of the Gala through the years.

This year’s Durham Miners Gala is set to be the biggest of modern times, with more banners and brass bands taking part than at any time since before the Miners’ Strike.

Huge crowds are expected when the Gala returns this Saturday (July 9) after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid 19 pandemic.