Banner of Wistow Branch of the Yorkshire area of the NUM

Wistow Branch of the Yorkshire Area of the National Union of Mineworkers

The branch catered for mineworkers at Wistow Colliery, part of the Selby complex, at Wistow, north of Selby.

The banner was made by Turtle and Pearce around 1983 for approximately £2,000 and measures 210cm wide and 255cm high.

It was the only one of the Selby Coalfield branch banners that was made before the strike, which explains the somewhat “non-political” design compared to the other Selby branch banners.

Dennis Skinner was not part of the original design. Formally it was a picture of the Wistow pit headgear. After the strike the Branch agreed a change and an image of Dennis was decided upon in recognition of his work on behalf of the NUM in general and his efforts during the strike in particular. His image was painted in 1985 by Jackie Glover, a miner at Lofthouse and Wistow collieries. Dennis came to an event at the social club and it was re-dedicated with a blessing from the industrial chaplain.

The banner was on display at Selby Abbey and is now stored at the NUM Offices at Barnsley.

Thanks to Chris Kitchen Jnr, Richard Riggs and Danny O’Connor for assistance and Ken Rowley, branch official from 1982 until the closure of the pit and redundancy in 2004, for information.

Thanks to the Yorkshire Area of the National Union of Mineworkers for permission to photograph and reproduce this banner. Image copyright NUM.

If you have any information about this or any other banner please tell the NUM or Past Pixels.