Greenham, Thatcher and the miners' strike
In the 1979 referendum, the people of Wales were offered devolution. On St David’s Day, the offer was rejected wholeheartedly. Before the end of the year Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister heralding a new period for Britain.
With the government breaking their promise of a television channel for Wales, Gwynfor Evans reacted by threatening to fast until death. The government had to reconsider, and on 1st November 1982, S4C broadcast for the first time.
In March 1984 the miners went on strike. For a whole year, there were 5,000 miners’ families in Britain suffering because of the strike. By the end of the strike in 1985, the coal industry in Wales was on its deathbed.
Nuclear energy showed its power with the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, when a fire spread through the power station. The nuclear fallout affected Chernobyl, Russia and Wales. Concerns were voiced about nuclear arms by campaigners for peace in Wales and beyond.
