Whilst not widely known, in 1926 during the General Strike, the
Durham Miners Gala (The Big Meeting) was cancelled. It was cancelled
because the organisers believed there would be poor attendances due
to the fact that there was no public transport during the workers
strike.
The miners in Burnhope Lodge however felt aggrieved that their day
of pride, when they could proudly march behind their banner into the
Durham Big Meeting was being denied them. The answer they believed
was in their hands, they would organise the Big Meeting in Burnhope.
The Durham Miners Gala took place in July 1926 in Burnhope, the only
time in the history of the Miners Gala that it has been held outside
Durham City. We are told that thousands of miners and their families
descended on the small village, proudly bringing with them their
lodge banners. The miners were addressed by their respected leader
A.J.Cook, which was probably his last public appearance as we are
led to believe he was terminally ill with cancer of the oesophagus.
A Jubilee Miners Gala was organised in 1986 under the auspices of
Joe Wilson to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Burnhope
Gala. This again attracted several thousand miners along with their
families, bands and banners, some coming as far away as Kent. The
miners were addressed by their leader Arthur Scargill. Whilst
primarily a miners gala meeting the 1986 event focused on the
history of the mines, the gala, the village and its heritage. It was
with these things in mind that Beamish Museum provided artefacts
that enabled a marquee of displays to be erected, recreating scenes
from the 1920's.
In order to give children first hand experience of vehicles of the
era, Joe Wilson and Robert Atkinson set about organising a
short road run in the hope of attracting some vehicles that may have
been around during the
general
strike.
12 vehicles entered that first (and so it was thought only) run
which was won by Ken Spencer from Northumberland. The road run was
in fact a "side show" from the main event of the Gala which turned
out to be an overwhelming success.
Without realising it, the one off "side show" also appeared to have
been quite successful and in the spring of 1987 several letters were
sent to Joe Wilson requesting entry forms for the Burnhope Road Run.
Before Joe was able to reply explaining that there was no road run
and that the first had been in conjunction with the last years Gala
and had been a "one off", he was persuaded by one of the other
committee members (Ossie Johnson) that they could organise another
run, "its a good day and takes no organising" quoted Ossie.
So here we are today, the Burnhope Vintage Vehicle Rally has gone
from strength to strength (attracting over 150 entrants each year).
Burnhope
is now clearly on the rally calendar and over the years has gained
the reputation of being the "friendly rally". Unfortunately
the increase in vehicle numbers has meant that we have had to move
from the Wishing Well site which has served us well for many years
to our new site at the "Road Ends". They say that every down side
has its ups, as a direct consequence of that move we are now able to
accommodate more vehicles and provide more space for static
displays.
At the original Burnhope Miners Gala on that July day in 1926 a
young lad asked the speaker A.J.Cook for his autograph. He obliged
the young lad and signed "J.Cook July 1926 Aim High To
Succeed".
From all the people of Burnhope Vintage Vehicle Rally we wish you every success.