Betty Heathfield
Encyclopedia
Betty Heathfield was a leading figure in the Miners' Wives Support Groups during the UK miners' strike (1984–1985)
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Betty Vardy was born to a mining family in Chesterfield. Both her grandfathers had been Derbyshire miners. She excelled at Chesterfield girls' high school – the top local grammar school – and won a county scholarship which should have taken her to university. However she left school at 16 for a secretarial job at a local engineering company as her weekly wage was vital for her family's welfare.
Leaving school in 1943, in the middle of World War II
, she joined the local auxiliary fire service, and it was here that she became interested in politics. Her family were characteristic Labour Party people, but at the end of the war the experience of hearing the Communist party leader Harry Pollitt
speak at a local meeting persuaded her to join the Young Communist League
. Her path to a radical left wing lifestyle was established and she went on to become a full member of the Communist party.
She met her future husband Peter Heathfield
at Chesterfield's youth cycling club. He was a left wing radical active in the Labour party and the NUM. They married in 1953, when he was still a working miner and 13 years before he became a full-time NUM official. During the Miners' Strike (1984-85), she and Anne Scargill, then wife of Arthur Scargill
, led the national campaign to help miners' families in every pit village in the country. They organised school holiday breaks for children and, with financial aid from other trade unions and street and house-to-house collections, somehow kept alive a flame of hope. She chaired Women Against Pit Closures.
At the end of the strike, she could still organise more than 2,000 miners' wives to rally at Chesterfield football ground to demand help for the thousands of families left deprived, some penniless, by the dispute.
In 1989, her 36-year-long marriage broke down. She and Peter had been a devoted couple, with four grown-up children. He moved to Worksop to live with Sue Rolstone, whom he married after divorcing Betty in 2001.
She picked up on her earlier educational talents and studying for a politics degree at Lancaster University
. At the final stage, however, she fell ill with Alzheimer's disease
and her last four years were spent in a Chesterfield nursing home. She was survived by her three sons and a daughter.
Her papers are located at The Women's Library, London Metropolitan University, Ref# 7BEH.
UK miners' strike (1984–1985)
The UK miners' strike was a major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement...
.
Betty Vardy was born to a mining family in Chesterfield. Both her grandfathers had been Derbyshire miners. She excelled at Chesterfield girls' high school – the top local grammar school – and won a county scholarship which should have taken her to university. However she left school at 16 for a secretarial job at a local engineering company as her weekly wage was vital for her family's welfare.
Leaving school in 1943, in the middle of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she joined the local auxiliary fire service, and it was here that she became interested in politics. Her family were characteristic Labour Party people, but at the end of the war the experience of hearing the Communist party leader Harry Pollitt
Harry Pollitt
Harry Pollitt was the head of the trade union department of the Communist Party of Great Britain and the General Secretary of the party for more than 20 years.- Early life :...
speak at a local meeting persuaded her to join the Young Communist League
Young Communist League
The Young Communist League was or is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX was generally taken by all sections of the Communist Youth International.Examples of YCLs:...
. Her path to a radical left wing lifestyle was established and she went on to become a full member of the Communist party.
She met her future husband Peter Heathfield
Peter Heathfield
Peter Heathfield was a British trade unionist who was general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers between 1984 and 1992, including the period of the miners' strike of 1984/85....
at Chesterfield's youth cycling club. He was a left wing radical active in the Labour party and the NUM. They married in 1953, when he was still a working miner and 13 years before he became a full-time NUM official. During the Miners' Strike (1984-85), she and Anne Scargill, then wife of Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill is a British politician who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1982 to 2002, leading the union through the 1984–85 miners' strike, a key event in British labour and political history...
, led the national campaign to help miners' families in every pit village in the country. They organised school holiday breaks for children and, with financial aid from other trade unions and street and house-to-house collections, somehow kept alive a flame of hope. She chaired Women Against Pit Closures.
At the end of the strike, she could still organise more than 2,000 miners' wives to rally at Chesterfield football ground to demand help for the thousands of families left deprived, some penniless, by the dispute.
In 1989, her 36-year-long marriage broke down. She and Peter had been a devoted couple, with four grown-up children. He moved to Worksop to live with Sue Rolstone, whom he married after divorcing Betty in 2001.
She picked up on her earlier educational talents and studying for a politics degree at Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a leading research-intensive British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by Royal Charter in 1964 and initially based in St Leonard's Gate until moving to a purpose-built 300 acre campus at...
. At the final stage, however, she fell ill with Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
and her last four years were spent in a Chesterfield nursing home. She was survived by her three sons and a daughter.
Her papers are located at The Women's Library, London Metropolitan University, Ref# 7BEH.
External links
- Obituary from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...