Anne Harper (born 12 October 1941)[1] is a British community organiser, activist and co-founder of the National Women Against Pit Closures (NWAPC) movement from Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
She was politically active during the 1984–85 miners' strike as an activist, community organiser and wife of the then President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Arthur Scargill.
[4] Harper married Arthur Scargill, who was also an elected member of the Trade Union branch committee at Woolley Colliery, at Gawber Parish Church on 16 September 1961.
[4] Once Scargill was elected as President of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1981, Harper frequently accompanied him to rallies and picket lines to protest against the planned downsizing of the coal industry in Britain, especially in response to economic and social impact of this on individuals and communities.
[7] On 11 August 1983 the group organised a protest march through London that an estimated 23,000 people joined, including working class women from around the UK and female trade unionists.
[13] Participants in the NWAPC movement went to Belgium, Holland and France on fund-raising trips and to speak to on trade unionists platforms about the UK miners' strike.
[7] In 1992, Conservative Party politician Michael Heseltine announced the closure of Markham Main Colliery at Armthorpe near Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
Markham Main Colliery was the last to return to work at the end of the 1984–1985 miners' strike and one of thirty-one pits earmarked for closure by Heseltine that year.
[citation needed] This incident was replicated at Houghton Main Colliery where members of the NWAPC campaign established a camp to protest the suggested closure of the mine.
[citation needed] Following the occupation at Armthorpe, the same group of women attempted to occupy the mine at Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire, but could not gain access.
[6] On 9 April 1993, Harper and three other members of Women Against Pit Closures entered Parkside Colliery, Newton-le-Willows, where they remained 2,000 feet below ground for four nights over the Easter weekend.
"[6] Recent scholarship has problematised the autonomy of NWAPC groups, the relation of the movement to the male-led NUM and to Arthur Scargill at the level of day-to-day operations.
[11] A 2018 play, Queens of the Coal Age, rehabilitated the role of female activists in the miners' strike and community welfare action during and after this period.