大象传媒

On 18 March, 1917; 1,600 miners in the Washington and Usworth Districts announced their children would go on strike. Three quarters of the children refused to attend school and those that did attend were called blacklegs and scallywags!

Shifts in the local pits had been reduced with an average income of 26 shillings a week above the relief fund threshold of 24 shillings. Food prices were soaring and as most mining families were large, 26 shillings were not sufficient to buy enough food.

Moreover, the local authority was refusing to put the Feeding of the Children Act into operation which required them to give children a meal at school.

Thankfully, the strike highlighted the desperation of the suffering families. The strike ended two days later with a Deputation in Durham agreeing that families earning a basic income of 27 shillings or less per week were eligible for relief fund. This meant that no family working in the Washington and Usworth Pits would have less than 拢2 1s per week income, and that the Feeding of School Children Act would not be necessary.

Location: Usworth Grange Primary School, Marlborough Road, Washington Tyne and Wear NE37 3BG
Image: Children queuing for food, courtesy of Beamish Museum

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