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How coal war led to university

Mar 1 2009 by Michael Kelly, Sunday Sun

With his redundancy payout he applied to Durham University to do a degree in politics and sociology and was accepted. After three years he gained a 2:1 degree.

He said: “When I finished at Durham I didn’t want to stop and did a masters degree.”

Dave spoke about it to Professor Richard Brown, head of sociology at Durham, a man who he says “changed my life”.

By luck during their chat Prof Brown received a call from what was then Newcastle Polytechnic asking him to recommend someone to teach industrial relations. He suggested Dave, who was taken on and has remained at what is now Northumbria University ever since.

One thing is certain, though, he hasn’t forgotten his roots or the miners’ strike that set him on his new career.

Dave, who still lives in the same house as he did as a miner in Leadgate, County Durham, added: “I haven’t moved on. All my research activity is dedicated in mining communities both here and abroad.

“I look back to that year and say to people, look what you can take from it. It’s an example of how people can come together and try to protect themselves.”

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