Hole in the Wall (Crook Drift Lodge) banner

The lodge banner of Hole-in-the-Wall Colliery at Crook, the Crook Drift Lodge, which ten men quietly 'borrowed' to carry at the 1964 Durham Gala as the pit was closing; a replica returned to the Gala in 2014.

The mining history in this record

Hole-in-the-Wall Colliery, the Crook Drift by its Sunday name, was opened in 1935 by the Crags family and employed 370 men at its wartime peak. Its lodge had been formed some 24 years before 1964, and by that summer the pit was winding down: men were being laid off and test borings for a new seam had been poor. The lodge officials decided, reluctantly, that their dwindling funds would be better spent on the men facing an uncertain future than on sending the banner to the Durham Miners' Gala, so for the first time the colliery would be unrepresented.

The night before the Gala the lodge secretary, Fred Smith, sensing the men's disappointment, unofficially organised a party of ten to 'borrow' the banner and drive it to Durham. Brandon lodge let the Crook men into its place in the parade, and the Crook Drift banner was seen in the streets for the last time. With no transport home, the party brought it back on the bus, claimed none of the usual banner party's £2 10s, and no action was taken against them. Closure was announced that October, and the pit shut on 21 November 1964.

People

Fred Smith, lodge secretary in 1964, organised the party that took the banner to the Gala. John 'Bonner' Thompson was one of the ten who carried it.

Legacy today

On closure the banner went to the union's headquarters at Redhills in Durham, where requests to take it back to the Gala were turned down because of its poor condition. A replica made in 2009 carried the Hole in the Wall name at the Gala in 2014, the first time since 1964. A Durham Miner Project photograph shows the banner hanging in the foyer of the Wear Valley District Council offices at Crook, and in 2024 it was among the forty banners shown in Durham Cathedral for the fortieth anniversary of the miners' strike.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The banner was that of the Crook Drift Lodge, Crook Drift being Hole in the Wall Colliery's Sunday name; the lodge was formed about 24 years before 1964. (later recollection) ^1,2
• In 1964, with the pit running down, the lodge officials decided to spend their funds on the men facing an uncertain future rather than send the banner to the Durham Gala. (later recollection) ¹
• The night before the 1964 Gala the lodge secretary, Fred Smith, organised a party of ten men who 'borrowed' the banner and drove it to Durham, where Brandon lodge let them into the parade; it was the last time the original was carried. (later recollection) ¹
• The colliery closed on 21 November 1964 and the banner went to the miners' union headquarters at Redhills, Durham, where requests to take it to the Gala were refused because of its poor condition. (later recollection) ¹
• A replica banner made in 2009 made its Gala debut in 2014, the first time Hole in the Wall had been represented since 1964. (contemporary account) ¹
• A photograph in the Durham Miner Project collection shows the banner hanging in the foyer of the Wear Valley District Council offices at Crook. (documented fact) ²
• The Hole in the Wall banner was among the 40 shown in Durham Cathedral from 22 October to 7 November 2024 to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1984-85 strike. (documented fact) ³

Mines

• Hole-in-the-Wall Colliery — County Durham
  The banner of this colliery's lodge, the Crook Drift Lodge, carried for the last time at the 1964 Gala as the pit was closing.

Real-world mining concepts used here

Colliery, Drift, Miners' Strike

Sources

1. (secondary) Telling the Hole story (The Northern Echo, Chris Lloyd, 14 July 2014) — The Northern Echo
2. (primary) Crook, Crook Drift (Hole in the Wall) banner (DR30148) — The Durham Record (Durham County Council)
3. (secondary) Colourful miners' banners go on display at Durham Cathedral to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Miners' Strike — Durham Cathedral

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026