Pride (2014 film)

Pride (2014), directed by Matthew Warchus, tells the story of the London group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and the Welsh mining village of Onllwyn in the Dulais Valley, whose strike support group took their help in 1984-85 and became their friends.

The mining history in this record

During the miners' strike of 1984-85 a group of lesbian and gay activists in London formed Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. Meeting at Gay's the Word bookshop and later at a pub in Islington, they raised money for the strikers' families and, rather than giving it to the NUM, twinned with the Neath, Dulais and Swansea Valleys Miners Support Group. The money went to Onllwyn, at the head of the Dulais Valley, whose own colliery had closed in the 1960s but whose men and women were in the thick of the strike.

The film tells that story. Dai Donovan, the miners' spokesman, comes to London to thank the group; the village's women's support group, led by Hefina Headon, invites them to Onllwyn; a frosty welcome thaws, a 'Pits and Perverts' benefit concert with Bronski Beat raises thousands of pounds, and the strike ends with the miners marching back to work.

People

Matthew Warchus, director. Stephen Beresford, writer. Dai Donovan, Hefina Headon and Siân James of the Dulais Valley support effort, portrayed in the film. Mark Ashton, a founder of LGSM.

Legacy today

Pride premiered in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes in 2014, where it won the Queer Palm, and was released in Britain on 12 September 2014; it was nominated for the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy and for BAFTAs including best British film. LGSM's minutes, correspondence, badges and banner are kept at the People's History Museum in Manchester.

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.

• Pride dramatises the 1984-85 alliance between the London group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and the mining village of Onllwyn in the Dulais Valley. (documented fact) ^1,2,3
• The London LGSM group was twinned with the Neath, Dulais and Swansea Valleys Miners Support Group rather than giving its money directly to the NUM. (documented fact) ¹
• The film's characters include the miners' spokesman Dai Donovan and the support group's Hefina Headon, played by Imelda Staunton, and Siân James. (documented fact) ²
• Directed by Matthew Warchus from a screenplay by Stephen Beresford, Pride won the Queer Palm at Cannes in 2014 and was nominated for the BAFTA for best British film. (documented fact) ²
• LGSM's records and banner are kept at the People's History Museum in Manchester. (documented fact) ¹

Mines

• Onllwyn Colliery — Neath Port Talbot
  Pride is set in Onllwyn, the Dulais Valley mining village of Onllwyn Colliery, whose striking miners and support group LGSM supported in 1984-85. The colliery's own drifts had closed in the 1960s; the link is to the pit community, as the culture rule allows.

Real-world mining concepts used here

Colliery, Miners' Strike

Sources

1. (secondary) Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Pride (2014 film) — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) Film of the week: Pride — BFI (Sight and Sound)

Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026