Playwright Ed Waugh will be talking about the effects the 1926 General Strike had on Tyneside at Newcastle City Library on Saturday, September 12.

Ed, whose hit play The Cramlington Train Wreckers highlights the most notorious incident of the General Strike when striking miners inadvertently derailed the Flying Scotsman at Cramlington, will mention the derailment in the talk but he will focus on Tyneside.

He explained: “The General Strike of 1926 was the biggest rupture in society since the civil wars of the 1640s and it posed the question of state power; it was the working class against the capitalist system.

“Despite the TUC ‘leaders’ not preparing for the event and being ready to sell out the strike from day one, the rank and file of the trade unions, and Labour Party and Communist Party members, organised into councils of action throughout the country.

The Cramlington train crash of 1926 was a momentous occasion seven days into a General Strike. Picture from the Working Class Movement Library.

placeholder image — The Cramlington train crash of 1926 was a momentous occasion seven days into a General Strike. Picture from the Working Class Movement Library.

“This was the nascent form of an alternative government and social and economic system.

“The full nine days of the General Strike are a fascinating time in British history and the talk is about how workers instinctively organised while being pursued by the Tory Government, the police and the army.

“This happened nationwide, but the talk is primarily about the organisation and activities on Tyneside. Working class history is not something we are taught in the school curriculum where kings and queens are primarily the subject matter.”

The talk, called Tyneside and The General Strike, will be held at Newcastle City Library on Saturday, September 12, at 11.30am.

Tickets are free but must be pre-booked via www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tyneside-and-the-1926-general-strike-talk-by-ed-waugh-tickets-1987305570458