Joe Solo & The Hatfield Brigade – They Could Not Break This Town
Leslie Moore
When we decided to record this song which is going to be one of many planned each year until we have enough to fill a full album, we were mind full of the punitive measure`s continuing in many mining communities.
We decided to sing about the fact that for all the deprivation, the poverty & punishment meted out across the coalfields as a result of our communities daring to stand and fight against the full might of the state for a decent future, we are still here. Our spirit was never broken fully, our pockets were emptied, our future`s stolen, our children cast into the wilderness, yet we are here in defiance singing, as its in the most part all we can do to get our voice heard, but also a gesture to show our children & grandchildren they must never give up just like mine & your grandparents fought on.
We will not sink into the history book`s as cowed & beaten people they stole our jobs our community cohesion, our pensions that we paid for, we fight on for justice & fair play from politicians that in the main do not understand the meaning of those words.
This song although recorded in Stainforth, South Yorkshire, the home of ” Hatfield Main Colliery ” this could be the history of any community in the UK’s coal fields, from Kent to the valleys of Wales, to our brothers homelands in Scotland, for make no mistake we are a brotherhood of miners, who respect & have defended each other throughout the generations. Make this song your own this is your village, your town, your community were ever working men defend their rights you will find the miners at your side, Les.
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