Film producer to speak at miners' strike festival

Tony Garnett will speak at With Banners Held High on March 5 - fifty years since his hard-hitting television play Cathy Come Home was first screened on the BBC.

The influential 1966 play, directed by Ken Loach, told the story of a young couple facing eviction and homelessness and was watched by 12 million people.

Mr Garnett, who also produced Kes, will be the keynote speaker at the festival on Saturday, March 5.

The event, which was first staged last March, will be compered by writer and broadcaster Ian Clayton and include exhibitions, music, film, poetry and debates.

A new book, Pit Props: Music, International Solidarity and the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike, edited by Granville Williams, will be launched on the day.

Contributors to the book include former BBC labour correspondent Nick Jones, journalist Paul Routledge and event compere Ian Clayton.

The finale to the daytime event at Unity Works, on Westgate, will be the Test Department film DS30, which features the South Wales Striking Miners’ Choir.

It will be followed by a fundraising gig headlined by Liverpool indie band The Far, with support from The Hurriers and Joe Solo.

Tickets for the both the daytime and evening events are available by logging on to www.unityworks.co.uk