With the centenary of the 1926 General Strike looming, the time is ripe for a tribute to the grit and resilience of the North-East’s industrial past. At Whitley Bay Playhouse last week, homage to our local history came the form of local playwright Ed Waugh’s The Cramlington Train Wreckers.
The curtain rose to a spartan set: a round table and two chairs, a box of props to the left, and a seat and hatstand to the right. This sparse arrangement immediately focused attention on a striking image of the titular train wreck projected onto the stage’s back wall. The scene was set, or so I thought, for a didact socialist drama à la An Inspector Calls. I was wrong: The Cramlington Train Wreckers turned out to be an informative, nuanced narrative – lifted by topical references and comedic moments – that respected the audience’s prerogative to think for themselves.
The play tells the true story of eight striking Cramlington miners who accidentally derailed the Flying Scotsman and were consequently imprisoned for a combined total of 48 years. Was this an “act of terrorism”, as some commentators claimed? Or simply workers defending their livelihood? This drama showcases the importance of context. The story’s frame is that of a ‘leftie-leaning’ journalist, Erika (Alex Tahnee) interviewing ‘wrecker’ Bill Muckle (Micky Cochrane). Thus, the background to the incident is relayed through the lens of the raw yet poignant Muckle. The scenario is facilitated by mobile-wielding television producer Al (played by Russell Floyd, who also directs), whose new show allows “journalists … to interview anyone dead or alive”. The interview format enables Erika – Al’s “favourite Rottweiler” -to extract the backdrop to the fateful event out of the all-too-forthcoming Muckle.
Class war
And that background information is significant: post-war Britain, far from being “a land fit for heroes”, found itself in the throes of what Churchill later described as a “class war”. The mines had been nationalised during World War I but returned to the coal owners in 1921. And these coal owners, as the outraged Muckle exhorts, demanded that miners take a 40% pay cut. As Muckle laments, such wages amounted to starvation, amid gruelling working conditions and widespread poverty. This fuelled resistance, especially among miners who understood their pivotal role in Britain’s coal-powered infrastructure. By 1926, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) was comprised of over five million members, many of whom were pitmen. Their rallying cry was “solidarity”, and Muckle’s sombre rendition of Solidarity Forever introduces him to the audience.
“Let no wheels turn”
Thus, on 10 May at Cramlington Miners’ Institute, union official Bill Golightly – incidentally, Robson Green’s grandfather – called for members to “let no wheels turn.” The result was swift: more than 30 militant miners sabotaged rail tracks, to halt a blackleg coal train. Shortly before 2:00 pm a train approached Cramlington. The problem was, as Erika puts to Muckle, it wasn’t a coal train at all: “It was a passenger train.” Luckily, the volunteer driver had been tipped off and slowed down, hence none of 281 passengers were killed. The derailment scene is brought to life by projected ‘footage’, with Floyd now transitioned into the role of train driver – one of over 20 roles he takes on in the play, including Baldwin and Churchill – and Tahnee playing a distraught passenger.
Polarised ideologies
The drama exemplifies the polarised ideologies of the era: on the one side, the establishment’s determination to “smash the trade unions from top to bottom” (Lord Londonderry); on the other, empathy with the desperate and disenfranchised mining men, whom many felt were used as an example of the consequence of workers’ resistance. Even some politicians and members of the judiciary considered the sentences severe, perhaps contributing to the early release of the prisoners. On 1 September 1928, Muckle and two fellow ‘wreckers’ disembarked at Newcastle Central Station, welcomed as heroes by a packed platform of supporters. The remaining ‘wreckers’ were later freed too – but this did not soften the sting of betrayal: on 12 May, only two days after the derailment, the TUC General Council had visited 10 Downing Street and announced its decision to call off the strike unconditionally. Labour leader Ramsay Macdonald behaved “scandalously” (Muckle’s words), telling the trade unions: “Return to work … under the owners’ terms.” Muckle’s sense of injustice is tangible: “Sadly, it wasn’t just the right-wing who betrayed us; the so-called lefts … also agreed to surrender.”
Parallels
Of course, parallels with modern struggles are not lost. The bridge between past and present is reified through Erika’s references to “… railway workers, post office workers, ambulance staff, teachers … job security … long hours … wages cut.” Erika’s stance, however, is offset by Al’s rebuttals. For example, when she argues that “Thatcher set out to smash the trade unions”, Al counters: “Scargill [was] hell-bent on bringing down the Thatcher government”. The historical lens invites the audience to reflect on current regional challenges. This is not just a play for northerners, though: it speaks of a nationwide polarisation that still breathes.
While the play takes on serious themes, this is digestible drama. Cochrane’s portrayal of Muckle captures the vulnerability beneath his tough exterior, while Tahnee and Floyd’s rapid character changes inject humour. Contemporary references—such as jabs at Rishi Sunak and Simon Cowell—establish a cultural connection, and the miners’ songs, performed with conviction by Cochrane, add emotional weight. The mix of Geordie accents and episodic ‘side-shows’ performed by Tahnee and Floyd ensure the play is neither heavy nor monotonous.
The Cramlington Train Wreckers succeeds as both an engaging piece of theatre and a plaintive reminder of the sacrifices and complexities of the North-East’s industrial past.
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