Object 4 – Food parcels
This bag of sugar was donated by Italian trade unionists. Food was sent by trade unionists and supporters from all across Europe to help to feed the miners.
Martin Henshaw was a striking miner at Cadeby Main Colliery. On one occasion he received a food parcel containing a bag of pasta at Denaby & Cadeby Miners Welfare, courtesy of French trade unionists. Nobody knew how to cook pasta, and all the cooking instructions for these items were in French. At the weekend Martin’s brother in law took the bus to Doncaster, armed with pen and paper, to find out how to cook pasta. At Sainsbury’s in Frenchgate he located the pasta and proceeded to write down the cooking instructions.
Today many families in Conisbrough and Denaby Main enjoy at least one pasta dish every week. In 1984, the only pasta-type food was Heinz macaroni cheese out of a tin. It was another culinary world.