111:. He dismissed suggestions that he should have his own armed guards, and his first decision was to demand the withdrawal of police and troops so that negotiations could proceed in a new, calm and neutral environment. He turned the situation around - miners went back to work and peace was restored. A colonial official reported that Weekes had done "rather well for a grammar school boy". He returned home to become a South Wales colliery agent in 1951.
168:, and with local union leaders, to ensure that the dispute was policed by local constabularies - in order to avoid the violent clashes seen elsewhere during the strikes. He made sure that the unions provided sufficient cover to maintain pumps and safety inspections so that work could resume promptly once the strike was over. Towards the end, while touring his pits, he was observed talking to pickets at the gates of
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to offer redundancy to every miner in his coalfield, irrespective of whether or not they were working at a profitable pit. Before the strike began, he privately urged local union leaders to heed the message from their members, who had voted against industrial action in pithead ballots. Weekes thought
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official at the time of the strike, commented after Weekes' death: "There were many who believed that Phil Weekes, a brilliant mining engineer and communicator, should have been made
Chairman of the Coal Board in the early Eighties. If that had come about the story of mining in Britain would be very
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bought out their mine, he chaired their enterprise from 1994 to 1999 - his regard for Tower dated from April 1962, when he was the first manager to enter the colliery following an explosion in which nine men died. From 1992, he was also chairman of the Silent Valley waste disposal company in
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head office, Hobart House, as chief mining engineer, and, the following year, became director-general of mining. Weekes was the South
Western Area General Manager from 1973 to 1985. This was considered an odd post to accept, because
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was by then a tiring and ailing limb of the industry. However, Weekes did much to give it new life and enhanced respect, uniting men, management and unions. From 1977 to 1984, he was also an NCB board member.
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153:'s flaw was to go into the strike without a proper ballot, and was aggrieved that a militant minority in South Wales had picketed the majority who wanted to go on working.
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144:, Weekes strove for a peaceful outcome. Early in 1985, as the dispute was waning, Weekes refused an order from the NCB chairman
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Weekes threw himself into post-mining life with vigour; he gained his pilot's licence, then, in 1992, became chairman of the
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416:
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172:. During the conversation, he lit a cigarette - and the gesture was interpreted in high places as "collaboration".
169:
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35:'s manager of the South Wales coalfields, Weekes played an important role mediating between the two sides of the
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a scheme that transformed old steelworks and colliery tips into gardens and exhibition spaces. When workers at
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52:
224:. He was a member of the Prince of Wales' committee, the BBC advisory council, the IBA Wales and governor of
55:, the son of a pharmacist. Weekes was educated at Tredegar County School, and gained a scholarship from the
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Long after his retirement, he was still sought him out in the street by miners anxious to wish him well.
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248:. He was married with two sons and two daughters. His younger son predeceased him by two years.
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His personal papers, which include diaries for the period of the Miners' Strike are held at the
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in 1942, but eyesight problems prevented him from becoming a pilot, and he returned to mining.
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Frustrated equally by the confrontational styles of the leadership of both sides in the
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118:(NCB) staff college, and, three years later, became production director in the south
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350:"Philip Weekes Papers, - National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts"
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336:"Crown Price of Japan's Visit to Deep Navigation Colliery"
99:, then under the leadership of fellow South Welsh coalman
63:, where he graduated in mining engineering. He joined the
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On his 26th birthday, Weekes was appointed manager of
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In 1964, he was appointed director of studies at the
95:. In 1950, his successes in labour relations led the
47:Weekes was born in the village of Nantybwch, near
422:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
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156:Weekes also secretly negotiated with the
87:, and in 1948 moved to be manager of the
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122:area. In 1970, he moved to the NCB's
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24:(12 June 1920 – 26 June 2003) was a
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39:in England, Scotland and Wales.
240:Weekes died on 26 June 2003 in
228:. He was appointed CBE in the
226:United College of the Atlantic
57:Tredegar Iron and Coal Company
1:
196:National Union of Mineworkers
427:20th-century Welsh engineers
61:University College, Cardiff
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170:Bedwas Navigation Colliery
194:from 1989 to 2010, and a
177:National Library of Wales
142:miners' strike of 1984-85
37:miners' strike of 1984-85
209:National Garden Festival
162:South Wales Constabulary
375:"Sirhowy Valley People"
107:following riots in the
354:archives.library.wales
268:Miners' strike 1984–85
213:that year in Ebbw Vale
230:1993 New Year Honours
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129:mining in South Wales
417:People from Tredegar
188:Member of Parliament
17:Philip Gordon Weekes
301:"Observer obituary"
263:National Coal Board
149:that strike leader
116:National Coal Board
33:National Coal Board
203:Post-strike career
103:, to send him to
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377:. Archived from
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322:"BBC news story"
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381:on 20 June 2012
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151:Arthur Scargill
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97:Colonial Office
77:Wyllie Colliery
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65:Royal Air Force
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324:. 14 May 2004.
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217:Tower Colliery
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93:Sirhowy Valley
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383:. Retrieved
379:the original
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357:. Retrieved
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199:different."
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46:
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412:2003 deaths
407:1920 births
184:Kim Howells
109:Enugu mines
401:Categories
385:12 January
274:References
192:Pontypridd
166:David East
85:Caerphilly
43:Early life
246:Glamorgan
31:. As the
252:See also
120:Midlands
49:Tredegar
242:Penarth
211:, held
160:of the
105:Nigeria
91:in the
186:, the
124:London
81:Wyllie
71:Career
359:4 May
79:, in
26:Welsh
387:2014
361:2020
190:for
222:Cwm
59:to
51:in
21:CBE
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309:^
282:^
244:,
232:.
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