Couple of people I have spoke to over the years are adamant the Army was brought out to police picket lines, a few people even think Special Forces i.e. The SAS were deployed.

A bloke I used to know was a Squaddie in the 80's and he was adamant he was on policing duties in 84/85 during the strike and I could never find a reason why he would need to lie to me about it...

There is a good feature in the Sun today about what has become of Arthur Scargill, he has gone from being a powerful Union leader to virtually friendless who is living a reclusive life in Barnsley locked in legal battles with the Union he once ruled with an Iron Fist...IMO it could not happen to a better arse of a man...

As for the Colliery Bus Contracts during the strike, I was watching something the other night, and they said at one point that bus drivers had a No.2 working with them and some of them carried baseball bats, seeing what was going on back them, I can see why they would want to be armed