Its took me a while to read this thread but I thought I would just post before the thread was closed.
I feel I have to contribute as I am born and bred in Goldthorpe. My father and mother were both on strike for 12 months (dad worked in lamproom and mother worked in colliery offices at Hickleton pit).
Although I wasnt in the procession through the village the other day I do understand why some people felt that they had to do it. As JerryChicken has said you cannot compare Goldthorpe to Beverly Hills! The pit closure in Goldthorpe was the start of the towns decline and then the decision to start moving families in from miles away (I dont know the politics behind this) has led to Goldthorpe now being worse than I have ever known it in my 40 years.
Personally I think that people had been waiting for Thatcher to pass away before they could have their protest and make their voice heard about what has happened to mining villages throughout the country since 84.
The story of the strike and the story of my family has led to my cousin writing a book about it. The Valley by Richard Benson comes out later this year and if anyone wants to know why the 84 strike was particularly hard for my parents all they need to do is read this.