​​IN OUR classroom in 1962, we were ‘streamed’ according to ‘ability’. The so-called cleverest boy sat at the front of row one, and the dumbest at the back of row four.

Our position in that strict order was determined by how we fared in a test. Unfortunately, on test day, I couldn’t read the questions because I desperately needed reading glasses. After the test, I was placed 36th in a class of 36 and had to remain there for almost a school year.

The teacher didn’t actually put a dunce’s hat on my head but she might as well have.

I also noticed other anomalies: those in the top row seemed to be the offspring of professionals – teachers, architects, opticians, business people. But the bottom 75 per cent were almost all the sons of miners.

And our class teacher, who was extremely gifted in many ways, appeared far kinder to the boys who spoke middle-class English. For example, I never saw her use the rounders bat, as a punishment, on any child from the top row.

In the lead-up to the general election of 1964, I managed to organise some unofficial resistance to the crusty old reactionaries. My mate Rob and I operated together in a similar fashion to the way we competed in the three-legged race at Barnsley Schools’ Sports Day. Marching around the playground we began chanting, “If you’re voting Labour, join on.” As our line grew longer, the flimsy junior wing of the Agnes Road Conservative Party got clobbered with my pump-bag. It seemed a fair idea at the time and lots of fun.

Neither of my parents were political, so I’ve no idea how I absorbed these ‘leftie’ principles, but even at 10 I believed that socialists acted for the common good and the Tories were mainly out to feather their own nest.

However, I never seriously got involved in politics, of any kind, until just after the miners’ strike of 1984/85 and it was two female activists who inspired me. One was the late Susan Shaw, who led the Anti- Apartheid Movement in Barnsley, and the other was my wife, Janet Richardson, who was a teacher and high-profile union activist.

Susan and Janet were fearless in standing up for what they believed in, and both were accomplished debaters. For example, while national right-wing politicians were describing Nelson Mandela as a terrorist and campaigning for his execution, these two women argued and demonstrated fiercely for the total destruction of the apartheid system. It was then I began to think: if they can do this, then why can’t I?

It was also about this time that I began to learn about the famous Bryant and May match-girls’ strike of 1888, and the early 20th century suffragettes.

Where’s all this leading? I recently discovered that ‘Unite’ the trade union had decided to honour women of the Labour and trade union movement, at Wortley Hall.

All five women are giants of the Labour and trade union movement but I focus on only two because they featured locally.

Mo Mowlam once lived in Silkstone Common when working as a lecturer at Northern College. Later she became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and oversaw the peace process. She was famous for her plain speaking and was regarded as the most popular politician in the Tony Blair government.

Anne Scargill, of course, was born in Barnsley, lived here all her life, and I’m proud to say, became a friend. Her daughter, Dr Margaret Logan, told me: “We are deeply honoured as a family to see my mother recognised alongside such inspirational women.”

Anne will always be remembered for her indomitable spirit as a leader of the group, Women Against Pit Closures. I just hope a stirring rendition of their anthem is planned:

“United by the struggle/United by the past/And it’s, here we go, here we go/We’re the women of the working class.”

A new Japanese-style garden has been created by Will Tomson, specifically to celebrate the achievements of women of the working class. Will lives in Springvale, Penistone, and last year appeared on Monty Don’s Gardeners’ World, in which he demonstrated his impressive horticultural skills. Plaques, dedicated to the memory of five women, will be unveiled at the end of this week. Those being honoured are: Anne Scargill, Mo Mowlam, Ellen Wilkinson, Julia Varley and Mary Murdoch.

Sharon Graham, Unite the Union’s general secretary, will cut the ribbon to formally open the garden.