It was the first national walkout since 1926 - and it was a major showdown between the NUM and Ted Heath’s Tory Government.
The 1972 strike crippled the country across January and February as picket lines were put in place, coal supplies dwindled, and the Government declared a state of emergency.
As temperatures plunged and snow fell, the strike impacted on every aspect of our lives – even the floodlights couldn’t go on at football games without official sanction.
These pictures from our archive capture different aspects of one of the great industrial disputes of our time.
9. Miners' strike 1972
Two women read the 'closed' notice on the door of the Causewayside public laundry - the steamie - in Edinburgh. Photo: George Smith
10. Miners' strike 1972
Miners and their families march along Princes Street. Photo: Hamish Campbell
11. Miners' strike 1972
Police clash with pickets and miners outside Longannet power station. Photo: Crauford Tait
12. Police move in when pickets mob the driver of a lorry collecting coal from the Haymarket coal depot in Edinburgh during the miners' strike of 1972.
Police move in when pickets mob the driver of a lorry collecting coal from the Haymarket coal depot in Edinburgh. Photo: Alan Ledgerwood