1/6 Camp Street soup kitchen, Motherwell-1926- General Strike.

The early 1920's saw an almost catastrophic decline in coal mining and heavy industry in Scotland. For the towns of Motherwell and Wishaw, a lack of demand for iron and steel forced unemployment up to record

2/6 levels. In 1922 unemployment figures for the joint Burgh of Motherwell and Wishaw stood at 12,000.

Poverty and distress loomed for those in the coal mining industry with lock-outs and stoppages in 1921 and 1926. Overseas competition forced a cut in the price of

3/6 Scottish coal and a subsequent reduction in miners' wages. This in turn led to strike action by the Miners Federation and ultimately to the General Strike originally called for 4-12 May 1926. All unions returned to work on 9 May, except the Miners Federation whose

4/6 members remained on strike for seven months.

Relief for the miners of Motherwell and Wishaw came in the form of soup kitchens set up by local people to provide some form of sustenance during the long stoppage periods of 1921 and 1926. Camp Park soup kitchen in

5/6 Motherwell in common with other soup kitchens in the area, typically provided soup, bread, fish, a mashed potato or "a bit o' corned beef" for the striking miners and their families. The Camp Park photograph is one of the few images to

6/6 show the recipients of the soup kitchen services as opposed to the soup kitchen volunteer workers.