This is a unique archive of childrens hopes, fears, views and memories during times when political shifts affected and risked educational potential, performance and aspiration. When career prospects for girls were equally at risk in mining dominated areas it reveals how a creative counter movement in a coalfield community during the bleak days of the 1990s pit closures was strengthened and supported by a namedropping backlash of heartening support wiping out boundaries of class or political slant. The outcome then was positively motivated youngsters, with some remarkable and diverse results right up to the present day.