Like many women who were active during the miner's strike, it is May Murton who has been left to clean up the mess. The failure of her marriage and the disintegration of her community have shattered both her personal and political beliefs. Her teenage children, Dale and Becky, are increasingly out of control, and her estranged husband Tony has flown the nest to take up residence in the allotments perched high above the town. Tony views the town from above, realizing what has been lost, but, like many former miners, stripped of the capacity to re-engage with a society which has treated him so cruelly. May attends a reunion of women activists. It is the night before the Miners' Gala and they are going to let their hair down at the local rock 'n' roll dance. Also heading for the same venue is Roy Cotton, the recently arrived manager of an open cast coal mine which the 'free enterprise' culture has fostered as a replacement for the traditional mining communities.