0:00:04 > 0:00:09The Welsh, in the early 18th century, are living off the land.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15But it's the treasures that lie beneath them
0:00:15 > 0:00:19that will take Wales to the dawn of a new age.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23One of new discoveries, new inventions and political awakening.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Wales is entering a modern era.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35It takes just 100 years for Wales to be profoundly changed,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39with vast supplies of natural resources
0:00:39 > 0:00:43fuelling an industrial revolution, and the Wales that's about to emerge
0:00:43 > 0:00:47is volatile, is explosive and exciting.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21We begin in 1750, as the Industrial Revolution turns Wales
0:01:21 > 0:01:24into a global economy.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28The next century brings great wealth,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31it brings terrible poverty
0:01:31 > 0:01:36and it brings connections to the slave trade.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41We'll see how forgeries help create an extraordinary cultural revival.
0:01:41 > 0:01:48This brave new world fuels uprisings and social turmoil.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53And ultimately provokes our very first cries for democracy.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06It's the early 18th century.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08500,000 people live in Wales,
0:02:08 > 0:02:13still an overwhelmingly rural country.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18The largest towns are Carmarthen in the south and Wrexham in the north.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Each has fewer than 5,000 inhabitants.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Almost all the population speak Welsh.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28But all this is about to change for ever
0:02:28 > 0:02:30because of the very stuff beneath our feet.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40On Anglesey, Parys Mountain, or Mynydd Parys,
0:02:40 > 0:02:44is renowned among the locals in the 18th century.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47It's a world of strangely coloured rocks
0:02:47 > 0:02:49and earth that smells of sulphur.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58Parys Mountain is a place of magic and alchemy.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03But there's about to be another explanation for its character.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06There is a story that a local miner called Rowland Puw
0:03:06 > 0:03:13on the 2nd of March 1768 stumbles upon some ancient treasure.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17He discovers the remains of a rich vein of copper ore,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21an ancient vein that was once worked some 4,000 years ago.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23And this is the point.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28There's plenty more valuable stuff in the ground
0:03:28 > 0:03:30so Myndd Parys and the surrounding area
0:03:30 > 0:03:34are being propelled into a new age, an age of industrial revolution
0:03:34 > 0:03:38at a speed and on a scale that is unimaginable.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54This is what remains of the copper mines of Parys Mountain today.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57A scarred, lunar landscape
0:03:57 > 0:04:01and testament to the start of a whole new era in the story of Wales.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Now, you might think that the man whose discovery triggers all this,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11the miner Rowland Puw, is amply rewarded.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13He does get a bottle of whisky
0:04:13 > 0:04:17and he gets a cottage rent-free for the rest of his days,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19which for him really is a big deal.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23But before we get carried away, what about the man who sets up
0:04:23 > 0:04:29the Parys Mine Company in 1774, the local lawyer Thomas Williams.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32His reward is rather more impressive.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34He becomes the Copper King.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42Williams is one of Wales' greatest entrepreneurs.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46He makes his fortune by selling Parys copper to the British Navy.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49They want it to clad their wooden ships
0:04:49 > 0:04:51to protect them from damage from timber worms.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Even today we describe anything that's secure and reliable,
0:04:55 > 0:04:56as copper-bottomed.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03In just 12 years, Williams creates the largest copper mine in Europe,
0:05:03 > 0:05:07employing 1,500 men and women.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11It's only by coming down to this level that you can
0:05:11 > 0:05:14really appreciate the graphic reality of this place,
0:05:14 > 0:05:18the sheer size of it, this barren landscape,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21and the thing that makes an impact straight away,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25the strange vivid colours of these rocks.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Just imagine, an 18th-century farm labourer seeing this place
0:05:29 > 0:05:31for the first time.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Wales' new industry becomes a Mecca for artists and travellers
0:05:38 > 0:05:43awed by this futuristic vision of toil and labour.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47Some record in graphic detail what they see.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Picking the ore from the rock,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54hammering the wadding, the roar of the blast.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58It's all the more remarkable when you stop and think
0:05:58 > 0:06:03that this immense crater was made with nothing more
0:06:03 > 0:06:06than picks and shovels and a bit of gunpowder.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09I suppose it redefines the concept of hard work.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13And Parys Mountain points the way ahead in its brutalised environment
0:06:13 > 0:06:16to the future of industrial Wales.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Roland Puw rediscovers Wales' valuable minerals.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29And the transformation this starts is the first of many
0:06:29 > 0:06:33that will define the next century in the story of Wales.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36What's happening here at Parys Mountain
0:06:36 > 0:06:39is just a taste of what's to come
0:06:39 > 0:06:43because Wales has far more to offer the world than just copper ore.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45This is a land rich in resources.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48There's lead, iron, there's coal of course.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50There's a vast fortune to be made
0:06:50 > 0:06:55and these resources will be exploited on a global scale
0:06:55 > 0:06:59thanks to one of the biggest advances in human history.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04The Industrial Revolution.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08It will dominate the next 150 years.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Scientific discoveries and new inventions
0:07:10 > 0:07:14are changing every aspect of daily life.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18Water power and steam power drive new machines
0:07:18 > 0:07:20that increase production.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24This combines with Wales' mineral wealth
0:07:24 > 0:07:28to make it an industrial powerhouse of global significance.
0:07:33 > 0:07:34Here's the challenge.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39To make one tonne of unrefined copper in the 18th century
0:07:39 > 0:07:42you need three tonnes of coal for the smelting process.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46It makes far more sense of course to bring the copper ore
0:07:46 > 0:07:48to where the coal is,
0:07:48 > 0:07:53which is how this place becomes the copper capital of the world.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57They call it Copperopolis, we call it Swansea.
0:07:57 > 0:08:04It's ideally located at the heart of a truly global industry.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Swansea is a unique location.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10It has a deep navigable river,
0:08:10 > 0:08:15the river Tawe, that leads right up to a rich source of coal.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18So copper ore is shipped upstream,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21unloaded and smelted right here on the river bank.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27And the coal from the nearby pits feeds the furnaces
0:08:27 > 0:08:29that smelt the ore.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35The copper ingots produced here are exported around the world
0:08:35 > 0:08:38to be used as an ingredient to make bronze and brass.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Swansea goes from being a small seaside town
0:08:43 > 0:08:48to a sprawling centre of industry and a global phenomenon.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52The growth of Copperopolis was the first large-scale industry in Wales.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56A heavy industry that transformed the landscape,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59attracted huge numbers of people from rural Wales to work there.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04The river would have been busy with ships and the whole place
0:09:04 > 0:09:07would have been shrouded with sulphurous smoke from the ore smelting.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11And the overall effect to a newcomer, particularly from a rural area,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13would be absolutely shocking.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Many who stay become some of the most skilled
0:09:25 > 0:09:27copper smelters of the age.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32And part of the most technologically advanced copper plant in the world.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34One of the key things that distinguishes Copperopolis
0:09:34 > 0:09:37and the story of the growth of the Swansea copper smelting
0:09:37 > 0:09:39was that it was the first global industry,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42the first industry to export this product truly internationally,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45all around the world, both to Asia, the Americas and across Europe,
0:09:45 > 0:09:49to Africa, and it's here at Swansea that this process first began.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56As business expands, copper ore from as far away as Cuba, Chile
0:09:56 > 0:09:59and North America is shipped to Swansea.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05By 1820, more than half of the world's copper smelting industry
0:10:05 > 0:10:07is focused on Copperopolis.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16The Lower Swansea valley is a vision of a new industrial age.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21Furnaces glow and chimneys belch fumes and smoke.
0:10:24 > 0:10:29Copperopolis is the beating heart of Wales' industrial revolution.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Overgrown and derelict today,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36you can still see the remains of Hafod,
0:10:36 > 0:10:38once the largest copper works in the world.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43But for all the greatness of Copperopolis,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46this valley and its people would pay a heavy price.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54The copper works pump out sulphurous gases and arsenic by the tonne.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58Workers suffer chronic bronchial diseases.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03Crops wither in the acid rain and livestock perish.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Farmers lodge court cases against the owners of the works
0:11:08 > 0:11:10for ruining their once fertile soil.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16By the late 19th century, what Copperopolis leaves behind
0:11:16 > 0:11:21is the largest derelict industrial landscape in Western Europe.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29There is another dark side to Wales' first global industry.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Copper is an integral part of the slave trade.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41One of the few finished products made were manillas.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44These were brass and copper bangles made to a tradition African shape.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49Around three to four dozen manillas such as this would have purchased
0:11:49 > 0:11:51an adult African slave, which would then be transported to
0:11:51 > 0:11:54the Caribbean and to the southern part of the USA
0:11:54 > 0:11:58where they would then work on sugar, cotton and tobacco plantations,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01and of course the products of those slave economies were then consumed
0:12:01 > 0:12:04across Western Europe including, of course, here at Swansea.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07People dressed in cotton clothes, they smoked tobacco,
0:12:07 > 0:12:08they put sugar in their drinks.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12So really there was a two-way connection with the slave economies
0:12:12 > 0:12:15and the slave trade of West Africa.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18The manillas made in Wales would remain a legal currency
0:12:18 > 0:12:23in some West African colonies until the start of the Second World War.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32By 1790 the Welsh industrial revolution is unstoppable.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Slate from the North West, coal from Flintshire
0:12:36 > 0:12:41and textiles from Bala are all sold in Europe.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Despite this transformation
0:12:46 > 0:12:49the places we think of as centres of population
0:12:49 > 0:12:51are lacking some important things.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56There are no libraries, no universities, no civic centres.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58So even as industry thrives,
0:12:58 > 0:13:02bright young people in Wales who want to explore new ideas
0:13:02 > 0:13:06and pursue an intellectual life have to move elsewhere.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15London, the largest city in 18th-century Europe
0:13:15 > 0:13:17is a cauldron of new ideas
0:13:17 > 0:13:19and the Welsh intellectuals flock to it.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25A remnant of that history still survives today.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30The Honourable Society of the Cymmrodorion is set up in 1751
0:13:30 > 0:13:35to debate all things Welsh, from history, arts, science to politics.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40If you want to think about what Lloyd George's real attitude was towards Wales,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44I think it's very similar to his attitude towards his family.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47The Cymmrodorion society was set up by Welshmen,
0:13:47 > 0:13:52and they were mainly men, in fact, totally men, who came to London.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56Indeed I would imagine it was a coming together of people who had
0:13:56 > 0:13:58keen literary interests,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02keen to learn know more about the history and traditions of Wales
0:14:02 > 0:14:07and people who played a key part in political life as well.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11They were all sorts, obviously we had the intelligencia,
0:14:11 > 0:14:13people who had been educated out of Wales,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16had gone to Oxford and Cambridge and became lawyers, doctors, etc.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19But we also had people from the artisan class,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22people who were candle makers, things like that.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28In the 18th century, the Honourable Society Of The Cymmrodorion
0:14:28 > 0:14:31is a club for those who want to assert their identity
0:14:31 > 0:14:33by delving deep into their history.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37The name Cymmrodorion in Welsh
0:14:37 > 0:14:40means aborigines, and it was meant to try to
0:14:40 > 0:14:44find a phrase that would describe what the Welsh
0:14:44 > 0:14:48in the 18th century wanted to prove about themselves,
0:14:48 > 0:14:54that you can't really consider British culture or English culture
0:14:54 > 0:14:58unless you go back to the original population of the British Isles,
0:14:58 > 0:14:59which was the Welsh.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05One enthusiastic member of a London Welsh society
0:15:05 > 0:15:08is about to embellish history to great effect
0:15:08 > 0:15:12and leave Wales with one of its most defining traditions.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21The Gorsedd ceremony is performed by bards
0:15:21 > 0:15:24at the annual National Eisteddfod.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Musicians, poets and writers are draped in druidic robes
0:15:28 > 0:15:32and perform rituals that hark back to pre-Roman times.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37But far from being an ancient Celtic tradition,
0:15:37 > 0:15:42the Gorsedd is invented in the 18th century
0:15:42 > 0:15:45by Edward Williams, a stonecutter and poet from Glamorgan.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48He's better known by his pen name, Iolo Morganwg.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55Mary-Ann Constantine has studied his life and works.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00Iolo Morganwg is one of the main architects of Welshness if you like.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03A lot of the ingredients that he threw into the pot
0:16:03 > 0:16:07at around this time have stayed as essential elements
0:16:07 > 0:16:09of what it means to be Welsh.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14What he does discover is that people are interested in this ancient Welshness
0:16:14 > 0:16:17because there's a big revival in all things Celtic.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Iolo is obsessed with Wales,
0:16:21 > 0:16:27its language, its beauty and its history.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31He wants to create a romanticised mystical Welsh past,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34one that never actually existed.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40One of the things he does is,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43he walks across Salisbury Plain and he sees Stonehenge.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45And that's the key moment in his life
0:16:45 > 0:16:49because the big stones at Stonehenge which are still deeply mysterious
0:16:49 > 0:16:51to people at the time, they set him thinking,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54and he does everything he can to find out the ancient British past,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56and the part that Wales could have played in that.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05With the help of his vivid imagination and some laudanum,
0:17:05 > 0:17:10the opium of its day, he falsifies an ancient language.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14He carves the script onto sticks, claiming that this wooden book
0:17:14 > 0:17:17or Peithynen was used by ancient Welsh poets
0:17:17 > 0:17:21descended from druids 2,000 years ago.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26One of Iolo's most inspired inventions was an alphabet,
0:17:26 > 0:17:32which effectively proved that the ancient British were literate
0:17:32 > 0:17:37and learned and educated just as the Greeks and Romans were
0:17:37 > 0:17:39way back in the mists of time.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42It's a series of little sticks really,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45inscribed with various important bardic mottos
0:17:45 > 0:17:48in the "ancient" alphabet.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52It's almost like a child's invented alphabet, your own secret code.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58Having claimed he's the discoverer of an ancient bardic tradition,
0:17:58 > 0:18:03Iolo then invents a theatre in which to perform this tradition.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06So he makes his own druidic circles with pebbles.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09He gathers some literary friends,
0:18:09 > 0:18:15re-enacting the supposedly ancient custom of the bards.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18THEY SPEAK WELSH
0:18:18 > 0:18:23In the 1790s, this little band of Georgian Welshmen
0:18:23 > 0:18:25is the first true Gorsedd.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33This is the very first place where he can welcome other people
0:18:33 > 0:18:36into this fraternity, but once people have bought into the idea,
0:18:36 > 0:18:41the thing grows, and you start having Gorseddau around Wales.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44The thing takes on a life of its own.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46HE SPEAKS WELSH
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Iolo's Gorsedd starts to be performed in local Eisteddfods.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Over time the ceremonies grow more elaborate
0:19:01 > 0:19:03and new rituals are invented.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10By the 19th century it is the centrepiece
0:19:10 > 0:19:13of the National Eisteddfod and remains so to this day.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21Iolo and his forgeries aren't rumbled until long after his death
0:19:21 > 0:19:25in 1826, but during his lifetime the public lap it up.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Iolo has started a cultural reawakening at a crucial time.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39As industrialisation takes root and gains ground,
0:19:39 > 0:19:44and literally starts to change the landscape and territories of people's homelands,
0:19:44 > 0:19:48people start to feel that they're losing something,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51Iolo is part and parcel of that big European movement
0:19:51 > 0:19:55to retrieve the past before it's too late.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59And simultaneously, desperately trying to promote and rescue
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Welsh culture from what they felt
0:20:02 > 0:20:07was an inevitable ruin and decline as industrialisation took over.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13While Iolo Morganwg gives Wales a dignified story of its past,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17the wheels of industrialisation thunder on.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22And one particular industry will forge a new era for Wales.
0:20:22 > 0:20:28It will bring vast wealth, aching poverty and terrible slums.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31Iron.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44From 1756 onwards, Britain is involved in naval conflicts
0:20:44 > 0:20:46around its ever-expanding empire
0:20:46 > 0:20:51and its Navy is hungry for iron to manufacture its weapons.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53So English ironmasters are on the hunt for coal
0:20:53 > 0:20:55to fuel their furnaces.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00South Wales has that, and much more than they expect.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04What the English ironmasters find in south Wales
0:21:04 > 0:21:07is a money-making paradise.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12Plenty of coal, fast moving streams for water power.
0:21:12 > 0:21:17Limestone, iron ore, all the raw materials for making iron,
0:21:17 > 0:21:18in one place.
0:21:18 > 0:21:24It's as if the hills around the small village of Merthyr Tydfil
0:21:24 > 0:21:25are made for the iron industry.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32The iron masters who arrive here in the 18th century
0:21:32 > 0:21:34have hit the jackpot
0:21:34 > 0:21:38and Merthyr Tydfil is about to feel the impact of their discovery.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42Richard Crawshay is an iron merchant who's made his fortune in London.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44With an eye for a good investment,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47he buys one of ironworks around Merthyr.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Over the next 30 years,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Cyfarthfa becomes the most profitable ironworks in the world.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Today, what remains of it is still impressive.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Historian Chris Evans is going to show me
0:22:07 > 0:22:10why Cyfarthfa is so important.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15I'm astonished by the scale of this place. It is immense.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18It is. But you've got to imagine when the works were in their heyday
0:22:18 > 0:22:21this space would have been occupied by a blowing engine,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24a really vast piece of machinery
0:22:24 > 0:22:27that would have driven air into the furnaces themselves.
0:22:27 > 0:22:28When you say furnaces, how many?
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Oh there's plenty, we're looking at one here,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34one there and further down there would have been
0:22:34 > 0:22:35another four in a rank.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38A lot of furnaces consuming a lot of air.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42So if we go this way we can see how it worked.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Today it's only the access tunnels to the furnaces that remain.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52They once drew air into the kilns, 60 feet high.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56Back then these passageways could reach temperatures
0:22:56 > 0:22:58over 1,000 degrees centigrade.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01It's like being in the heart of a giant oven.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Chris, why are these works so important?
0:23:05 > 0:23:08These works, at the end of the 18th century,
0:23:08 > 0:23:13were the largest in the world by some considerable distance.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16The reason why these works are important,
0:23:16 > 0:23:17is not just the blast furnaces,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21it's the fact that the pig iron that was made in these blast furnaces
0:23:21 > 0:23:24was then processed by a revolutionary technique -
0:23:24 > 0:23:28puddling and rolling - what became known as the Welsh method.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Puddling, or the Welsh method, is hot, dangerous work,
0:23:33 > 0:23:38stirring molten iron to refine it and increase productivity.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41But it takes Crawshay and his men three years of experiments
0:23:41 > 0:23:44before it is commercially viable.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48The Welsh method produces iron that is strong and cheap.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53- So Crawshay was a ground-breaking pioneer?- He was indeed.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57He was able to do so because he had money to devote to it.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00He was an extremely rich London merchant.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03He could afford to throw resources and time
0:24:03 > 0:24:07at developing a technique that was hard to crack.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09So it's his money made in London,
0:24:09 > 0:24:13deployed in Merthyr, that makes the big difference.
0:24:13 > 0:24:14He got pots of money.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Loads if it. Once he'd cracked it he made pots more.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24Crawshay has perfected the Welsh method. Not bad for an Englishman!
0:24:24 > 0:24:29It revolutionises the iron industry in Merthyr and beyond.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33In the mid 19th century, if we went to Ruhr in Germany
0:24:33 > 0:24:37or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we would find that technique being used there.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40It becomes a global technique. The global success story.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46By 1802, Cyfarthfa iron is at the forefront
0:24:46 > 0:24:48of the Napoleonic War effort.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52It attracts a visit from the greatest naval figure of the day,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Admiral Lord Nelson.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Just three years later, with his Welsh-made iron,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02he wins one of the most decisive British naval battles in history,
0:25:02 > 0:25:03Trafalgar.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16This new commercial Wales needs a new transport system
0:25:16 > 0:25:19to carry the heavy cargoes of its industries.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22Canals replace wagons and horses.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25They are the motorways of the 18th century.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Great engineers display their inventive genius in north Wales
0:25:32 > 0:25:36completing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in 1805.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44It is a monument to the confidence and wealth of this new era.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49But the most revolutionary transport of this time is about to be born,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51right here in Wales.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57In 1804, the owner of the Penydarren Ironworks, Samuel Homfray,
0:25:57 > 0:26:01makes a bet with his fellow ironmaster Richard Crawshay.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06The wager is 1,000 guineas, an absolute fortune in today's terms,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10and he bets that he can build a steam engine that will take
0:26:10 > 0:26:14ten tonnes of iron from Merthyr to Abercynon, that's about nine miles.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18True to form, Crawshay can't resist the challenge.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Homfray enlists the help of a Cornish Engineer,
0:26:25 > 0:26:26Richard Trevithick.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31He builds the world's first working steam engine that runs on rails.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36On the 21st of February 1804,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40people come from far and wide to witness the great experiment.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51Five trams set off, loaded with iron and 70 men.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00But it isn't long before disaster strikes.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03The chimney of the locomotive collides with a low bridge.
0:27:03 > 0:27:04There's a lot of damage.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Well, Trevithick repairs the engine, clears away the rubble,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10patches up the chimney, and before long,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13he's on his way again at the hair-raising speed
0:27:13 > 0:27:14of five miles an hour.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Nine hours later, Trevithick, his engine
0:27:24 > 0:27:27and cargo reach Abercynon still intact.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31The ironmasters' wager proves that steam locomotion is possible
0:27:31 > 0:27:36and that railways are the future.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39But the revolutionary changes of this time
0:27:39 > 0:27:42are not confined to trade and transport.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46This is also a time for revolutionary ideas.
0:27:48 > 0:27:53One Welshman, Dr Richard Price, has ideas about liberty and freedom
0:27:53 > 0:27:56that will help ordinary people fight for their rights.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01His controversial ideas spread not only in Wales, but to England,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03to Europe and even to America.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08He's been described as the greatest thinker Wales has ever produced.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14And he's buried at Bunhill Fields in London,
0:28:14 > 0:28:19a resting place of many famous radicals and dissenters.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27When Price dies in 1791, the funeral route is so crowded
0:28:27 > 0:28:30that the cortege is five hours late
0:28:30 > 0:28:33when it arrives here at the burial ground.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36In France they declare a day of national mourning.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40In America he is held up as a great thinker
0:28:40 > 0:28:42who inspires the American Revolution.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47And all this because the man laid to rest right here
0:28:47 > 0:28:50is recognised as a true libertarian,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53someone who spends his life trying to extend
0:28:53 > 0:28:56the religious and political freedoms of all people.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02Price is a Nonconformist chapel minister from Llangeinor
0:29:02 > 0:29:07near Bridgend, and famed for his charismatic sermons.
0:29:07 > 0:29:08Politicians, reformers,
0:29:08 > 0:29:12even the Founding Fathers of the United States want to hear
0:29:12 > 0:29:17what he has to say about the rights of ordinary people.
0:29:17 > 0:29:22Price's reputation is established by a book he publishes in 1776.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25It's called the Observations On Civil Liberty,
0:29:25 > 0:29:28it's basically a manifesto for freedom.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31The big idea is that communities everywhere
0:29:31 > 0:29:33have the right to govern themselves.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36And when it comes to members of parliament,
0:29:36 > 0:29:38he sees them as trustees,
0:29:38 > 0:29:41people who are there to do the will of the people.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44We might think that's quite reasonable today.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48In those days it was a revolutionary thought.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53Price wants power to be in the hands of the people,
0:29:53 > 0:29:57not with self-appointed governments or monarchs.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00He has his finger on the pulse because this is a time
0:30:00 > 0:30:02when wars against oppression are being waged.
0:30:02 > 0:30:07In America, colonists are fighting for their independence
0:30:07 > 0:30:09from the English crown.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12But it's at the start of the French Revolution in 1789
0:30:12 > 0:30:15that Price causes a real stir
0:30:15 > 0:30:18with a sermon at his church in north London.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26Richard Price steps into this church,
0:30:26 > 0:30:31the church he leads for 26 years, and this is where he delivers
0:30:31 > 0:30:33an explosive message to the waiting congregation.
0:30:33 > 0:30:38The French Revolution is under way, the mob is in control,
0:30:38 > 0:30:40and with all of this going on,
0:30:40 > 0:30:44Richard Price delivers an apocalyptic warning.
0:30:45 > 0:30:50His words are aimed at governments and kings who oppress their people.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54"Tremble all ye oppressors of the world!
0:30:54 > 0:30:58"You cannot hold the world in darkness.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01"Restore to mankind their rights, and consent to
0:31:01 > 0:31:04"the correction of abuses,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07"before they and you are destroyed together."
0:31:13 > 0:31:16Price openly supports the French Revolution.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21He says that British people also have the right to fight for liberty.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23But at home he is dismissed by the establishment,
0:31:23 > 0:31:25lampooned in the press
0:31:25 > 0:31:30and accused of stirring up bloodshed and anarchy.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33In fact his ideas are a milestone on the road to a modern concept
0:31:33 > 0:31:36of civil rights and democracy.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43In the midst of the hardships of industrial Wales
0:31:43 > 0:31:47these big ideas will eventually lead to big trouble.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55Back in the hills around Merthyr Tydfil,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58a chain of enormous ironworks stretch along the edge
0:31:58 > 0:32:00of the south Wales coalfield.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06And with them spring up several new towns.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09By far the largest is Merthyr itself.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15Once a village of just 40 houses in 1760
0:32:15 > 0:32:18it is now the iron capital of the world
0:32:18 > 0:32:21with a population of 8,000 and growing.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25The iron industry attracts workers from rural Wales,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28Ireland, England and Scotland.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31This is Chapel Row,
0:32:31 > 0:32:35cottages built in the 1820s for the Cyfarthfa ironworkers.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39It's the rate of expansion that is astonishing
0:32:39 > 0:32:42and it throws together a mass of urban immigrants
0:32:42 > 0:32:49who live in terribly over-crowded, filthy, often primitive conditions.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51But there are differences.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53It depends what kind of job you do
0:32:53 > 0:32:56and if you work in the iron industry for example
0:32:56 > 0:33:00you might get lucky, you might live in one of these.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09The size of the house is a status symbol.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11There's nothing new about that.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Unskilled workers would live in just two rooms.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18This house is rather different, there are four rooms here,
0:33:18 > 0:33:20two upstairs and two downstairs
0:33:20 > 0:33:25and what you find is that this little room can be set aside
0:33:25 > 0:33:31for lodgers, as many as five of them squeezed into this tiny space.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36The lack of housing attracts greedy speculators
0:33:36 > 0:33:40who build temporary homes on top of iron slag heaps and waste.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Merthyr's slums are a tumbledown network of hovels
0:33:43 > 0:33:46nicknamed Little Hell.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55A report from the 1840s describes one home that measures
0:33:55 > 0:33:58just 4.5 feet by 7 feet.
0:33:59 > 0:34:06Now just imagine living in a room this size, there we go.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12Husband, wife, children, cooking, eating, sleeping,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16all kinds of other things, in a room as small as this.
0:34:16 > 0:34:21And then next door, another family and another family and then another.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23In 1841 in Merthyr,
0:34:23 > 0:34:28there are 1,500 people living in stone huts this size.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31It's one of the biggest slums in Wales
0:34:31 > 0:34:34and the conditions are unimaginable.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37That doesn't put people off.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41Merthyr is a frontier town that promises to fulfil the dreams
0:34:41 > 0:34:46of those desperate to be part of an exciting modern age.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49But the reality is very different.
0:34:49 > 0:34:55For most who arrive here, Merthyr is filthy, crime ridden and dangerous.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00The overcrowding in industrial towns like Merthyr
0:35:00 > 0:35:02is a public health disaster.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05There are no toilets, the roads are open sewers,
0:35:05 > 0:35:09people are infested with lice, and in these squalid conditions,
0:35:09 > 0:35:14infection and disease can spread at a terrifying speed.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19Without sewers or a clean water supply,
0:35:19 > 0:35:24typhus, dysentery and cholera torment Wales' industrial towns
0:35:24 > 0:35:26to devastating effect.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32Between 1800 and 1850, cholera, known as the King of Terrors,
0:35:32 > 0:35:35kills several hundred each summer.
0:35:39 > 0:35:44Outside the iron town of Tredegar, at the Cefn Golau cemetery
0:35:44 > 0:35:48lie the remains of more than 200 victims of cholera.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58The bleak isolation of this place tells its own story.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01Cholera is a horrifying illness.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03Families who appear fit and well in the morning
0:36:03 > 0:36:06can all be dead by that evening.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09There is no known cause or cure.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11The usual burial grounds are out of bounds
0:36:11 > 0:36:16so cholera victims are laid to rest in lonely spots like this,
0:36:16 > 0:36:20high on mountain tops, far from society.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29So weathered are the gravestones, the inscriptions are barely legible.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33In the early 19th century it isn't yet known that cholera is
0:36:33 > 0:36:35spread by contaminated water.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Those affected suffer vomiting, diarrhoea and cramps.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43In severe cases death comes in a matter of hours.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48A quarter of those who die are infants.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53Those who survive are struck by fear and panic,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57they turn to God for their comfort.
0:37:01 > 0:37:06When funeral processions pass by, people hide in their homes,
0:37:06 > 0:37:09closing doors, terrified that they might become infected.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12The homes of the dead are boarded up
0:37:12 > 0:37:16and the families of victims will do anything to avoid the stigma.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20They bury their dead at night, and if they can afford it they leave town.
0:37:22 > 0:37:27For many, life in the industrial towns of Wales
0:37:27 > 0:37:29is a struggle for survival.
0:37:29 > 0:37:34But for a few, industrialisation brings great fortune
0:37:34 > 0:37:35and vast wealth.
0:37:37 > 0:37:42As the iron industry expands, the ironmasters establish themselves
0:37:42 > 0:37:44in the grandest possible manner.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48In 1825, William Crawshay, the third owner
0:37:48 > 0:37:51of the biggest ironworks in Britain
0:37:51 > 0:37:55decides to outdo all of his rivals and he builds himself a castle.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02Cyfarthfa Castle, with its mock battlements and 72 rooms,
0:38:02 > 0:38:09cost Crawshay £30,000, that's over £3 million in modern money.
0:38:10 > 0:38:17Once a family home, it's now a museum of an extravagant lifestyle.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26This is the centre of power.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31This is the room from which Crawshay runs his empire
0:38:31 > 0:38:35and from these windows he can keep a sharp eye
0:38:35 > 0:38:38on his long suffering workers in the iron works below.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41He can spot problems and can sort them out.
0:38:41 > 0:38:46I suppose you could say he's living above the shop, in some style.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53Now somewhere in this room is graphic evidence
0:38:53 > 0:38:57of Crawshay's wealth.
0:38:57 > 0:38:58Not there.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02Ah, here we are.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06This is the office safe, it's more like a bank vault.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10This is where Crawshay kept all the cash to pay his workers.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14I'd love to have a look inside but I'm told they've lost the key
0:39:14 > 0:39:18but it does tell you everything you need to know about
0:39:18 > 0:39:21the immense fortune that this family made.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28And when celebrations are in order, not a penny is spared.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31For a family wedding in 1847,
0:39:31 > 0:39:34the ironworks are dressed for a grand banquet and ball.
0:39:34 > 0:39:39More than 1,000 guests are offered 10,000 quarts of beer
0:39:39 > 0:39:42and an array of 29 different dishes.
0:39:43 > 0:39:48All over Wales, the vast wealth of industrialisation is on display.
0:39:52 > 0:39:57Most extravagant of all is Penrhyn Castle in north Wales,
0:39:57 > 0:40:02built on fortunes made from Welsh slate and Jamaican sugar.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12But all this is in stark contrast to the lives of the workers.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Even children as young as five work in terrible conditions.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17Not only poorly paid,
0:40:17 > 0:40:20workers also face the daily risk of industrial accidents.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22None more so than in the ironworks.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26Actually making wrought iron is one of the hardest things
0:40:26 > 0:40:29in the Industrial Revolution. There is nothing harder.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33Anybody who saw it said it was the cruellest work that they ever saw.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38This stuff, wrought iron was made in hundredweight lumps by teams of men.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41It's not mass steel production. It was all hand work.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44All by the skill of the operators in the team
0:40:44 > 0:40:47handed down from father to son.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50The working life of a puddler who stirs the molten iron
0:40:50 > 0:40:53is usually over by the age of 40.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56You work really hard, you get incredibly sweaty,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59you lose a lot of body fluid, then of course you stop
0:40:59 > 0:41:03and your body chills out and you got a lot of rheumatic problems.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Also, people looking at the furnace
0:41:05 > 0:41:09were staring into effectively a white heat.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12You can tell the temperature of the iron just by looking at it.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15But if you spend a lifetime looking at it, you quickly go blind.
0:41:17 > 0:41:23With all these hardships, people feel powerless and trapped.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27These feelings will culminate in one of the bloodiest incidents
0:41:27 > 0:41:29in Britain's industrial history.
0:41:36 > 0:41:41When wages are cut and workers laid off in May 1831,
0:41:41 > 0:41:43the work force erupts in anger.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49The ironmasters can only look on
0:41:49 > 0:41:53as a crowd of 10,000 seizes Merthyr by force.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Using armed blockades they fight off regiments of troops
0:42:00 > 0:42:02for a whole week.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08Inspired by a potent symbol of revolution,
0:42:08 > 0:42:12the workers take a rag and soak it in cow's blood.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21It is during this uprising that a red flag is raised
0:42:21 > 0:42:25by British workers for the very first time.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28It becomes a symbol of solidarity.
0:42:28 > 0:42:33This uprising isn't some spot of local bother, it is organised,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36it is connected, and after years of unrest,
0:42:36 > 0:42:40the working class of Wales have an appetite for revolution.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54When the authorities regain control, 20 are dead.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57One protester known as Dic Penderyn is hanged
0:42:57 > 0:43:00for allegedly wounding a soldier.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04He is long remembered as a working-class martyr and hero.
0:43:06 > 0:43:11The industrial revolution is sharply dividing Welsh society,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14the rich and the poor.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18And the rebellious mood this inspires isn't just confined
0:43:18 > 0:43:20to the new iron towns.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26Rebellion is also brewing in rural Wales.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38On the night of 13th May 1839, a group of men descends
0:43:38 > 0:43:41on this small village in Carmarthenshire.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43It's called Efailwen.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46They're armed with axes and sledgehammers and big sticks
0:43:46 > 0:43:50and they destroy the new toll gate that's just been installed.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54Then they move on to the tollhouse and burn it down.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03The attack at Efailwen is just the beginning
0:44:03 > 0:44:06of an underground movement of protest
0:44:06 > 0:44:08that sweeps across west Wales.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12Poverty-stricken farmers are angry that new private companies,
0:44:12 > 0:44:16the turnpike trusts, are charging too much to use the roads.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21There will more than 200 attacks on tollgates
0:44:21 > 0:44:23over the next five years.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30Just imagine the lot of the tenant farmers
0:44:30 > 0:44:33here in west Wales in the early 19th century,
0:44:33 > 0:44:36paying shockingly high rents to the land owners,
0:44:36 > 0:44:38paying a tax to the Church of England,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41a church he doesn't even attend as a chapel-goer,
0:44:41 > 0:44:44paying more taxes to build workhouses,
0:44:44 > 0:44:46which are prisons for the poor.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50And then on top of all of that, to get his produce from A to B
0:44:50 > 0:44:53he needs to pay a toll to use the roads.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58Those toll gates are run by some greedy and unprincipled people.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02Is it any surprise that the tenant farmer resorts to violence?
0:45:04 > 0:45:06For the second attack,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09the farmers adopt what seems to be a bizarre tactic -
0:45:09 > 0:45:13they dress up in skirts,
0:45:13 > 0:45:15and in aprons...
0:45:17 > 0:45:19..and even in bonnets...
0:45:22 > 0:45:26..and then they blacken their faces.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34After this, they descend on the now rebuilt toll house at Efailwen,
0:45:34 > 0:45:39and chant a woman's name, Rebecca.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42THEY CHANT
0:45:45 > 0:45:48They demolish the toll gate and disappear into the night.
0:45:55 > 0:46:00Their distinctive guerrilla-style attacks will come to be known
0:46:00 > 0:46:02as the Rebecca Riots.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08The costumes the farmers use are a symbol based on local folklore.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14There's one ritual which tells us a lot
0:46:14 > 0:46:17about local tradition in this part of Wales.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21It's a humiliation, a form of punishment for wrong-doers.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24For example, men who beat their wives.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28They're tied to a wooden chair, sometimes it's a wooden horse,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31and then they're paraded in front of the community.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33And the men dispensing this justice,
0:46:33 > 0:46:36for reasons we don't quite understand,
0:46:36 > 0:46:39have blackened faces and they wear women's clothes.
0:46:41 > 0:46:42By dressing up,
0:46:42 > 0:46:47the rioters attacking the tollgates evoke a sense of local justice
0:46:47 > 0:46:50and it becomes a potent symbol in Welsh history.
0:46:51 > 0:46:56But who is Rebecca and where does she come from?
0:46:59 > 0:47:03It could be that one of the leading protesters has a close relative
0:47:03 > 0:47:07or friend called Rebecca, that's always possible.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10But I think there's a more likely explanation.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13And the clue is here in the Bible.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18We are talking about people who know their Bible inside out.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21There is a passage in the Old Testament in the book of Genesis
0:47:21 > 0:47:23and it says this,
0:47:23 > 0:47:25"And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her,
0:47:25 > 0:47:28"Thou art our sister,
0:47:28 > 0:47:31"be thou the mother of thousands of millions,
0:47:31 > 0:47:36"and let thy seed possess the gates of those which hate them."
0:47:36 > 0:47:40So could this Rebecca be the one who inspires the rioters?
0:47:44 > 0:47:50"May Rebecca's descendants conquer the property of their enemies."
0:47:50 > 0:47:54It is the sentiment of an oppressed peasantry.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Over the months a hidden wave of support grows
0:47:57 > 0:48:00through the parishes of west Wales.
0:48:00 > 0:48:06There are several Rebeccas, riot leaders whose identity is unknown.
0:48:06 > 0:48:10For three years they elude the military and the London police.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12As the riots spread,
0:48:12 > 0:48:16it's believed that even some of the local gentry support the cause.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19They target other symbols of oppression,
0:48:19 > 0:48:23workhouses where the poor and infirm are badly treated.
0:48:23 > 0:48:29On 19th June 1843, the protests reach a bold climax.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34And this is the scene of the biggest disturbance of that time.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38It involves 2,000 people, it takes place in broad daylight
0:48:38 > 0:48:40and they converge on this place.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44This is the Penlan workhouse in Carmarthen.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47It is full of the most unfortunate members of society.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50The protest, which is all about genuine grievances,
0:48:50 > 0:48:54is hijacked by some rather unsavoury characters
0:48:54 > 0:48:57and suddenly it all turns rather nasty.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02It is the violence of this protest
0:49:02 > 0:49:04and the clash with the authorities that brings
0:49:04 > 0:49:09the plight of the tenant farmers to the attention of the London press.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12This is the turning point for the Rebecca Riots.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20By the autumn of 1843, there are police and soldiers
0:49:20 > 0:49:26roaming the countryside and at last the government acknowledges
0:49:26 > 0:49:28that the rioters have legitimate concerns.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32A commission is set up to look into these turnpike trusts.
0:49:32 > 0:49:37And guess what. They uncover malpractice and corruption.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40So those trusts are reformed and roads are improved.
0:49:44 > 0:49:49Ultimately, the Rebecca Riots are a victory.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52The authorities struggle to track down the riot leaders.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56The few that are caught face hanging
0:49:56 > 0:49:59or transportation to the other side of the world.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06So what does Rebecca represent?
0:50:06 > 0:50:10The terror that stalks this countryside is unavoidable.
0:50:10 > 0:50:15When you have profound injustice and no lawful means of tackling it
0:50:15 > 0:50:18you get an explosion of people power.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22And for me the Rebecca Riots are all about self respect.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26Welsh people refusing to tolerate blatant abuse
0:50:26 > 0:50:32and demanding their share of justice and fair play.
0:50:34 > 0:50:39That search for fair play and the people's quest for power
0:50:39 > 0:50:42are gathering momentum across Britain.
0:50:42 > 0:50:46Industrialisation has created a working class.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48People are becoming politicised.
0:50:48 > 0:50:53And in the 1830s that means a fight for the right to vote.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58This struggle for democracy reaches a violent climax
0:50:58 > 0:51:02in the industrial heartlands of Wales, at Newport.
0:51:07 > 0:51:11On the evening of Sunday 3rd November 1839,
0:51:11 > 0:51:16a cabinetmaker from Pontypool writes a letter.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19"Dear Parents."
0:51:19 > 0:51:22His name is George Shell and he is 19 years old.
0:51:24 > 0:51:30"I shall this night be engaged in a struggle for freedom
0:51:30 > 0:51:35"and should it please God to spare my life, I will see you soon."
0:51:38 > 0:51:41George doesn't know the significant part he's about to play
0:51:41 > 0:51:44in the story of Wales.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51The following morning George Shell is one of 5,000 people
0:51:51 > 0:51:54walking down this hill into Newport.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57They have a common cause - they want the right to vote,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01they want better lives and they're part of a much bigger movement,
0:52:01 > 0:52:05a movement that's going to transform the battle for democratic rights
0:52:05 > 0:52:06in this country.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12George is part of a revolutionary struggle called Chartism.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16There is huge discontent across Britain
0:52:16 > 0:52:19that only those with property have the right to vote.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23The Chartists want to change this and they have the support
0:52:23 > 0:52:26of thousands of Welsh industrial workers.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30But the authorities want to ban Chartist meetings
0:52:30 > 0:52:33and stamp out their cause.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38The Chartist leaders here in south Wales feel aggrieved.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42They petition parliament, it's the right thing to do,
0:52:42 > 0:52:44and yet parliament delivers a snub.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47But the campaign for the right to vote
0:52:47 > 0:52:50and a measure of power over their own lives is unstoppable
0:52:50 > 0:52:56so the Chartists are driven to the last resort, the use of force.
0:52:56 > 0:53:01Which is why the Chartists on the march are armed.
0:53:01 > 0:53:06Their intent is to take over Newport and overthrow the authorities
0:53:06 > 0:53:10who have set up headquarters at the Westgate Hotel.
0:53:10 > 0:53:16Months of planning and endless hard work lead up to this moment.
0:53:16 > 0:53:21Secret identities, secret meetings, secret funding.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23Weapons made and kept at home.
0:53:23 > 0:53:28Weapons stolen and hidden in caves in the surrounding area.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33It is thought that across Britain
0:53:33 > 0:53:36other groups of Chartists wait with bated breath.
0:53:36 > 0:53:42Victory in Newport might trigger uprisings around the whole country.
0:53:42 > 0:53:47All of which drives the employers, the captains of industry,
0:53:47 > 0:53:51the leaders of society into a blind panic.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55One mine owner hides in his own pit. Landowners flee with their families.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58One clergyman even hides in a pond.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01And all because the Chartists are coming.
0:54:03 > 0:54:09Originally 20,000 Chartists set off from nearby industrial towns
0:54:09 > 0:54:12on the overnight march to Newport.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14But things go wrong.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22Troops are moved into the Westgate Hotel.
0:54:22 > 0:54:23That is unexpected
0:54:23 > 0:54:26and it's one of things that undermine the Chartists' plans.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29The weather is terrible, it's soaking wet
0:54:29 > 0:54:32and lots of the marchers are late arriving
0:54:32 > 0:54:34and by the time they come to this place in the heart of Newport,
0:54:34 > 0:54:37only a quarter of the original marchers are left
0:54:37 > 0:54:39and they're exhausted.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44On reaching the hotel, they face 30 soldiers
0:54:44 > 0:54:46supported by special constables
0:54:46 > 0:54:50who are armed and ready for trouble.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57Most accounts seem to suggest that the Chartists fire the first shot
0:54:57 > 0:55:02but we don't know whether it was accidental or deliberate.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06What we do know is that the round of shooting that follows
0:55:06 > 0:55:08lasts 25 minutes.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16It's a short, bloody battle,
0:55:16 > 0:55:20at the end of which, the soldiers manage to defend the Westgate Hotel
0:55:20 > 0:55:24and the Chartists throw down their weapons and flee.
0:55:29 > 0:55:3320 lie dead and even more are wounded. All of them Chartists.
0:55:37 > 0:55:43Some of the bodies are laid out in the hotel stables to await burial.
0:55:44 > 0:55:49Among them is George Shell, the youngest victim.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54"I shall this night be engaged in a struggle for freedom,
0:55:54 > 0:56:00"and should it please God to spare my life, I will see you soon.
0:56:00 > 0:56:05"But if not, grieve not for me. I shall fall in a noble cause."
0:56:08 > 0:56:12George Shell is now remembered as a Chartist hero.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17When troops examine the bodies, they discover
0:56:17 > 0:56:20an enormous array of weapons
0:56:20 > 0:56:23and the full extent of the Chartists' planning.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27Newspaper reports marvel at the level of organisation
0:56:27 > 0:56:29of these ordinary working people.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35Some of the Chartists from that uprising are buried
0:56:35 > 0:56:39at Saint Woolos Cathedral on the route of their final march.
0:56:41 > 0:56:46George Shell is one of ten Chartists whose bodies are brought here
0:56:46 > 0:56:50to this church yard in the dead of night by the military
0:56:50 > 0:56:52and placed in unmarked graves.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55The authorities clearly want this campaign to be forgotten.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00But these are people prepared to die in a noble cause.
0:57:00 > 0:57:02Not only do they want democratic rights,
0:57:02 > 0:57:05they want a basic measure of happiness
0:57:05 > 0:57:08and dignity in their troubled lives.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12And the Newport Rising is all about that irresistible need for change.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20The three leaders of the rising are charged with high treason
0:57:20 > 0:57:23and transported to Australia for life.
0:57:23 > 0:57:27The Newport Rising is a popular protest
0:57:27 > 0:57:29by the working classes of Wales,
0:57:29 > 0:57:33the beginning of a political awakening that will dominate
0:57:33 > 0:57:37the next 100 years in the story of Wales.
0:57:39 > 0:57:44It takes one turbulent century to change the face of Wales.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46A predominantly rural economy
0:57:46 > 0:57:49becomes an overwhelmingly industrial one.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52And it brings with it a new class of person.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56A spirited working class whose poverty and suffering
0:57:56 > 0:57:58will create a new politics.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00Our story of Wales is now about rapid change.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03The Industrial Revolution, the social turmoil,
0:58:03 > 0:58:05they're only just beginning.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16The Open University has produced a free booklet
0:58:16 > 0:58:19for you to learn more about the history of the people of Wales.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22You can call...
0:58:24 > 0:58:27Or go to...
0:58:29 > 0:58:31Follow the links to the Open University.
0:58:35 > 0:58:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd