0:00:05 > 0:00:07In the first part of the 19th century,
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Wales is convulsed by the coming of industry.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15New technology transforms a land
0:00:15 > 0:00:18that has hardly changed for centuries.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22And then, in the 1840s, things really get going.
0:00:24 > 0:00:29Railways arrive, and with them comes the modern age.
0:00:29 > 0:00:30HOOTS TRAIN HORN
0:00:32 > 0:00:34'By the end of the 19th century,'
0:00:34 > 0:00:38Wales is heavily industrialised, densely populated in parts,
0:00:38 > 0:00:42and known the world over for one particular product.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48All around the world,
0:00:48 > 0:00:54railway owners and shipping magnates can't get enough of this stuff.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56It is Welsh steam coal.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58It's the best you can get.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00And in the space of 50 years,
0:01:00 > 0:01:03this treasure transforms the Welsh economy.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06It puts Wales right on the map.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08TRAIN HORN HOOTS
0:01:41 > 0:01:44In this chapter of The Story of Wales,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48the country goes through its most dynamic period ever.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51One Welsh product brings Wales global fame.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56The world was turning on South Wales steam coal at that time.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00What was being done here was truly important.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04And another Welsh product, slate, creates even more wealth.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08The sudden prosperity turns uninhabited valleys
0:02:08 > 0:02:11into bustling communities, changing Wales forever.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17It feels like a new dawn.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20But storm clouds will gather before the day is through.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24THUNDER RUMBLES
0:02:26 > 0:02:29The new start that Wales gets in the middle of the 19th century
0:02:29 > 0:02:31comes at a critical time.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36It happens while the country is still reeling
0:02:36 > 0:02:40from a series of government reports known as The Blue Books.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50They are notoriously insulting documents -
0:02:50 > 0:02:53'the products of a public inquiry into Welsh education
0:02:53 > 0:02:55'that's bungled by those in charge.'
0:02:57 > 0:03:01The Englishmen chosen to conduct this inquiry
0:03:01 > 0:03:02are pretty clueless, really.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04They have no knowledge of Wales,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06they have no respect for Welsh culture.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10They rely for advice on Anglican clergymen -
0:03:10 > 0:03:12hardly an impartial source.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16And the Welsh who emerge from these Blue Books are ignorant peasants.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18They have lax morals.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21They speak a useless language.
0:03:21 > 0:03:22It's an all-out attack.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25And the impact is immense.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Being written off as gormless yokels, and sinners to boot,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35horrifies the Welsh.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42They want to shake off the image. And they do.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48By the end of 19th century, they're seen as honest, hardworking people,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50thanks, in part, to the coal boom.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Surprisingly, perhaps,
0:03:53 > 0:03:58the spark that ignites the boom is struck not in Wales itself...
0:03:59 > 0:04:00..but in London.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07In the late 1840s, scientists working for the Admiralty
0:04:07 > 0:04:11carry out a series of tests on coal samples from all over Britain.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19They want to find out which region's coal is best suited
0:04:19 > 0:04:22to powering the steam-driven ships of Her Majesty's Navy.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26After months of work, they come to a firm conclusion.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31The coal that burns brightest and longest
0:04:31 > 0:04:34is the coal that comes from South Wales.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42In that region, the scientists' conclusion sets minds racing.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45'The leafy valleys of north Glamorgan
0:04:45 > 0:04:49'are known to harbour vast hidden coal reserves.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52'Sharp-witted operators can't wait to get their hands on them.'
0:04:54 > 0:04:56A "coal rush" begins.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59It's led by one of Britain's richest men -
0:04:59 > 0:05:04John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, the Second Marquess of Bute.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08He owns much of the land where the undiscovered coal is thought to lie.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10He throws himself into finding it.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16The search takes longer than anyone expects.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Bute dies before it can succeed.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21But succeed it finally does.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25In 1851, three years after Bute's death,
0:05:25 > 0:05:30his trustees locate a thick seam of high-grade steam coal
0:05:30 > 0:05:32here in the Rhondda Fawr,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35the larger of the two Rhondda valleys.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39A few years later, the Bute Merthyr Colliery,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42the first coal mine in the Rhondda, opens for business.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53The miners who come to work in the new pit
0:05:53 > 0:05:56churn out vast quantities of coal right from the start.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01When others get wind of the profits that are being made,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04they too start looking for "black gold".
0:06:06 > 0:06:09A hard-nosed businessman from Mid Wales,
0:06:09 > 0:06:11David Davies of Llandinam, leads the way.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15He's grown rich by building railway lines.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19But the Bute family's success persuades him to switch to coal.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26'He rents some land in the Rhondda Fawr,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29'and starts searching for a workable seam.
0:06:29 > 0:06:30'His men dig and dig,
0:06:30 > 0:06:34'but 15 months go by with no sign of success.'
0:06:36 > 0:06:41The financial strain is appalling, even for a rich man like him.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43The pressure's on.
0:06:43 > 0:06:44And he cracks.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Davies can't avoid the truth any longer.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49He's run out of money.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52He'd like to go on digging, but he can't.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54So he gathers his men together,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57and basically pays them the wages that he owes them,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59and appeals for a final chance.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03He digs his hand into his pocket, takes out a single half crown coin,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05about 50 pence today, and says,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08"There you are. That's all I've got."
0:07:08 > 0:07:11And someone in the crowd shouts, "We'll have that as well!"
0:07:11 > 0:07:13So he throws the coin into the crowd,
0:07:13 > 0:07:18and it is that gesture, that impulse, which impresses the men,
0:07:18 > 0:07:23and they agree to go on working for another seven days without pay.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27And on the seventh day, on this piece of land in Ton Pentre,
0:07:27 > 0:07:32they find a massive seam of the best quality steam coal.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Everything changes.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39Davies gets his first coal mine up and running in no time.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Then he opens more.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47Others get lucky, too, and the South Wales coalfield starts to expand.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50It grows steadily, over the next 30 years,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53until it embraces a vast swathe of South Wales.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57The two Rhondda valleys are joined by 14 others -
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Carmarthenshire, Monmouthshire and Glamorgan.
0:08:02 > 0:08:03The lure of steady work
0:08:03 > 0:08:06makes people flock to these areas from other parts of Wales.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11In no time at all, their appearance is transformed.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18Terraced house and Nonconformist chapels spring up
0:08:18 > 0:08:20where bare hillsides were before.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24The Valleys take on the crammed and bustling look
0:08:24 > 0:08:27that will define South Wales for decades to come.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35While coal is bringing massive change
0:08:35 > 0:08:37to the southern half of Wales,
0:08:37 > 0:08:43another natural treasure is causing a similar upheaval in the north.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48This is Penrhyn slate quarry near Bethesda, on the edge of Snowdonia.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Industry thrives here earlier than it does
0:08:55 > 0:08:57in the valleys of the coalfield.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06This amazing painting of the quarry dates from the 1830s.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Ant-like quarrymen swarm over huge terraces carved out of solid rock,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13to get at the precious slate buried in the ground.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Some of the techniques quarrymen use at that time
0:09:19 > 0:09:20are still in use today.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24But there are big differences between then and now.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28These days, the work quarrymen do
0:09:28 > 0:09:31is well-supervised and properly paid.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35In the 19th century, neither of those things is true.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41Quarrymen, then, risk life and limb to drag the slate out of the ground,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43and are given a pittance as a reward.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47Those who own the quarries, on the other hand, do rather better.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52If you want to get a sense
0:09:52 > 0:09:55of just how lucrative quarry ownership could be,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58all you have to do is visit Penrhyn Castle near Bangor.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07'For much of the 19th century,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10'this remarkable building is owned and occupied
0:10:10 > 0:10:14'by Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant, the first Baron Penrhyn.'
0:10:16 > 0:10:21The owner of Penrhyn slate quarry during its most profitable years,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23he becomes staggeringly rich.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30'You can tell the extent of his wealth
0:10:30 > 0:10:33'simply by looking at this reconstructed table setting.'
0:10:36 > 0:10:39Few people in the long history of Wales
0:10:39 > 0:10:42can ever have dined in greater luxury than this.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Amid all this astounding splendour,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52let's try to be fair to the likes of Baron Penrhyn.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Because the fact is,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58they don't keep all of this fabulous wealth to themselves.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02A small percentage trickles down to the lower classes.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04And the result is, in Penrhyn's case,
0:11:04 > 0:11:09he leaves his mark, very visibly, on the entire North Wales region.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14The money generated by the slate industry,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18Penrhyn's part of it in particular, funds the growth of Bangor,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and gives north Wales as a whole a bit of a makeover.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Fine buildings spring up, as do impressive piers,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29like the one at Llandudno.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31They show the growth of self-confidence
0:11:31 > 0:11:35that takes place throughout Wales during the reign of Queen Victoria.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41It is a new Wales that emerges from the Victorian Age,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45and I'm not just talking about the insatiable Victorian appetite
0:11:45 > 0:11:49for building new things and for making grand statements.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53This renewal is cultural and social as well -
0:11:53 > 0:11:57a sense of Welshness becomes more clearly defined.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Quite simply, the Welsh want to make their mark.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07And the urge to make a splash can be seen everywhere.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09But it's especially noticeable in Cardiff.
0:12:12 > 0:12:13The future capital of Wales
0:12:13 > 0:12:17enjoys runaway growth during the 1840s and '50s,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20thanks, mainly, to the international coal trade.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Cardiff is the nearest deep water port
0:12:23 > 0:12:26to the coal valleys of north Glamorgan.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30It grows rich by shipping the output all over the world,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33and it secures the future at the end of the 1850s
0:12:33 > 0:12:35by opening a new dock.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46The East Dock, as it's called, goes on to become a huge success.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51By the start of the 20th century,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55a seemingly endless stream of coal-laden boats
0:12:55 > 0:12:58flows in and out of it every day of the year.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Cardiff has become the biggest coal port in the world.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Hundreds of shipping companies are based here,
0:13:06 > 0:13:08and their owners dispatch boatloads of coal
0:13:08 > 0:13:11to the four corners of the earth.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14They do massive business deals on a daily basis.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19'Most of those deals are struck inside this historic building -
0:13:19 > 0:13:22'the Coal Exchange in Mount Stuart Square.'
0:13:23 > 0:13:27'David Jenkins, a noted expert on the South Wales coal trade,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30'is going to tell me more about what went on here in its heyday.'
0:13:32 > 0:13:34Well, it's a very impressive space, isn't it?
0:13:34 > 0:13:36It is indeed a fantastic space.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39It is an opulent building that reflected an opulent age.
0:13:39 > 0:13:45The world was turning on South Wales steam coal at that time. What was being done here was truly important.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48So what does a day's work here feel like? What's the experience?
0:13:48 > 0:13:50The floor was open between 11:00am and 2:00pm everyday.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52So at 11 o'clock in the morning,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54"Ding, ding, ding..." - there'd be a big bell ringing,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56and the principals would come here on the floor,
0:13:56 > 0:13:58and the negotiations would start.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02Long haggling over a ha'penny on the tonne of coal,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06or a penny on the freight rate for a ship carrying coal from here to Port Said,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10these were the sorts of arguments that went on on the floor here.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14But it was very much "our word, our bond."
0:14:14 > 0:14:18If you shook on a deal, that was sacred - you didn't need to write anything down.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20That was it - you had a deal.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24So what's a good day for them,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26and how do they celebrate if it is a good day?
0:14:26 > 0:14:30Well, just over there was the exchange restaurant, and if it was a good day, they'd go in there,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and you could have five, six-course lunches there, washed down with claret and champagne.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37CORK POPS AND CHEERING
0:14:37 > 0:14:42And then, so the story goes, if it had been a particularly good afternoon,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46it wasn't unknown to play skittles with empty champagne bottles on the floor here.
0:14:46 > 0:14:47THEY LAUGH
0:14:47 > 0:14:50CHEERING
0:14:50 > 0:14:53So City extravagance that we hear about today was actually alive and well then.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56The Hooray Henrys of Cardiff in that time, yes.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58CHEERING
0:15:03 > 0:15:06The wealth that flows through the Coal Exchange
0:15:06 > 0:15:08alters the face of Cardiff.
0:15:08 > 0:15:14Grand buildings like this spring up on the back of the city's success.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16And coal money also brings a new lease of life
0:15:16 > 0:15:19to a certain local landmark.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Cardiff Castle has existed, in one form or another,
0:15:26 > 0:15:28since the days of the Romans.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31But the changes made to the building in Victorian times
0:15:31 > 0:15:34'are what impress modern visitors the most.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38'The changes are carried out'
0:15:38 > 0:15:41on the orders of the Third Marquess of Bute -
0:15:41 > 0:15:44the son of the man who struck coal in the Rhondda Valley.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52'A scholarly and religious man, very different from his father,
0:15:52 > 0:15:56'he dreams of creating a magnificent medieval palace.'
0:15:57 > 0:16:00And with the aid of a brilliant architect called William Burges,
0:16:00 > 0:16:02he does just that.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13What they create is astounding, there's no doubt about that.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17'But I'm rather more impressed by the remarkable achievements
0:16:17 > 0:16:19'chalked up by nameless men and women
0:16:19 > 0:16:22'all over Wales around the same time.'
0:16:28 > 0:16:32One achievement that's definitely worth celebrating, in my view,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35is the emergence, in mining communities like this,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39of a unique and valuable chapel-going culture.
0:16:39 > 0:16:40HYMN SINGING
0:16:40 > 0:16:41It comes into existence
0:16:41 > 0:16:44because most of the people who move to South Wales
0:16:44 > 0:16:47in the middle of the 19th century to work in these mines
0:16:47 > 0:16:50have a shared cultural heritage.
0:16:52 > 0:16:53Now, many of these immigrants
0:16:53 > 0:16:56have come in from West and North and Mid Wales.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59They've brought with them their culture.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01It's a Welsh language culture. It's Nonconformist.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05And one of the first institutions that they build
0:17:05 > 0:17:10in their new communities, as a way of adapting to an alien environment,
0:17:10 > 0:17:11are their chapels.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16# ..fyth yn iach... #
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Within those chapels, there is singing,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20because there was a tradition
0:17:20 > 0:17:22of robust, Nonconformist singing in rural Wales,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24and they bring that with them.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27CHOIRMASTER: Could you do that with the bass and tenors?
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Choral singing becomes the crowning achievement
0:17:30 > 0:17:33of South Wales's Nonconformist culture.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37In places like Treorchy, the home of this world famous choir,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40people produce a sound that the wider world has never heard before.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46There was a distinctive style of Welsh singing, which was dramatic,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50which was emotionally intense, which was literally articulate.
0:17:50 > 0:17:56It was partly to do with the pronunciation of words, of letters -
0:17:56 > 0:17:59whether you sing in Welsh or in English,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03you elongate your vowels, you emphasise your consonants.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07And all this led to the fervour of the singing,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09which involved not only the choristers,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12but also those listening to them.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16# Gwaed dy Groes Sy'n codi i fyny
0:18:16 > 0:18:23# 'Reiddil yn goncwerwr mawr... #
0:18:24 > 0:18:27The excellence of Welsh choral singing
0:18:27 > 0:18:31doesn't remain a well-kept secret for long.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34It comes to the attention of the outside world fairly early on,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37thanks to a pioneering choirmaster from Aberdare,
0:18:37 > 0:18:39who goes by the name of Caradog.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44TRAIN HORN HOOTS
0:18:44 > 0:18:46In the early 1870s,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50he travels to London with 450 Welsh choristers,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54to take part in two high profile singing contests
0:18:54 > 0:18:56held in the famous Crystal Palace.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03When the Welsh singers take to the stage,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06during their first appearance at the venue,
0:19:06 > 0:19:07they have a dramatic effect
0:19:07 > 0:19:10on the orchestra members who accompany them.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12When the choir came in, the first time,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15they all looked up and almost lost their place on the scores
0:19:15 > 0:19:17by the impact of this kind of vocal tsunami
0:19:17 > 0:19:19which was engulfing them.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24# Yn dy glwyfau Yn dy glwyfau... #
0:19:24 > 0:19:27English audiences and musical correspondents
0:19:27 > 0:19:30hadn't quite heard that kind of sound before.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35# ..fyth yn iach. #
0:19:35 > 0:19:38If you asked me to identify one particular event
0:19:38 > 0:19:42which established Wales as the Land of Song -
0:19:42 > 0:19:45and it was Caradog who invented that phrase -
0:19:45 > 0:19:50I think it would be that double header, of 1872 and 1873,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54when Y Cor Mawr, The Big Choir, stormed the city of London and won.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59# Oh my country, so fair
0:19:59 > 0:20:03# And so wretched...#
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Welsh choirs often specialise in classical composers,
0:20:07 > 0:20:08such as Handel and Verdi.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12But they often start or end their recitals
0:20:12 > 0:20:13with a certain patriotic song.
0:20:16 > 0:20:22# Mae hen wlad fy nhadau
0:20:22 > 0:20:28# Yn annwyl i mi... #
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, Land of my Fathers,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34is a national anthem of the highest quality.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39# ..enwogion o fri... #
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Many people assume it's a traditional folk song.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44It's not actually true.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48It's composed in the 1850s in Pontypridd.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51# ..gwladgarwyr tra mad
0:20:51 > 0:20:56# Dros ryddid collasant... #
0:20:56 > 0:21:03The song's authors are a father and son team, Evan and James James.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08# Gwlad, gwlad... #
0:21:08 > 0:21:11A grand memorial to them stands today
0:21:11 > 0:21:13in Pontypridd's municipal park.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16It's a fitting tribute to two men
0:21:16 > 0:21:18who gave Wales a gift of lasting value.
0:21:20 > 0:21:26What father and son achieve is a perfect fusion of words and music.
0:21:26 > 0:21:32It conveys pride and passion, and above all, patriotism.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35The son's powerful melody is pretty unbeatable,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37the father's words never less than uplifting.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41"Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri."
0:21:41 > 0:21:47"A land of bards and musicians, and people of great distinction."
0:21:47 > 0:21:48And who am I to disagree with that?
0:21:48 > 0:21:54# ..barhau. #
0:21:59 > 0:22:02While the great song of the Jameses is securing its place
0:22:02 > 0:22:04in the affections of the Welsh people,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07the town they live in goes through rapid change.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12The coming of the railways and the growth of the coalfield
0:22:12 > 0:22:16transform Pontypridd from a quiet market town
0:22:16 > 0:22:20into a thrusting Welsh-speaking community, buzzing with ideas.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25The town's inhabitants want to improve themselves and the world.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29And they aren't the only ones who set themselves this goal.
0:22:31 > 0:22:32The Welsh people as a whole
0:22:32 > 0:22:35display a strong appetite for social improvement
0:22:35 > 0:22:37throughout the Victorian era.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40It gives rise to some exciting developments.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44One of them takes place here, in Aberystwyth, in the early 1870s.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49The place locals call Aber
0:22:49 > 0:22:51is something of a backwater at this time.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53But that changes forever
0:22:53 > 0:22:56when a new educational establishment opens it doors.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Housed in this dramatic-looking building,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05the institution is called "University College Wales".
0:23:05 > 0:23:08It's the fulfilment of a very old dream.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16That great Welshman Owain Glyndwr
0:23:16 > 0:23:20wrote of his desire to establish a university on Welsh soil
0:23:20 > 0:23:22at the start of the 15th century.
0:23:23 > 0:23:24It takes more than 400 years
0:23:24 > 0:23:27for the Welsh people to get what he wanted them to have.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32But get it they do. And crucially, they get it for themselves.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39This vision of a university of Wales inspires people,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42working people, who demonstrate their commitment
0:23:42 > 0:23:44in the most practical way - they give money.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Very often, money they can't afford to give.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52And the result is the purchase of this splendid building.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55And when, a few years later, the going gets tough,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57the British government isn't keen to help out,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01the Welsh people dig into their pockets yet again.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05By making Glyndwr's dream come true,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08the people of Wales prove that they can work together
0:24:08 > 0:24:10to advance a common cause.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13They drive the point home over the next few years
0:24:13 > 0:24:15by launching many similar campaigns.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Education is always top of the agenda.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27'The ancient goal of acquiring a university has been accomplished.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30'Now the Welsh want decent secondary schools as well.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33'They campaign for years to get them.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35'And their persistence pays off.
0:24:37 > 0:24:38'Towards the end of the 1880s,
0:24:38 > 0:24:42'the British government caves in to Welsh demands,'
0:24:42 > 0:24:45and sets up free secondary schools all over Wales.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48It's a great step forward, no doubt about that.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50But there's a downside, too.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55TEACHER: 25 a share times the amount that you've bought.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58And what about the language of the classroom?
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Well, the Act is quite specific -
0:25:00 > 0:25:03it says that all teaching will be in English.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06There's no room for any teaching in Welsh.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09You can imagine the psychological impact of that.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12It tells people that Welsh is fine at home
0:25:12 > 0:25:14or in the chapel or elsewhere.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16But it's not an important language -
0:25:16 > 0:25:20it's not the language of education and progress,
0:25:20 > 0:25:22it's not the language of big ideas.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25So the Act brings some huge benefits,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28but it also causes some lasting damage.
0:25:30 > 0:25:31'The same can be said, I think,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35about another campaign the Victorian Welsh engage in -
0:25:35 > 0:25:39a long-running battle to control the "demon drink."
0:25:39 > 0:25:43The necessity of doing that is a central theme of Welsh life throughout this period.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47And it's not hard to understand why.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48LAUGHTER
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Heavy drinking is rife in many parts of the country,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55the industrialised areas especially.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57And the consequences of that -
0:25:57 > 0:26:00family breakdown, public disorder and so on - are dire.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05The Welsh think that tougher licensing laws
0:26:05 > 0:26:08will bring the problem under control.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10They campaign long and hard to get them.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12And, once again, they succeed.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21In the early 1880s, Parliament passes a law
0:26:21 > 0:26:24that forces Welsh publicans to shut their doors
0:26:24 > 0:26:26on the holiest day of the week.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31The Sunday Closing (Wales) Act is hailed as a great triumph.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34But it's not as beneficial as it seems.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38It fails to rid Wales of drunken behaviour,
0:26:38 > 0:26:40and saddles the country with a bit of a killjoy image
0:26:40 > 0:26:43that becomes a big embarrassment later on.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55Not long after Sunday closing comes into force,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59'an exciting development takes place on the coast of South Wales.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01'It revolves around David Davies,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05'the determined businessman who helped to kick start the coal boom.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10'His Ocean Coal Company is going great guns by now,'
0:27:10 > 0:27:14and its progress is being blocked by a problem in Cardiff Bay.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19If ever there's a victim of its own success, it's the port of Cardiff.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21It's heavily congested.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25The new East Dock, the old West Dock, they're ram-jammed.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29And the railway sidings, full of trucks, piled high with coal,
0:27:29 > 0:27:31just waiting to be unloaded.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34David Davies is having none of it.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38He wants his coal off those trucks and out at sea as soon as possible.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40And if Cardiff can't deliver,
0:27:40 > 0:27:44well then, he'll build his own port to do the job.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47And that's what he does a few miles away, here at Barry.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54When Davies identifies it as the ideal place to build a new dock,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Barry is a small village with a few hundred inhabitants.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02But that changes forever the year his dock opens for business.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12The event turns the former village into a thriving town.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13And the dock itself goes on
0:28:13 > 0:28:16to become one of the busiest ports in Britain.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25Small wonder that an imposing statue of David Davies
0:28:25 > 0:28:28stands today outside the town's Dock Offices.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33He is, in a very real sense, the man who built Barry.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43David Davies may bring economic benefits to Barry,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45but he and other coal bosses
0:28:45 > 0:28:49often fail to show any sense of social responsibility.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53And that causes serious trouble in South Wales from the 1880s on.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59Widespread discontent springs up at that time
0:28:59 > 0:29:00among the region's miners.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04It stems above all
0:29:04 > 0:29:08from the appalling conditions in which they're forced to work.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10This is known as the bank...
0:29:10 > 0:29:14'To get a better idea of what those conditions were like,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17'I've arranged to meet former miner Ceri Thompson.'
0:29:17 > 0:29:19How are you? Any cigarettes, matches, lighters?
0:29:19 > 0:29:23- Nothing, no. Thank you very much. - There you go, then.- Thank you.- OK.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26'Having worked at the coalface for many years,
0:29:26 > 0:29:28'Ceri is now a curator here at Big Pit,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32'a working coal mine turned into a living museum
0:29:32 > 0:29:35'on the eastern edge of the South Wales coalfield.'
0:29:35 > 0:29:37It's going to get dark.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40'He's going to show me around the old mine workings
0:29:40 > 0:29:42'to give me a better idea of what life was like
0:29:42 > 0:29:46'for the men and the boys who worked in places like this
0:29:46 > 0:29:48'just over a century ago.'
0:29:50 > 0:29:53- Hello, there.- Hello, how are you? - Good morning.
0:29:53 > 0:29:54Good morning. I'm well, thanks.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57- Thanks a lot.- Cable coming off. - Thank you very much.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59- Straight down?- Straight down.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05So, we've been entering the mine, Ceri, but we're nowhere near the face, are we?
0:30:05 > 0:30:09You could be a few miles before you actually get to where the men worked on the coalface.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13- As long as that?- As long as that. These are the motorways on the way in.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15'Their long walk to work takes Victorian miners
0:30:15 > 0:30:19'to the beating heart of the pit - the coalface itself.'
0:30:24 > 0:30:27So round here, Ceri, is where the business happens.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30This is the main part of the pit - this is where it all happens.
0:30:30 > 0:30:31This is called a stall.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34There's probably hundreds of these in the pits in South Wales.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38So this is kind of a work area for one miner? How many miners?
0:30:38 > 0:30:40Well, usually, a miner and a boy.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Now, the boy could be his son, it could be his nephew,
0:30:42 > 0:30:44it could be a complete stranger.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48- And what's the boy doing?- The boy is actually loading the dram up.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54A dram is a metal wagon used to transport coal.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58The collier and his young workmate, or butty,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01have to fill dozens of them to earn a decent day's pay.
0:31:07 > 0:31:08This is called a curling box.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11The young boy, could be 12, 14 years old,
0:31:11 > 0:31:15he would fill the large lump, which the collier has cut,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18put it into the curling box, and then drag it, or carry it,
0:31:18 > 0:31:20back up the stall road.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23So he's doing that dozens and dozens and dozens of times a day.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25- And its heavy.- And it's heavy, and he's a little boy.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27- You know, it makes you think. - It does make you think.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29And I've heard people saying that they couldn't even reach
0:31:29 > 0:31:32over the top of the dram, they were so short.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36They had to put a block in to stand up, so they could actually get over the lid of the dram.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39- So it's incredibly hard work. - It is incredibly hard work.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43'But hard work isn't the half of it.'
0:31:43 > 0:31:46All the time he's underground,
0:31:46 > 0:31:50the average miner is exposed to life-threatening hazards.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54The worst thing he's going to face is the fact that the roof is going to come down if he's not careful,
0:31:54 > 0:31:56and also, the sides is going to come in on him.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00- What are the other risks? What are the other dangers they face? - Well, it's gases.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03Cos as soon as you start cutting coal, you start producing methane gas,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07which we call fire damp underground, so that will cause an explosion.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12The other main one, of course, is called after damp,
0:32:12 > 0:32:15and it occurs, basically, after an explosion.
0:32:15 > 0:32:16The oxygen has been burnt out of the air,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19and you are left with a mixture of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide
0:32:19 > 0:32:20and other gases again.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23- How devastating is that?- That's what kills most men after an explosion.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26The actual blast itself might kill a few, you know?
0:32:26 > 0:32:29But it's the actual after damp that kills them all.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Thousands of miners lose their lives during the Victorian era,
0:32:36 > 0:32:38not just in South Wales,
0:32:38 > 0:32:40but in the coalfield of North East Wales too.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46The deaths help to create a mood of militancy among the men.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50Towards the end of the 19th century, in the southern coalfield,
0:32:50 > 0:32:52things come to a head.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54The South Wales miners go on strike.
0:33:03 > 0:33:05The strike turns into a lock-out.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10It lasts six months, and ends badly from the miners' point of view.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14They react by forming a new trade union,
0:33:14 > 0:33:20the South Wales Miners' Federation, commonly known as the Fed.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22For the next 50 years,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25the Fed will play a prominent role in Welsh life,
0:33:25 > 0:33:28giving leadership and support to people in the coalfield.
0:33:28 > 0:33:33And it'll still be fondly remembered long after it's swallowed up
0:33:33 > 0:33:36by the National Union of Mineworkers in 1945.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38Having said all that,
0:33:38 > 0:33:43the Fed isn't always as bold and as dynamic and as assertive
0:33:43 > 0:33:45as some of its members would like it to be.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50The union's leaders are afraid of seeming too radical.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54And miners' working conditions fail to improve as a result.
0:33:54 > 0:33:59The frustration builds up, and it will explode into violence later on.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05'Well before that happens, major industrial unrest breaks out
0:34:05 > 0:34:10'in what might seem, at first, like a very unlikely setting.'
0:34:15 > 0:34:18What we see here today is a nature reserve.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20It's nice and peaceful.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24It's a very different story at the turn of the 20th century -
0:34:24 > 0:34:28this place is full of noise, it's teeming with workers.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31The lake isn't here - there's an immense hole in the ground,
0:34:31 > 0:34:36because this is the site of the old Penrhyn slate quarry.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39And it is here, in November of 1900, that we see the beginning
0:34:39 > 0:34:44of one of the most brutal industrial disputes in British history.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50The day the strike is called,
0:34:50 > 0:34:52every one of the 2,000 men employed at the quarry
0:34:52 > 0:34:56downs tools and walks off the job.
0:34:56 > 0:34:57They don't realise it,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00but they've been tricked into doing this by their employer,
0:35:00 > 0:35:02the second Baron Penrhyn.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06The baron is a man who hates trade unions,
0:35:06 > 0:35:09and he's goaded his men into going on strike
0:35:09 > 0:35:12because he thinks that will benefit him.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16He expects the strike to collapse within a few weeks,
0:35:16 > 0:35:21ridding the quarry of union "interference," as he calls it.
0:35:21 > 0:35:22But it's not what happens.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36Instead of ending quickly, as the baron expects it to,
0:35:36 > 0:35:39the strike drags on and on.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41'And it causes huge tension in the area.'
0:35:44 > 0:35:47This row of houses in the village of Tregarth
0:35:47 > 0:35:49is thrown up by Baron Penrhyn
0:35:49 > 0:35:53to accommodate striking miners who've agreed to go back to work.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55It becomes the site of angry scenes.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00As the strike drags on,
0:36:00 > 0:36:05local communities are poisoned by the anger and the resentment.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08The names and addresses of men who return to work
0:36:08 > 0:36:10are published in local newspapers.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13They sometimes find their homes under attack.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15And then, in nearby Bethesda,
0:36:15 > 0:36:19these little notices start to appear in people's windows.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23"Nid oes bradwr yn y ty hwn."
0:36:23 > 0:36:25That is a very stark message -
0:36:25 > 0:36:27"There are no traitors in this house."
0:36:32 > 0:36:34The dispute lasts for three years,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37and becomes known as the Great Strike.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41It's the longest dispute in British industrial history.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43And it has some terrible effects.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46Towns like Bethesda are torn apart by the strike.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Scars are created that take decades to heal.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57Even worse is the effect it has on the North Wales slate industry.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00It makes it seem unreliable.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Orders dry up, and thousands of men are laid off.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09It is a disaster for North Wales.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12The region enters a prolonged economic slump.
0:37:12 > 0:37:13Its people are stunned.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18But as the 20th century gets into its stride,
0:37:18 > 0:37:21they do, at least, have one thing to cheer about.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25And that is the rise to the top of British politics
0:37:25 > 0:37:30of that great North Wales Liberal, David Lloyd George.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32Lloyd George is one of the most inspiring orators
0:37:32 > 0:37:34Britain has ever produced,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37a world-class statesman, and a personal hero of mine.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46Raised in a cottage near Criccieth, he enters Parliament in 1890
0:37:46 > 0:37:49as the MP for Caernarfon Boroughs.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52But he doesn't hit his stride politically until 1908.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56Herbert Asquith, who becomes Prime Minister that year,
0:37:56 > 0:38:01spots his huge potential, and makes him Chancellor of the Exchequer.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05Lloyd George throws himself into his new job.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07And he has an immediate impact.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11It takes Lloyd George just 12 months
0:38:11 > 0:38:14to come up with one of the biggest reform programmes
0:38:14 > 0:38:16ever seen here at Westminster.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18It's called The People's Budget.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21It's a raft of policies to help the poor,
0:38:21 > 0:38:25paid for by the rich landowners who control the House of Lords.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28Rather predictably, they block the budget.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30There's a big showdown. Lloyd George wins.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33And the impact of that victory is immense.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37For the first time,
0:38:37 > 0:38:39Britain has an Old Age Pension, National Insurance,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41and much else besides.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45It's the start of the Welfare State.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52The reforms make Lloyd George a hero to people all over Wales,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55and strengthen the hold which the Liberal party enjoys
0:38:55 > 0:38:58over the hearts and minds of Welsh voters.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03The party is dominant here in the South Wales valleys,
0:39:03 > 0:39:05as it is everywhere else.
0:39:05 > 0:39:06In other ways, though,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10this part of Wales is moving further and further apart now
0:39:10 > 0:39:11from the rest of the country.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14Migration to the coalfield
0:39:14 > 0:39:17has brought about a huge increase in the population.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21Most of the newcomers have come from England.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24And that has started to cause major change.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31The census of 1911 points up what's been going on.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34It reveals that, in places like Pontypridd,
0:39:34 > 0:39:36the arrival of lots of English people
0:39:36 > 0:39:40'has placed the Welsh language under serious threat.'
0:39:40 > 0:39:44On one level, the language is in good health in 1911.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48It is still spoken in homes and in places of worship throughout Wales.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52But on another level, there are some worrying signs.
0:39:52 > 0:39:57Some 40% of Welsh people don't understand the language.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01And here, where it matters, on the streets, the shops and the pubs,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03there's a noticeable decline.
0:40:06 > 0:40:11By 1911, almost a million people speak Welsh - more than ever before.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14But the presence, in towns like this,
0:40:14 > 0:40:16of thousands of people who don't understand the language
0:40:16 > 0:40:19has started to chip away
0:40:19 > 0:40:22at the central role it plays in public life.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25This will cause great concern in Wales later on.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28But it doesn't create much anxiety at this time
0:40:28 > 0:40:30in the coalfield itself.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35Valleys people are swept along by the headlong rush of events.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38And many of them are thrilled to be part of the new society
0:40:38 > 0:40:41that's springing into life all around them.
0:40:41 > 0:40:46A lively, bilingual community is emerging, with new pastimes,
0:40:46 > 0:40:48and new heroes as well.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52Preachers and choirmasters are still respected,
0:40:52 > 0:40:56but so, too, are popular entertainers of all kinds.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01In Treorchy's Park and Dare Theatre,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05you can summon up the ghosts of some of the characters
0:41:05 > 0:41:08'the people of the coalfield worship during the Edwardian era.'
0:41:09 > 0:41:11BOXING RING BELL
0:41:11 > 0:41:15Here, for instance, comes the great South Wales boxer, Freddie Welsh,
0:41:15 > 0:41:18soon to become the Lightweight Champion of the World.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23'And here's Dai "Tarw" Jones,'
0:41:23 > 0:41:26a key member of the heroic rugby union side
0:41:26 > 0:41:30that beats the All Blacks in Cardiff Arms Park in 1905.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32CHEERING
0:41:33 > 0:41:37Rugby, boxing and soccer are hugely popular in the coalfield,
0:41:37 > 0:41:39as they are in the rest of Wales.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42'But other forms of entertainment are well liked, too.'
0:41:43 > 0:41:45Throughout the Edwardian era,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48Valleys people lap up the work of opera singers...
0:41:48 > 0:41:51OPERATIC SINGING
0:41:51 > 0:41:53..and comedians...
0:41:53 > 0:41:56Three Englishmen walk into a bar...
0:41:56 > 0:42:00..and brass band musicians, not to mention lots of others.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04They're all part of the rich cultural mix
0:42:04 > 0:42:07that exists in South Wales in the run up to the First World War.
0:42:13 > 0:42:18'But we mustn't let ourselves be blinded by nostalgia.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21'Away from the theatres and the sports grounds,
0:42:21 > 0:42:24'life remains incredibly tough for most people.'
0:42:24 > 0:42:26Coal miners in particular.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30Welsh coal is still popular worldwide,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33but conditions down the mines remain as dreadful as ever,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36and pay rates never seem to rise.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39The anger this creates has to be released somehow.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44It explodes, finally, in the form of civil unrest.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51SHOUTING
0:42:51 > 0:42:55The first place to erupt is Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59Serious rioting breaks out there in November 1910,
0:42:59 > 0:43:01at the height of a bitter strike.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03SHOUTING
0:43:03 > 0:43:05Hundreds of people are injured and one man dies.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12Police and soldiers pour into the town
0:43:12 > 0:43:16on the orders of the Home Secretary, Winston Churchill.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Calm returns to South Wales as a result,
0:43:21 > 0:43:22but only for a while.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29In the long, hot summer of 1911, violence breaks out again
0:43:29 > 0:43:32in various communities in or near the coalfield.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38These new disturbances all involve extensive damage to property.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Some, notably the terrible riot
0:43:40 > 0:43:43that breaks out in my hometown of Llanelli,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46result in death and injury too.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51'I want to understand why these events took place,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54'and find out how important they are in the story of Wales.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58'To do that, I met Professor Chris Williams,
0:43:58 > 0:44:00'an expert on the politics of the coalfield.'
0:44:01 > 0:44:06Chris, let's go back to 1910-11 - a violent time, a turbulent time.
0:44:06 > 0:44:07What was going on?
0:44:07 > 0:44:10I mean, economic factors are paramount, I would say.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14Coal miners working at the coalface could be very well paid.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18But what they're facing is downward pressure on their incomes -
0:44:18 > 0:44:21prices are going up, wages are not keeping pace.
0:44:21 > 0:44:26The negotiation and conciliation mechanisms don't work very well,
0:44:26 > 0:44:28so people are getting very, very frustrated
0:44:28 > 0:44:32with the failure to find some kind of commonly acceptable solution.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35When you read accounts of the time, some of the unrest,
0:44:35 > 0:44:36you see people saying,
0:44:36 > 0:44:39"Oh, yes, there were lots of left wing troublemakers
0:44:39 > 0:44:41"and agitators around." Is that true?
0:44:41 > 0:44:44It is true that there were left-wing thinkers,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47particularly in the coalfield, and out of that comes
0:44:47 > 0:44:50perhaps the single most important publication of this period,
0:44:50 > 0:44:52which is The Miners' Next Step.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54And this is a little pamphlet that's...
0:44:54 > 0:44:57- It's a manifesto, really, isn't it? - It is.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00It's a set of proposals to reorganise the South Wales Miners' Federation.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02But, actually, it's much more ambitious than that.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05They want the seven-hour day and they want a minimum wage.
0:45:05 > 0:45:10But rather than seeing them as a trigger for these disputes,
0:45:10 > 0:45:15I think they gain credence, they gain relevance, actually,
0:45:15 > 0:45:17from these big clashes.
0:45:17 > 0:45:23People see miners faced down by troops with fixed bayonets,
0:45:23 > 0:45:24and they begin to think,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28"Well, how do we alter the balance of power here?"
0:45:28 > 0:45:31"Do we only go through the parliamentary route,
0:45:31 > 0:45:33"or can we actually envisage, perhaps,
0:45:33 > 0:45:34"a more revolutionary alternative?"
0:45:34 > 0:45:37THUNDER RUMBLES
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Not long after the events of 1910 and '11,
0:45:43 > 0:45:46something happens to convince many more people
0:45:46 > 0:45:49that a revolution might, indeed, be called for.
0:45:57 > 0:46:02The event occurs in a small mining village called Senghenydd.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09On October the 13th, 1913,
0:46:09 > 0:46:12the village suffers one of the worst mining disasters
0:46:12 > 0:46:13the world has ever seen.
0:46:15 > 0:46:21439 miners employed at the Universal Colliery lose their lives
0:46:21 > 0:46:27when the volatile gas known as fire damp causes a massive explosion,
0:46:27 > 0:46:31and its toxic counterpart, after damp, spreads through the mine.
0:46:34 > 0:46:38'It's impossible to exaggerate the suffering that's caused.'
0:46:40 > 0:46:46What happens here at Senghenydd is the crushing of an entire community.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50More than 500 children are left without a father.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52More than 200 women are widowed.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55And the official inquiry into the tragedy
0:46:55 > 0:46:59identifies cost cutting and bad working practices
0:46:59 > 0:47:00as the main causes.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03But when the owners and the colliery manager are prosecuted,
0:47:03 > 0:47:06they're not sent to jail, they're fined,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09a grand total of £24.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19The year after the Senghenydd disaster, the Great War,
0:47:19 > 0:47:22the First World War, as it comes to be known,
0:47:22 > 0:47:23breaks out in Europe.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32The country is in turmoil, and all the while,
0:47:32 > 0:47:36the mood of intense anger in the South Wales coalfield
0:47:36 > 0:47:37keeps on building up.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Coal mining is classified as an essential activity.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47And for that reason, most miners stay put and dig.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51They make a vital contribution to the war effort.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54But, in their eyes, at least, they're not being properly paid.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00'The year after war breaks out,
0:48:00 > 0:48:04'convinced that they could and should be getting a much better deal,
0:48:04 > 0:48:05'the men lose patience and go on strike.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09'It's a deeply controversial move.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11'It brings them into conflict
0:48:11 > 0:48:14with the most powerful people in the land.'
0:48:14 > 0:48:18The strike, as far as the Cabinet is concerned,
0:48:18 > 0:48:22is indefensible in wartime, and they demand an end to it.
0:48:22 > 0:48:24The leader of the South Wales miners' union
0:48:24 > 0:48:28offers to come to London to discuss the crisis.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30But his men won't hear of it.
0:48:30 > 0:48:31One of them says,
0:48:31 > 0:48:35"You've been to that city of Philistines once too often."
0:48:35 > 0:48:38"Why not let them come to South Wales?"
0:48:38 > 0:48:41So the Cabinet deploys its biggest weapon.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44And who should pop on to the next train to Cardiff,
0:48:44 > 0:48:46but David Lloyd George?
0:48:48 > 0:48:50The greatest Welshman of the age,
0:48:50 > 0:48:54the Minister for Munitions by now in Britain's wartime government,
0:48:54 > 0:48:58seems to be on a collision course with his fellow countrymen.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06'Those who know him well expect a pitched battle.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10'But not for the first time, Lloyd George takes everyone by surprise.'
0:49:13 > 0:49:17When he meets the miners, inside the building that they have chosen
0:49:17 > 0:49:21as the location for the talks, Lloyd George isn't confrontational at all.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25He sits at the table with the men, listens to their concerns,
0:49:25 > 0:49:27and agrees to most of their demands.
0:49:27 > 0:49:28And before leaving for London,
0:49:28 > 0:49:32he tells them that the agreement they've reached in this room
0:49:32 > 0:49:35will be implemented throughout the coalfield.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38The problem is, that doesn't happen.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43Resentment over Lloyd George's failure in this instance
0:49:43 > 0:49:47persists in many coalfield communities.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50But there is pride in his other achievements.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52And it's not hard to work out why.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03In December 1916, the Welsh Wizard, as he's known,
0:50:03 > 0:50:07becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,
0:50:07 > 0:50:10the first, and so far the only Welshman to hold that post.
0:50:10 > 0:50:15Some miners in South Wales trust the new Prime Minister
0:50:15 > 0:50:19to bring about a real improvement in their pay and conditions.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Others, though, put their faith instead
0:50:22 > 0:50:23in the revolutionary Communism
0:50:23 > 0:50:26that will soon give birth to Soviet Russia.
0:50:26 > 0:50:30In July 1917, three years into the Great War,
0:50:30 > 0:50:34delegates from every part of the South Wales coalfield
0:50:34 > 0:50:37gather for a special conference in Swansea.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41They're considering revolutionary plans to set up Workers' Councils,
0:50:41 > 0:50:43pretty much on the Soviet model.
0:50:43 > 0:50:48Now, that meeting is broken up by soldiers and by armaments workers.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52It tells you something about the strength of feeling on both sides.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56And that whiff of revolution doesn't really go away.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00But it's not anger that dominates life in Wales
0:51:00 > 0:51:03over the next ten years - it's despair.
0:51:04 > 0:51:09No fewer than 40,000 Welshmen lose their lives in the Great War.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13The carnage touches practically every community in the land,
0:51:13 > 0:51:17and creates a deep sadness that lasts for years.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20As if that's not enough,
0:51:20 > 0:51:25the post-war period sees a huge drop in the worldwide price of coal,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28a development that has horrible consequences for South Wales.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34Pit closures, wage cuts and compulsory redundancies
0:51:34 > 0:51:36come thick and fast.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38And then things get really tough.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41In the spring of 1926,
0:51:41 > 0:51:45following another collapse in the price of coal and more job losses,
0:51:45 > 0:51:49the mine owners decide to take some rather brutal action.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53They insist that their workers accept a massive pay cut,
0:51:53 > 0:51:54and let's remember,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57these are families already suffering great hardship.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00What follows is one of the most harrowing,
0:52:00 > 0:52:02but also one of the most heroic episodes
0:52:02 > 0:52:05in the history of the South Wales coalfield.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14The miners reject the employers' demands,
0:52:14 > 0:52:16and workers all over the UK show their support
0:52:16 > 0:52:18by joining them on strike.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24Ruthlessly suppressed by the British Government,
0:52:24 > 0:52:27this famous General Strike collapses after just nine days.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31But the miners themselves refuse to back down.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35They stay out on strike for several months,
0:52:35 > 0:52:40inspired and pretty much led by the miners of South Wales.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43The South Wales coalfield was the most militant coalfield.
0:52:43 > 0:52:45It had... Along with their families,
0:52:45 > 0:52:48we're talking about a quarter of a million people.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51And they were determined to hold out.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57The miners don't receive strike pay or state benefits of any kind.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59They and their families are kept alive
0:52:59 > 0:53:03by a highly effective programme of community action.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07The miners were very, very organised, right from the start,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10in terms of organising school feeding,
0:53:10 > 0:53:12organising miners' kitchens.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16In the soup kitchens, there would be flowers on the table,
0:53:16 > 0:53:18there would be tablecloths, people were...
0:53:18 > 0:53:20The waiters were nicely dressed,
0:53:20 > 0:53:22and people were very courteous to each other.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25So it was this feeling that, you know,
0:53:25 > 0:53:27they were going to rise above the misery of it all.
0:53:28 > 0:53:30But the miners don't act alone.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33In valleys like this, all kinds of people,
0:53:33 > 0:53:36from local councils to private individuals,
0:53:36 > 0:53:38donate sums of money to keep them going.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41The community was supporting the strikers.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44So there was no doubt about that - it was a community decision.
0:53:44 > 0:53:49And, of course, this made the government very angry, cos it meant that the strike could go on
0:53:49 > 0:53:51much longer than it would have done.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53The support they receive from their communities
0:53:53 > 0:53:58enables the striking miners to hold out for seven long months.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00But in the autumn of 1926,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03hunger and weariness force them back to work.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08They went back for longer hours, less money.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11And the militants didn't go back at all, because they were blacklisted.
0:54:11 > 0:54:16So the whole community is sunk into very grim times, really.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18And the picture doesn't change much until the Second World War.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25The full horror of what happens in the South Wales coalfield
0:54:25 > 0:54:29during the 1930s is hard to take in even now.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34Reduced in many cases to scrabbling around on slag heaps
0:54:34 > 0:54:39for free fuel, men become deeply depressed and withdrawn.
0:54:39 > 0:54:44Women submit to lives of drudgery and despair.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48And children go hungry, not quite hungry enough to starve, perhaps,
0:54:48 > 0:54:50but not far off it, either.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55Some people are so badly nourished, they lose their teeth.
0:54:59 > 0:55:04Disillusioned with Lloyd George and Liberalism, people turn for help to the Labour Party.
0:55:04 > 0:55:05They vote for it in large numbers.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09But Labour isn't as strong in the rest of Britain
0:55:09 > 0:55:14as it is in South Wales, and there's little the party can do.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20On a visit to South Wales in 1936,
0:55:20 > 0:55:24King Edward VIII sees the appalling conditions that result.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27'9,000 men lost their jobs when this works closed down.'
0:55:28 > 0:55:30The king is visibly shocked.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33"Something must be done," he says.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36But very little is, in the short run at least.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44As a result, many people give up hope.
0:55:44 > 0:55:48They gather up their belongings and board a bus, or train,
0:55:48 > 0:55:52bound for London, or Liverpool, or anywhere, in fact,
0:55:52 > 0:55:54where a brighter future might just lie.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57In just seven turbulent years,
0:55:57 > 0:56:01a quarter of a million people leave Wales to live elsewhere,
0:56:01 > 0:56:02mostly in England.
0:56:02 > 0:56:07It tells you just how bad things are in this country at that time.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09The 30s are a troubled decade.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11But it's not all bad news.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17People in North and West Wales suffer dreadfully too,
0:56:17 > 0:56:21especially those who live in the coal mining areas of the North East.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23But there are a few bright spots in the gloom.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29Steel production helps Wrexham survive the collapse
0:56:29 > 0:56:31of the coal industry,
0:56:31 > 0:56:35while Flint is saved by the production of artificial textiles.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40The many seaside resorts strung out along the north Wales coast
0:56:40 > 0:56:42fare reasonably well, too,
0:56:42 > 0:56:45buoyed up as they are by English holidaymakers.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49And even in the hard-pressed coalfields,
0:56:49 > 0:56:52people have things they can fall back on.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00Cinema-going, for instance, proves a great means of escape.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03Thousands of people find they can just get through the week
0:57:03 > 0:57:07so long as they can spend Saturday night in the picture house
0:57:07 > 0:57:11with Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich or some other Hollywood star.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21'By such means, people survive.
0:57:21 > 0:57:26'But when the 1930s draw to a close, it's clear to many in Wales
0:57:26 > 0:57:29'that they've come to the end of a long road.'
0:57:33 > 0:57:36Life in Wales is transformed
0:57:36 > 0:57:41by the immense natural bounty of coal and slate.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44Pre-industrial Wales is now modern Wales.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46But the bounty is running out.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49The forces of industry are being weakened,
0:57:49 > 0:57:54and Wales faces a new challenge, an even more daunting challenge,
0:57:54 > 0:57:55to reinvent itself,
0:57:55 > 0:58:00as the nation is about to be plunged into a second world war.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12The Open University has produced a free booklet
0:58:12 > 0:58:15for you to learn more about the history of the people of Wales.
0:58:15 > 0:58:23You can call or go to:
0:58:24 > 0:58:27..and follow the links to the Open University.
0:58:46 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd