0:00:03 > 0:00:06Wales changed out of all recognition in the '80s.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09And it all began when Margaret Thatcher launched an attack
0:00:09 > 0:00:12on the coal and steel industries
0:00:12 > 0:00:14in what seemed like a fight to the death.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18We realised that if you didn't move with the times,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20we were going to die.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23I mean, we were always under threat, as a steelworks.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29We understood that if you close the mines, you close the community.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33So we had never had any doubt that the cause was just.
0:00:34 > 0:00:40My father would say, "When you come out of school, we're going to find a job." And it was a job for life.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43But it was like, "Dad, that's not what I'm going to do."
0:00:45 > 0:00:49This is the story of the struggle for jobs that defined the '80s,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52dominated by a battle of the giants.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Coal and steel were by far our biggest
0:01:06 > 0:01:08industries at the start of the '80s.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Fathers looked forward to their sons joining them in the workforce.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17And they took comfort that the unions kept everyone's jobs
0:01:17 > 0:01:19and wages secure.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Life had got better in these industries
0:01:23 > 0:01:25since they had been nationalised after the war.
0:01:29 > 0:01:34Branch secretary of the NUM in South Wales was Tyrone O'Sullivan.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39All the jobs you needed in the industry were here, in South Wales.
0:01:39 > 0:01:40It was a buoyant time.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44Penrhiwceiber, Tower, Maerdy. We were all doing well -
0:01:44 > 0:01:45linking up underground
0:01:45 > 0:01:48so that we could get the coal to where we needed it.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56It was the skills that we got from the nationalised industries
0:01:56 > 0:01:59and the training programmes and apprenticeships that allowed
0:01:59 > 0:02:01Wales to become a very skilful place.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03You know, it was a good time to be in Wales.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09The coal industry was a mass employer.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12In South Wales alone, there were over 21,000 miners.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Here at Maerdy Colliery, at the top of the Rhondda Valley,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21730 miners worked three shifts a day.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25Bryn Davies was among them.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29There was low seams in Maerdy - about one metre, probably,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33so I was on my knees and my stomach for most of the time.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36But it was a good atmosphere.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40We'd all be having a good joke over each other and taking the mick,
0:02:40 > 0:02:42"Where was you last night?"
0:02:42 > 0:02:44But there was a bit of pride in your work as well,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47cos of the dangers and...
0:02:47 > 0:02:51You're looking after yourself and you were looking after other people as well.
0:02:51 > 0:02:52They've got to do the same.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56You're looking out for other people as well as yourself.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59I think that was the comradeship between us all. We all got together.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04If there was ever a problem, we'd help each other. It was all teamwork.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06CHEERING
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Steel was an even bigger employer.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14The works at Ebbw Vale, Llanwern and Port Talbot
0:03:14 > 0:03:16accounted for 22,000 jobs.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Tommy Fellows worked in the steelworks at Port Talbot.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25I was C-rota and I had a marvellous shift.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28And we worked together,
0:03:28 > 0:03:32we ate together, we cried together.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35So the team was always there. It was always a good team
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and it was in an environment where it was dangerous.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41So you sort of looked after each other.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Port Talbot was a very thriving town.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49I mean, it always had plenty of employment.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Everybody tried to get into the steelworks.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Once you got in there, it was a job for life.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00The big steelworks in North Wills was at Shotton.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03It provided steady jobs for thousands of men living on Deeside
0:04:03 > 0:04:05and along the coast.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08But some of the younger generation wanted more out of life
0:04:08 > 0:04:10and started to rebel.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14- Like Mike Peters, from Rhyl. - Suppression.
0:04:14 > 0:04:20It was there in every measure of society.
0:04:20 > 0:04:21When you were in school,
0:04:21 > 0:04:26you were straitjacketed into the school uniform and then my father
0:04:26 > 0:04:29would say, "When you come out of school, we're going to find a job."
0:04:29 > 0:04:31And it was a job for life.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36And it was just an instinctive feeling that that just sounded dull.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39You know, at Shotton Steel Works, you were taken in as a young kid
0:04:39 > 0:04:43by the careers officer and it was accepted that that's where you went.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49However, over-manning had become a major issue in the steel industry.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Resistance by unions was compounded by management,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56fearing the price of disputes.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59British Steel was losing nearly £2 billion a year.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06When Margaret Thatcher won the General Election of 1979,
0:05:06 > 0:05:11she came with an agenda to shift power away from the trade unions -
0:05:11 > 0:05:14in industry and politics.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21As Mrs Thatcher arrived in Cardiff for a speech,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23union demonstrators were in uproar.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26JEERING
0:05:26 > 0:05:29They were angry at her radical plans for the steel industry.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Ian MacGregor was appointed as head of British Steel.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40His remit was to make the steel industry profitable.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45His solution was to close plants and slash the workforce.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49When they fetched MacGregor in, where he wanted to chop,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52he went in and chopped straight away.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57We weren't prepared take that route, where close, close, close.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59We wanted something different.
0:06:04 > 0:06:101980 saw the first national steel strike for 70 years.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12At a time of high inflation,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16the steel unions demanded a 20% pay rise.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20They were offered 6%, with tough conditions.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24Port Talbot and the other steel communities were taken to the brink.
0:06:29 > 0:06:35After 13 weeks, a settlement was agreed - a 16% pay rise,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39but coupled to thousands of redundancies.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40That strike, to me...
0:06:40 > 0:06:44I was part of it and I was active during the strike.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48To me, the only thing we came out of that strike with was self-respect.
0:06:48 > 0:06:49We came out as a union.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Because when you consider the amount of men we lost, you know,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58to me that was a huge, huge price to pay.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01EXPLOSION
0:07:01 > 0:07:07In March 1980, Shotton Steel Works closed, with a loss of 6,500 jobs.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Ebbw Vale went, with a loss of 4,000 jobs.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17A further 10,000 were made redundant
0:07:17 > 0:07:19at Llanwern and Port Talbot.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21But the plants were saved.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24If there was to be a future, though, there needed to be
0:07:24 > 0:07:27investment in machinery.
0:07:27 > 0:07:28The plant at Port Talbot was old
0:07:28 > 0:07:31and inadequate, compared to foreign competitors.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36We realised that if you didn't move with the time,
0:07:36 > 0:07:37we were going to die.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41I mean, we were always under threat, as a steelworks.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44And I told MacGregor, "If you give us the kit,
0:07:44 > 0:07:48"we can produce the goods. Without the kit, we can't do it."
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Gradually, after we slimmed down,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54and then we had the investment,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58everybody breathed a sigh of relief that we were starting to compete.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07# Port Talbot, Port Talbot, the city of steel
0:08:07 > 0:08:11# Port Talbot, Port Talbot, I know how you feel
0:08:11 > 0:08:15# There's fire in the blast and there's ships in the bay
0:08:15 > 0:08:19# But a lot of the steel men are fading away... #
0:08:20 > 0:08:25In the early '80s, there was a seismic shift in Welsh society.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28The huge number of redundancies shattered the belief that
0:08:28 > 0:08:31heavy industry would continue to provide employment
0:08:31 > 0:08:33for whole communities.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36# But progress is coming, it better be slow
0:08:36 > 0:08:40# So a lot of the men will be out and below... #
0:08:41 > 0:08:45Suddenly, for the new generation growing up, there were no
0:08:45 > 0:08:51jobs for life to walk into. Unemployment in Wales was soaring.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Job security was becoming a thing of the past.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59In Rhyl, Mike Peters decided his future lay with forming a band
0:08:59 > 0:09:00with his friends.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05They called themselves 17, before changing it to The Alarm.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09We were entertaining enough, but I just thought,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13"I've got all this energy, but I'm putting it into the wrong thing."
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Let's write music and write a song that people will take home
0:09:16 > 0:09:19with them. They'll take a lyric home that they'll want
0:09:19 > 0:09:21to use in their life
0:09:21 > 0:09:23as their soundtrack, to help them
0:09:23 > 0:09:26get through that next day or make that next step.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Let's try and reinforce that through our music,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and so I wrote a song called Unsafe Building.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34And it changed our lives.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36# Declare yourself
0:09:36 > 0:09:38# An unsafe building
0:09:38 > 0:09:41# Suffer the indignation
0:09:41 > 0:09:44# Of your world
0:09:46 > 0:09:48# To climb the ladders
0:09:48 > 0:09:51# You've got to suss out the snakes
0:09:51 > 0:09:56# Remember your height, remember to never look down...
0:09:58 > 0:10:03# Oh, now you've made your choice
0:10:03 > 0:10:07# You've got to take a chance right away
0:10:07 > 0:10:09# Act now... #
0:10:09 > 0:10:13Many generations had mined the coal of South Wales.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Huge quantities still remained.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22But the pits were losing money and a whole way of life was under threat.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27# I have declared myself
0:10:27 > 0:10:29# Unsafe... #
0:10:32 > 0:10:38In May 1983, Margaret Thatcher was re-elected Prime Minister.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40For her second term in power,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43she wanted to tackle the huge losses in the coal industry.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52By 1984, there were over 21,000 miners
0:10:52 > 0:10:56working in 28 pits in South Wales.
0:10:56 > 0:10:57Their solidarity was renowned.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03As most pits were the prime employers in the valleys,
0:11:03 > 0:11:07any closure would be devastating for the future of their communities.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13But many believe that Margaret Thatcher's real aim was to
0:11:13 > 0:11:16smash the political power of the miners.
0:11:20 > 0:11:26From the very beginning, we understood as coal miners that this was a battle.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30The battle had to be fought. We had no choice.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34We understood that if you close the mines, you close the community.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37So we had never had any doubt that the cause was just.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43But there was caution when local NUM delegates met in early March.
0:11:43 > 0:11:49Only a minority of pits in South Wales voted for strike action.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54I found that incredible. I go home at night...
0:11:54 > 0:11:57I think this can't happen. This is not going to happen.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00So I phoned up the president, Emlyn Williams.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02I said, "Emlyn, I'm not accepting this."
0:12:02 > 0:12:05I said, "I'm going to picket in the morning."
0:12:05 > 0:12:09Pickets from pro-strike collieries went from valley to valley.
0:12:10 > 0:12:16Sian James lived with her young family in Caerbont, north of Swansea.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Her husband Martin worked at the nearby Abernant Colliery.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25Martin's part of the coalfield had voted to remain in work, so he had
0:12:25 > 0:12:27gone to work on the Monday morning
0:12:27 > 0:12:29and by 11:30, he was back.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31I thought, "Oh, that's a bit strange."
0:12:31 > 0:12:33So he came up the garden path and I said...
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Because I could see him coming past the window.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38So I went to the back door and I opened the door and I said,
0:12:38 > 0:12:39"Oh, why you back home?"
0:12:39 > 0:12:42And he said, "Listen, Sian, I'll do anything for you.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46"I'll do anything, but I'm not crossing a picket line."
0:12:46 > 0:12:50And, hey, we understood that. You never cross a picket line.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52CHANTING, CLAPPING
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Within a week, flying pickets did their job
0:12:56 > 0:12:59and all the pits were out on strike.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02But feelings were strong as clashes with the police exposed
0:13:02 > 0:13:05deep bitterness against the Tory Government.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- Everyone knew the stakes were high. - What the bloody hell are you doing?
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Is it a police state?
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Are we going back to the bloody days of Germany,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15with a bloody Gestapo regime?
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Bloody Margaret Thatcher Regime, all right?
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Which stabs you in the bloody back!
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Half of you will be out of a bloody job shortly,
0:13:22 > 0:13:23because you won't be bloody needed!
0:13:23 > 0:13:26- Aye! Correct.- Scabs! Scabs, you are.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28ALL: Scabs!
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Violence was common on both sides,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35as thousands of picketing miners were arrested.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Community relations were strained to the limit.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47We were picketing and picketing hard. Pushing and shoving.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50And this policeman just came out of the crowd and smacked me
0:13:50 > 0:13:51on my eye. I had a lovely black eye.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55I ended up grabbing him down on the floor and I had him by the throat.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59And I always remember this. The sergeant...
0:13:59 > 0:14:03I won't tell you his name. He was from the same village.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Played on my soccer team. He said, "Tyrone, leave him go."
0:14:07 > 0:14:09I said, "Listen. This is what he's done to me, for no reason."
0:14:09 > 0:14:13"Tyrone, please," he said. "Leave him go."
0:14:13 > 0:14:15And then I got up and stood up.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19But that was incredible, you know, that there I was,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23non-violent, grabbing a policeman by his throat
0:14:23 > 0:14:26and the very man who saved me was another policeman.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30Women were also in the thick of the action.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38Miners' wives, sisters and daughters got stuck into organising
0:14:38 > 0:14:42donations from local communities and further afield.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44People have no money coming in at all.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Money was desperately needed to give miners
0:14:47 > 0:14:52and their families something to live on. There was no strike pay.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56Sian James was in a support group for 1,000 families.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01I got involved with the fundraising to pay for the food.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06So that was pretty important, but it meant that you went around in your
0:15:06 > 0:15:11community, because it was important that we kept that money coming in.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13It didn't matter how we kept it going,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16we needed to keep it coming in.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Some people religiously gave you money every week.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Other people donated in kind.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25They would give you food, they would give you tins.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27Other people would give you jumble.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36With so much at stake, many women give their all for the strike.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40It ramps up into more direct action.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44It ramps up into me being more physically involved.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Where we could organise ourselves as women, where we
0:15:48 > 0:15:53could decide where we were going picketing and off we went.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56- CHANTS:- Maggie, Maggie, Maggie... - All:- Out, out, out!
0:15:56 > 0:16:00One of the most contentious targets for the pickets was
0:16:00 > 0:16:02the steelworks at Port Talbot.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Here, they appealed to lorry drivers not to make deliveries.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11Have you got children? Can they eat food? Because my children can't.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13That's what we are here for.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17The NUM's strategy was to put pressure on the Government
0:16:17 > 0:16:20by engineering a collapse of the economy.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22This could only be achieved by stopping
0:16:22 > 0:16:26the supply of stockpiled coal to power stations and steelworks.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34But at Port Talbot, the men of steel feared if this happened,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37they would be out of a job.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42As miners leader Arthur Scargill and steelworkers boss Bill Sirs met,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45feelings were running high in the heavy industries of Wales.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50Miners and steelmen have failed to settle their differences.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55The miners' strike was something that I think hurt every steelworker.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57The miners are the salt of the earth.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03I had friends who were miners. So I felt terrible for them.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07But, I mean, it was something that you just couldn't let happen.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09And our general secretary said it.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13If we had had dispensation for us to have a certain amount
0:17:13 > 0:17:18of coal to keep our furnaces safe, we would have been OK with that.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22But no, their executive took the decision that they wanted to
0:17:22 > 0:17:25close it, and we wouldn't let it happen.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28At the end of the day, we had to safeguard our jobs.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32As the months wore on,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36it became a huge test of endurance for miners and their families.
0:17:37 > 0:17:43Personal debts mounted as divisions grew within the pit communities.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47A few were now desperate to get back to work.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50But though many miners never lost the will to win the strike,
0:17:50 > 0:17:55not everyone supported the leadership of the NUM's Arthur Scargill.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59- CHANTING:- Arthur Scargill, Arthur Scargill!
0:18:03 > 0:18:04I thought we was going to win.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07I didn't think there was any need to brag about the strike or what
0:18:07 > 0:18:09he was calling to do to Margaret Thatcher.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12He was going to pull her down. We didn't want that.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15All we wanted was to get back to work, really.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20Win the strike and get back to work as quickly as possible.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23But it just dragged on and dragged on.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26I think, in the end, we had all had enough.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35We were hanging on and doing a damn good job of hanging on.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39You know, with the support of our communities, but the
0:18:39 > 0:18:44questions were rising then about what we were hanging on for.
0:18:44 > 0:18:45Could we end up isolated?
0:18:47 > 0:18:49I don't think I was prepared to see that at the time.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Everything was black and white to me, then. There was no grey area.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Looking back on it, there was an awful lot of grey, but I couldn't...
0:18:57 > 0:18:58We couldn't see it at that time.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01I don't think we could allow ourselves to see it.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08The year-long strike ended on 3rd March, 1985.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12In one of the most poignant moments in the history of Welsh mining,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15the men of Maerdy Colliery marched back to work.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22It was a scene repeated all over the South Wales coalfield.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25The miners had lost the most bitter strike of the century.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32A lot of people said they was proud to walk back to work.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34I didn't think I was proud to walk back to work.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Because we were defeated, without a doubt.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40A lot of people said no, we wasn't defeated. We was.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43We lost the strike and we knew that.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46CHEERING
0:19:55 > 0:19:58But some believed it could have been a victory
0:19:58 > 0:20:01if only they had stayed on strike a little longer.
0:20:01 > 0:20:06First of all, I was very bitter. I was mad. I think it's crazy.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09The feeling, the mood of the country is changing.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Let's hang on for another five or six weeks.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15You will see the mood change in our favour.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17Because I honestly felt that we could win.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20I really did, otherwise I wouldn't have said it.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23This wasn't about hanging about for the sake of it.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25I don't regret one minute.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28To stand up, to fight for what you believe in,
0:20:28 > 0:20:30to fight for your next-door neighbour,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33to fight for the people in your street, for their kids.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42The consequences of the strike for South Wales were profound.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50Damage to the pits was immense. 11 coal faces were beyond repair.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57The coal board had lost more than £150 million.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02After a year of struggle without pay,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04there was no wage increase for miners at the end.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12And pit closures now came thick and fast.
0:21:16 > 0:21:23I defy these people! By burning the flag right in front of them!
0:21:23 > 0:21:26This is all about what they have and should have.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Blaengarw closed in December 1985 -
0:21:30 > 0:21:33only a few years after the community was told the pit had
0:21:33 > 0:21:36a long and secure future.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38CHANTING
0:21:48 > 0:21:51The post-strike '80s was a time Bryn Davies,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54seen here at Maerdy Colliery, remembers well.
0:21:56 > 0:22:02For quite a couple of years, we was paying back mortgages. It was hard.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07For the next 12 months, two years. And not just that.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11After we paid back, it was knowing the pit was going to close.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14We had a good idea that they would run the pits down.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18The atmosphere in the pit wasn't the same.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23The last day in the pit, when we came up, a lot of the boys,
0:22:23 > 0:22:27we was just talking in the cage coming up, "What are we going to do?
0:22:27 > 0:22:31"What do we think we're going to do?" We went into the bars, then.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37I remember going in and just sitting down and thinking...
0:22:37 > 0:22:38"What's next?"
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Miners like Bryn Davies received redundancy pay,
0:22:51 > 0:22:56based on the number of years they had worked in the pit, after it closed.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00For the older men, this could be a large sum of money.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02But with mining being all they knew,
0:23:02 > 0:23:07some found the prospect of finding new work too much to bear.
0:23:09 > 0:23:15A couple of my friends, they had the redundancy money and...
0:23:15 > 0:23:18I think they just went out and drank and drank.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22A couple of them just couldn't take it and they have never worked since.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26A lot of the families broke up through it.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28I think that's what hurts.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33To see people like that, good, hard-working people.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39Sad. It's really sad.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46Without the pits,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49many of the younger generation faced unemployment in the valleys.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58But opportunities were now increasing in the new creative industries,
0:23:58 > 0:23:59especially music.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08Mike Peters achieved international success The Alarm with in the 1980s.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10However, the band never forgot their roots
0:24:10 > 0:24:14and were also hugely popular in Wales.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20# I'm a man
0:24:20 > 0:24:22# Torn in two... #
0:24:23 > 0:24:25I did hear that word.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30It was only by going away that I started to appreciate where
0:24:30 > 0:24:33I had come from - when I came home.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39Returning to his homeland was often the inspiration for his music.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43To drive through Rhondda Valley in the late '80s and the aftermath
0:24:43 > 0:24:46of the miners' strike, the futility of the miners' strike, to see
0:24:46 > 0:24:51them broken and see the broken homes and broken communities...
0:24:51 > 0:24:54It was sad to see such a great culture
0:24:54 > 0:24:58and such a great set of people smashed.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01And I thought, through this music, I can write about them.
0:25:07 > 0:25:13# Throughout a lifetime, men have fought, men have given their lives
0:25:13 > 0:25:20# To hear a congregation sing Cwm Rhondda, oh, My Lord
0:25:20 > 0:25:26# Great, great change is the fair country
0:25:26 > 0:25:30# The future lies with the sons and daughters
0:25:30 > 0:25:33# South will meet with North
0:25:33 > 0:25:39# Say...say a prayer for the fair country
0:25:39 > 0:25:43# Great is the need for a new South Wales
0:25:46 > 0:25:52# Oh, someone hear my prayer
0:25:52 > 0:25:59# Oh, someone hear my prayer...
0:25:59 > 0:26:01# Oh... #
0:26:01 > 0:26:03During the '80s, there was
0:26:03 > 0:26:09one big hope for the future in a new South Wales. The steel industry.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Losses at British Steel fell dramatically as it
0:26:12 > 0:26:17competed in the world market, with a better quality of steel.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20Port Talbot alone received over £500 million of Government
0:26:20 > 0:26:23investment in machinery.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26We had a strong workforce, highly motivated
0:26:26 > 0:26:29and highly intelligent, And you had the kit.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31So naturally, it was going to fly.
0:26:32 > 0:26:38It always was about surviving, because it was in the global market.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41I mean, you had the Japanese, you had the Germans,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44you had the Koreans, you had the Russians.
0:26:44 > 0:26:45You had everything,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48and they all wanted to send all the cheap steel over here.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Well, that was doing us out of work.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Improved productivity was achieved with the company's
0:26:56 > 0:26:59slimline programme, at a cost of many more jobs.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01But with each round of redundancies,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05the union struck a deal for more pay for the remaining steelworkers.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10It was marvellous. I mean, the productivity went up.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13We had done a deal and the bonus would be better.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Without doing what we had done in the '80s,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23slimline after slimline, call it what you like,
0:27:23 > 0:27:27we done what was necessary to keep the works there.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Without the works, we wouldn't have a Port Talbot.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33We done what was necessary to survive.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41Margaret Thatcher was elected for a third term in 1987.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46The following year, British Steel was privatised.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48But in the valleys, unemployment remained high.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52A few miners tried to set up businesses
0:27:52 > 0:27:54with their redundancy money.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59It was a huge risk for men who only knew pit work.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02But the age of mass employment from coal was over.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07With his redundancy money, Bryn Davies
0:28:07 > 0:28:10and his wife took on running a bar in Ferndale.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13The first couple of weeks broke my heart.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Thinking have I done the right thing? Have I done the wrong thing?
0:28:17 > 0:28:19And it took me, I think, really about three months to
0:28:19 > 0:28:23get into it, because I was used to drinking the beer, not serving it.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27We worked hard for over 18 months.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30I didn't have a day off until we got on our feet.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32And then it got a lot easier, then.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39During the '80s, the once mighty industries of coal
0:28:39 > 0:28:43and steel were changed forever by the politics of Margaret Thatcher.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49But in the new Wales it created, there was still much to fight for.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53And next time in Wales: The Eighties,
0:28:53 > 0:28:57we see how women enjoyed a new-found independence and success.