0:00:04 > 0:00:07The 1990s was a decade of reinvention in Wales,
0:00:07 > 0:00:10when industries were born or swept away.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Change was in the air,
0:00:13 > 0:00:15and it was led by people with passion
0:00:15 > 0:00:17who took control of their own destiny.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21I wanted to start a strip show up.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24I was like, what a great way to make money!
0:00:24 > 0:00:26I'm going to do that! Kerching!
0:00:28 > 0:00:31At that time I was so, so passionate about what I was doing,
0:00:31 > 0:00:32I was running. I was running.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36And the business, it literally exploded.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Entrepreneurial doesn't mean you've got to be bad, or greedy.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44You can be a social entrepreneur, you know, and create wealth.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Wealth you know is going to be shared differently.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51This is the story of men and women who helped to create a new world of
0:00:51 > 0:00:55work in Wales, with their fighting spirit.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05In the '90s, millions were ploughed into hi-tech industries
0:01:05 > 0:01:10from outside Wales, in an attempt to revitalise the nation.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12There was investment form the Far East.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14MUSIC: No Limit by 2 Unlimited
0:01:14 > 0:01:18But our future lay much closer to home with men and women who were
0:01:18 > 0:01:23prepared to strike out on their own in new and old industries.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29The steel industry was a survivor from the past.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Traditionally a male preserve.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Yet an ambitious young woman saw the success at Llanwern
0:01:38 > 0:01:40as an opportunity to get a job.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Nicola Thomas studied engineering at college,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50before being taken on as an apprentice there.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54When I started it was like, "Wow, I've actually got in!
0:01:54 > 0:01:55"I've actually got in!"
0:01:55 > 0:01:58A woman's actually going to go in to the steelworks
0:01:58 > 0:02:01and actually work, hopefully, on the shop floor.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02That was my aim.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05At the time, I wanted to be a welder.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09I proved for six months I could weld, I was welding with the boys.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11They didn't have an issue with it as long as I welded well.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Nicola got her wish when she was given a job
0:02:15 > 0:02:18in the hot mill roll shop.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Here she helped with the maintenance of the huge rolls
0:02:21 > 0:02:23used in the production of steel.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25If you can master the hot roll shop,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29in my mind you can master anything else on site.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Because the majority of heavy stuff was in the roll shop.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35There was lots of physical work.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39You had to do a lot of slinging, doing a lot of stretching, bending.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41We had a lot of spanners.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43Like with a car mechanic, you've got a small spanner.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47We've doubled that about four, five times in size.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51And that's what we've got to use for these big nuts.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53I enjoyed working on the shop floor,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55that you've got to have a lot of common sense,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58and a lot of...wary about what's happening around you.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00If you haven't got that, then you can't do the job.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Llanwern was the only steelworks in Britain that employed women
0:03:06 > 0:03:07in its rolling mill.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11But breaking into a man's world took a lot of determination.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13You had to have a bit of pride,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16because with a girl you've got to do it a bit harder and prove,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18"Yeah, I am going to get this right."
0:03:18 > 0:03:21If I try it four times, five times, 50 times,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25I will do it better than what the boys are doing.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26Because the boys were saying,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28"I can do it once, that's it, that's me done."
0:03:28 > 0:03:31But no, you've got to keep going and going until you've done it right.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34You have to have a lot of confidence as well, to say,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36"Yeah, I'm in a man's world.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40"I'm going to work the same level as them, or go above them."
0:03:40 > 0:03:44As long as you can work as a team, it doesn't matter if you're male,
0:03:44 > 0:03:46female, whatever, in my mind.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51It just took them a long time in the steelworks to get out of the habit
0:03:51 > 0:03:54and say, "Yeah, it's a woman, so? It's not a problem."
0:04:00 > 0:04:01In Wales in the early '90s,
0:04:01 > 0:04:06many traditional male jobs became scarce, or non-existent.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Some men tried to come up with new ways to beat unemployment.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12MUSIC: Rhythm Is A Mystery by K-Klass
0:04:15 > 0:04:20One man in Swansea who was a bit of a Jack the Lad was Richie Rees.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25In 1992, he and a friend were looking for work.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28We went down the job centre, and we were going through all these things
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and as we were going across the board, like, "Oh!
0:04:31 > 0:04:33"Look, they want a strip-o-gram."
0:04:33 > 0:04:36So I said,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38"Let's go for that. Yes, come on, then!"
0:04:38 > 0:04:40And we were sitting there, in the interview.
0:04:40 > 0:04:41I don't know why I said it.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44It just...
0:04:44 > 0:04:47come out. And I said,
0:04:47 > 0:04:48"What we really want to do",
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and of course, the both of them looked at me.
0:04:51 > 0:04:52Jeff was like, "We do?"
0:04:52 > 0:04:56What we really want to do is, we want to start a strip show up.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Richie Rees got together with a couple of other Swansea men
0:05:04 > 0:05:08to form a male strip group, Centaur.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Their shows were exclusively for women.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13They were the precursor of The Full Monty
0:05:13 > 0:05:17and earned about £1,000 per show.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19It's my job to make sure you girls
0:05:19 > 0:05:24get exactly what you came for.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29I was basically grabbing an opportunity
0:05:29 > 0:05:31to give my kids a better life.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Perhaps I should have chosen something a little bit different.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40To channel my energies in at that time in my life, you know.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43But at the time I had blinkers on.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45I was like, "What a great way to make money.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47"I'm going to do that! Kerching!"
0:05:47 > 0:05:50You know, and it was a good way to make money.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55Girls love a guy in uniform.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Uniforms are a thing.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00You include all the women in the show as well,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02everybody who walked into that room was included in the show.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Right, that's it, you're going down.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14All over Britain, women were screaming everywhere.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18To me, the more they screamed, I thought to myself,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21the more money...that was there.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Running Centaur was a big challenge.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29But Richie benefited from government business courses,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32though his was not quite what was intended.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35They said if you can find a niche in the market,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38it has to be something that's sellable,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41that people are not particularly doing too well,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43or not doing at the time.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46So, for me, everything that I'd learned came to fruition
0:06:46 > 0:06:48with my strip show.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54The show developed from just boxer shorts
0:06:54 > 0:06:59to, one day, we had a discussion, going to a show in the van,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03and it was, "Right, OK, I think it's about time now we went naked."
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Ritchie knew he was onto a good thing
0:07:08 > 0:07:12and set about exploiting the Centaur brand with merchandising.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16With Centaur, now, the first thing we had, obviously,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18was posters to put in the clubs.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22And then we thought, "I wonder if they'd buy these posters?"
0:07:22 > 0:07:24So we started selling the posters.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28It's just something to remember the night with, isn't it?
0:07:28 > 0:07:31It's that little poster they can tell their friends, you know,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34covered in baby oil, and we'd sign the posters for them.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Ritchie earned good money from Centaur,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46but though it was an unconventional line of business,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50he was very clear why he was a male stripper.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53I wanted to give my children everything I never had as a kid.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57We really did struggle as a family when I was a child.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59I had nothing. And that's what Centaur gave me.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05But you're there to make sure these people have a good time.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08And when you're out on stage, they matter.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12You have to do what you do and therefore, on stage,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16the family didn't come into it, because you are performing.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18That was your job. That's what you done.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33Clothes manufacturing enjoyed a long history in Wales.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35But the recession of the early '90s
0:08:35 > 0:08:37forced many fashion businesses to fold.
0:08:41 > 0:08:47However, with support from local media, one young fashion designer in
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Cardiff was bucking the trend.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Her name was Jane Davies.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56I got picked up by the Western Mail,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00and the Western Mail took me on board as a new business starting up,
0:09:00 > 0:09:01at the start of the recession.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04And it was great because they followed me for a few months,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08and they were really, really fabulous with me.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12At that time I was so, so passionate about what I was doing.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14I was running. I was running.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16And everything was going with me.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19And then a fabulous shop in Cardiff approached me, and they said,
0:09:19 > 0:09:20will you stock our shop?
0:09:20 > 0:09:24And it was just, like, "Oh, my gosh, my stuff in your shop?"
0:09:24 > 0:09:26And I will always remember, when I went in to deliver it,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30it was thick gold carpet, and you had to ring the doorbell.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32And all they had was the black polo neck,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36classic black polo neck dresses and they used it as a window display.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38And it just, like, blew my head.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43In the early '90s, Jane's designs created a lot of attention
0:09:43 > 0:09:46at the Welsh fashion awards.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Then, with her work much in demand, she moved to North Wales.
0:09:50 > 0:09:51It was just a case of,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54I was literally doing the shows all the time,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56and the business was growing, and growing, and growing.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59We started stocking some of the biggest department stores in the UK.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04Then we did Europe, and the business was, literally, rocking.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07It was beyond-belief rocking.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13Then, in 1999, Jane Davies made a Welsh dragon dress for a niece,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and her career took on a whole new dimension.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19MUSIC: Bullet In The Gun by Planet Perfecto
0:10:19 > 0:10:22I came up with this idea of the Welsh dragon dress.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26It started off, I think it was a 12-piece collection
0:10:26 > 0:10:30and I took it down to Cardiff, and they literally sold it, like that.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36So after we'd gone from literally,
0:10:36 > 0:10:38making tens of everything,
0:10:38 > 0:10:43to thousands of everything, the business, it literally exploded.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46And it wasn't just the Welsh then, we just took it on board that,
0:10:46 > 0:10:48of course, all the other nations...
0:10:48 > 0:10:50And we did the British Isles in the beginning.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55In North Wales we used to manufacture all the dresses,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58the shirts, the boxer shorts,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01we had a swimwear company in Rhyl who used to make all the swimwear.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03And then down in the South Wales valleys then,
0:11:03 > 0:11:07they used to make all the fleeces, and the hats, and the scarves.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12So we had, we had an amazing amount of people.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14And they loved it as well.
0:11:14 > 0:11:15They loved making it.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22MUSIC: The Key The Secret by Urban Cookie Collective
0:11:22 > 0:11:25By the early '90s, more and more women were doing
0:11:25 > 0:11:27different types of jobs.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29And even when they started a family,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33they could leave their children at a creche, or even with their husband,
0:11:33 > 0:11:34while they went out to work.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46But the '90s also saw a rise in the number of marriages
0:11:46 > 0:11:48ending in divorce,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51with many women left to bring up their family alone.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56In such a situation, hopes of earning a living could seem remote.
0:11:57 > 0:11:58After her divorce,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02Linda Narberth lived with her three children in Bridgend.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07I would be wrong to deny that I've got
0:12:07 > 0:12:09tremendous willpower, I suppose. And determination.
0:12:09 > 0:12:16Absolutely adamant that I was going to be an independent woman,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20who could give my children a good life.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24But much of Linda's time was devoted to the care of her daughter, Kelly,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27who had a profound learning disability.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32Kelly Louise was born with severe brain damage, she couldn't see,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35she couldn't talk, she couldn't
0:12:35 > 0:12:36do anything for herself.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39She couldn't sit up. She couldn't stand.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43But she could also giggle a lot, and smile a lot.
0:12:43 > 0:12:44We had some good days.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Calling directory enquiry, which town, please?
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Linda signed up to the government's
0:12:50 > 0:12:53enterprise scream for single parents.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56It offered money and support in helping to start a business at home.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02Linda saw a niche in the market for computer training.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Computer training at the time was what was desperately,
0:13:04 > 0:13:05desperately needed.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10Every single business was changing over to proper computers.
0:13:10 > 0:13:15Linda ran her company, Business Direct, from her home in Bridgend.
0:13:15 > 0:13:21I thought that what was missing in the training arena was training
0:13:21 > 0:13:24that was actually provided and created
0:13:24 > 0:13:28for exactly what that person, or those people, needed to do.
0:13:28 > 0:13:34So I started creating courses which allowed them to do their whole job,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36much, much, quicker.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40And it's certainly what built our reputation as a business,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42providing very hands-on support.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Linda's business grew rapidly,
0:13:46 > 0:13:47and in recognition of her talent
0:13:47 > 0:13:52she was nominated for Welsh woman of the year in 1995.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56Then, a year later, she topped this by winning at the awards.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00But her success was even more remarkable
0:14:00 > 0:14:04because of the time she devoted to the care of her daughter, Kelly.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07It was always a struggle.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10There was nothing normal about my family life.
0:14:10 > 0:14:15It was nothing, nothing, for me to get called in the middle of the day,
0:14:15 > 0:14:16right in the middle of work,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19where I had to go for an emergency for my daughter.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21I had to go in the middle of the night,
0:14:21 > 0:14:25to maybe sort out things with Kelly, and then maybe still get back,
0:14:25 > 0:14:27have a shower, get to work,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29and be in work by half past seven in the morning.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32And keep going, keep going, keep going.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35In 1997, Linda was able
0:14:35 > 0:14:39to move her business into its own offices in Bridgend.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45It was one of the proudest days of my life, it absolutely was.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47It was just unimaginable
0:14:47 > 0:14:50that somebody who had said, "I need to get a job",
0:14:50 > 0:14:56to not only start my own business, but to have premises as well.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59To have training rooms, where we could train,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02you know, six, seven, ten people at the same time
0:15:02 > 0:15:04was just absolutely brilliant.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Then, a year later,
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Linda won a major contract to provide IT training
0:15:12 > 0:15:14at the new Welsh Assembly.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17But she feels there would have been no success story
0:15:17 > 0:15:19without her daughter, Kelly.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25She just inspired me, I think, to always keep going, and always keep,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28you know, believing that you had the strength
0:15:28 > 0:15:31to go to get through things, really.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Yeah. Incredibly inspiring.
0:15:35 > 0:15:36I think it just made me stronger.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43Linda Narberth was now a leader of her own team of computer trainers.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45MUSIC: Dreams Can Come True by Gabrielle
0:15:50 > 0:15:54The '90s saw the growth of a new adventure tourism in Wales.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57MUSIC: Sweet Harmony by The Beloved
0:15:57 > 0:16:00For some working in factories,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03the lure of the outward bound could be life-changing.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07In 1990, Gary Evans left his engineers job at Ford
0:16:07 > 0:16:10and joined his friend Nick Fitzgerald
0:16:10 > 0:16:12to create Hawk Adventures.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16We really believed in it. We really thought we could make that work.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19We were concentrating on the traditional activities,
0:16:19 > 0:16:24so climbing, caving, mountain biking. And mountain walking.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26People wanted to be guided in the mountains,
0:16:26 > 0:16:27they wanted to be kept safe.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Abseiling was one of their most popular activities.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44For us, you know, keeping people safe
0:16:44 > 0:16:47whilst giving them an adventurous time was our aim.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51We wanted to show people a side of themselves they'd never seen before,
0:16:51 > 0:16:55in a good way. And we were really focused on that.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01The '90s was a time when many people wanted to explore the more remote
0:17:01 > 0:17:05parts of the Welsh countryside during their leisure time.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07There was a growing desire for adventure,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11and Gary and Nick offered courses to meet this demand.
0:17:11 > 0:17:12They were tasters, really,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15they were a chance for people to try something new.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17People wanted to come along and learn how to read a map,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19or to understand more about what it meant
0:17:19 > 0:17:22to go underground into a cave.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25A lot of people came to us, they would want to go into the mountains
0:17:25 > 0:17:26and be the only people there.
0:17:26 > 0:17:27They would want to go underground,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29and feel they had the cave to themselves.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32There was much more of that, kind of, wilderness feel to it
0:17:32 > 0:17:34in those days.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39We started off with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of lofty ideas.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41And we really wanted to do the right thing.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47I was fascinated by the idea that people could learn to be better as a
0:17:47 > 0:17:50person, not just to learn technical skills.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52So I think, for me, I got a heck of a lot from feeling
0:17:52 > 0:17:54that I was helping other people.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57And one day somebody told me that they spent a week with us,
0:17:57 > 0:17:58and it had changed their life.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02And I realised that we were doing something pretty fundamental.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05MUSIC: I Can't Dance by Phil Collins and Genesis
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Right across Wales, it was hard to find work.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25The country was littered with the relics of past industries.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28Clogau Saint David's, in Snowdonia National Park,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31was once known as Britain's richest gold mine.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35It was famous for producing gold for royal wedding rings.
0:18:35 > 0:18:41But during 150 years of production, the seams yielded erratic results
0:18:41 > 0:18:44and a succession of owners were forced to close the mine.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49Then, in 1989, local millionaire businessman Bill Roberts
0:18:49 > 0:18:52came up with a new idea for the mine.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56I was energised by the whole prospect
0:18:56 > 0:18:59of making this fantastic mine,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01which has got great historical background,
0:19:01 > 0:19:02with all the royal connections,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05all the wedding rings that come from this very mine.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09One of the best and largest tourist attractions in Wales.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12My goal, at that time, was for people to think,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16"Oh, I'm going to Wales, I must go and see the gold mine."
0:19:16 > 0:19:19Bill Roberts bought the lease on the mine
0:19:19 > 0:19:21and set about making his idea a reality.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26But local people and the countryside commission were strongly opposed to
0:19:26 > 0:19:27the tourism venture.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31A public enquiry found in their favour
0:19:31 > 0:19:35and Bill was left with the remnants of an old gold mine.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Then his fortunes changed
0:19:39 > 0:19:44when he met an amateur geologist who knew the mine intimately.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46His name was Jack Williams.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50Old Jack Williams, he turned around to me, and he said, "Bill", he said,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52"I know of three miners.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56"Geraint, Huw, and Medwyn.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58"And Andrew, four miners.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00"Oh, and Raymond, five miners."
0:20:00 > 0:20:04He said, "We could get those boys, and we could get into the gold."
0:20:04 > 0:20:07I said, "Well, I don't know anything about mining, Jack."
0:20:07 > 0:20:09"Don't you worry, boy.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12"You've got the lease for the mine, I'll show you where the gold is."
0:20:12 > 0:20:18And, to be fair, within three weeks we were into good gold.
0:20:18 > 0:20:19Amazing.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Clogau was up and running again.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27But it needed an expert eye to spot the small deposits
0:20:27 > 0:20:29of gold in the rubble extracted from the mine.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33I'd got absolute confidence in Jack.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35He knew where to look.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39I remember getting a phone call one day,
0:20:39 > 0:20:41"Bill, you'd better come down. Have a look at this."
0:20:41 > 0:20:45And I went down, and it was this river of orange,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48it's in the quartz, and this river of orange
0:20:48 > 0:20:52was coming down from about, I don't know, 15 metres high,
0:20:52 > 0:20:53right to the ground.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59You're just looking at this, and you're thinking, "Wow!"
0:20:59 > 0:21:01And it just was fantastic to see this.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05This gold shining back at me from the mountainside.
0:21:07 > 0:21:08But as so often at Clogau,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11the seam of gold was only three millimetres deep,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15and once it was removed the hunt for more continued.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25Bill Roberts was discovering the reality of gold mining in Wales.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28His head for business told him he needed another new idea
0:21:28 > 0:21:31to make the most of his investment.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Such is the difficulty of mining Welsh gold,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37it just doesn't come easy at all.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40And I realised there wasn't going to be a lot.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Although we'd got quite a bit out to start with,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44I realised this was going to be inconsistent,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48and there was no way that this was going to be something
0:21:48 > 0:21:52that I could make a viable business out of.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56So I came up with the idea of putting a small amount
0:21:56 > 0:21:58of Welsh gold in jewellery.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Bill started Clogau Gold in Colwyn Bay in 1994.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10He was not afraid to take a step in the dark if he felt it was in the
0:22:10 > 0:22:11right direction.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15I didn't know anything about jewellery.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17I didn't know what 24 carat was.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19I didn't know what nine carat was.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22I didn't even like jewellery at that time.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26I'm the worst person to be in the jewellery business ever!
0:22:26 > 0:22:28But, you know, I had this determination
0:22:28 > 0:22:31and I had this marketing flair, to take it forward.
0:22:33 > 0:22:34During the '90s,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Clogau Gold expanded from selling a few pieces in
0:22:37 > 0:22:40local shops to markets in Britain and abroad.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46I think one of the challenges was finding people to take me seriously.
0:22:46 > 0:22:47They thought I was a joker.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51I'd come along, got this gold mine, I've got this Welsh gold,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55but because I am what I am, I found a way forward all the time.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Looking positively at everything, and thinking, "We can do this.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01"We can do that. Let's find out how to do this.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03"Let's do it better."
0:23:03 > 0:23:05That's how I built the business up.
0:23:09 > 0:23:10In the early '90s,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14coal mining as an industry in Wales was in its death throes.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23The final pit targeted for closure was Tower Colliery near Aberdare.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28But it was here that a remarkable last stand for coal was made.
0:23:28 > 0:23:34In April 1994, it seemed a management buyout was on the cards.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39However, it included a big cut in pay for the miners.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41This was unacceptable to many,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44and they reluctantly voted to close the pit.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48But feelings were running high at a meeting with British Coal,
0:23:48 > 0:23:49to formalise the closure.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Tyrone O'Sullivan, the pit's NUM branch secretary,
0:23:55 > 0:23:59was angry at how his men were forced into the situation.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02British Coal said you've got to sign here, Mr O'Sullivan,
0:24:02 > 0:24:04I said, "No, I'm not signing."
0:24:04 > 0:24:07I said, "My men have told me when I left the pit,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09"we don't want this pit to close.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12"Particularly, I don't. So I don't sign any forms."
0:24:12 > 0:24:14"Well, you've got to." I said, "We don't.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17"You do what you like now, I'm not signing no forms.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20"You close the pit." And we walked out.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21Jumped in the car.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28Got onto the motorway, all of a sudden, I'm sobbing.
0:24:28 > 0:24:29I'm the driver, I'm sobbing.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36Tyrone's link with Tower Colliery was deeply personal.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41When he was just 15, his father had been killed in an accident there.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43And he started work at the colliery
0:24:43 > 0:24:46the year he married his wife, Elaine, in 1967.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Tyrone would spend his entire career at Tower.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54One of the boys, he said, "Look, Tyrone, let's go for a pint."
0:24:54 > 0:24:56And we stopped off at a pub in Aberdare.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00We phoned our families, I phoned Elaine and the two girls,
0:25:00 > 0:25:02the other boys did the same.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05There was about 30 of us there.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07Reminiscing about those good times we had.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11And I'm telling this story because that's the very moment Elaine said
0:25:11 > 0:25:15to me, "Tyrone, that's when you decided to buy the pit.
0:25:15 > 0:25:16"You boys, together."
0:25:19 > 0:25:21When the miners of Tower colliery marched back
0:25:21 > 0:25:25to their pit on January 4th 1995,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28they were now the proud owners.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32It was the crowning glory to eight months of negotiations
0:25:32 > 0:25:34with banks and civil servants,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36underpinned by a deep loyalty between the men
0:25:36 > 0:25:39and their new management team.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Tyrone O'Sullivan, its chairman,
0:25:43 > 0:25:46had needed to draw upon their redundancy money.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50We then had to go back to the men and say, "Listen now,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52"we're thinking of buying the pit.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55"Can you all give us £2,000?"
0:25:55 > 0:25:58And everyone in that room put their hand up and said yes.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03And then back to the boys in the pit, I said,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07"Listen now, boys, remember I asked you for £2,000?"
0:26:07 > 0:26:08"Yes, Tyrone."
0:26:09 > 0:26:12"Well, now I want another £6,000."
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Because we've got to raise, between us, two million quid.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18And no-one dropped out again.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Everyone put their hand up and said, "We are there."
0:26:23 > 0:26:27Having won over the banks, next was the government.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31Then, finally, just before Christmas 1994,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35the DTI signed over the pit for an initial £1 million.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39The day, at one minute past midnight,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42and we waited for that one minute to pass,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45so it became ours on one minute past midnight.
0:26:45 > 0:26:46That was magical.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49MUSIC: Rocks by Primal Scream
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Tower colliery, now owned by its workforce,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54got off to a flying start.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59By the end of the year, it made a £4.5 million profit.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06Tyrone O'Sullivan was at the centre of the management team.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09It was an extraordinary transformation for a man
0:27:09 > 0:27:13who was renowned as a flying picket at the height of the miners' strike
0:27:13 > 0:27:16just ten years before.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18I'm a social entrepreneur.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24Entrepreneurial doesn't mean you've got to be bad or greedy.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26You can be a social entrepreneur.
0:27:26 > 0:27:27You know, and create wealth,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29wealth that's going to be shared differently.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34And every month I used to call a meeting,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36how do you keep the morale up?
0:27:36 > 0:27:39So every meeting, very quiet right at the end,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43and the boys used to say, "What are you saying now?"
0:27:43 > 0:27:45And I'd go like this, I'd go,
0:27:45 > 0:27:47"We're simply the best.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49"Better than all the rest.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51"Better than everyone.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54"Anyone you ever met."
0:27:54 > 0:27:58And that song became our song.
0:27:58 > 0:27:59It became our anthem.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01MUSIC: The Best by Tina Turner
0:28:06 > 0:28:09If we'd never bought Tower colliery,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12on my gravestone would have been he was a bloody good picket.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17Right? Now, at least, it can be put on there,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20that he was a part of the workers' buyout in Tower.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23And I think that alone
0:28:23 > 0:28:25is enough of an achievement to me.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Tyrone O'Sullivan was made an OBE in 1996.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41In the '90s, there was a real sense that Wales was changing,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44pioneered by men and women who helped to carve out
0:28:44 > 0:28:46a future for the nation.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48As the decade closed,
0:28:48 > 0:28:51the people of Wales could look forward to the new millennium
0:28:51 > 0:28:55with more hope and self-confidence than ever before.