0:00:07 > 0:00:10The South Wales valleys,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13a landscape of stark natural beauty.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17It is a landscape forever beaten by the weather,
0:00:17 > 0:00:22a landscape transformed by the work of man over the past 250 years.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25All around here, and in particular down there,
0:00:25 > 0:00:26in that Welsh town.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32From small rural community to Wales' first real town,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34to Wales' largest town,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37to the world's greatest producer of iron.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41It was here that the steam locomotive was invented,
0:00:41 > 0:00:45where the red flag of revolution was first flown in Wales,
0:00:45 > 0:00:49and where the seeds of the Labour Party were first sown.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51And a town whose industrial might
0:00:51 > 0:00:54powered Britain's drive to prosperity.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Events have taken place here that have shaped not only Wales,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01but the history of the industrial world.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04This is the story of Merthyr Tydfil.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Sitting at the top of the Taff Valley,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29on the edge of the Brecon Beacons,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Merthyr today has a population of 55,000.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Bronze Age man had settled here, as had the Romans.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44And the name? Well, that goes back to the fifth century.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Legend has it that St Tydfil was the daughter of a local king.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Whilst visiting her sister in Aberfan,
0:01:50 > 0:01:56Tydfil and her family were ambushed and massacred by a band of pagans.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58The story goes that before she died,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00she prayed for the souls of her attackers,
0:02:00 > 0:02:03refusing to give up her Christian faith.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07Now, "merthyr" in Welsh means martyr.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Does the town's name have anything to do with Tydfil becoming a martyr?
0:02:11 > 0:02:13It seems not.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Merthyr is more likely to come from "martyrium",
0:02:16 > 0:02:20the Latin word originally meaning "the saint's resting place".
0:02:20 > 0:02:23So Tydfil, in later life, did become a saint.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Merthyr Tydfil, Tydfil's burial place.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28And where is she said to have been buried?
0:02:28 > 0:02:32Right here, where St Tydfil's Church now stands.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36In the Middle Ages, a settlement grew around the church.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42Even in the 1700s, Merthyr the village was still a quiet affair,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45a farming community made up of just 40 houses.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52In 1759, all that was about to change when a group of entrepreneurs
0:02:52 > 0:02:55found the perfect place to make their fortune.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00For all around lay the key ingredients to make iron
0:03:00 > 0:03:04iron ore, limestone, wood for charcoal and water.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Those early ironmasters had hit the jackpot,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11and four great ironworks were soon built
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Dowlais, Plymouth, Cyfarthfa and Penydarren.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19And when coal replaced charcoal in the smelting process,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22productivity increased even more.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26By the 1770s, under the management of businessman Anthony Bacon,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Cyfarthfa really came into its own.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33And this early success was down to one thing.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41War.
0:03:41 > 0:03:46In 1775, Britain was involved in conflicts all over its Empire.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50Demand for cannons and other weapons produced in Merthyr was huge.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53But there was a problem.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Bacon had become a Member of Parliament.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57He couldn't carry on as an ironmaster
0:03:57 > 0:04:01supplying weaponry to the Government AND serve as an MP.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04He withdrew, and in came William Crawshay.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Under Crawshay, Cyfarthfa flourished
0:04:08 > 0:04:11and became the largest ironworks in the world,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15playing a significant role in the Napoleonic Wars.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20In 1802, Admiral Lord Nelson paid a surprise visit to Merthyr
0:04:20 > 0:04:24to oversee the production of cannons for his flagship, HMS Victory.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27The story goes that Richard Crawshay is so overcome
0:04:27 > 0:04:31at the sight of Lord Nelson that he rushes up to him,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34grabs him by his one good arm, spins him round,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38and says, "Here's Nelson, boys! Shout, you beggars!"
0:04:39 > 0:04:42After the Battle of Trafalgar three years later,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45the French claimed the superiority of the Welsh iron
0:04:45 > 0:04:47was the reason for their defeat.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54By the 1800s, Merthyr had become a hotbed of innovation.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Cyfarthfa engineer Watkin George
0:04:58 > 0:05:00built the world's largest water wheel
0:05:00 > 0:05:02to carry water to the furnaces.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06It was so impressive it was dubbed the eighth wonder of the world.
0:05:07 > 0:05:08But that's not all.
0:05:10 > 0:05:11A few years later,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Watkin George designed something even more pioneering,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17hidden today on the edge of this industrial estate.
0:05:19 > 0:05:2148 feet long, spanning the River Taff,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25this is the Pont-y-Cafnau, the bridge of troughs.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Built in 1793,
0:05:27 > 0:05:32it is the oldest surviving iron railway bridge in the world.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36There's something very unusual about this bridge.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Watkin George by trade was a carpenter.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43This A-frame is a classic design for wooden structures.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46His bridge here is made entirely of iron.
0:05:50 > 0:05:51And invention didn't stop there.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Ten years later, at the nearby Penydarren ironworks,
0:05:56 > 0:05:58engineer Richard Trevithick's genius
0:05:58 > 0:06:01helped to shape the future of the modern world.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05On 21st February 1804,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08one of Trevithick's locomotives travelled along this route,
0:06:08 > 0:06:14carrying 10 tons of iron and 70 men at a whopping 5mph.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18It came from Penydarren in Merthyr behind me through this tunnel,
0:06:18 > 0:06:20only the oldest railway tunnel in the world,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23to Abercynon down here, nine miles away.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Forget Stephenson's Rocket.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29On this route, more than 25 years earlier,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32a full-scale steam locomotive engine
0:06:32 > 0:06:35pulled a load on rails for the very first time.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39# But the train keeps a-rollin'
0:06:39 > 0:06:43# On down to San Antone... #
0:06:43 > 0:06:45The rail industry took off.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47The railway boom of the 1820s and '30s
0:06:47 > 0:06:50saw the demand for iron tracks go into overdrive.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Dowlais ironworks overtook Cyfarthfa
0:06:57 > 0:06:59to become the world's biggest employer,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02with 5,000 people on its books.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06The town's population exploded,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10and Merthyr was well on its way to becoming Wales' largest town.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Workers came from rural Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21On the face of it, Merthyr was booming.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22But success came at a price.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32With such a rapid influx of workers, slum conditions were inevitable.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36Sanitation was almost nonexistent.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Outbreaks of cholera were widespread,
0:07:38 > 0:07:45and the average life expectancy was just 17½ years old.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48And while the workers lived in all this squalor and poverty,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50where did the ironmasters live?
0:07:52 > 0:07:53In a castle, of course.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56William Crawshay II
0:07:56 > 0:08:00commissioned this imposing mock castle as a family home.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02It reigned over the Cyfarthfa works
0:08:02 > 0:08:06and served as a constant reminder to the downtrodden ironworkers
0:08:06 > 0:08:09of exactly where they stood in the pecking order.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13And yet the workers still came in hope of a better life.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17People came mainly for money, but not only for money.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19As one historian once put it,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22they came for the wages of sin and savagery.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26They came to get away from the loneliness of the hillside farms,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28the boredom of country life.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30They come from places where the work is hard,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33they're working in the fields, in the cold, the wet and the rain.
0:08:33 > 0:08:34Conditions are bad in Merthyr,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37but they're almost as bad in the countryside and sometimes worse,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40whereas you come to Merthyr, you've got bright lights,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43you've got the pubs, you've got comradeship.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46If there is this influx from the rural west,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48what are they bringing with them?
0:08:48 > 0:08:50They bring their religion, language,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52and they also bring their country ways.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55The Welsh countryside was quite a wild place.
0:08:55 > 0:08:56They bring all that to Merthyr.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02One area of Merthyr called "China"
0:09:02 > 0:09:06was so wild that it became the most notorious district in Wales.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09But people weren't just fighting each other.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11They were fighting the system, too,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14and when the iron industry slumped in 1829,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16it hit the lower classes hard.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20The Court of Requests, the bailiffs of their day,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23were called in to settle their debts.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Events gathered pace on May 31st 1831.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30Worker Lewis Lewis led a march
0:09:30 > 0:09:33to take back goods seized from the poor.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37He marched into town, going from door to door.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39A crowd of followers formed behind them.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42They carried a sheet dipped in sheep's blood.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44It was the first time in the history of Wales
0:09:44 > 0:09:48that the red flag of revolution had been flown.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50The Merthyr Rising had begun.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Soldiers from Cardiff and Brecon were drafted in to restore order.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00June 3rd the soldiers and the crowd,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04now several thousand strong, confront each other here.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06This is where the Castle Inn used to stand.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10Inside, magistrates and ironmasters are holding a meeting.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Outside, the crowd, angrily demanding better pay,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16better working conditions, social reform.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19The soldiers opened fire on them.
0:10:21 > 0:10:2426 were killed, and hundreds were wounded.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25The inn was held under siege,
0:10:25 > 0:10:30and, for four days, the town would remain under the workers' control.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Lewis Lewis was finally arrested.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37So too was a 23-year-old miner known as Dic Penderyn,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40charged with stabbing a soldier.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43To public outcry, the young miner was convicted
0:10:43 > 0:10:45and hanged in Cardiff Gaol.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48He became a working-class hero
0:10:48 > 0:10:51and has lived on in Merthyr hearts and minds ever since.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55This used to be a furniture shop.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58When a nationwide chain wanted to convert it into a pub,
0:10:58 > 0:11:00they were going to call it by a famous Merthyr name,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03so they called it the John Josiah Guest.
0:11:03 > 0:11:08A local historical society said, "Hmm, maybe you should think again."
0:11:08 > 0:11:10They did, and now it's the Dic Penderyn.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16Many see the events of 1831 as a turning point.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19The first trade unions were formed soon afterwards,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22and there were calls for parliamentary reform.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26In 1832, the Reform Act was finally passed,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29but still only a mere 8% of the male population
0:11:29 > 0:11:31had the right to vote.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37There was a long way to go, despite the sacrifices of the uprising.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41In the mid-1800s, people were still living in cramped conditions.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Overcrowding was a serious problem, both above ground and below ground.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Charity shop manager Jayne Nicholls
0:11:49 > 0:11:52recently made a fascinating discovery.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Well, well, Jayne... what have you got here?
0:12:02 > 0:12:06This is where the cellar dwellers used to live.
0:12:06 > 0:12:07The cellar dwellers.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20- And...oh, a working fireplace. - Fireplace, yeah.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23- With... What's that?- That's an oven.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26- Which means that people... - People were living here.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28- Yeah.- And actually cooking here.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32It is a cellar, we're underground, is there any daylight at all?
0:12:32 > 0:12:36- What's this up here?- That's all they would have seen, a little grid.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38And the only thing they would see through the grid
0:12:38 > 0:12:40is going to be people's feet going past.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Now, one cellar here under your shop.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44Do you think there were more in Merthyr?
0:12:44 > 0:12:46I should have think there would be.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50There's got to be loads of them, long forgotten about.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59The people of Merthyr needed solace and refuge from the hardships.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Many found it in the chapels.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09Nonconformity was sweeping South Wales
0:13:09 > 0:13:11and in the first half of the 19th century,
0:13:11 > 0:13:142,500 chapels were built
0:13:14 > 0:13:17with both English and Welsh-speaking congregations.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Hymn singing became as commonplace in chapels as prayer meetings,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25and before long chapel choirs and orchestras
0:13:25 > 0:13:28would compete at eisteddfodau and musical festivals.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30And nowhere was this seen more
0:13:30 > 0:13:33than in the close-knit community of Dowlais.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37Choirs from there were respected, feared even, by their rivals.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39Between 1880 and 1900,
0:13:39 > 0:13:44the community produced at least ten musical groups or societies.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47The Dowlais Glee Party, the Dowlais Choral Society,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51the Dowlais Philharmonic, the Dowlais Operatic Society,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55the Dowlais Harmonic Society, the Dowlais Music Lovers.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Not forgetting, of course, the Dowlais Male Voice Choir.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Take it away, boys!
0:14:01 > 0:14:05THEY SING IN WELSH
0:14:29 > 0:14:33There we go. Now, the music sort of speaks for itself but tell us, Carl,
0:14:33 > 0:14:38about how, why, how does it have this hold on us?
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Firstly, its tradition. Secondly, its heritage.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46And of course, escapism from the drudgery of the iron ore mines
0:14:46 > 0:14:48and the coal mines.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51And wasn't there a spirit of rivalry, competition here?
0:14:51 > 0:14:57Yes, very much so. In certain Eisteddfods, there are people up to 20,000 or even more.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02Not only are the competitors very enthusiastic, but you get supporters as well.
0:15:02 > 0:15:10And these supporters, sometimes it turns into altercations and sometimes a bit of a violent nature.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12CHOIR SINGS IN WELSH
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Ah, the old favourite and made in Wales, Carl?
0:15:20 > 0:15:24Myfanwy, yes, by one of the greatest sons of Merthyr, Dr Joseph Parry.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Born here in this cottage in Merthyr Tydfil, the greatest Welsh composer
0:15:28 > 0:15:32of the 19th century, with his 400 hymn tunes, his nine operas.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35You could say he was the pop star of the day.
0:15:38 > 0:15:44Merthyr moved into the 20th century to the backdrop of music and the steady hum of industry.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48The works at Dowlais were now manufacturing steel and had been using
0:15:48 > 0:15:55the revolutionary Bessemer process to produce it cheaply on an unprecedented scale.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59But coal was still in high demand for steamships and railways.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01A number of collieries were opened to meet that demand,
0:16:01 > 0:16:07and by 1911, over half of all men were working with coal.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10On the political stage, the town's tradition of radicalism
0:16:10 > 0:16:15continued, when it elected Britain's first socialist MP in 1900.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20Scotsman Keir Hardie went on to become the first leader of the Labour Party.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27The First World War started in 1914.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32The war triggered an amazing generosity.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35The people of Merthyr put their hands in their pockets
0:16:35 > 0:16:37and dug deep to help fund the war effort.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47In 1918, a tank rolled into Merthyr and up the high street.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52It was part of the Tank Bank campaign,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54to sell government war bonds.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01In the space of just four days, the people of Merthyr raised £1.1 million.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04That was more than Cardiff and Newport combined.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08And by way of a thank you, the War Cabinet gave the tank to Merthyr.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13And it stayed here until it was melted down in the next war effort, the Second World War.
0:17:13 > 0:17:181.1 million. In today's money, that's £60 million!
0:17:20 > 0:17:23The years that followed the Great War hit Merthyr hard.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27The 1930s signalled the Great Depression.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32World trade juddered to a halt and Welsh coal and steel were no longer in demand.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Strikes were commonplace.
0:17:35 > 0:17:40Merthyr men, for the first time in their lives, faced long-term unemployment.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45By 1932, more than 80% of all men in Dowlais were out of work.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49Merthyr was on its knees.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52This was the beginning of very hard times.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57Merthyr had no plan B, if you like, to fall back on.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59It was coal, it was steel.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02If those two fell, there was nothing to replace.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05Now they were discussing what to do with Merthyr,
0:18:05 > 0:18:07weren't some plans a bit wackier than others?
0:18:07 > 0:18:11One in particular, political and economic planning,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15recommended Merthyr Tydfil be totally abandoned as a town and be moved,
0:18:15 > 0:18:19lock, stock and barrel to an unspecified coastal location,
0:18:19 > 0:18:24or somewhere in the Usk Valley above Newport, and the town itself be abandoned.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29And some plans were to flood the whole area for useful water.
0:18:29 > 0:18:35Parliament were at a loss as how to cope with these distressed areas.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39There's an agenda in Parliament where on the timetable,
0:18:39 > 0:18:44first was the Palestinian issue, and second was the Merthyr Tydfil issue.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46All debated in one afternoon session.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Answers were not found to either.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01During the 1930s, the Dowlais iron and steel works were demolished.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Part of the business had already moved to East Moors in Cardiff.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09But the works that were left in Dowlais were completely flattened.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16In 1936, King Edward VIII visited the dismantled remains.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Margaret Lloyd was six years old at the time,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25and remembers the day the King came to town.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30To think that a real Royal was coming to Merthyr.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34We had to go and see that, didn't we? Like film stars coming now, you know.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37What was the town like, was there this sense of excitement?
0:19:37 > 0:19:40We were all very excited, good gracious me.
0:19:40 > 0:19:46I remember going with my father, and the excitement of going to see this different person.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Because as far as I was concerned, royalty was another world.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53They weren't like us ordinary people. Something special.
0:19:53 > 0:19:58So my father decided if I was going to get a good look at this thing, I was to go up on his shoulder.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03So there we were, and I remember being lifted up on his shoulder, waiting for this
0:20:03 > 0:20:08wonderful person to come out on the balcony outside the town hall.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14And then he came out and what a disappointment.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20His face was all red as if he'd been out in the weather.
0:20:20 > 0:20:25I thought my father was much better looking, much more refined.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27King Edward, on seeing the destitution,
0:20:27 > 0:20:32delivered a speech proclaiming "that something must be done".
0:20:32 > 0:20:37But just two weeks later, he had abdicated to marry American divorcee, Wallis Simpson.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42He'd let us down, hadn't he? After all his promises, all his waving.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45It didn't mean anything. He was in disgrace.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52During the Second World War, Merthyr's economy revived temporarily,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56as Welsh iron and steel were once more in demand for weapons and aircraft.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02But after the war, light manufacturing took centre stage,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04with several large companies moving to the area.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10In October 1948, the American-owned Hoover company opened the doors
0:21:10 > 0:21:14to its washing machine factory to celebration, fanfare and promise.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23For those with a steady job, life in Merthyr in the 1950s was the best it had ever been.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27But living conditions hadn't improved for everyone,
0:21:27 > 0:21:32some people were still living in slum houses built 150 years earlier.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Declared unfit for human habitation, there'd been calls
0:21:37 > 0:21:41for properties in Dowlais to be demolished for years.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45The calls were finally answered in the '60s.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48The houses were flattened, and residents were forced to move
0:21:48 > 0:21:54to what was to become one of the largest housing estates in Europe...
0:21:54 > 0:21:57the Gurnos.
0:21:57 > 0:22:02Carole Thomas made the move with her husband and two children in 1965.
0:22:02 > 0:22:08Her two-up, two-down in Dowlais, with its outside toilet and tin bath, had become unsafe.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11The houses in Gurnos promised it all.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16Indoor bathrooms, open-plan living, large back gardens and wide streets.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21Even so, Carole didn't want to leave her childhood home.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25There was this community who were more than just neighbours,
0:22:25 > 0:22:27friends and neighbours.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30We were like a larger family.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Dowlais was a town in its own right.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38And the Gurnos was just a housing estate,
0:22:38 > 0:22:42and it should have been built as a small town.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47I think there would have been a much more sense of community there.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50Carole went on to have another five children.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53All seven have done well, and Carol doesn't believe
0:22:53 > 0:22:57the Gurnos Estate deserves the criticism it often attracts.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01There's always a negative side of the Gurnos.
0:23:01 > 0:23:06And I said, if I can do it, anybody can do it, especially with seven.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10We were very fortunate because we had the home life.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13We had the school and we had the church.
0:23:13 > 0:23:19And the three worked together, and that's why I think my children succeeded.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29The houses of Dowlais might have gone, but heavy industry continued into the '60s.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34There were a number of mines in the area, and one of them,
0:23:34 > 0:23:41Merthyr Vale, was to be the cause of one of the most harrowing tragedies in Welsh modern history.
0:23:42 > 0:23:49On 21st October 1966, part of the village of Aberfan, including the school,
0:23:49 > 0:23:54was buried under the waste of the mine's collapsed Number 7 coal tip.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00144 people died.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03111 of them, children.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10Many were critical of the way the community was treated following the tragedy.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Including the town's MP, Stephen Owen Davies,
0:24:13 > 0:24:15also known as S.O. Davies.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Three years later, after 36 years as Labour MP,
0:24:20 > 0:24:26the local party told the 84-year-old he was too old to stand.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30S.O. refused to retire, and stood as an independent socialist.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34It was the first challenge to the Labour Party ever seen in Merthyr,
0:24:34 > 0:24:39and S.O.'s subsequent victory caused a sea change in the political landscape.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44On the sporting front, '60s World Featherweight Champion Howard Winston
0:24:44 > 0:24:47was Merthyr's favourite son.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50The town had produced a string of boxing heroes.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52Winston's trainer Eddie Thomas.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56And in the 1920s, Jimmy Wilde, born in Quakers Yard,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59was the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Years later, Johnny Owen, the Matchstick Man,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06would tragically lose his life in a fight for the world title.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13Merthyr's also a football town and has had a club since 1909.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17In 1987, they put the town on the European football map,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20with a defeat in the European Cup Winners' Cup
0:25:20 > 0:25:24of Italian club, Atalanta, at Merthyr's home, Penydarren Park.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32By the end of the '60s, Hoover was one of Merthyr's largest employers.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36Nearly 5,000 people clocked in and out every day.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40ARCHIVE: Hoover, Hoover have gone and found the washing machine
0:25:40 > 0:25:43that means the end, the end of washday!
0:25:43 > 0:25:44Washday? Just forget it.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Hoover Keymatic is the name.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49It's automated and that's the same as saying,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51never, ever will you think again about washday.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Washday? Just forget it.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58When it was launched, Hoover Keymatic was the ultimate status symbol.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Generations of families worked on the Hoover production line.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05My stepfather worked there, Sheila's father worked there.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09- I had a cousin working there. - All my cousins...
0:26:09 > 0:26:12If someone was in there that you knew or you were belonging,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14they'd do their best to try and get you a job.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17I worked there 32 years, I did.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19How many years did you work there?
0:26:19 > 0:26:22I worked there 35, and I finished when I was 55.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24Was it a laugh there?
0:26:24 > 0:26:29- We had fun, but we worked hard. - We used to sing as we worked.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33We'd all be singing, sometimes. Not a very good voice.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37We had a good social life. This is one of the Christmas do's.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41- Who's that?- Me. I can't do that now.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45- Marvellous, wasn't it?- Yeah.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47But the dream didn't last for ever.
0:26:47 > 0:26:52Manufacturing here went into slow decline, then moved abroad.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57And on 13th March 2009, the factory closed its gates for the last time.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02The demise of light industry has been tough for Merthyr.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06Today, unemployment stands at around 10%.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10But in Dowlais, one local business is going from strength to strength.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Printing firm Stephens & George has played an important part
0:27:14 > 0:27:19in not one, but two of the most celebrated events in recent British history.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23And both required the utmost discretion from its Merthyr workforce.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27The recent projects you've had - the Royal Wedding, there it is.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30The Royal Wedding project for us was absolutely fantastic.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35There was a new crest, which was the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's crest,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38on the back of the programme, which hadn't been seen by anybody.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42So, we had to ensure we produced the work virtually in secrecy.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45- To be revealed on the day only? - That's right.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48This is as good as royalty, the Olympic Opening Ceremony programme.
0:27:48 > 0:27:55There was Danny Boyle's opening, which all the tabloids wanted to know, what was in it?
0:27:55 > 0:28:00They did, and we were printing that probably two weeks before the Opening Ceremony.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04It's an accolade to the staff that nobody actually tried to take
0:28:04 > 0:28:06copies or sell them or do anything with them.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10But what of the town's future?
0:28:10 > 0:28:16A recent cash injection of £35 million will see regeneration take place
0:28:16 > 0:28:20at some of Merthyr's key sites, including its historic town hall.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28The age of iron, when this Welsh town was a giant, ended a century ago.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32100 years is a long time to languish.
0:28:32 > 0:28:39Enough time to disappear, and goodness knows there's been depression, disease and danger here.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42But Merthyr Tydfil did not die.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45And here it sits at the crossroads between East and West,
0:28:45 > 0:28:50between the valleys and the Brecon Beacons, with a heritage that is unique.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53There is no place on earth like here.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56There are no people like the people from here.
0:28:56 > 0:29:01They are as warm and generous as they are hard as nails.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05Nails, of course, forged in Merthyr Tydfil.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd