0:00:02 > 0:00:04'This is the River Taff in South Wales.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07'It runs from the wild summits of the Brecon Beacons
0:00:07 > 0:00:10'to the capital city, Cardiff.'
0:00:10 > 0:00:12I love this river, I absolutely love it.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16'40 years ago, the Taff was declared officially dead,
0:00:16 > 0:00:18'killed by centuries of heavy industry.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23'But today, it's one of the finest fishing rivers in Wales.'
0:00:23 > 0:00:26HE CHUCKLES How is that fish still on?
0:00:26 > 0:00:30'My name is Will Millard. I'm a writer and a fisherman.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34'I want to see how this river has come back to life.'
0:00:34 > 0:00:35It's so cold!
0:00:35 > 0:00:40'It may be short - you can walk the length of the Taff in three days -
0:00:40 > 0:00:44'but it runs through a stunning landscape, packed with history.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47'I want to get to know this river...'
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Damn! '..from source to sea.'
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Salmon from the city centre.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53What a river.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56This is the story of the River Taff.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06I grew up fishing the still waters of the Norfolk Fens,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08a long way from the Taff Valley,
0:01:08 > 0:01:10but my grandfather was from Yorkshire
0:01:10 > 0:01:13and spent his life working in the coal mines.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18My grandad had an immensely hard time down the pits.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Throughout his life, he always carried
0:01:20 > 0:01:24these big, white handkerchiefs and he would cough up coal dust
0:01:24 > 0:01:26into his handkerchief.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30I remember even as a kid thinking, "Why is my grandad coughing black?"
0:01:30 > 0:01:33I felt so far removed, really, from what he'd done.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35Then as he got into his later years
0:01:35 > 0:01:39and he started to suffer from ill health,
0:01:39 > 0:01:41I remember going to see him
0:01:41 > 0:01:45in hospital and I'd been working in a pub.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49I was quite tired and I thought he wasn't watching.
0:01:49 > 0:01:50He was an exceptionally tough man
0:01:50 > 0:01:54and I rested my head on the end of his bed
0:01:54 > 0:01:56and he said, "Is thee tired?"
0:01:56 > 0:02:01He said it in a way that wasn't sort of, "Oh, are you tired, my grandson?
0:02:01 > 0:02:02"I hope you're not tired."
0:02:02 > 0:02:05It was very much in that kind of, "Cos you shouldn't be.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08"Get your head off my bed," basically.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10And, um...
0:02:10 > 0:02:13it was the first time I'd ever seen his knee,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16in the hospital bed before he passed away
0:02:16 > 0:02:21and I remember it was peeking out the side of the bed sheet.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24And it was tattooed black...
0:02:25 > 0:02:26..with coal.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30You don't forget stuff like that.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39I'm halfway on my journey down the River Taff
0:02:39 > 0:02:42and I'm heading south from Merthyr Tydfil.
0:02:42 > 0:02:43On this stretch of the river,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47it was coal that shaped almost 200 years of history.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50The industry created communities
0:02:50 > 0:02:52employing hundreds of thousands of people
0:02:52 > 0:02:56packed into terraced houses on the banks of the river.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00WHISTLE HOOTS
0:03:02 > 0:03:04The Taff was a vital resource.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08It fed the canals that carried this black gold down to the sea.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12But water from the river was also used to wash coal,
0:03:12 > 0:03:16resulting in dust and lethal chemicals entering the watercourse.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19To travel down the Taff today,
0:03:19 > 0:03:23you have to look carefully to see any signs of coal mining.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25The slag heaps have been grassed over
0:03:25 > 0:03:27and the pit wheels dismantled.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33To find out more about the industry that transformed the Taff,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35I'm heading up one of its tributaries,
0:03:35 > 0:03:36the Rhondda River.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40This was once the Lewis Merthyr Colliery,
0:03:40 > 0:03:42but it's now the Rhondda Heritage Park.
0:03:46 > 0:03:47It's part of history.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Even for me now - I finished, um...
0:03:49 > 0:03:52I'd have said a couple of years ago - it's 20 years ago
0:03:52 > 0:03:53since I finished in the pits.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Ivor England and Graham Williams
0:03:55 > 0:03:59spent almost 80 years underground between them.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02- So that's what it's all about? - That's what it's all about.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04A lot of lives were lost
0:04:04 > 0:04:07getting that stuff up from under the ground, innit?
0:04:07 > 0:04:08Hmm?
0:04:11 > 0:04:15The coal from pits like this fuelled the British Empire,
0:04:15 > 0:04:17but it came at a heavy price.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21Waste from the collieries was washed into the rivers.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23It's estimated that in a single year,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27over 100,000 tonnes of colliery waste was dumped into the Taff.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30But for men like Ivor and Graham,
0:04:30 > 0:04:31mining was a way of life.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35This, in my opinion,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38is what all men who started work remember.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45You stood in the queue and waited till the time came.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- To go into what?- To go in the cage. - To go into that?!- Yeah.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50The cage was going down, coming up...
0:04:50 > 0:04:52I assumed that was just for the truck!
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Shift men were still coming up from the pit.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59The banksman, as they called him,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02he's responsible to make sure you go in, come out.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Bring it down.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09Press the button - "Ding, ding, ding!"
0:05:09 > 0:05:11"Pff-shew!" Down it should go.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17Ivor and Graham were both teenagers when they first went underground,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20descending almost 500 metres to pit bottom.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22I remember the first time I got out the cage,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25seeing horses for the first time that I'd heard so much about.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28- Horses were stabled underground, weren't they?- Aye.
0:05:28 > 0:05:29They came up once a year.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Life in the mines was tough,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36dark, dirty and dangerous,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39but a camaraderie was formed between the men
0:05:39 > 0:05:41who shared an equally dark sense of humour.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45I can remember when I was about 18 and I went on the coal first, Ivor,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47I was going to a rough place, in the rib.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51It was all crushing and cracking and everything was moving
0:05:51 > 0:05:54and two of the old collies there show up, and he said,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56"Do you think he'll come out of there?"
0:05:56 > 0:05:59The one said, "Maybe a man would have a chance,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02"but not a bloody boy, like that. No chance at all."
0:06:02 > 0:06:05One said, "You courting?" "Yeah, beautiful girl."
0:06:05 > 0:06:08- "Blonde girl, she'll look lovely in black."- Oh, God!
0:06:08 > 0:06:10I was going in there shaking.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12- Good grief.- A lot of black humour. - Yeah.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15I can remember going home and my mother saying,
0:06:15 > 0:06:16"Oh, look at your hands."
0:06:18 > 0:06:21All blisters and cuts and things like that.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23"What's the matter with your stomach?
0:06:23 > 0:06:26"What's the matter with your stomach?" I'd been laughing so much.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29The deep mineshafts here have been capped,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31but the lifts remain
0:06:31 > 0:06:34and now simulate the sensation of going underground.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38The signal to the winder
0:06:38 > 0:06:40and we'd be on our way.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Normally this would be about nine metres a second
0:06:44 > 0:06:47and by now it would take your breath away,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49your stomach would be left in your mouth.
0:06:56 > 0:06:57I know that we're not going underground
0:06:57 > 0:07:00- and I still feel nervous. - You would get used to it.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02- Yeah, well, Ivor's behind you! - LAUGHTER
0:07:02 > 0:07:05I'd be nervous with Ivor on my shoulder!
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Now we're down, lads. I can open the door, all right?
0:07:08 > 0:07:12The tunnels of the working pit would have stretched for almost 30 miles,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14but with the help of ex-miners,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17a section of this old mine has been recreated.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21This is where we show you how to use explosives in a coal mine.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23- Right.- I'll see what I can show you.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Cor, it's like TNT from the cartoons, isn't it?
0:07:26 > 0:07:27A bit more powerful than dynamite!
0:07:27 > 0:07:29In one of those,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33you put an electronic detonator with these wires attached.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36The shotsman then would just connect that to a little battery.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Go on, have a go, Will, you can press the button.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40Of course, nothing's going to happen today.
0:07:40 > 0:07:41No. Of course, it's all...
0:07:41 > 0:07:43LOUD BANG
0:07:43 > 0:07:44God's sake!
0:07:44 > 0:07:46THEY LAUGH
0:07:47 > 0:07:52- The floor did shake then. - No, you must have imagined that.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54- It did shake. - I didn't know it was charged up.
0:07:54 > 0:07:55- I...!- Yes.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00'Today, these proud men spend their days telling visitors
0:08:00 > 0:08:02'about the industry that shaped their lives.'
0:08:02 > 0:08:04Pneumatic pick, "puncher", we call it.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08'The tools they used are now artefacts in a museum.'
0:08:09 > 0:08:11So you can have that.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13How is he holding that with one hand?
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Working down here in the heat, the dust and the dark took its toll.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Injuries and death were all too common,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26with tens of thousands killed underground.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29But even those who survived still carry the scars.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33You've got pneumatic tools vibrating and shaking
0:08:33 > 0:08:37- and it breaks the nerve endings in your fingers.- Right.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40So I haven't got it to that extent, actually...
0:08:41 > 0:08:44..but some men who worked in the pits,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46they can barely pick up a pint.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48It's like my dad -
0:08:48 > 0:08:52he had it quite badly. He had to pick up a pint with two hands.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57For me, as incredible as this place looks,
0:08:57 > 0:08:59as authentic as you guys can get it,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03the most authentic thing in this museum right now is you
0:09:03 > 0:09:08and once your generation passes on,
0:09:08 > 0:09:09who's going to be there to tell the stories?
0:09:09 > 0:09:11I tell the kids now,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13I say, "Look, talk to us,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16"we're like dinosaurs - we'll be extinct shortly."
0:09:16 > 0:09:20So Ivor, an authentic coal miner, and I was.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24But, yeah, we are a dying breed.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27BOISTEROUS CHATTER
0:09:27 > 0:09:33There are men here to tell the story of the tremendous social culture
0:09:33 > 0:09:35that built up around coal mining.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39The life in the pubs, the life in the clubs,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41they played in the band.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43All these things were there,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45all coming out of the miner's pay, didn't it?
0:09:45 > 0:09:49A miner's determination to make life easier.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Education.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52Learning.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55There was an optimism - "Things are going to get better."
0:09:55 > 0:09:58There was a belief in people - "Things are going to get better."
0:09:58 > 0:10:02- I wouldn't say that's now.- That's not something you can replicate?
0:10:02 > 0:10:03I don't think people are going to say
0:10:03 > 0:10:05things are going to get better, no.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09There's a disillusionment. We know what we come from,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11but the difficulty is finding where we're going.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Coal mining created the South Wales valleys,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24but it killed the River Taff.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28This film shows what the river was like in the town of Pontypridd
0:10:28 > 0:10:30during the 1950s.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33- FILM NARRATOR:- What's he after?
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Has he caught anything?
0:10:35 > 0:10:37No fish, I'm afraid, here.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38No, not in 1956.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44While the Taff perished, the communities on its banks flourished.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Rugby, chapels, choirs,
0:10:49 > 0:10:51working men's clubs,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53were born out of the pits.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56And some still persist.
0:10:56 > 0:10:57BRASS BAND MUSIC PLAYS
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Founded here in the Rhondda Valley in 1880,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04this is one of the oldest colliery bands in Wales.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Ivor once played the trombone for the band,
0:11:07 > 0:11:09but there are few miners here today.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15I think 18 of the men, of the 25 men in this band
0:11:15 > 0:11:18when I started work were working underground,
0:11:18 > 0:11:20including the band conductor.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Wales and the United Kingdom have got a great tradition of bands
0:11:25 > 0:11:27that have been associated with collieries.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30They closed the last ones in the early '90s
0:11:30 > 0:11:33and ever since then, the bands have been reliant on themselves
0:11:33 > 0:11:35to kind of reinvent themselves,
0:11:35 > 0:11:37find a new way of sustaining themselves
0:11:37 > 0:11:39without the support of the collieries
0:11:39 > 0:11:44and indeed, without the influx of members from the colliery as well.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48A lot of the members are young, a lot of the members are female.
0:11:48 > 0:11:49It's a different world.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56The challenge is now that loss of employment.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00That was the thing that kept everybody together,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03that was the thing that was the cohesive unit in the community
0:12:03 > 0:12:05and we don't have that any more.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09We train the kids and as I did, they go away, they go to university.
0:12:09 > 0:12:10They don't necessarily come back
0:12:10 > 0:12:13and it would be the employment that would draw them back,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16so that's the constant challenge for us, really.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21THEY PLAY Cwm Rhondda
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Do you think the brass bands, then,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07have helped to sort of keep the community together
0:13:07 > 0:13:10and give you guys something to sort of bond around?
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Um, yeah, cos my father, he was...
0:13:12 > 0:13:17well, he is a musician as well, so he's passed on that to me as well.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19My brother, he's also a musician as well
0:13:19 > 0:13:22and he's gone through the brass bands as well,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25so I think it's a great opportunity for communities to bond
0:13:25 > 0:13:27and get to know each other.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31These bands were hugely important to the life of the colliery
0:13:31 > 0:13:34and following the miners' strike of the 1980s,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37it was the bands who led the men back to work.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41Ivor was there, proudly playing his trombone.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44The bells were ringing in the church there,
0:13:44 > 0:13:45all the media were there,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48we lined up in front of all the people -
0:13:48 > 0:13:51huge, hundreds of people.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59I was playing the trombone, I was on the corner there
0:13:59 > 0:14:01and we marched up the roadway.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07Then the manager shook hands with us all
0:14:07 > 0:14:08and down the pit I went.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11THEY SING
0:14:11 > 0:14:13BRASS BAND MUSIC PLAYS
0:14:24 > 0:14:26How can you not be moved by this?
0:14:26 > 0:14:28It's, um...
0:14:28 > 0:14:30It's absolutely beautiful.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35This music carries the sadness and the pride
0:14:35 > 0:14:38of an industry brought to its knees.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47The collapse of coal mining in Wales left thousands of miners unemployed
0:14:47 > 0:14:51and many Valleys communities broken.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08I'm rejoining the Taff in Pontypridd.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11I've coming to meet Paul Jenkins,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15an ex-miner and now captain of the Welsh fly-fishing team.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19The river in those days would be black,
0:15:19 > 0:15:20absolutely black.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23If you put your hand in the water, you wouldn't be able to see it
0:15:23 > 0:15:24three inches below the surface.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27- Is that right?- Most of the time.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29In fact, we used to look forward to...
0:15:30 > 0:15:31..the two-week miners' holidays,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34cos the river would clear a little bit then for those two weeks.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37- Really?- Yeah, just for those two weeks.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40We're in the centre of town, fishing for grayling.
0:15:42 > 0:15:43That looks good.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45That cast deserved a fish.
0:15:49 > 0:15:50- Yep. - WILL SIGHS
0:15:52 > 0:15:56If the fish takes again, just lift gently into it, rather than strike.
0:15:57 > 0:15:58- Yes!- Yes!
0:15:58 > 0:16:01- Oh! It's another grayling, I think. - First grayling.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03First grayling on the fly...
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Oh, and that's what you get for talking about fish
0:16:06 > 0:16:08that you haven't got into the bank.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12- Nearly your first grayling.- Yeah, yeah, NEARLY my first grayling.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Right, your turn, I think.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21I knew he was going to be a lot better than me at this,
0:16:21 > 0:16:25but whenever he sees a rising fish, he's on it straight away.
0:16:25 > 0:16:26He's in!
0:16:26 > 0:16:28Whoa, brilliant.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31- Here it comes.- Grayling.- Grayling.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35- Fantastic.- There you go.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38He's not more than a year or two old.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41- There's a lot of grayling this size in the river this year.- Right.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Which means the last couple of years have been good spawning years,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49so in a couple of years' time, these fish will be up over a pound.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51- Fantastic fish.- Gorgeous.
0:16:51 > 0:16:52- He's away.- He's away.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56Paul spent decades working underground.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02But for him, it all came to an end with the 1984 miners' strike.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Tell me what life was like on the strike.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08People really struggled, you know?
0:17:10 > 0:17:12At the time, I was there with my father.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14My mother had died a couple of years before.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18And he was a collier, I was a collier,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20so we had two colliers in my house
0:17:20 > 0:17:22and there was no money coming in at all
0:17:22 > 0:17:24for the 12 months.
0:17:24 > 0:17:25It was tough.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27It was really tough.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28ANGRY SHOUTING
0:17:28 > 0:17:32The miners' strike saw violent clashes between miners and police,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35conflict within coal mining towns themselves
0:17:35 > 0:17:38and desperate times for miners and their families.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42We were relying in those days on the generosity of the community.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47And I think it became apparent
0:17:47 > 0:17:51that the strike was more than just about closing pits.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55The ultimate goal, I'm sure, of the government at the time
0:17:55 > 0:17:59was to defeat not only the NUM
0:17:59 > 0:18:04but the unions in total,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08and over the years since the strike, they have, they've achieved that.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12While the end of heavy industry was devastating
0:18:12 > 0:18:14for the people of the Valleys,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16it was a lifeline for the Taff.
0:18:16 > 0:18:17Without the coal dust from the collieries,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20the river began to run clear again
0:18:20 > 0:18:24- and the fish began to return.- They say every cloud has a silver lining.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29And yeah, we lost the pits, but look at this.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35I don't know what's for the best. Perhaps it was a blessing.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45I've just got to watch that pink indicator on the surface
0:18:45 > 0:18:48and when that goes, I strike.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50That's the theory, anyway.
0:18:50 > 0:18:51There's the salmon again.
0:18:53 > 0:18:54Did you get that?
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Not paying attention and he's in again!
0:18:57 > 0:18:59THEY LAUGH
0:19:01 > 0:19:03- Yes, get in.- You've got him.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Oh, that's a lovely fish.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07That's how they're able to turn so sharply,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10that massive, massive sail dorsal fin.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12I bet 30 years ago when you were still working in the pits,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15you'd never imagine you'd catch a fish like this.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17No, no, certainly not grayling.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21They will only really survive in clean water,
0:19:21 > 0:19:25so that's an indication that this river has recovered.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Right, let's get him back in.
0:19:30 > 0:19:31Ooh, he's a good fish!
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Take your time now, cos there's a very light leader on it.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39- That's a trout, innit?- This is definitely the best fish of the day.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Oh, without a doubt. Oh, it's a trout.
0:19:41 > 0:19:42- Oh, it IS a trout!- A big trout.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44- Nearly there.- Oh, there's a salmon!
0:19:48 > 0:19:50- WILL CHUCKLES - Where are we going?
0:19:50 > 0:19:53I'm playing him by hand now, you better get him.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55- He's still on.- He's still on.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58- I can't see where he is. - I've got the hook in my hand!
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Ah!
0:20:00 > 0:20:01This is getting worse!
0:20:01 > 0:20:04All right, all right, we're getting under control now.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06How is that fish still on?
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Right, stop playing games now, Will.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Get him in the net, then, get him to the surface.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13- There we go.- Ah, here he comes.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Way! THEY LAUGH
0:20:15 > 0:20:18We did not deserve that fish!
0:20:18 > 0:20:20- Oh, my goodness me! - Look at the colours on that.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Wow, look at that.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24What would you give me for that, 2lb, maybe?
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Getting on for two, getting on for two.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29There you are, you can let him go, if you like.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31I would love to let him go.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35It's been 30 years since the majority of the pits closed...
0:20:38 > 0:20:41..but there is still coal beneath these hills.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46Ten miles back upriver, coal is once again coming out of the Taff Valley.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49But it's a far cry from the deep mines of the last century.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52What do you think, Will?
0:20:53 > 0:20:55That is unbelievable.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Ffos-y-fran, on the ridge above Merthyr Tydfil,
0:21:08 > 0:21:12is the biggest open-cast coal mine in Britain.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14How deep is that, Denzil?
0:21:14 > 0:21:19- It's 165 metres.- 165 metres?
0:21:19 > 0:21:24Denzil Hopkins has been working here since the operation began in 2007.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27We're just going down into the mine now.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31There is a stigma attached to this sort of mining, isn't there?
0:21:31 > 0:21:33- Yeah.- People say it's dirty,
0:21:33 > 0:21:37that we shouldn't be reliant on fossil fuels any more,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39that we should be trying to move on
0:21:39 > 0:21:43- and look for more sustainable, greener energy.- Yeah.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47And until we can get this greener energy,
0:21:47 > 0:21:52or until we can find another alternative fuel,
0:21:52 > 0:21:53we've got to have coal.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Concerns over climate change
0:21:57 > 0:22:00mean the age of coal is drawing to a close.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03But the UK is still heavily reliant on coal.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Even with mines like these, we still import 80% of the coal we burn.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13And this mine is a big employer in a valley that needs jobs.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Over 200 staff work on site.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Most of the coal from here is either sent to be burned
0:22:19 > 0:22:23in Aberthaw Power Station or for steel production in Port Talbot,
0:22:23 > 0:22:25supporting thousands more jobs.
0:22:27 > 0:22:28Whatever your views,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32it's hard not to be impressed by the scale of this operation.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37That is quite an intimidating piece of machinery.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Operating this 250-tonne excavator
0:22:41 > 0:22:44is one of the most skilled jobs on site
0:22:44 > 0:22:46and at the controls is Brian Wilkins.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50Will, if you just want to press the top button and lift the ladder up.
0:22:50 > 0:22:51- Right.- We're all ready to go.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55This is a hell of a vehicle.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59There we go.
0:22:59 > 0:23:00No way back now.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08WILL GASPS AND CHUCKLES
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Cor, Brian, incredible feeling of power, is it?
0:23:12 > 0:23:14It can be, yeah,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17but it's just like getting into my car in the morning coming to work.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21- What car do you drive?! - Ha, just a Ford Focus.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23THEY CHUCKLE
0:23:23 > 0:23:26There are four of these huge machines on this site,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28plus a dozen smaller diggers,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30filling 28 massive dump trucks.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32How much does each pass weigh?
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Round about 25 tonnes.
0:23:34 > 0:23:3825 tonnes? So there's 100 tonnes of rock going in that?
0:23:38 > 0:23:39In one load, yeah.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47You're quite delicate with it, really.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Yeah, it's just cos you're, like, doing it so much,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53you spend so much time doing it,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55- it just comes natural, really.- Right.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Yeah, it just comes natural.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02- Do you want a go?- I'd love a go.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04You're not going to let me have a go, are you?
0:24:04 > 0:24:06I would, but I don't know whether they would.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10On an average week, man and machine
0:24:10 > 0:24:15can move around 200,000 cubic metres of rock to reach the coal.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19We've got it really easy compared to what the miners had years ago.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22I've got all my comfort in here - radio, air conditioning.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25- Yeah.- Everything, really.- Yeah.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28- And you're digging, one man...- Yeah.
0:24:28 > 0:24:34..shifting, what, 100 tonnes in less than five minutes?
0:24:34 > 0:24:37'In the past eight years, over six million tonnes
0:24:37 > 0:24:40'of high-quality steam coal has been mined from here.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44'From the bottom of the hole, you can see the distinct seams,
0:24:44 > 0:24:47'the riches of the South Wales Coalfield laid bare.'
0:24:48 > 0:24:52That's an old pillar, that's part of an old pillar.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54'But it isn't only coal the miners have unearthed.'
0:24:55 > 0:24:58So right now, Denzil, I'm standing in
0:24:58 > 0:25:01- effectively an old coal mine?- Yes.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04So not that long ago, there would have been people down here
0:25:04 > 0:25:08- working on their hands and knees with tools?- Yes.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10- Just with a pick and shovel.- Right.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13And here we are now with the sunshine on our backs.
0:25:13 > 0:25:14Sunshine miners.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Sunshine miners!
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Before the open-cast mining began here,
0:25:19 > 0:25:23the mountain was strewn with dozens of old mineshafts.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27- Look at that.- That would have been still in, wouldn't it?- Yeah.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Cor, it's mad to think, isn't it, Denzil,
0:25:29 > 0:25:31that people trusted their life in that piece of wood?
0:25:31 > 0:25:34They depended on that piece of wood for their lives.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38- And you look at how bent that has become.- Yeah.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43You're stopping the weight of all of those hundreds of metres of rock
0:25:43 > 0:25:47and coal from crashing down on your head with a piece of wood
0:25:47 > 0:25:50that I can hold the width of with just one hand.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54It's, um... It's absolutely mind-blowing, it's amazing.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56- It's amazing.- It IS amazing.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Today, with the latest technology
0:25:58 > 0:26:00and by literally moving the mountain,
0:26:00 > 0:26:05these miners are able to extract almost every last ounce of coal.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09But there is another side to this open-cast operation.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11As well as removing the coal,
0:26:11 > 0:26:13the owners also have to put right a landscape
0:26:13 > 0:26:16that has been exploited for over 100 years.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23So what's happened here?
0:26:23 > 0:26:29We've just restored it all the way from the outer edge there,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31- restored it all back.- Yeah?
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Last year, we baled hay on here.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37There was hay baled off here, you know.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41- Three years ago, this was the same as that hole over there?- Yeah.
0:26:41 > 0:26:42Yeah.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49I'm proud of the fact that I've been part
0:26:49 > 0:26:52of not only the way we're taking the coal out,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54- but the way we're putting the ground back.- Yeah.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03Coal mining has changed beyond recognition.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05An industry that once choked the Taff
0:27:05 > 0:27:09is now subjected to strict environmental controls
0:27:09 > 0:27:12to put right the wrongs of the past.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19For centuries, our insatiable demand for coal drew people to this valley.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25Communities were created and the environment was changed forever.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31The guts of this landscape have been torn right out of this valley.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34I can't imagine a place that's been exploited
0:27:34 > 0:27:37to such an extent as this place has been.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42So, so much wealth.
0:27:44 > 0:27:45And yet...
0:27:45 > 0:27:48it's all been flushed downstream and gone elsewhere.
0:27:50 > 0:27:55While the industry and much of the wealth it created may have gone,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58the people and their pride are still here.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07'Next time, I'm heading to the city.'
0:28:07 > 0:28:09This river is completely hidden.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12'I meet people who have fallen in love with the river.'
0:28:12 > 0:28:14On three, yeah?
0:28:14 > 0:28:15One...!
0:28:15 > 0:28:17THEY YELL
0:28:17 > 0:28:20'But as I approach the end of my journey,
0:28:20 > 0:28:22'the Taff has one final surprise.'
0:28:22 > 0:28:24I do not believe it!