Everyman

Coal and Prayer: The Hope of a Better World in the Rhondda Valley (1979x11)

Air date: Apr 08, 1979

An Everyman film with reconstructions taken from original texts. Seventy-five years ago the Rhondda Valleys were the most famous coal-producing area in the world. The life of the people was harsh, their work dangerous. They had two hopes - the chapels and the unions, religion and socialism. This film tells the story, in the words of the time, of the rise of these hopes - expressed in bitter strikes and religious revivals - and goes to the Rhondda to see what remains of them today.