This collection of over 200 images provides an illustrated account of the development of the South Wales Coalfield, once one of the largest and most productive in Britain. It illustrates the area's industrial history during the past two hundred years as well as giving a glimpse of village life in the valleys of Rhondda Cynon Taff. Contained within are photographs of the miners, their housing and of the collieries that once provided employment for tens of thousands and that have now all but disappeared. For those who once worked in the coalfield the illustrations and text will conjure up memories of days gone by and for those too young to remeber the valleys as an industrial heartland of the Empire they will show just how hard life once was for their fathers and grandfathers alike.