There have been numerous mines and drifts in the Llynfi Valley, with the earliest deep mine being the Garth, sunk in 1864, with the last, St John's, sunk in 1908. St John's was also the last to survive as a working coal mine, closing in 1985. It was the end of an era and another casualty of the Thatcher mission to wreck Britain's coal industry. David Lewis tells the story in words and pictures of the coal industry in Maesteg and the rest of the Llynfi valley.