Synopsis

Broadcast originally on BBC2 Wales on the 70th anniversary of the 1934 Gresford, Wrexham, mining disaster which claimed the lives of 266 miners.

The Terrible Price tells the story of the disaster using archive film and radio reports with the recollections of eye-witnesses and survivors, and relatives of some of the victims. The harrowing tale of neglect by the mine owners who knew of the dangers of gas is told with a re-enactment of the enquiry into the disaster. Includes 30 extra minutes of material not shown on the television programme.

Synopsis

Humphrey Jennings' The Cumberland Story (1947) tells about conditions in Britain's mines and the events leading to nationalisation, taking the Cumberland coalfields as an example where improvements in safety and productivity were most in need.

Plus Rhondda and Wye (1948) a comparison of the two famous Welsh Valleys and how one developed as a mining area and the other as pastural farmland.

Synopsis

David (1951) is the true story of D.R. Griffiths, a Welsh miner turned school caretaker, also known by his bardic name Amanwy. David was made by the British Film Institute for the Welsh Committee of the Festival of Britain in 1951, and filmed in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, with a cast of local people. It was written and produced by Paul Dickson.

Griffith's life story is told against the background of industrial Wales in the first half of the 20th century. The steadfastness of the miners and their love of literature shine through when a tragedy strikes the Griffiths family. Also features Amanwy at the National Eisteddfod of Wales at Aberavon.

Also includes Face of Wales (1961), alternative title Cardiff, showing the lives of several Welshmen working in different jobs, and Miners' Weekend (1948) which visits the Neath and Dulais valleys to see miners making the most of their weekend of leisure.