2. The Industrial Revolution
In 19th Century Industrial England, after the invention of the
steam engine, coal played an extremely important role. In
order to extract this coal that fuelled the revolution, miners
had to pay the price. This meant up to 12 hours a day
working underground in the dark tunnels, lying on their
sides with nothing but a safety lamp to see what they were
doing. They did not have a choice. No work no pay; and no
money meant starving not only themselves but their
families as well. Every other day someone died or was
severely injured in the mines, every day they left their
homes not knowing whether they would be able to come
back again.
3. February 28, 1869
Life has always been hard as the working class, whether it was
now or 100 years ago before the new steam machine. To my relief,
my husband finally came home from work today. My prayers must
have been heard. Cooking, tidying, washing; I have become used
to this kind of lifestyle. When I married my husband Gareth all
those years ago, I knew I had to take everything that came with it.
The life of a miner’s wife did not come easy.
In the past, my ancestors lived in a rural lifestyle. In an agrarian
society, their lives revolved around the seasons. Muscle power or
horses and carts did everything, but this all changed following the
invention of the steam engine.
The idea of a steam engine was not completely new back then. I
recall hearing about the Newcomer Steam Engine that used to
pump water in the mines during my grandfather’s time. However,
the machine was extremely inefficient. A lot of power was needed
while little work was done.
Then James Watt’s new and improved steam engine came along,
though I’m not so sure about the improved part anymore. It could
transport materials and people up and down the mines. Most
importantly, it provided our country with an efficient energy source.
“Back then”, my grandfather told me, “people thought that the
steam engine would lead to further technology innovations and
change their lives for the better.”
Yes, in many ways, things have improved technologically. The
steam engine soon moved beyond factories and mines, and then
there was the first steam powered locomotive. It allowed for mass
production now that goods can be brought from one place to
another easily.
Our lives, on the other hand, had not improved at all. If anything,
the new steam engine has increased work output and the demand
for coal, decreased labor costs, and ultimately made our lives even
harder than it was.
The old agrarian society
The new James Watt steam engine
4. January 31, 1924
Thursday was ironing day. While ironing, I suddenly thought of the Blanaevon Iron
Works from the stories of my grandfather.
The Blanaevon Iron Works was the biggest Iron Works in Wales, and the most
dangerous too. Not just hazardous, but torture. I haven’t experienced it myself,
but I’ve heard enough stories to know it was true.
The story of my late great uncle Gwallter is one I’ve heard often. Gwallter was one
of the unfortunate factory workers at the time. When he took the firing iron from
the pig iron furnace and knocked out the stone that held it together, molten iron
spurted out everywhere. Some of it took him directly in the face. I never knew what
he looked like. Witnesses of the accident said that before he died, he was in so
much pain that he bit off the tips of his fingers.
The production of iron is one of the biggest factors for the high demand of welsh
coal. It helped improve the production of iron used for machinery and construction.
Even though the Blanaevon Iron Works had long closed down now, the ways in
the mines have not changed. Just like the factory owners hadn’t cared about their
workers, neither do the mine owners and pit bosses care about the miners. At
least not enough to make sure they were safe.
Nowadays, I have to wake up at five o’ clock everyday to scrub the floors at the
mine owners’ house until ten. His mansion on the top of the hill is probably bigger
than our whole row of identical terrace houses added together!
I just wish they would realize that these people they treat like slaves have families
at home waiting for them. They would never know what it’s like to say goodbye to
your husband and children everyday, not knowing if you were ever going to see
them again. They would never know what it’s like to starve, to struggle for survival.
A hatred for these spoiled human beings grew inside of me. All they cared about
was money, which they already have enough of in the first place! It’s funny how
these people were extremely wealthy, yet would do anything just to earn more.
Conversely, people like us are extremely poor, yet we have to work extremely hard
just to maintain what little we have. I glanced at today’s meager dinner supplies.
Thursday meant livers and onions, yum…
But then again, today’s one of the good days. Usually, we only have bread and
jam. I can't help but wonder, why should my husband and son risk their lives so
that the few should prosper to such an extent? Why should they have work in such
appalling conditions when there was barely enough to put food onto the table?
The Blanaevon Iron Works
The mine owner’s house on top of the hill
5. October 12th 1889
My baby Idris is turning 1 year old today. Luckily, he won’t have to experience
what it’s like in the mines until he’s 13 years old, thanks to the Mines Act
issued back in 1842. Unfortunately, this is also the year that Rhys is turning
13. His easygoing life of a child will end soon, and the arduous life of a miner
will begin…
On the bright side, the Mines Act was also the act that saved me from
spending a lifetime in the mines.
My grandmother, Morfydd, was not so lucky. Before then, women and children
were required to work even though they were paid low wages. In my opinion,
that was extremely sexist and unfair. Women can do labor work just as well as
men if not better!
I’ve been told that people thought highly of Grandma Morfydd in the mines.
Her job was seeing to the children in charge of the doors.
According to her, there had always been problems with children. They were
always getting stuck in the trams. And when this happened, she could always
get them out with her quick fingers. But of course, Grandma couldn’t have
always been there to help them.
My own mother was born underground in the coalmines. Grandma Morfydd
could deliver a baby underground as well as any doctor. This happened often
in the pit. It struck me as absurd that even pregnant women had to work. Have
some humanity, people!
Eventually these appalling conditions and problems led to the banishment of
women and child labor in the mines. Most people thought it was step forward,
but for families living on scarce funds like mine, it cut off one of our only
sources of income.
Some people needed the money so badly that more than 2000 women
dressed up as men to work. My grandma was one of them.
Us poor people were not the only ones the Mines Act affected; the British
Empire too was greatly disadvantaged. We all knew what most of the coal
produced was used for. As a country fighting a war, our empire desperately
needed to protect itself. The coal powered the steam engines that were used
in steam ships. The demand for coal has gone through the roof.
There is a talk of a new mine that opened where the Pendyrus farm is now,
not too far away from here. A new safer mine they say. I really hope so…
Grandma Morfydd in her old ages
Child labor in the mines before 1842
6. April 12th 1890
One week ago, we moved here to Tylorstown, in hopes of starting a new life. Maybe this will finally
be the place where we settle in. Over the years, the search for work opportunities has forced us to
move to many places.
Just like the many generations before us, I lived in the countryside before I got married. I moved to
the urban environment in order to find work. Even since I met Gareth, I moved in with him in
Merthyr Tydfil, a town in the Rhondda valley where most of the miners and ironworkers had lived
in at the time. In the Rhondda where conditions were appalling, we as a community had to help
each other.
Our towns grew too quickly, as the new factories led to more and more migrations from the
countryside. The demand for housing increased rapidly, too rapidly might I add. The house we
lived in was cramped in, built quickly and with little regard of sanitation.
The same water I used for washing and cooking from the streams was infected with factory waste
and human sewage. The water was especially dirty when it rained. The toilets were inadequate
and emptied irregularly; therefore the rainwater caused it to overflow into the gutter then into the
streams.
Even basic services such as rubbish collection, sewage works and washing facilities were
nonexistent; it was no surprise that diseases and plagues soon broke out. Cholera and Typhoid
began to pervade our town. Cholera in particular spread through our town like rapid fire, killing
thousands. Only the strong survived.
For small children with weak immune systems, it meant almost a certain death. High infant
mortality rate led to families with many children. We never knew whether they would survive.
Rhys, who was fourteen years old at the time, fought through it. He gets his inner fighter from his
father. When infected with Cholera, most people died right away within one or two days. Gareth
endured the pain for two weeks, finally dying in his sleep last Wednesday. I constantly remind
myself that at least he died a painless death, unlike so many others.
In the past ten years, most of the people living in Merthyr Tydfil had moved to the new town
Tylorstown following the opening of the Pendyrus coal mine. Several times I had been drawn to
this new opportunity, but Gareth was not one who liked change. He always told me that no matter
where we go, life will continue in the same way it always has. Badly. I did not believe him.
We now live in an equally cramped in house near the new Pendyrus Mine. This mine was quickly
built because of the growing demand for coal from the British Empire. According to Rhys, the
working conditions are no better than before.
Nothing really has changed. We still live in the same awful conditions, only in a town with a
different name. Tylorstown is named after Alfred Tylor. He is the man who bought the mineral
rights for the Pendyrus farm, and also the owner of the mine. I mean, what kind of narcissistic
person names a town after himself? What kind of heartless person exploits workers just to earn
more money?
The poor conditions and housing in
Merthyr Tyfil
The new pendyrus mine
7. January 29th 1896
I will never let my son work in that hazardous mine again. Not after the explosion
yesterday.
Rhys had the night shift that day. Normally he would be back before six, before I set off
to the mine owners’ house. But yesterday I didn’t see him. Wariness overwhelmed me,
but I knew I couldn’t be late to work.
On my way back, there were murmurs on the street. I was able to catch bits and pieces
of their conversations. Pendyrus. Explosion. Perished. No. 8 pit. 57 miners killed. 80
horses perished.
My heart sunk. That was the pit where Rhys always worked at.
At the same time, confusion flooded through me. Why would there be such a huge
explosion? Accidents are inevitable in dangerous industries such as mining. It was
something we knew all too well. Small explosions happened often, but almost never one
so massive.
I mean, it would be understandable back in the days when miners used candles that
could easily ignite the methane, but now there are many new technological
innovations.
Today miners use the Davy lamp. Now that the flame is enclosed in a mesh screen, the
probability of explosions is much smaller. Rhys has also told me about the canaries that
perch on the branches in the pits. Canaries can detect the methane level, and miners
would always know it was time to get out when it flew off its branch or got sick.
The more I thought about it, the more an explosion killing so many people didn’t make
sense. Unless the mine owner had cut down on the safety facilities to save money.
Those sneaky brats!
My anger and anxiety soon turned to relief when Rhys came home later that day. It
turned out that yesterday he was switched to work in pit 6 at the last minute because pit
8 had been at full capacity. For the first time in forever, I smiled. Must be Gareth
watching over him in heaven.
The mine explosion seems to have shaken up the entire empire. It is all over the
newspapers, and so is the news of Louis Tylor retiring from the coal business. In the
article it said that he thought, “ The opportunity to make money wasn’t worth the risk”.
Well, at least now he knows, I chuckled.
The future of the coal industry is uncertain. I know there is no other choice but to let my
son go back to working in the mines. No work no pay, and we desperately needed that
money to survive. But the big question is, will the coal industry continue unabated? Will
adequate attention finally be devoted to ensure the safety of coal miners?
The Sir Humphrey Davy
Lamp
The canaries in the mines
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