"Rank and File" Study

Recorded interviews with individuals concerning everyday life in the South Wales Coalfield. Subjects covered include recollections of communities; trade unionism; religion; working life and conditions for example working on the railways, in the iron industry and local factories, in a saw-mill, in a pub and as a milliner; experiences in the Spanish Civil War; girls leaving the area to find work in London; political feeling in the area; colliery bands; the effects of strikes and disputes on the local area; health hazards of working in the mines and other local industries; life during the World Wars; rugby etc. The recordings were made 1971-1974 but cover the period 1870-1974 (c) in subject matter.

This study was conducted in order to record oral histories from people who lived and worked in the South Wales Coalfield area but who were not directly involved in the mining industry, resulting in a more balanced picture of life in the valleys.

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