Few small towns have made such an impact as Tredegar at the head of the Sirhowy valley. Tredegar can boast of many breakthroughs. Thomas Ellis, a Tredegar engineer, who worked on the first ever steam locomotive with Trevithick. There was also the 1805 tramroad link to Newport which inspired the Stockton and Darlington Railway and thus Stephenson’s ‘Rocket’. Of equal importance, the first ever deep coal pit in Wales was sunk here. A stronghold of the Labour movement, Tredegar has provided us with some of its most notable architects, including Aneurin Bevan, creator of the National Health Service, and Neil Kinnock founding father of New Labour.
Aneurin Bevan was born in Tredegar in 1897 and maintained close links with this town throughout his life. After his death in 1960 his ashes were scattered on the local hills. He was the son of a collier, who found school extremely difficult but through intense personal effort and discipline became, not only a leading politician, but also a lover of art, literature and music. This DVD illustrates the association between Aneurin’s upbringing in Tredegar, where he developed his understanding of the link between poor housing and disease and his appreciation of the good work of the Medical Society. Linking both he was inspired to bring into being Britain’s National Health Service. During his 63 years of life, Tredegar became progressively ‘Bevan’s Town’, and his legacy remains still.
For over 200 years the name of Ebbw Vale has been synonymous with the manufacture of iron and steel, playing a significant role in the development of the industry worldwide.This visual account traces the history of Ebbw Vale from its origins in 1790 through to its eventual closure in 2002.
Filmed and produced by Green Valley Film Productions
Produced in 2002 – Please note that some of the picture quality on this DVD is not absolutely clear on the new generation of Smart TV.
Arthur ‘Artie’ Moore was not aboard Titanic when disaster struck in the early hours of April 15th 1912. Nor was he instrumental in building the pride of the White Star Line. in fact, Artie was more than 3,000 miles away in the sleepy South Wales village of Pontllanfraith on that fateful night. Artie, the eldest son of the local miller, was a very enthusiastic amateur wireless operator who had built his own equipment at the family’s Gelligroes Mill. It was with this early radio setup that he picked up the most famous SOS message of all time, as Titanic sank beneath the icy waves of the North Atlantic. Quickly rushing to tell the local police who didn’t believe a word of what he was saying, the locals soon heard his incredible news. How could the Titanic possibly be lost at sea? She was, as everyone knew, unsinkable….This is his story.
A ‘Tale of Two Tredegar’s’ explores the historic connections between the iron towns of Tredegar, Wales and Tredegar, Richmond, Virginia. This film records the influence the people who left South Wales to work in America had and Rhys Davies, who had worked in Tredegar Ironworks, was one such person who went on to became one of the key people who established the iron industry in the USA.
For two hundred years Tredegar, situated at the head of the Sirhowy valley, produced coal and iron that was renowned for its quality wherever these products were sold. But this was not all, at the same time those working in its furnaces mills and mines were helping to create a vital and influential society. Heavy industry has vanished now but the achievements of that age, political, musical, medical and social are recalled here with pride by some of those moulded by this remarkable town.
This DVD is comprised of 3 hours of interviews, reenactments, and archival footage which explore the experience of the Welsh coal miner and the history of mining in Wales from the seventeenth century to the collapse of the British coal industry in the 1980s.
The South Wales coal-mining world has all but vanished, and there are few people who can now recall coal-black colliers walking home from their pits, or long lines of men following hearses bearing those who their industry had killed. Pit-head gear and spreading slag heaps are no more, but this tough industry produced remarkable individuals and communities whose comradeship and abilities were second to none.
Filmed and produced by Green Valley Film Productions
