Volume One - Into the Victorian Age - Rhondda coal = Cardiff gold . . .

“On Fridays, he goes to collect his pay from the Mines Office and as soon as he gets home he gives the envelope with the money in it to Una my Mum. He never opens it first. She checks that his pay is correct and gives him his pocket-money for the week; five shillings (25p). He goes straight back out to the shops to buy 5 cigarettes called Woodbines. They come in packets of 10, so the shopkeeper splits the pack for him. The Woodbines are kept in a special place in the house; behind the clock on the mantelpiece. That means that Mum can always see how many he has smoked; but she also checks they are there before he goes to the pit. If Dad accidentally took them to work he would be sacked immediately. In 1886 one hundred and seventeen men were burnt alive down Ferndale Pit and nobody ever forgets that.”

		The colourised images [143] illustrate the working environment that had to be endured by thousand of men, women, children andponies everyday of their working lives. Some hazards could be seen, some hidden in the dark, some crept up on you, some dropped on top of you, some burst in on you and some was in every breath you took. Coal seams produce several different gases called “damp”.
		“Firedamp” is methane and explodes when it reaches a source of ignition in air. “Blackdamp” or “Chokedamp” is a heavy gas mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen which causessuffocation because it excludes oxygen. “Afterdamp” has high carbon monoxide content and is particularly nasty since it is odourless and you can’t see it either. “Stinkdamp” is the miner’s name for hydrogen sulphide; the rotten-egg smell!