A photographic print of Industry, Fuel & Power - Coal, Pits - Welsh

THEY LOVE WALES - BUT NOT THE BEER OR THE SINGING INTRODUCING pioneers... some of the 300 miners and their families who moved from dying pits in Durham to the coal mines of South Wales. Ninety-six of the miners live in £1,000 caravans which they rent from the Coal Board at Groves End, near Swansea. Rent is 25s a week. And the pit, at Brynlliw, is just 500 yards from the caravan site. An inquiry by the Coal Board has shown that these families from the north enjoy life in Wales. So another 3,000 miners will be invited to move next year from Durham to the huge new anthracite collieries, such as Cymheidre and Abernant, in West Wales, and Cym in the east. SINGING The advance guard and their familles like the friendliness of the Welsh people. They like the thought of soon moving into new Coal Board houses. And they like the pay - about £20 a week at Brynlliw. This is slightly more than the average in Durham. But there are things they do not like in their new surroundings. Chief among their dislikes are the beer, the fish and chips, and Welsh concert singing. Said Mrs. Annie Eagle, wife of 51-year-old Eli Eagle, yesterday: "Welsh people are very musical, but we prefer the kind of sing-songs we used to get in our own clubs. "We like the people because they are so kind. But there is a lot we miss in this village, entertainment mostly. Our clubs up north were big and we had top-class entertainment parties." These views are shared by the men who are raising money to start their own club. But in the main these things are not so important as the reassuring economics of the situation. There is enough rich coal in the seams to keep the Brynlliw pit paying handsome profits for at least 80 years. STEPHENS D.H. 17.12.1963 DURHAM MINERS AT BRYNLLIW COLLIERY. O.P.S. Families at the caravan site. INDUSTRY - FUEL & POWER - COAL PITS - WELSH