Simon Eckley

Abertillery, Aberbeeg and Llanhilleth.

This book is part of the Images of Wales series, which uses old photographs and archived images to show the history of various local areas in Wales, through their streets, shops, pubs, and people.

This new selection of over 200 photographs and postcards from Rhondda’s past continues the work of the previous publication in chronicling the rich pictorial history of these two famous valleys. The abundance of excellent images is striking, but unsurprising, since life and labour in Rhondda offered a range of subject material that modern-day photographers can only gape at. The townships of the Fawr and Fach are again treated separately but unifying and distinctive themes emerge clearly: the economic mastery of coal; the fierce sense of community; the energy of the people which has been expressed in a myriad of social activities organised often in spite of a poverty of resources. The people of Rhondda are captured at work and at leisure in their sporting clubs, their choirs and bands and even by the pigeon cote, and also at more serious times such as the 1910-11 Cambrian Combine Strike, the 1926 Miners’ Strike or the aftermath of landslides and flooding. Through its pages, this book leads the reader the length and breadth of the two valleys, gradually revealing a world lost, but never to be forgotten.

This book is part of the Images of Wales series, which uses old photographs and archived images to show the history of various local areas in Wales, through their streets, shops, pubs, and people.

Merthyr Tydfil, once 'Iron Capital of the World', has had a long and tumultuous history; one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution, it was to be dominated initially by four massive ironworks and later by mighty Dowlais Steelworks. Industry and the mines and collieries of two centuries of mineral extraction have left their mark not only on the beautiful landscape of the Taff Valley but on the hearts of and minds of the people. Crucible of religious dissent and radicalism, Merthyr was the first Welsh town to forge a meaningful labour movement, and this energy has remained a key ingredient in Merthyr's ability to re-invent herself through the years. This book, compiled to celebrate the imminent return of County Borough status, is filled with nearly 200 images, most never previously published, which capture the wide range of life and activity in the borough. A strong emphasis is placed on the people of the area, at work, at rest and play, with the captions helping to unlock both their stories and the events and everyday incidents of life in this continually fascinating and evolving community.