Complete Your Christmas - with "Corona" Cordials

Porth Grocers William Thomas and William Evans thought they would offer thirsty Rhondda miners an alternative to alcohol, hence Corona.

Cinema advertisement for a temperance choice at Christmas. A "Thomas & Evans" product, Corona drinks were manufactured initially in Porth, Rhondda, and later at factories in e.g. Pengam, Maesteg and Bridgend. The original Thomas & Evans were Porth grocers who, in the 1890s, were detemined to offer thirsty miners an alternative to alcohol. Failing to get pubs to stock their soft drinks, they sold door-to-door and introduced flavours that would appeal to children.

The factory in Porth was known as the ‘Welsh Hills Mineral Water Factory'. Since 2000, the building has housed a recording studio known, appropriately enough, as ‘The Pop Factory'. Corona was sold in 1958 to The Beecham Group, which kept the company brand and production continued in south Wales until in 1987 the company was bought by Britvic Soft Drinks and the Welsh Hills plant was closed, production being transferred to Bolton, Lancashire. The Corona brand was withdrawn in the late 1990s.