National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales preserves and celebrates the sound and moving image heritage of Wales, making it accessible to a wide range of users for enjoyment and learning. Its film collection reflects every aspect of the nation’s social, cultural and working life across the 20th century, giving a fascinating insight into Welsh filmmaking, both amateur and professional.
This film is part of Free
Phoenix Magazine
Valleys boy escapes as architect to London, where he dresses in black, but returns to Clydach Vale - “a heaven and a hell all rolled into one word, spelled C O A L" – dressed in white.
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Overview
A cinematic tirade against the exploitation of people and their environment by profiteers, in this case the south Wales coal owners who lived it up in Penarth whilst the miners and their families suffered the destruction of their green and wooded environment, their health and their lives. It is evident that the Forestry Commission is now using the area (Clydach Vale, home of the film-maker) to grow pine trees on an industrial scale, wreaking further environmental havoc.
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