The way earlier generations lived

“By 1800 half a million people lived in Wales. then along came the coal mines and the ironworks. People rushed here for work. By 1900 there were two million people struggling to make a living in the filth and the danger.
The owners became rich but the Welsh people stayed as poor as ever.
The mines destroyed the beauty of the valleys and when the mines went the jobs went too. The ordinary Welsh were left poor — as usual. Of course the filthy pit heaps and the black clouds have gone too so the future is brighter — and so is the sky!”
From Horrible Histories, Wales