Brynmawr, in South Wales suffered greatly from the 1920s through the Great Depression and World War II, when much of its traditional heavy industry disappeared. The distress began in 1921 with the closure of several collieries in the area. 1700 families in Brynmawr depended entirely on the employment in these mines and without this work there was not much else to do. It was reported in a Cardiff newspaper that "No town in South Wales has suffered as much as Brynmawr". The mid-1930s saw hunger marches from Brynmawr to County Hall in Newport. The conditions were harrowing - bare miners' cottages; severe unemployment; children showing signs of definite malnutrition and suffering. Of the 1700 families in Brynmawr, all were in real need of food, clothing and warmth. Yet, despite the poverty the