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Book on Cardiganshire lead mining in early 1900s, ‘ A Grey Past and a Blacker Future’ edited by Megan Waring has just been published, which may be of interest and is available from [log in to unmask], A5 190p, 24 images, cost £9.50 & pp. Memoirs are in both Welsh and English and some mining reports are also included. The author of the memoirs, Elias Jones was born in the Cardiganshire village of Pontrhydygroes in 1881 and started life as a lead miner at the age of 13. When the price of lead fell, he travelled to Glamorgan to find work in the coal mines returning home at harvest or lambing time. He was self educated, politically motivated and left several memoirs in Welsh that have been translated here. This compilation also includes newspaper articles about him and mining articles in his possession. The reader will find him/herself back in an era where work was hard and badly paid. However, the humour of the miners can be seen and their interest in the wider world. If you need to leave the list, send the following message to [log in to unmask] - leave mining-history ---------