Coal House

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History Documentary hosted by Nicola Reynolds, published by BBC in 2009 - English narration

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Coal House This living history series transports three families back to the south of Wales’s coalfield of the 1920s. The families swap their modern luxuries for the harsh reality of daily life of a coalmining family, living in coalminers' cottages without heating, running water, washing machines, TV and computers, and of course, for the men, there are long days down the mines.

[edit] Part 1

In this first programme of a major new series, three families give up their 21st century creature comforts and time-travel back to face the hardships of life in the Welsh Valleys, 1927. Over the series we discover whether the community will survive without a microwave, mobile, fast car or fast food. Life is already getting tough for the community with the men on first shift at the coal face and the women working round the clock to keep the home fires burning.

[edit] Part 2

As the families settle into the punishing routine of a 1927 mining community, the men face a tough training period to equip them for life at the coal-face, the children cope with school and discipline and the mams get to grips with mangles, ranges and the first tin bath.

[edit] Part 3

It's not just the coal-mining men who are finding things hard. Their wives start to feel the pinch of life in 1927, with mouths to feed and a cleaning routine to stick to. There's some light relief, however, as the Cartwrights, Phillips and Griffiths families enjoy a rare night out and celebrate a special birthday

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The pressure is on for the families living in the Coal House during week two, with the mothers working fourteen hour days to keep their houses and families in order. The children are coming to terms with their 1927 schooldays and the men are working at the coal face to make ends meet.

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For the men, things are not getting any easier at the pit, with new skills to master and performance-related pay. The mams and children enjoy Halloween, but the expense involved has left the families on the verge of the financial precipice. For the children, exams at school are just around the corner, while the men live the reality of the 1927 coalfield where pit closures were the norm and poor wages all too common. Can the Griffiths, Cartwright and Phillips mams keep the fires burning, and more importantly, keep smiling?

[edit] Part 6

For the mining men of Coal House, things are not getting any easier at the pit with new skills to master and performance related pay. The mams and children enjoy Halloween but has the expense involved left all the families on the verge of the financial precipice?

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In the final week the heat is on as the families fight for survival. Washing pit clothes, baking and cleaning has taken over the lives of the mothers and daughters and the fathers and sons are exhausted and struggling at the coal face to earn a crust. But the community keeps their spirits high as they look forward to their return to the 21st century.

[edit] Part 8

For the children of Coal House, exams at school are just around the corner. The men live the reality of the 1927 coalfield, where pit closures were the norm and poor wages all too common. Can the Griffiths, Cartwright and Phillips' mams keep the fires burning, and more importantly, keep smiling?

[edit] Part 9

At the end of week two, money has become tight; food is short, and the families pull together to survive. Halloween brings some scary fun for the children but the mams and dads are worried about how to pay the butcher! Washing coal-black pit clothes, baking and cleaning has taken over their lives of the mothers and daughters. The fathers and sons are exhausted but struggle at the coal face to earn a crust. But the Coal House community keeps their spirits high as they begin to look forward to their return to the 21st century.

[edit] Part 10

The families add preparation for the final concert to their exhausting daily life. As the Coal House community thinks about its goodbye to life in 1927, will the children be saying goodbye to the pigs and the mums goodbye to the tin baths? The drama shows no sign of stopping in the Coal House! As the experiment reaches its final week, the Cartwrights, Griffiths and Phillips families prepare to return to normal life. Who would have thought that three weeks in a Coal House could have created so many new friends, so much fun and so much pain?