成人快手

Forty years on from the end of the miners' strike, the South Wales Valleys are still recovering from the cataclysm of pit closures. They are greener and cleaner, but parts of the area still have some of the worst levels of poverty and ill health in Britain. What does the future hold?

Professor Brad Evans grew up in the Rhondda in the 70s and 80s. In his recent book How Black Was My Valley he writes about the shame of living in deep poverty, and his desperation to escape.

Today he says people鈥檚 lives in the area are 鈥渄efined by poverty, catastrophe and the fading dreams of a better future鈥�.

Now he is journeying back to the area where he grew up, with someone who was born in exactly the same year as him, just over the mountain in the Cynon Valley. She argues that there is plenty of room for hope, especially in the people working at ground level to protect and improve what they love about living in the Valleys.

Beth Winter went away for university and for work, but she felt impelled to return, and was, until last year, the MP for Cynon Valley.

They share a deep love for the place and exchange some happy memories of growing up here. Both of them want the best for the Valleys, but can they agree on the scale of the challenges and the breadth of possibilities that lie ahead?

On their journey up the two valleys, they know so well, they meet some extraordinary people who are working tirelessly to create new opportunities for their communities. And with other experts, who share their passion for the place, they grapple with what needs to happen at a macro and a micro level to tap into the hidden assets of this unique part of Wales.

From Despair To Where - The Valleys Then, Now and in the Future is a Bengo Media Production.