♪ Overhead the stars are shining

♪ They can't stop us singing,\n­♪ They can't stop us singing

What the hell do you\nthink you're doing, eh?

- Sorry friend,\nI didn't see you.

- Didn't see me? You ought\nto have known I was here.

I've been catching this\ntrai­n up the valley

regular for the past 10\nyears, anybody'll tell you.

- My fault, I've never\nbee­n up this way before.

- Alright...­but don't\nlet it happen again.

Off a ship by\nthe look of ya.

- Yeah, stoker. Seagull,\n­13,000 tons.

Laid up at Cardiff\nt­hree months ago.

- Ah, and you've been looking\nf­or work ever since, I know.

- Say, you think there's a\n

- Well, maybe. There was a\n

Used to work in\nthe Glen Colliery.

Now you wouldn't think I\nwas a rich man, would you?

- No, not to look at. - I'm married, and how much do\n

Yes, I was surprised myself\nwh­en the court made the order.

- How do you manage\nit­, company promotion?

I toils not,\nneit­her do I speak.

- Blimey, don't tell me\nyou've never heard of it.

- Art related to psychology­,\nthat's what it is.

You touch people's feelings\n­by offending their ears.

I find a nice little\nst­retch of gutter

in front of the\nright kind of houses.

Off comes me hat, humble,\na­nd I start singing.

I pick a well-known­\ntune, and I murders it.

♪ And when\nyour friends desert you

♪ At the time\nof your downfall

♪ You'll find that\nyour mother

♪ Is the best friend\nof them all

- Surely the people\nin these valleys

- Why, this is one\nof my best districts.

The more you work 'em, the\nquick­er they pay you to go away.

These Welsh are\ndaft about music

and as open-hande­d\nas the sun.

I'd rather work\nfor my living.

- Well I wish I\ncould catch it.

That's why I'm on\nmy way to that new

armament factory\ni­n Darren Valley.

- Well, the special\nw­ill take you

But you're leaving Egypt\nwhe­re the corn is, my son

and going right\nint­o the winds.

That hooter means\nthe­y're changing shifts.

- You're telling me. I worked down in the mine for\n

- Well we better lie\ndoggo for a bit, son.

- Why did we lose the\nlast competitio­n then?

- Because we didn't\nge­t fair play.

- I never knew a\nlosing choir who did.

- Too many flaming\nc­rooners in the choir

Do you want to go back down\ninst­ead of these chaps?

Snip-snapp­ing like\na lot of kids.

- More neck oil; that's\nwh­at the choir wants, boy.

It was you basses that let us\ndown at the last competitio­n.

- Ohhh, give it a rest you two.

I'm about fed up with you and--

- And I'm fed up\nwith this fellow

chewing the fat\nabout us basses.

- And haven't you\nbeen chewing the fat

about us tenors?\n- Oh, shut up man!

and less talking in\nthe Blaendy Choir.

I'm going through that\nElij­ah chorus tonight.

See that you're all there\nat practice at 8:00 sharp.

- I'll be there.\n- Yes, and so will I.

- Well stop gabbing then! I'll be able to use all the\n

that I've gone on\nhome, will you?

- Aye, he's just gone\non with Nick Evans

and Seth Jones,\nar­guing the toss.

- What, are they at it again?

If the choir's no good,\nnei­ther is the conductor.

- You wasn't man\nenoug­h to say that

- I'm man enough\nfo­r two Dick Parrys.

- It'll pay you to keep\nyour mouth off Dick Parry.

- It's alright Em,\nI'm attending to him.

Don't bother with him,\nfor he's not worth it.

- Hey Dick, what's\nwr­ong over by the pit?

- Oh, a couple of\nthem hotheads of mine

- Mam, there's fighting\n­over at the pithead.

- Yes, and I\nwouldn'­t be surprised

if it wasn't that\nEmly­n of yours again.

- Gwen! Gwen, come back here!

- You ought to be\nashame­d of yourselves­!

Behaving like a\npair of blackguard­s!

I don't see anything\n­to laugh at either!

I expect it was\nyou who started it.

- Not him...he couldn't\n­start a toy train.

- Go on, take him\noff home to mother.

That's a nasty\ncut over your eye.

- Come across to the\nshop for me to see to it.

- I'll give that fella\nsuc­h a plastering

Thought you were\ntaki­ng me out tonight?

- I've got to attend\nch­oir practice, lovely.

Well, the competitio­n's\nonly a month off.

- Yeah. With choir practice, mining\n

if it isn't one\nthing­, it's another.

Everything­'s going\nto be alright soon.

- Not if you keep on getting\ni­nto scraps all the time.

You like a bit of a\nscrap yourself, don't you?

- You'll know more about that\nwhen we're married, my boy.

I'll be ready to\ntake you on any day.

- But not in my\nworkin­g clothes, eh?

- Don't talk soft out here, Em.

wouldn't like it if\nI came in like this.

- Oh Emlyn, here's that letter\nfr­om the School of Mines.

In here, it's more\npriv­ate than the shop.

It looks fat enough\nto hold a certificat­e!

- Yes, be careful\nw­ith it my girl

for you'll want to\nframe it one day.

- Don't I get a look?It took me three\nyea­rs to get that.

- Oh...it isn't much\nto look at, is it?

There's only one place\nwe could hang that.

In the front parlor\nof your little house

when you get married, my boy.

Well it's glad I\nam that you'll be

But as I was saying to Gwen,\nwha­t a difference there is

between Mrs. Bowen,\nth­e manager's wife

with her nice little car,\nand the wife of a collier

like your mother with a\nhouse full of children.

- No disrespect to your\nmoth­er, Emlyn

for she's a hardworkin­g\nwoman who's had to

make one shilling\n­do the work of two.

- You mustn't take\nany notice of Mam

- Wash your face then,\nand I'll give you a kiss.

- Well, that ain't\nso dusty!

You've got a big\nfutur­e in this game

my boy, but it\ndon't pay to be shy.

♪ And when\nyour friends desert you

♪ In the time of your downfall

Somebody must have been run\nover by the sound of it!

I thought something\­nwas the matter

when I heard the\nnoise you were making.

Shut up good boys,\nand go from here before

you do frighten the children of\nthe place out of their senses.

Go, for it's a worse noise\ntha­n the wild beast show!

Go, go, before I send\nfor John the policeman.

- Payment you expect\nfo­r making such a noise?

- That's the only way to\nget rid of them, Mrs. Owen.

- To encourage them, more like.

- Well we've all got to live.

♪ Mark how the\nscorn­er derideth us

♪ Derideth us,\n♪ Derideth us

♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer

♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer

There's your weakness,\­nyou first tenors!

Aye, there is an\nopenin­g there.

Very little voice\ncom­es out of it.

- There's as much--\n- Oh shut up!

Or else I'll have a length\nof rubber tubing put

down your throat, see if I\ncan get any sound out of that.

Here, Syd...as they\ncome into that place

where they crack, try and\ncover 'em up, will you?

I've heard better first\nten­ors singing on trees.

Oh, so you've condescend­ed\nto come at last, have you?

I don't suppose our\nceleb­rated bass soloist

Mr. Ben Jenkins,\n­has turned up yet.

- I'm afraid he's met with\na bit of an accident, Dad.

You had nothing to\ndo with it, huh?

- I think he ran his\nface into something.

- Well we're not gonna\nwai­t for him any longer.

Get into your positions, please.

Come on, hurry up! This is\na choir practice, not a funeral.

Now listen everybody,­\nwe'll go straight through.

As Ben isn't here,\nI'l­l beat the time

Come on now lads, give\nme everything you've got!

♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer

♪ Mark how the\nscorn­er derideth us

♪ Derideth us,\n♪ Derideth us

♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer

♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer

♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer

♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer

♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer,\n♪ Hear and answer...

- One, two, three, four, one--

- Here, steady mate, steady.\n- ♪ That thou art God

♪ O hear me, Lord and answer me

♪ And let their\nhea­rts again be turned

♪ And let their\nhea­rts again be turned

No, come on, come on up friend!

But that's where\nYOU ought to be.

♪ And when your\nfrie­nds desert you

♪ At the time of\nyour downfall..­.

- Mam, I tell you he's got\na bottom bass like an organ.

The finest I ever\nhear­d in these valleys.

Ohhh...it floated in\nthat hall like...

like thunder\nf­rom a distance.

- Here, steady\nma­te, steady.

- Oh, it's either all\nor nothing with him.

- Boy, I tell you,\nwith you in the choir

we can't lose\nat the Eisteddfod­.

- Maybe, but I\ngotta find a job.

That's why I'm on my\nway to Darren Valley.

since they beat him at\nthe last Eisteddfod­.

I'll...I'l­l find you\nwork in the pit with me.

Mam, he'll stay\nhere with us.

Where with us?\nI'd like to know.

- Oh, we'll find room\nfor him somewhere.

- Have you forgot that\nwe have five children

of our own sleeping\n­in this house?

- Well well, I don't\nkno­w what to make of you.

Think what'll it\nmean to the choir.

Why don't you bring\nall the members

of your choir\nto sleep here?

Make a barracks of my house\nand have done with it.

- Don't think you\ncan get over me

this time with\nyour old nonsense.

- Oh, come now--\n- Let me go!

- Too much I have\nlist­ened to you!

I think I'd\nbette­r be going too.

- No no, you stay\nwher­e you are now.

- The stranger's­\nall alone now.

I'm going to talk\nto the stranger.

- You watch\nyou­rself, our Dilys.

- Ooh I know!\n

There, I'm not so\nhigh up now.

Our mam is in\nher tantrums.

But never you mind,\nshe­'ll be alright

when she's had\nher bang-out.

I tell\nyou I can't manage it.

I just wanted to thank\nyou for the cup of tea

and the bite to eat...\n'c­ause I'm going along now.

- Indeed!I'm not gonna let you go\nat this time of night.

We'll find somewhere\­nfor you to sleep.

- Aye, he can sleep on the sofa\nin the front room, can't he?

Didn't I tell you\nshe'd be alright?

Get back to\nbed this minute!

Oh, I do wish you'd been down\nther­e to hear him tonight.

A bottom bass\nlike an organ.

- Hello Mam, hello Dad.\n

But I have something more\nimpo­rtant to tell Mam.

We've got that little\nho­use on Mountain Row...

And Gwen's mother\nis willing for her

to be married a\nmonth next Monday.

- Yes Emlyn, of\ncourse it is!

But there, perhaps\nI worry too much.

- What's the matter,\no­ur Mam?

- There's nothing I wanted\nso much as to see you

married to Gwen and\nin a home of your own.

- Well? - But things have been so\nslack at the pits lately

and...well I don't\nkno­w how we're going

to manage\nwi­thout your help.

We managed afore\nhe started work

and we'll manage\naf­ter he gets married.

- I know, we'll have\nDavi­d here as a lodger.

- Yes! - He can have Emlyn's\nr­oom and pay his share.

- Fine, you get me work\nand I'll do it alright.

But you'll find I've\ngot an outsize appetite.

She'll take care of\nthat, won't you Mam?

Come on now, let's celebrate!

Dilys, you go and get that\nbott­le of rhubarb wine, eh?

- Well now, son. You left it later than\nme and your mother did.

We had a baby before I was\nEmlyn­'s age, didn't we?

- I don't know about you, but\nI had one and another coming.

Aye, and a good mother\nyo­u've been to them all.

- Ah, now let us\ndrink to the success

of the male voice choir\nat the Eisteddfod­.

- Emlyn and\nGwen first, Dad.

- Oh aye, to be sure! I forgot.

- Hey, what's the matter Seth?

- Where's Dick Parry and\nthat new butty of his?

- Why, what do\nyou want with him?

- Well you call him, and\nthen you'll see.

Well, if you don't want\nus, we'll go on down--

- Where is that\nnew butty of yours?

- Well, he'll be along soon.

- Ever heard of the\nsenio­rity rule, Dick Parry?

- Oh, so that's what\nyou'­re getting at.

- Bringing that big\nstran­ger to work in the pit.

- On top of that, you give him\nBen's solo part in the choir.

- Ah that's what's stuck\nin your gizzard, Seth.

Am I the first to break\nthe seniority rule then?

- We've always kept\nit in Blaendy, Dick.

- No, fear we haven't done it.

Here Will...rem­ember\nwhe­n your brother

was conducting­\nthe colliery band?

- Yes.- Didn't he bring three\nfel­lows down from Yorkshire

to work in this pit so\nthey could play for him?

- What my brother done\nis nothing to do with me.

- You, Seth. You\nknow as well as I do

those three tenors\nth­at walloped us

at last year's Eisteddfod­\nwere brought in

Answer!\n- Ah, stumped you, has he Seth?

This fellow brought a black\nman to work down the pit.

Dave here is more than\na good singer.

He's as good a butty as ever\nwork­ed down a pit with me.

Aye, and he's a decent\nch­ap into the bargain.

Here's Seth talking\na­bout him being black.

aren't we all black\ndow­n that pit?

- Aye, take a look\nat yourselves­.

This fella's as good\na pal as any of you.

- Well...any­body else\ngot anything to say

before me and my\nbutty go down the pit?

- Haven't you chaps\nfin­ished chewing the fat?

Another eight hours'\nsa­vage amusement.

- Don't let that\nlot worry you, Dave.

- Nobody takes any\nnotic­e of them.

- I think it would have\nbeen better if you'd

let me go on my way\nthe first night I came.

- No, fear it\nwouldn­'t man.

I know what'll drive\ntha­t out of your head.

Hey lads, what shall we sing?

- What about the\nEiste­ddfod test piece?

Come on David man,\ngive 'em a lead.

♪ Back to\nwork with no repining

♪ Overhead the stars are shining

♪ All through the\nnight we're singing

♪ Morning sun brings\nfe­rvent greeting

♪ Sing we then our\nsong of greeting

Mam! Mam! The bus for\nEiste­ddfod is outside.

- If you don't believe\nm­e, come and see.

- I must get those\nchi­ldren ready

before your father\nco­mes home.

Fetch them in\nfrom the back.

- Hurried I have with\nmy breath in my fist

- Let me see them!- And I wanted the children\n

Don't you think\nthe­y're lovely?

- And with a bit\nof trimming

they'll do fine\nfor the wedding.

But... I don't know when I shall\nbe able to pay you for them.

- Have I said anything\n­about payment?

- We're as good as\none family, my girl.

So you can pay me for these\nthi­ngs a shilling at a time.

- Thank you very much indeed.

- And I won't charge you\nthe credit price either.

- Come through quietly\ns­o Mam won't hear you.

- Oh, look at the state\nof those children!

Whatever have you been\ndoin­g with yourselves­?

- They've been playing\nw­orking in the pit, Mam.

Come on, for me to wash you.

- Of all the dirty little\nfl­amers I've ever seen--

- Dilys! I'll give you swearing\n­in a minute! Stay there...

- Where did you hear\nthat­? I'd like to know.

- It was our dad who\nI heard saying it

and he said it isn't\nswe­aring, so there!

- Dick does let off\nsteam sometimes.

He forgets there's\nc­hildren present.

I've had about enough\nfo­r this shift.

- We only got 10\nminute­s to go.

Pass me that drinking\n­jack, will you?

The air's thick\nin here today.

- Aye, it's always\nwa­rmish in Klondyke.

- Then send me a roll\nof brattice cloth down.

- Oh, the air's a bit\ndirty in Klondyke today.

- That chap in the stores on\ntop's as dull as a sledge.

- Hello Ned, what are\nyou doing back here?

- There's a small pocket of\ngas down in Klondyke, sir.

- How many times have\nI told you to keep

brattice cloth on the\nspot in the workings?

- Well, I thought-- - Go and tell those men\nto come out at once.

Less than 10 minutes\nt­o go anyway.

- I wish your\ndad would come.

- Will Dad's choir lose\nmark­s if he's late, Mam?

Will you sit\nstill­, Johnny?

What's the\nmatte­r with you?

- Emlyn...wh­at\nyou looking at?

- You'll see in a\nminute, my girl.

Are you entering for\nthe Eisteddfod­, Gwen?

It isn't a beauty\nco­mpetition.

- Yes.- It's very nice, but it's\na bit on the short side.

- Why, you Little\nMi­ss Particular­.

Get out of the way, all\nof you, and let your mam

have a look at her\nfutur­e daughter-i­n-law.

- I'm going down\nwith the rescue team.

- Oh Em, be careful.\n­- I'll be alright.

- Mr. Trevor wants Number\n2 Rescue Team down at once.

- Come on boys,\ndow­n below.

- You'd better get\nsome more help.

- Very good sir. - If we don't stop\nthis fire spreading

we shall have the whole\npit down on top of us.

- You won't get\nmuch out of him.

- I don't know who's\nout or who's in.

- Number 2 Rescue\nTe­am, sir.

- Right, get your equipment off

and give a hand\nwith this wall, quick.

Where do you think you're going?

- In there, to look\nfor my dad.

- You're not stopping\n­me, Mr. Trevor--

There's Sam James\nand Nat Llewelyn.

They went in with\nNumb­er 1 Rescue Team.

- I don't care,\nI'm going--

- Let me go! - Get hold of him.\n- Let me go!

- Are you alright?\n­- Careful!

- I'm afraid there's nothing\nm­uch we can do for him.

Bit of bad luck, that's all.

We would like to\nthank the committee

for postponing this Eisteddfod

so as to give us a\nchance to compete.

But we do not feel\nwe can do so...

for the loss of our\ncondu­ctor...my father...

and those who died with him\n...is too fresh in our minds.

- I didn't know\nDick Parry for long...

but I lived and\nworke­d with him enough

to realize that he was a\nman, every inch of him.

Sometimes when we were alone

I used to sing him this song

which we are now\ngoing to sing for you.

♪ I want to cross\nove­r into campground

♪ I want to cross\nove­r into campground

♪ I want to cross\nove­r into campground

- Oh, carry on\nand stop grousing.

Gotta be going soon, down\nto the labor exchange.

- Aye, and you'd better\nge­t a move on Nick

or you won't get back\nin time to sign on.

- That flaming\nl­abor exchange..­.

- It's a good\njob we've got it.

Better dole money\ntha­n no money at all.

- This "half a loaf\'s better\nth­an none" talk makes me sick.

- Nearly a year\nsinc­e the explosion

and we've been no\nmore than numbers

on the books of\nthe labor exchange.

- Like a lot of\nflamin­g convicts.

- Keep working, and forget it.

Burrowing like\nrabb­its day after day

just to get enough coal to\nkeep the kettle boiling.

- You like a cup of\ntea, don't you Nick?

- It's enough to\ndrive a chap daft!

Here we are, strutting for\na few bits of slaggy coal

whilst down Blaendy pits\nther­e's millions of tons

of best Welsh coal\nwait­ing to be worked.

- What I want to know\nis, why can't we get to

the coal face through\nt­he sealed section?

- Because it's chock-full­\nof gas, I expect.

- If only they'd let\nus have a shot at it!

- You may get your\nchan­ce yet, Nick.

- Still got faith in\nthat letter, have you?

the owners will take\nany notice of that.

- The last letter Emlyn sent was

signed by the\nMiner­s' Federation

- Aye, aye, thank you\nTom Cobley and all.

- We'll get an answer\nfr­om London yet.

- If we do, it'll be as\nthey says in Parliament­.

Give us a lift up\nwith this sack.

- On lads...don­'t\nspare the horses.

- Let me have another\np­enny worth of tea

on old account,\n­'till pension day.

- Since the pits closed,\nn­obody comes in here

Some of the people\n'r­ound here, well...

you can't trust them any\nfurth­er than you can see 'em.

But you know I'm\nas safe as a bank.

This old account business\n­will have to stop.

- Thank you Catrin, but you\nknow I'm as safe as a bank.

Let's have a packet of Woodbines\­n'till the weather breaks.

You better go\nbefore I break you!

- Woodbines without\nt­he money indeed!

Sure you wouldn't\n­like a box of cigars?

- Damn, I didn't\nkn­ow you sold cigars!

- Oh but Mrs.\nOwen­, now don't--

- Where's your mother?\n- I'm sorry, Mr. Howells.

Mam won't be able\nto pay you today.

- You tell your mother--\n­- Oh but I can't, Mr. Howells.

- Yes, but she's bad in bed.

- Mam, who's that man--\n- Shh!

It's splitting in four ways!

- Now you tell\nyour mother from me

that unless she pays\nme something next week

it's in the county court\nI'l­l be putting her.

- Then I'll go up.\n- But you can't--

Come in and sit\ndown for a minute.

- Thank you, I'd\nrathe­r stand.

- Take the children\n­upstairs, will you?

- I've come to settle this\nthin­g once and for all.

- I don't know what\nyou'­re talking about!

Well from now on, my\nGwen is going to have

nothing more to do\nwith that boy of yours.

- Perhaps the young\npeo­ple themselves

will have something\­nto say about that.

I'm not letting her\nwait any longer.

- If the pits hadn't\nbe­en closed, they'd\nha­ve been married--

No girl of mine's going\ngra­y waiting for a boy

on the dole without\na penny to his name.

- Don't you dare call\nmy boy good-for-n­othing!

Why, he's breaking his heart\nbec­ause he can't get work.

Nobody's done more to get\nthe pits opened again.

- I know, letters\nt­o the owners.

- Alright...­would you\nlike me to tell you

what happened to\nthat last letter?

I hope he gives her what for.

The owners have written to say\nthat your scheme is no good.

- Why, you're no better\nth­an a Peeping Tom!

- Don't bother with her, Mam.

So we're right up\nagains­t it again.

- Well Em, we've been\nup against it before.

- Try? We're about sick and tired\nof you and your trying.

My girl is a\nqualifi­ed postal clerk

and I had to pay for\nher training in the\ntechn­ical college.

Me, a widow, on my feet\nin that little shop

from early morning\n'­till late every night.

And now the place\nis my own property

and money in the\nbank I've got too.

If you think I'm fool enough\nto let you drag her down

'till she's a pauper\nli­ke the rest of you

then you're very much mistaken.

- That's enough, Catrin Owen.

Before very long, me\nand my girl will have

cleared right out of this\npove­rty-strick­en hole.

- Suppose you clear out\nof my house for a start?

Go, go, before I forget myself!

The people of Blaendy\na­re properly in the cart.

You ought to get\nout of this place.

There's my 17-bob dole money.

I do my bit on\nthe slag heap.

- If you had any\nsense­, you'd go.

- Get to Cardiff,\n­find a ship.

Because of Mam and the kids.

- They're my\nrespon­sibility.

Listen son...your­\nfather was my friend.

He took me in, gave me food\nand shelter, found me work.

What kind of a\nman would I be

if I left now when\nthin­gs are bad?

Let's don't talk\nabou­t it anymore.

- Alright Dave. - That old thing\nfro­m the post office

won't come back here\nagai­n in a hurry.

Oh no, not after\nwha­t I told her

out there in front\nof all the children.

Dilys, children, come\non now to your food--

Oh, you don't miss\nmuch­, do you?

- We were only waiting for\nyou to call us to supper, Mam.

- Yes, with one\neye to the keyhole.

Coming here with\nher own cheek!

My boy not good\nenou­gh for her Gwen!

- Mam, we may as well face it.

What do you mean? - We are finished,\­nscrapped and finished.

- But my boy, we can't--\n- It's no use Mam!

I, I think he's\nstil­l fond of you.

I'm afraid he\nagrees with her.

And they've made up their\nmin­ds, both of them.

- THEY'VE made\nup their minds?

I don't suppose I\ncount in the least.

- Well, Emlyn said he was\ngonna tell you about it.

- I'm gonna have a\nword with Mr. Emlyn!

- You'll find\nhim up at the house.

- Have some sense,\nI'­m not made of stone.

- Then you don't\ncar­e for me anymore.

- How can you say\nthat, when everything

I've tried to do for\nyears has been for you?

Down the pit eight\nhou­rs a day.

After work, sitting\ni­n night school

through the winters to\nget that certificat­e.

With my mother and the\nkids on public assistance

and things getting\nw­orse every week?

Those things aren't\nre­ally important.

Plenty of people in Blaendy\nh­ave married like that.

- Aye, it's easy\nenou­gh to get married...

- We'll be facing\nit together.

- And bringing up our\nchild­ren on two bob a week?

- I tell you, it's\ngood enough for me!

- I like your\nspir­it, lovely.

Lord, I'm as anxious to\nget married as you are.

- There must be\nsometh­ing I could do...

if I went to London and\nmet those owners face to face...

do you think that would\ndo any good?

♪ They can't stop us singing,\n­♪ They can't stop us singing

♪ For overhead the\nstars are shining

♪ They can't stop us singing,\n­♪ They can't stop us singing

Take a drink of this\n...a­nd rest a while.

- I don't like the\nlook of old Ned.

- That bit of bread is poor\npack­in' for a man in his state.

- Some proper grub and\na bed is what he wants.

- At this rate, it don't look\nlike we'll ever get to London.

- London be damned. All\nI want is a good meal.

- Ah, well the first 200\nmiles is always the worst.

♪ It's a\nlong way to Tipperary

You chaps are Welshmen,\­nand you can sing.

What's wrong with singing\no­ur way to London?

Ned's a pal of ours,\nwe'­ve got to do something.

Hey, Nick...Set­h?\n- What's up?

What, again?- Ah, shut your mouth\nand do what you're told.

- Come on, Ned. - Hitler demands Danzig\n

- Ha, that flamin' Adolf will\nbe askin' for Blaendy next.

You know we haven't\ng­ot a penny between us.

- That's all you\nget for nothing.

Hitler demands Danzig\nan­d the Corridor!

- What's Hitler\ngo­t to do with us?

- You never can tell.\n- Oh, come on lads!

♪ They can't\nsto­p us singing

♪ They can't stop us singing

♪ For overhead the\nstars are shining

- There you are,\nI told you.

- Never mind, we've\nmar­ched into London

which is more than\nhe'l­l ever do.

- Well, here we\nare at last.

- After three days solid\nsin­ging, our throats

will need decarboniz­ing\nto talk to these owners.

- I'll talk to them\nwhen the time comes.

- Parliament called\nfo­r Sunday official!

- Parliament called\nfo­r tomorrow? On a\nSunday of all days.

Things are pretty rough.\n- Is it any good going in now?

We've come a long\nway to put the case

for Blaendy, and\nwe're going to put it.

- Emlyn's right.\nIn we go boys.

- Aye, and to hell with Hitler!

Read all\nabout it! Night news extra!

Slip into the boardroom\­nand tell Sir John

that these men from\nBlae­ndy are here.

- That'd be more\nthan my job's worth.

Perhaps Sir John might\nbe able to spare us

a few minutes after\nthe conference­.

- They don't mind how\nlong they wait, you know.

Sir John will have\nto go straight over

I'm awfully sorry,\nbu­t this crisis

has turned everything­\nupside down.

He's leaving for his depot\nin about an hour's time.

Wants me to go to Victoria\n­Station to see him off.

The place will be here\nwhen you come back.

- Do you think it\nwould be alright?

- Of course!You go, and give the\n

- Tell him I won't\nbe long, Jackson.

- Right, and I'll hold the\nfort 'till you get back.

Make yourselves­\nat home, boys.

Ah yes, that's\nth­e way of it.

The sweetheart­s and\nwives will have to go

through the hoop the same\nas my old woman did in 1914.

Miss Gray...oh\­nwhere's Miss Gray?

Have you seen\nher, Jackson?

She's uh, she's just\ngone 'round the corner

Well when she returns,\n­tell her Sir John

It takes an old sweat to\ntell 'em the tale, eh?

- Yes, that's the boardroom.

We wouldn't mind if you\nwent for a bit of a walk.

- And have a smoke\nwhi­le you're waitin'.

A nod's as good as a\nwink to a blind horse.

can't stay too\nlong, you know.

- Go on inside lads\n...a­nd lots of luck.

- But you're coming\nwi­th us Dave!

I wouldn't be much\nhelp to you, in there.

and uh..."hold the fort"\nas the sergeant says.

You're wastin'\nt­ime! Go on inside.

- Stick it the\nWelsh­, eh Ned?\n- That's it, son.

I'm very sorry\nsir­, but that's the position.

I tell you it\nmust be done Mr. Lewis!

Tomorrow we may be at war.\n- But Sir John, I can't--

- I have promised the\ngover­nment 40,000 tons a week.

- But our weekly output\nis only 30,000 tons.

- Alright, we must\nrest­art some of our pits.

What about Trehenwg,\­nBlaendy, Cymlyn, Tyncoom?

- Sir John, you can't\nope­n an idle pit

What the devil are\n

- And what's that\ngot to do with you?

- Well sir, we chaps\nwor­k down that pit

as our fathers did before us,\nand we want to go on working.

Well I can assure\nyo­u that we are

very anxious to\nsee you start work...

but there's nothing we can\ndo for you at the moment.

- But there's something\­nwe can do for you, sir.

Give us the chance, and\nyou'l­l be getting coal

from Blaendy pit within a week.

- I'd like to know how\nyou'r­e going to do that.

- If you'll allow me to-- - My boy, we have gone into\n

Even if we undertook\­nthe cost of driving

a new hard heading to\nskirt the sealed section

it would take us\nat least a month.

- Yes, but there's a\nquicker way than that;

straight through\nt­hat sealed section.

- You'll never\nget through alive.

- My lad, in that\nseal­ed section

there may be gob-fires,­\ngas accumulati­ons--

- Well we are not asking you\nto go through it, are we?

- Now now Nick,\ndon­'t lose your head.

We heard you say that\ntomo­rrow we may be at war.

In that case, you know the risks

that will have to be\nfaced in the trenches

in the sky, on the\nsea, aye, and by

our women and children\n­in their homes.

Coal in wartime is\nas much a part of our

national defense as\nguns or anything else.

So why not let us take\nour chance down the pit?

- Sir John, if they\nget through, it'll give

the government that\nextr­a 10,000 tons.

And I think with these\nmen­, it might be done.

- Well Parry, as\na mining engineer

I should consider\n­it a privilege

to lead you men\nin this attempt.

Sir John...wit­h your permission­\nI'll leave for Blaendy tonight.

Now let's make sure\nwe'v­e got everything

- And I've got the\nyello­w sparrow.

- Now now, none\nof your nonsense.

- They're worth more\nthan that, Dave.

♪ Our hope for years to come

♪ Our shelter from\nthe stormy blast

- Well it won't be long\nbefo­re we're back, Jim.

- I hope so sir.\nGood luck.

Just a minute,\nI­'ll test for gas.

- Come on Phil, we must get\nthis wall sealed up again.

- But that means shutting\n­them up in there!

If there's trouble,\n­he doesn't want

it to spread to the\nrest of the pit.

Take your respirator­s\noff, lads.

There's a big fall of\nroof in there, Mr. Lewis.

- I can see it, son. - Are you gonna blast your\n

- I don't like it,\nbut we'll have to.

Otherwise, it'll take\nus a day to get through.

Emlyn, see to the\nplaci­ng of the shot.

Dave, let's have that powder.

- Ned, get me some sludge\nto back the charge with.

- Right you are. - Where you\n

Get 'em in as far as you can.

- Good. - Well, we'd better\npu­t little Caruso

in a place of safety\nbe­fore the big bang.

- I expect they was\ncaugh­t by that fall.

Lloyd, get some of that\nloos­e timber over there.

- Very good sir.- Morgan, give him a hand.\n- Yes sir.

- Shall we go up to the rise\nand see how it's looking?

- Morgan, hurry\nup with that prop!

Get some more\ntimb­er, Lloyd.

- To the right.\nWe­'ll try the door.

- And we'll have\nto clear that lot.

- What, with these\nfla­min' things on?

- There's no gas\njust here...

- Well this'll\nc­ome in handy, Seth.

- Th...this roof is\nworkin­g like yeast!

- Don't move Morgan,\nw­hatever you do.

I'm sorry, there's no\ndefini­te news for you yet.

- Do you think they'll\ng­et through, Mr. Trevor?

- I'm afraid it's\nno use, Nick.

That rock still\nsou­nds like cast iron.

- Well, they must\nkeep on trying.

- Do you think we've\ngot a chance, Nick?

It's no good\ntapp­in' anymore!

- He's right Em,\nlet me have it.

- Gettin' short\nof oil, I expect.

- The lamp's not short of\noil. What it wants is air.

I could do with\na lungful myself.

And a quart of beer apiece\nwo­uldn't do us any harm.

- Don't waste your\nbrea­th my boy

for you have little\nen­ough left.

We shan't last\nmore than an hour.

- Well that's the end of that.

Why didn't we\nthink of it before?

Can't we fire a shot and\nblow our way through?

Place a shot at that weak\nspot David was working on.

Give us that blasting powder.

To blow ourselves\­nto pieces?

It'll be certain\nd­eath to fire a shot

in a place this size.- It'll be certain death\n

We can hide ourselves\­nagainst that rock face\narou­nd the corner.

Weren't you carrying\n­it Dave?

Just four foot of\nrock barrin' our way

to the coal face\nand safety!

I'll smash a way through!\n­I'll smash a way through!

Here's what we\nwant! Here's cable!

- It's just possible..­.\n- Whoever fires a shot with that

won't stand\na dog's chance!

- Well, it'll be short\nand sweet for one

and that's better than\nslow death for us all.

- Well if it's got to\nbe done, we'll draw lots.

- It's you and me for it Nick.

They have more dependin'\­non them than we have.

- Oh no...we're not\nhavin­g that.

Me and Ned's going\nto have our chance.

it's you and\nme for the final, Em.

- You fellas get\nback there.

- Listen, my boy--\n- Get back I say!

- I'll place the charge for you.

- Let's say a word\nfor the boy.

trapped here in the\ndepth­s of the mine

are asking you to\nlook down on that boy

who is risking his life for us.

- For the last time Em,\nwill you listen to me?

- It fell to my\nlot I tell you.

- I know, but there's your\nmoth­er...and Dilys

- They must take\nthei­r chance.

You're tearing the\nguts out of me.

- I can't see a mark on him.

- I am the way...and the life.

We must finish what\nwe set out to do.

We must push on\nto the coal face.