Description

By the second day of the strike over miners’ rights, all the collieries in the Ammanford area were out but collieries in the Dulais Valley and the Vale of Neath were still working. A mass meeting had decided to picket these. Four hundred men gathered in Ammanford and led by Ammanford town brass band they set out at 10.40pm to march the twenty-one miles to Crynant overnight. It was like a snowball, gathering miners along the way. First they picked up the Cwmaman miners along with their brass band, and quickly followed Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen and Brynamman each with their brass bands. They were in great spirits as they marched through the Swansea Valley and by the time they reached Ystradgynlais they were 15,000 to 20,000 strong. It was dawn by the time they reached Crynant.