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Brynmawr, a small mining town in the South Wales Valleys suffered from the 1926 General Strike through the Great Depression in the United Kingdom and World War II, when much of its traditional heavy industry disappeared. The economic depression began in 1921 with the closure of several collieries in the area. A total of 1,700 families in Brynmawr depended entirely on the employment in these mines and without this work there was a severe economic situation. The mid-1930s saw hunger marches from Brynmawr to County Hall in Newport. Of the 1,700 families in Brynmawr, many suffered from the industrial collapse; gardens and allotments were abandoned for lack of seeds and produce; pets were dispensed with due to lack of food; public services were reduced to a minimum with streets badly lit and unswept and shopkeepers bankrupt owing to the credit allowed to their customers who were unable to pay their bills. ==The Religious Society of friends== The Worthing Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) formed the 'Coalfields Distress Committee' with the aim of diversifying the economic activity of the area by promoting the development of light industry as an alternative source of employment. Called the Brynmawr Experiment, its originators - among them Peter Scott, William Noble, John Oxenham (the mayor of Worthing) and Sidney Walter, arrived in Brynmawr in 1928 and began to organize relief work among the area's unemployed. The men of the area repaired roads, and a crew of 25 to 50 constructed Brynmawr's open air swimming pool, giving their services in exchange for food relief aid. By 1934 the Order of Friends had been established. This had two categories of work - voluntary work which was based at the Community House, and industrial work based at a small factory called Gwalia Works. Seeds and manure were supplied for the allotments, fences and boundaries to fields were repaired. Brynmawr was beginning to take shape again. Children were taken to Worthing to be cared for, where more facilities could be offered away from Brynmawr at that particular time. Children were taken from their families in Brynmawr and temporarily housed in the homes of Worthing families. A few of the more delicate children were put under the care of "Dr Worthing" for six weeks. Soon the Distress and Relief Fund set up to help the people of Brynmawr stood at 1600 pounds sterling. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brynmawr Experiment」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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