This living history series transports three families back to the South Wales coalfields of the 1920s. The families swap their modern luxuries for the harsh reality of daily life as a coalmining family. Living in coalminer's cottages without heating, running water, washing machines, TV and computers, the families experience extreme poverty and the struggle to survive that faced coalminers a years after the General Strike in 1926. For the men and boys over 14 there are long days down the mine working in dire, cramped conditions while the women face the relentless daily grind of household chores and looking after the family.