07/11/2025
Thirteen miners from Gilfach Goch were arrested and prosecuted for their part in the Tonypandy Riots. The trial of the thirteen lasted six days in December. During the trial, they were supported by marches and demonstrations by up to 10,000 men, who were refused entry to Pontypridd.
Home Secretary Winston Churchill sent in troops and police against striking miners. It is no wonder the Tories are so hated to this day here and in the valleys of south Wales.
The Tonypandy Riots started on 7th November 1910 and continued unabated for almost two days. They involved violent clashes between striking miners and the Glamorgan Constabulary, reinforced by both the Bristol and Metropolitan police forces. Home Secretary Winston Churchill also sent in troops to the area to reinforce the police shortly after the riot, a decision that caused ill feeling towards him in south Wales.
The strike ground on for several months although the violence of the initial riots in Tonypandy was rarely repeated and finally ended in August 1911. It left bitter scars in the Rhondda, particularly as the miners were forced to return to work after agreeing to a paltry sum for the coal extracted. Churchill was, until his dying day, reviled by many as ‘the man who sent in the troops’ and remains unpopular in the South Wales valleys to this day.
