A large original 9" x 7" former press association photograph bearing the date of 24th October 1935. Full details are given with a typed sheet adhered to the back. Basically, it is a record of officers of the Glamorgan Constabulary, performing duty during a strike at the Taff Merthyr Colliery near Bedlinog in South Wales.

The 1930's saw social and political unrest across South Wales. Coal mine owners set up the South Wales Miners’ Industrial Union (SWMIU) in an attempt to break the South Wales Federation (SWMF – the ‘Fed‘ ). Conflict between the two unions reached its height at Taff Merthyr Colliery, when stay-down miners (SWMF) took over the Taff Merthyr, citadel of the SWMIU.

In October 1935, an incident occurred where SWMF miners were attacked by SWMIU supporters. Feelings ran high, so much so, that women and unemployed miners marched on Taff Merthyr in support of the Federation. Disturbances occurred where the police with truncheons drawn, charged the hostile crowds. As might be expected in such confrontations, the police too, were subjected to assaults.

The Ross Mather Police Memorabilia of Wales Collection