Miner's Day

Miner's Day is a testament to coal mining communities in the mid-twentieth century. First published by Penguin Books as a slim paperback in 1945, it married a reflective text by Britain's outstanding miner-writer, B. L. Coombes, to illustrations by the artist Isabel Alexander.

The original text is now republished in a generous new format with a substantial introduction and the full wealth of images that Isabel Alexander made in an extended project to document people and places in the South Wales coalfield – a unique addition to the visual representation of mining communities.

Bert Coombes in words and Isabel Alexander in images each aimed to reveal the layered reality of coal-mining communities to a distant public. They documented both work below ground and devastated environments above. They described the lives not just of working men but women, children and older people too. They saw poverty and despair but also love, hope and even humour. The South Wales they captured echoes similar communities across the world and evolving global challenges to health, work and environment. Miner's Day is as relevant now as it was in 1945.