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The Coal Giants of Welsh Appalachia

From Planet 251

by Peter Stevenson

Peter Stevenson recalls the day ‘Yma o Hyd’ was sung in Welch, West Virginia during his visit to these old coal-mining areas. He uncovers hidden histories and discusses contemporary struggles – and in the town of Jenkinjones some deep and troubling connections to Wales.

In the Fall of 2022, as the sugar maples and scarlet oaks coloured the Appalachian forests red and gold, I began a road trip through the Welsh coal camps of southern West Virginia. Close to where the Tug Fork River rises in McDowell County is the town of Jenkinjones, a model coal camp 100 years ago when rows of cinder block houses stretched along the main street past a movie theatre, a cinema, sidewalks for children to roller-skate along and hold sleigh-riding parties in the snow, and separate churches and schools for White and Black. At the far end of town was the pride of Jenkinjones, the company store and post office, both now covered in creepers and climbers that hide the stories of the forgotten miners and the Welsh coal barons before the forest reclaimed its own.

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