Another red 1831 flag, this one flown at the Tower Colliery closing march, in Hirwuan, Wales, 25 January 2008 - the day the last deep mine in Wales was closed.
Hirwuan is in the Cynon Valley, where Dic Penderyn lived. The village of Penderyn is very close to Hirwuan. Since 2004 when Wales ended a 100+ year distillation drought, Penderyn has produced Penderyn Whisky, at the Penderyn Distillery, the only single malt whisky produced in Wales. Penderyn Distillery is said to be the smallest commercial distillery in the world (I think that is said of several distilleries). The Distillery was started by a successful steel industry exec turned organic farmer (imagine that, another organic farmer from the ranks of those who earned their capital the ol' fashioned way). I've never tasted Penderyn Whisky, and I suppose I would like to someday, but should I ever there will be that tinge of sadness that the Cynon Valley, one of the most famous coal mining locations in the world, traded the trades for boutique businesses which cater to the petit-bourgeois.
"Nothing is more bourgeois than to be afraid to look bourgeois." -- Andy Warhol
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