These extracts from the Ynscedwyn School records of 1878 help to show how poor many of the local families were in Victorian times. It tells of children missing school because they were out collecting coal from a nearby mine, after part of it was abandoned.

This entry from the school Log Book says:
"A considerable number of children were away from school, the weather being fine, they were employed in obtaining coal from an abandoned level known as "the Drift". As many as fifty persons have been there at one time..."

This was written in October 1878, so the parents of these children were probably trying to get supplies of free coal to heat their homes for the coming winter.

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