Coalhouse

Three Welsh families are swapping modern life for one mirroring life in 1927 to see how it would have been in a mining community of the past. It is part of a BBC Wales reality series and will see the men and boys work at the Blaentillery Drift Mine - the last working mine of its kind.

While the women will remain in tiny miners' cottages in Blaenavon during the day looking after the children.

Coal House will be broadcast from next Monday.

All three families will have their work cut out during their month-long stay. The men and boys over 14 will face long walks to work over mountainous terrain in all weather, before a long day at the drift mine. Back home the women will have to keep the children fed, watered and clean without the benefit of supermarkets, washing machines, ready meals or cars.

More than 150 families applied for the series and 12 of them were tested on initiative, stamina and team-working as well as undergoing psychological tests to find out how they might cope with the stresses of life in the cottages.

The three families who triumphed are welcoming the challenge of downsizing to the extreme. They include a university professor, a coal merchant, builder, carpenter, and a lorry driver.