By Gavin O'Connor FOR more than two decades, Jenny Williams was the first face the miners saw before they clocked in for a hard day's graft at Tower Colliery. She provided ample supplies of hot tea, nourishing snacks and a warm smile before the men hit the coal seams.

SO that's it. The end of deep coal mining in Wales as the Tower Colliery in Hirwaun finally hit the buffers. That mad cackling I hear in the distance can't possibly be Mrs Thatcher, can it? Drooling insanely into her Horlicks that she was right after all? But it's a sad moment for Wales.

By Blair Wood One of the proudest chapters in the history of Welsh industry came to an end yesterday when Tower Colliery closed its gates for the last time.

By DENNIS ELLAM THE miners who bought their own pit might soon be the stars of a movie. The story of how they saved Tower Colliery from closure is planned for the screen - but only after tough-talking boss Tyrone O'Sullivan censored his sex scenes.

By Tony Heath PIT CLOSURE When the Conservative government declared their colliery 'unviable' in 1994, the miners invested their redundancy money in keeping their workplace and community alive.