The Workhouse

1884 - When Betsan Morgan’s mother succumbs to a devastating illness, she doesn't think her life could get much worse. But then her father moves in his new beau, an unserious flitty woman and coincidentally also the bargirl in the pub he works in, and she soon learns her house is no longer a home. All she can do is sit in the attic and stare at the portrait of her mother. Her new stepmother, Elinor, couldn’t even let them have the grace of keeping it in the hallway.

Enid Hardcastle has always had a hard life, but when her family can’t make ends meet and are moved to the workhouse, it feels like things can’t get any worse. But luckily for Enid, her friendship with local boy Jimmy gives her the strength. Also from the cold, hard streets of Merthyr, Jimmy has made his name as an entrepreneur, repairing boots and hand-delivering them to the fine people of the town. Enid has seen for herself that you can make a better life for yourself, so with Jimmy’s help, she sets about trying to save her family. But there are even darker places than the workhouse...

Ever since Jimmy was a boy, he’s known two things: the rough streets of Merthyr Tydfil and that one day he would marry Enid Hardcastle. But when Enid disappears without a word, his life takes a different turn. Determined to make something of himself, Jimmy pours his heart into his job at Mr Baxter's workshop, dreaming of the future he and Enid might one day share. Yet, just as his hard work begins to pay off, a man arrives claiming to be Mr Baxter’s illegitimate son, threatening Jimmy’s chance of inheriting the business he was promised.