The close-knit villages of the Dearne Valley were home to four generations of the Hollingworth family. Spanning Richard Benson`s great-grandmother Winnie`s ninety-two years in the valley, and drawing on years of historical research, interviews and anecdotes, The Valley lets us into generations of carousing and banter as the family`s attempts to build a better and fairer world for themselves meet sometimes with triumph, sometimes with bitter defeat. Against a backdrop of underground explosions, strikes and pit closures, these are unflinching, deeply personal stories of battles between the sexes in a man`s world sustained by strong women; of growing up, and the power of love and imagination to transform lives.