He travelled by rail, via Chester, and became aware of the urban, English, middle-class world outside of North Wales.
When he arrived in Trealaw, he found lodgings and a job as a dustman on the night shift at Clydach Vale No.
Before Edwards arrived in the area, his cousin had been one of ten people killed in an explosion at Clydach Vale.
[4] Edwards joined the South Wales Miners' Federation (known as the Fed), but did not always involve himself with strike action.
He returned from the Western Front in March 1918, severely wounded and made to spend months in hospital.
Edwards was dismissed from his job at the quarry, due to refusing to rejoin the quarryworkers' union after strike action.
In March 1920, Edwards married Margaret Owen, a Welsh-speaking woman from Rachub, Bethesda, Gwynedd.