Set in the heart of the World Heritage Site in Blaenafon, visitors, guided by ex-miners, descend 300 feet to the very depths of a real coal mine at Big Pit and experience for themselves the difficult conditions in which the miners worked day after day.

Above ground, all the colliery buildings, including the pithead baths, the winding engine house and blacksmith’s workshop have been sensitively restored and brought back

to life with the sounds of the miners at work echoing from the past. Visitors can catch a glimpse of this in the Mining Galleries, where they get a chance to experience the sights and sounds of a modern coalface with the help of a 'virtual' miner guide. Big Pit is one of six museums operated by the National Museums & Galleries of Wales and works with local and community partners to ensure the museum plays its part in the social and economic wellbeing of Blaenafon and the Welsh Valleys.

Welcoming the news that the museum had made it through to the finalist stage of the Prize, Peter Walker, Keeper and Mine Manager at Big Pit, said, “Not only did we manage to attract a record number of visitors from home and abroad during 2004, but having our work commended by people within the Museum industry has reaffirmed the sense of achievement the completion of such a project gives.”

Garin Jenkins, ex-miner and former Welsh Rugby Union star, said, “This is a fantastic tourist attraction for Wales. Blaenafon is steeped in history – this is where the steel and coal industry began and it is very important for us to preserve our industrial heritage and to help our youngsters understand their own history and that of their families.”

Visitor comments
“This project will talk to the people and trace the history of employment to put back a value on people’s lives.”
David Morgans, Colchester, Essex

“I was brought up in the next valley over the mountain … during the 1940s and 1950s when coal mining was at its peak … Big Pit Mine is a fine memorial to the country’s past industrial achievements.”
Geoff Jones, Tamworth Staffordshire

“A brilliant museum … the guides were genuine mine workers who still had a great love and pride in the Welsh mining industry … My children enjoyed it so much, we came back a few days later.”
Jane Hadler, Bristol

Key facts
Re-opened: February 2004
Development costs: £7 million
Funders: Heritage Lottery Fund; Wales Tourist Board; Local Regeneration Fund; Garfield Weston Foundation; Lloyds TSB; Pilgrim Trust; SR & PH Charitable Trust; Coalfield Regeneration Trust; NMGW
Visitor figures: 140,000+
Admission charges: free
Opening hours: 9.30am-5.00pm daily, mid-February – 28 November

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