Big Pit National Coal Museum

The winching mechanism.

The Big Pit National Coal Museum (Welsh: Pwll Mawr: Amgueddfa Lofaol Genedlaethol) is a museum in Blaenavon in Wales, which is dedicated to the Welsh heritage of coal mining which took place at the town during the Industrial revolution. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development open to the public which acquires conserves researches communicates and exhibits the Blaenavon (Blaenafon is a Town and World Heritage Site in south eastern Wales, lying at the source of the Afon Llwyd north of Pontypool Coal mining is the extraction or removal of Coal from the Earth by Mining. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the Big Pit was a working coal mine, adjacent to the preserved Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway. Coal mining is the extraction or removal of Coal from the Earth by Mining. The Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway is a volunteer-run Heritage railway, running trains between a station platform in a former colliery furnace site up a steep but short The mine closed in 1980 and reopened for visitors in 1983. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) Today it is preserved for visitors under the auspices of the National Museum Wales. Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales (Amgueddfa Cymru formerly the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, comprises the following museums in Wales: Big Pit National Coal Museum is an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage. The European Route of Industrial Heritage ( ERIH) is a network of the most important Industrial Heritage sites in Europe It is located close to Blaenavon, in Torfaen, which is a World Heritage Site. Blaenavon (Blaenafon is a Town and World Heritage Site in south eastern Wales, lying at the source of the Afon Llwyd north of Pontypool Education Secondary schools in the area are St Albans RC High School, Pontypool West Monmouth School, Pontypool Croesyceiliog School A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex

1 History of the pit
2 History of the museum
3 See also
4 External links

History of the pit

The pit was first worked in 1860, called "Big Pit" because it was the first shaft in Wales large enough to allow two tramways. Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting In the late 1870s the shaft was deepened to 293 feet. Events and Trends Technology The invention of the prototype telephone by Alexander G By 1908, Big Pit provided employment for 1,122 people, but this number gradually decreased until by 1970 the workforce only numbered 494. Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It closed on February 2, 1980. Events 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar)

History of the museum

The mine reopened for visitors in 1983. Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) As with all national museums in Wales, admittance is free. The site was redeveloped in 2003, with design work from TACP/Brooke Millar Partnership, Powell Dobson Partnership and Haley Sharpe, with Davis Langdon providing cost and project management services. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Davis Langdon LLP, known globally as Davis Langdon and Seah International is a construction consultancy firm headquartered in London, UK with 30 offices throughout

Prize-winning site

In 2005, it won the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Gulbenkian Prize, now called the ArtFund Prize is an annual prize awarded to a Museum or gallery in the United Kingdom for a "track record of

Big Pit as a tourist attraction

Big Pit is not a sanitised Disney attraction or a theme park, the pit props and steel bands are not for show but to hold up the roof, the water flowing down the tunnel towards the cages is real apart from the fact it now flows down a channel rather than over the miners feet.

Safety

The pit is covered by mining regulations, similar to that of a working pit. Visitors wear a plastic hard hat and ‘safety lamp’, another piece of kit is the re-breather emergency supply, breathing this in an emergency will filter foul air for approximately one hour giving a chance for survival and escape.

Contraband must be surrendered such as anything containing a dry cell battery from watches to mobile phones. The dangers of the mine are real, the safety posters on the stages of Carbon Monoxide poisoning serve as museum pieces and as real reminders of the dangers of underground. Automatic gas monitoring systems are discreetly positioned around the tunnels as are emergency telephone systems.

External links

Mining in Wales provided a significant source of income to the Economy of Wales throughout the nineteenth century and early twentieth century The South Wales Coalfield is a large region of South Wales that is rich with Coal deposits The South Wales Coalfield Collection (SWCC established in 1969 was an attempt to preserve the documentary records of the mining community in South Wales The UK General Strike of 1926 was a General strike that lasted nine days from 3 May 1926 to 12 May 1926. The miners' strike of 1984 – 1985 was a major Industrial action affecting the British coal industry.

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