Wales has lots to offer in terms of its industrial heritage,

with many industrial treasures which are well worth a

visit — including a site of such industrial importance it

has been granted World Heritage status. The World

Heritage landscape of Blaenavon, in the heart of the south

Wales valleys, offers numerous attractions including the

opportunity to experience life as a miner at Big Pit

National Coal Museum, and as a worker at the Blaenavon

Ironworks, a site which had a significant impact on the

world as we know it today. Further west is home to

the National Wool Museum, located in the historic former

Cambrian Mills, and in the heart of the Snowdonia

mountains in north Wales is the National Slate Museum.

All four corners of Wales have an industrial story to tell…

Industrial heritage itinerary:

explore the rich industrial heritage of Wales

Just under an hour’s drive from the capital city of Cardiff,

in the famous south Wales Valleys stand Blaenavon

Ironworks. The ironworks were a milestone in the history

of the Industrial Revolution and at the time were at the

cutting-edge of new technology. The power of steam was

harnessed and a way of making steel using iron-ore was

developed, which led to a worldwide boom in the steel

industry, taking Wales’s industrial might to a new height.

Visitors to the site can see the refurbished Stack Square

cottages, to see how the workers lived through the ages,

and the recreated company truck shop. New, cutting-edge

audio-post technology helps bring the story of the

Ironworks to life like never before. The landscape of

Blaenavon has gained World Heritage status as a result of

its revolutionary form and function. From mines to train

lines, you can still trace the routes in and routes out, from

raw material to finished product.

At the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage landscape

of Blaenavon, around the corner from the Ironworks lies

Big Pit, a former working coal mine. This award-winning

museum offers an experience unparalleled in the

country, and one of only two sites in the UK where

visitors can go underground in an original coal mine.

Guided by ex-miners, visitors descend over 90 metres to

the very depths of the mine and get a taste of what life

was like for those who made their living at the coal face.

There are further facilities to educate and entertain all

ages above ground, including a multi-media virtual tour in

the Mining Galleries and exhibitions in the Pithead Baths

and historic colliery buildings. Admission is free.

Blaenavon Ironworks

Big Pit National Coal Museum

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Located in the heart of west Wales’s countryside, the

National Wool Museum tells the story of the once-

thriving woollen industry in Teifi Valley, which dominated

the area during its peak in the late nineteenth and early

twentieth centuries. This gem of a museum is housed in

an original mill building, where industrial machinery and

live weaving displays can be seen which bring to life the

process of 'fleece to fabric'. This once mighty industry

produced clothing, shawls and blankets for the workers

of Wales and the rest of the world. Admission is free.

National Wool Museum

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Blaenavon and Big Pit can be reached from Cardiff in just under an hour. The journey time from Swansea to the National

Wool Museum is just over an hour. The National Slate Museum is situated in the north Wales village of Llanberis at the

foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, and approx. 1.5 hours from Liverpool.

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Industrial heritage itinerary: explore the rich industrial heritage of Wales

Housed in original quarry workshops in the

Snowdonia mountains, the National Slate

Museum tells the story of life in Wales’s slate

communities when the Welsh slate industry

‘roofed the world’. As well as opportunities

to see the foundry, forges, sheds and the

largest working waterwheel in the UK,

skilled craftsmen also give live demonstrations

of the art of splitting and dressing slate by

hand. The National Slate Museum is twinned

with the Slate Valley Museum in Granville, NY,

USA, reinforcing the links between Welsh

communities on both sides of the Atlantic.

Admission is free.

National Slate Museum

4Visit cadw.wales.gov.uk to discover the stories and people behind

our 128 historic sites. ‘Like’ Cadw on Facebook and follow

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Visit museumwales.ac.uk, ‘Like’ Museums Wales on Facebook and

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3National Wool Museum

4National

Slate Museum

2Big PitNational Coal Museum

1BlaenavonIronworks