Big Pit: National Coal Museum

Impressively well-​organized despite large numbers on the day of our visit. The guides went out of their way to involve the young children in the group. And very many thanks to Delyth who posted a lost scarf back to Denmark.

‘Go three hundred feet underground with a real miner and see what life was like for the thousands of men who worked at the coal face.’ Good suggestion. I can save you some time though, if you’re interested.
Miserable. It wasn’t great to be honest. That’s probably one of the many reasons these Mines are mostly museums rather than being mines now.
If you like closed-​in, dark sort of places and wearing a hat with a light on it then you might enjoy and trip down. I prefer a good museum with a coffee shop and visitors guide myself, but each to their own.
There’s a lot of pride about the coal industry in Wales and here there is an emphasis on the people and society, its harking back to a time many wish they hadn’t lost, but to me just illustrates exactly why it went. Perfect for a trip with the kids.

I have a bad memory of old Big Pit. Being born two valleys over a visit each year with the school is installed into you from the tender age of four.
Having been kitted out in full mining gear, i had a little trouble with my lamp and then got shouted out by my tour guide for not caring about the history of the land of my fathers! I spent the afternoon crying and whimpering about caring and the fact my sandwiches were soggy.
But, in all seriousness this place is seriously worth a visit. Filled with culture and history its free to go in and your guaranteed to learn something brand spanking new!
Down the mineshaft is slightly claustrophobic, damp and dark, but its definitely a must do when in Wales.
It made me sad that ponies actually went down here.
Anyway, there was a BBC series filmed in Big Pit called the Coal House where families were sent back to the day and lived like they ‘used to!’ This proved pretty good for Big Pit and sent horde’s of people down the mineshaft.
Get a bit cultured and also visit the cheese factory that’s been set up there too!
Beware of school term time though!
Whoop whoop go Wales!

If you’re not claustrophobic then this can be a really interesting insight into the story of mining in South Wales. If you’re a bit claustrophobic then go anyway, it’s perfectly safe. This is an old mine that doesn’t function as such anymore but has been running for many years as a museum. It is a favourite with school trips around the area so maybe it’s best to ring ahead and find out if there’s going to a hundred screaming children if you’re planning on going on a weekday in term time. It’s a fair way out of big cities like Cardiff, but worth the trip.
Upon entering the museum you are kitted up with a head torch and given some brief safety instructions before going down the mineshaft into the depths of the mine. There are lamps along the wall in most of the mine so it’s not pitch black down there, but you do get a feel for how cut off these miners were from the outside world, and the danger they went through every day as part of their job. Mining holds a firm place in South Wales’ history, Cardiff being one of the most important ports in the world at one point in terms of the amount of coal being exported, and it’s interesting to hear all of the back story to this through an interactive, albeit a little dark, museum.

The National Coal Museum…
A famous landscape across Wales and throughout the world! It has been in Doctor Who series in the Satan’s Pit episode, starring David Tennant and Billie Piper. So why wouldn’t you want to walk the very same footsteps that they have walked.
This is a popular location for tourists and locals, and it is a fantastic place to have a day out with your children or grandchildren. It free entry for all and it is situated in Blaenafon in Torfaen in Wales.
It’s amazing what you can see and learn. This is a very interesting, historical and it is a fully packed activity place.
The reason why the place has the name it has is because it comes the fact as to wide the shaft is and apparently this is 5.5m which is its widest point. This then made this mine the biggest one within this area in Cardiff. It is a brilliant place to visit and I would recommend it to all.

I didn’t live in Wales as a child, so I only visited this attraction as an adult after several years of living in Cardiff. Despite it being widely respected and award-​winning, I didn’t expect to enjoy it because the idea of a mining museum just didn’t appeal to me at all. I found when I got there, however, that the museum is put together so well it is really engaging — even for adults.
The museum itself is located on the heather-​covered moors of Blaenafon, amidst an industrial landscape that has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its huge importance in the process of industrialisation through iron and coal production.
The world-​famous Underground Tour involves descending 300 feet underground with a real miner to find out what life was like for the thousands of men who worked at the coal face. Following recent redevelopment, visitors can also go on a multi-​media tour of a modern coal mine with a virtual miner in the Mining Galleries, and see exhibitions in the newly renovated Pithead Baths and Historic colliery buildings.

Like Tanya I too visited on a couple of occasions when I was in school and still have the pictures of us all down the bit without hard hats and torches on. Visitors get the chance to go into the pit via a 300 ft deep shaft lift and have a look around the coal faces, engine houses and stables. Of course its a very safe environment for tourists and only gives you a hint of what it must of been like to be down there. I’ve been into a working mine and can tell you its frightening.
The mines are so much part of our heritage and its only really when your adult you can appreciate what it was all about. My grandfather was a miner and its brilliant to go and look at the history exhibitions and learn more. The people who work here are so knowledgeable and some even have first hand experience of what its like to be a miner. Its a fantastic resource that keeps history alive and fun as well.

This is another one of those places that anyone who grew up in South Wales will have gone along on school trips to. When you’re a kid, all you care about is the coal and the explosions and dead canaries and severed limbs, and the like. It’s all exciting and interesting; going down into the mine is probably the most exciting thing you ever did while in primary school.
As an adult, this museum takes on a very different persona. The exhibitions and historical buildings tell a very real story of a Welsh past that effected many lives. The stories told are both sombre and uplifting, but above all the camaraderie between locals is immensely touching.
The museum has undergone massive redevelopments in the last 6 years or so, and now has hit the 21^st century with multimedia exhibitions. The highlight is still the famous underground tour, however. You go down into the mines, 300 feet beneath the surface, and really find out what it might have been like for the thousands of men who spent lives chipping away at the coalface.
This is a fun and informative day out, and I would recommend it for all ages. This museum has worked hard to entertain everyone, and they’ve succeeded.