BLAENAVON

'Blaenavon' (Welsh: ''Blaenafon'') is a town and World Heritage Site in south eastern Wales, lying at the source of the Afon Llwyd north of Pontypool. The town lies high on a hillside and has a population of 6,349 people.

Blaenavon grew around an ironworks opened in 1788, part of which is now a museum. The steel-making and coal mining industries followed, boosting the town's population to over 20,000 at one time, but since the ironworks closed in 1900 and the coal mine in 1980, the population has declined, and now consists mostly of older citizens.

Attempts have recently been made to turn the town's image around by introducing it as Wales's second "book town" (the first being Hay-on-Wye). However after over a year of attempts to attract visitors the project seems not to have succeeded. This can be attributed to a combination of the town's remote location and its local reputation as a very undesirable destination. This is an unfair, but true opinion of the town, as investment and local interest have completely transformed the town's main thoroughfare (Broad Street) and the book shops stock good quality and excellent value books. There are many thriving community groups within the town, including Future Blaenavon, which has helped to create a community garden at the bottom of the town.
Attractions in the town include the Big Pit Mining Museum (an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage), Blaenavon Iron Works, the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway, and the Blaenavon Male Voice Choir.
Blaenavon is twinned with Coutras, France.

Contents

The Time Team Dig

See also

External links/References

The Time Team Dig

The history and archeology Channel 4 TV programme, 'Time Team' came to ''Blaenavon'' during its February 2001 series'' (airing date)'' to find'' 'The lost viaduct', ''the world's first railway viaduct'' (used by horse drawn wagons, carrying coal from the mines)'' which had been built in 1790, measuring 40 metres long and 10 metres high, and yet within about 25 years of its construction, it had completely disappeared. But with no records of its demolition, the group were there to both try to locate the structure, and to see if it was still there.
The results of this were that, eventually, during the mid-late afternoon of the final (third) day of the 'dig' they managed to uncover the top of the viaduct, which had an arched roof added, beneath 12-15 metres of rubble and earth, seemingly still standing. However due to the fact that it was so late on their last day, and for safety reasons, they were unable to dig any further, but it means that future archeological excavations should be more successful.

See also

★ Mining in Wales - an account of mining at Blaenavon

External links/References

★ Blaenavon Town Council

★ Time Team - The Lost Viaduct