Blaenavon

Blaenavon ; Welsh Blaenafon
	Big Pit National Coal Museum
Coordinates	51 ° 46 ′ N , 3 ° 5 ′ W Coordinates: 51 ° 46 ′ N , 3 ° 5 ′ W
	Blaenavon
	Blaenavon
Residents	6055
administration
Post town	PONTYPOOL
ZIP code section	NP4
prefix	01495
Part of the country	Wales
Preserved County	Gwent
Unitary authority	Torfaen
British Parliament	Torfaen

Blaenavon ( Welsh : Blaenafon ) is a town in southern Wales at the source of Afon Llwyd . Located on a hill town is a UNESCO - World Heritage Site .

history

Blaenavon War Memorial and Workmen's Hall

Blaenavon grew around an ironworks opened in 1788 ( Blaenavon Ironworks ). Part of this ironworks now contains a museum. The steel industry and mines soon followed, causing the population to rise to over 20,000.

Since the ironworks closed its doors in 1900 and the last coal mine ceased operations in 1980, the number of inhabitants declined throughout the 20th century. Today mainly elderly people live in the city.

Attractions

Sights of the city are the museum railway Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway and the "Big Pit", an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH). "The Big Pit" is a former coal mine, which is now operated as a visitor mine . National Museums and Galleries of Wales operates Big Pit as the national mining museum of Wales. As with all Welsh national museums, entry is free.

Mine workers first entered the mine in 1860. It got its name because of its huge size. The shaft grew to 293 feet in the 1870s. At their wedding around 1908, 1,122 people were working in the mine; in the following decades the number of employees steadily fell to 494 in 1970. On February 2, 1980, the mine operator ceased operations.

In 1983 the Welsh National Museum opened the mine as a visitor mine, followed by a major redesign in 2003, which led to the award of the Gulbenkian Prize in 2005 .

Book City

Attempts are currently being made to revive Blaenavon by making it the second “ book town ” in Wales alongside Hay-on-Wye . However, this measure has not yet been successful. This may have something to do with the city's unattractive image and its unfavorable location on the outskirts of Great Britain. So far it has not helped that investors have invested considerable sums in the city center and the range of books is impressive.