Our next adventure was to visit an UNESCO World Heritage Site: the National Coal Museum, known as the
Big Pit, in Blaenavon, Wales. Shortly after getting on the highway, we lost track of Mike and missed a turn. Luckily we had a good map and I managed to navigate us on the back roads through small Welsh towns to our destination. When it was our turn to go on the underground tour, we had to hand over everything with a battery (watches, cameras, phones, etc.), because all it would take is a single spark for the whole place to blow! We were outfitted with a belt carrying a 10-pound enclosed battery for our miner’s headlamps, which would be the only lights we’d have once we traveled down the elevator 300 feet underground.
The Big Pit was a working coal mine from 1860 until 1980. Our tour guide was great; he had worked at a nearby mine and was clearly proud to share his life as a miner with us. What a tough way of life! Hard to believe that at one time 1,400 men would have worked down there in those small shafts. It’s a good thing that we wore hard hats, because I hit my head multiple times.
After the underground tour, we explored the other exhibits. Shockingly, the mine was open for decades without showers, so the miners used to drag all that coal dust home. Thus, it was a big deal when the Pithead Baths were installed in 1939. Ashlynn and Ellie were excited when they found their locker numbers.
