Blaenafon Blaenavon

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Blaenafon / Blaenavon

• A different story (to that of Crickhowell)

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A Moorland but with iron ore, coal and water
worked for centuries. Iron and coal on surface!
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The Ironworks from 1788 birth of the Industrial
Revolution.
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People migrated here to work. Rows D and E
survive. Blaenavon population peaked at about
20,000 in 1913.
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There was also the coalmine Big Pit (Pwll Mawr)
until 1980.
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The closure of the railway left the town even
more isolated. Last passenger train to Newport
1962. There is now the Pontypool and Blaenavon
Railway Society.
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Many of the old shops in the town centre have
closed. The towns population is down to about
5,000. The town lacks work, accessibility and
services.
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The National Museum of Mining at Big Pit offers
hope. In 2000 Blaenavon became a World Heritage
Site. There is a real chance that TOURISM can
bring jobs.
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Torfaen Council supported the idea of Blaenavon
becoming a town of books just like Hay on Wye!
Will it work?
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To ?
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