South Wales Industrial Heritage and Scenic Tour

You will travel in a modern and luxurious fully electric vehicle, limited to a maximum of seven passengers, in the company of your driver guide, Andy, who is a Mountain Leader and a Green Badged Tourist Guide.
South Wales is geologically 'lucky', having all of the elements required to fuel the industrial revolution, iron, coal, limestone and silica rock. From the 1750's iron boom through the 1850's to the 1980's when coal was king, South Wales was a hive of activity, smelting, mining and developing technologies to improve production. This tour has been designed to look at this history, its effects upon the landscape and people who laboured so hard and also at those who profited from that labour. We'll also have a glimpse of the scenic beauty of the Brecon Beacons National Park which lies to the north, on the fringes of the coalfields, and how the mining communities are recovering, post the closure of the mines in the 1990's.

What's included:

• Driver/guide

What to expect:

Duration: 9 hours

Fourteen Locks Canal & Conference Centre

Cwm Lane, , Rogerstone, NP10 9GN

Fourteen Locks is the most spectacular flight of canal locks in South Wales. A scheduled ancient monument situated in this idyllic part of Newport. It lies on the Crumlin Arm part of the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. Surrounded by striking landscape, it is one of the most beautiful scenic waterways. The canal centre has a gift shop and a tea room.

1 hour, 30 minutes

Cwmcarn Forest

Forest Drive, , Cwmcarn

In the vehicle we will meander around the twisting bends and allow the enchanting forest to immerse us in tranquillity where you can truly leave the rest of the world behind. We will park up at one of the seven car parks to absorb the breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding countryside and the tour guide will give you more information about the area.

1 hour, 30 minutes

The Guardian Of The Valleys

Six Bells Rd, Six Bells, Abertillery NP13 2EG, UK

We will visit a sculpture commemorating the Six Bells Disaster: In the summer of 1960, the community of Six Bells near Abertillery, south Wales witnessed a devastating disaster. On June 28th an underground explosion at 'Arrael Griffin' colliery led to the deaths of 45 miners, all were local men. Fifty years later, to the day, after tireless work by the community and local organisations, a steel sculpture by Sebastien Boyesen, over 60ft high, was dedicated to those who died.

30 minutes

Abertillery

Abertillery

We then travel on to a town and community in Blaenau Gwent County Borough Abertillery's traditional-style town centre mainly developed in the late 19th century and as such has some interesting Victorian architecture. We will be here for lunch either in Kennys Vinyl Vault Crystal Café – Vegan options or more traditional Fradds Café both of which are on Church Street.

1 hour

Saint Illtyd

St Illtyd, Abertillery NP13 2AY, UK

Mountain Road: We’ll take a drive from St Illtyd to Abersychan along a beautiful mountain road with open views of the Brecon Beacons to the North, the road we travel is 1200 feet above sea level.

1 hour

Big Pit National Coal Museum

Blaenavon, NP4 9XP

Big Pit is a real coal mine and one of Britain's leading mining museums. Enjoy a multi-media tour of a modern coal mine with a virtual miner in the Mining Galleries, exhibitions in the Pithead Baths and Historic colliery buildings AND the world-famous Underground Tour: go 300 feet underground with a real miner and see what life was like for the thousands of men who worked at the coal face.

2 hours, 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included