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Published: July 29th 2005
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Managed the tube and train ride through to Cardiff which was a pretty good trip, only took 2 hours from Paddington to Cardiff.
After arriving I managed to pick the wrong side of the station to wait for Adam on! But we managed to sort it all out in the end!
Adam took on the role of tour guide and took me to our first of many sites, Big Pit which isn't too far from Adam's family home.
Big Pit was a working coalmine until it closed in 1980. Then in 1983 it became a museum of the South Wales mining industry and on February 1st 2001 became incorporated into the National Museum and Galleries of Wales as the National Mining Museum of Wales. Now it stands high on the bracken-clad moors of north Gwent importing visitors instead of exporting coal.
We were greeted by ex-miners who were to be our tour guides for the next hour of so. We started by removing anything battery operated from our pockets, apparently is can react with an alarm system they use in the mind that can cause explosions - however they tell me that this is highly unlikely!!! We
loaded into the cage and went down a 90m shaft to start the tour.
We went through the underground roadways, air doors, stables and engine house. We were told about the horses who were used down in the mines. Some that went down never saw the light of day again. Most of these horses ended up going blind, until years later when they realised that they would need to ensure the stables had lighting to avoid this. Years later, horses were given holidays of sorts, where they were allowed to visit the surface and be put out to pasture for 2 weeks - needless to say it wouldn't have been an easy task of getting them back into the mines when it was time.
It was wet and slippery down there and we had to watch our step... Adam found it harder than I did as he had to bend over quiet a bit to walk through he shafts and for the first time in a while I realised that there were some advantages to being short! Our guide told us of the working conditions down there in years gone by where men, women and children as young
as 6 worked down in the mine for 12 hour days, in the almost pitch black... Candles were used for lightening, but only by those who had the money to buy them. We turned the lamps off our hard hats so that we could see what darkness he was talking about and after doing so, I can't imagine how these people managed to work there at all, it's like darkness that you have never experience before.... even with candles I'm unsure how they actually managed it. We were shown the working areas of some of these men. some laid on their side all day with picks working on the face, with literally no room to move at all as the trenches were little wider than their bodies...
Big Pit stands on the eastern rim of the South Wales Coalfield, where coal outcrops on the hillsides. Iron Ore and limestone were also found here so it was natural for an ironworks to be founded at Blaenavon. The Ironworks were established in 1789 and the remains are now open for visitors and Blaenavon has been declared a World Heritage Site.
Like in all other coal mines in South Wales the colliers cut the coal by hand and mechanisation did not come to Big Pit until 1908 when a mechanical conveyor was installed. The pit was among the first in South Wales to be electrified, and by 1910 the ventilating fan, pumps and underground haulage system were all worked by electricity. The winding gear continued to be driven by a stem engine until 1953. The first of the post war nationalisation improvements came to Big Pit in the late 1950s in the form of a plough, which was a mechanical cutter and loader pulled along the face by a chain.
After we finished at big pit we retired back at Adam's house and drank XXXX (Don't tell anyone!!! but it was a better alternative to Fosters!)
The following day we were greeted by another sparkling summers day in Wales.... well it was only light rain actually which was better than the weather prediction of heavy rain for 4 days so fingers crossed!!
Adam drove us into Cardiff where Cardiff Castle was our first stop.
The castle's history spans nearly 2,000 years, dating from the coming of the Romans in the first century AD. After the Norman Conquest, the Castle's Keep was built and a number of Medieval fortifications and dwellings followed.
The Castle fell into the possession of many noble families, until, in 1766, it was gifted to the Bute family by marriage. The 2nd Marquess of Bute was responsible for turning Cardiff into the world's greatest coal exporting port. The Castle and the Bute fortune passed to his son John, the 3rd Marquess, who by the 1860's was reputed to be the richest man in the world
From 1866 the 3rd Marquess employed the genius architect William Burges to transform the Castle lodgings. Within gothic towers he created lavish and opulent interiors, rich with murals, stained glass, marble, gilding and elaborate wood carvings. Each breathtaking room has its own special theme, including Mediterranean gardens and Italian and Arabian decoration where the inspiration for them came from the families traveling. The family only spent 6 weeks or so living in the castle throughout the year and travelled the rest of the year. William Burges was amazing, he put so much thought into each room and each individual decoration, nothing was just there because, all told a story and served a purpose.
You can only be stunned by the beauty of this Castle. I have been to many castles when I travelled through Ireland a few years ago, but this one was different. All the walls are hand painted and most with gold leaf. whereas the Irish castles have a tendency to have their walls covered by luxurious materials and tapestries. Due to heightened security is wasn't possible to take photos which was a complete shame. They do weddings in this castle and I couldn't imagine a more perfect setting.
After leaving the castle we headed to the Walkabout Pub which is an Aussie pub. First things first, we had to order a Toohey's New to drink!!!! Then deliberated over the food and decided on pie and chips! It was excellent! The lady at the bar, when she heard my voice, said that it was great to hear someone that speaks English! Not sure what she thinks the other people around here speak!!! Then we had to finish off the adventure with a Bundy and coke - first one in 2.5 months and it was GOOD!!!!!
We then headed down to Mermaid Quays, Cardiff Bay and wandered past the Millennium Stadium then settled for a drink outdoors on this blustery summers day!! Can't understand why Adam is leaving for Australia in 6 weeks!!! Our winters days are warmer than Wales' summer days!
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kim tavener
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from mamma
Hey i still cant get over how far away you are and your stories are amazing thanks for keeping us updated we love it mum and dad