Teaching 1/2pint some Welsh history

in history •  7 years ago  (edited)

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On a rather dull and dreary Sunday and with 1/2pint being "on form" (as usual), we decided to take him somewhere we had never been before; BIG PIT

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And before anyone asks no this is not @pit-bullion bigger brother...

Big Pit National Coal Museum (Pwll Mawr in Welsh) is an industrial heritage museum in South Wales. It was a working coal mine from 1880 to 1980 and called "big pit" because of its elliptical shape with dimensions of 18 feet (5.5 m) by 13 feet (4.0 m). It was the first shaft in Wales large enough to allow two tramways and hence was called big pit..... We like to keep things simple in Wales! Is is a pit? Is it big? OK, let's call it big pit.

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They still offer a mine tour experience (free) but unfortunately 1/2pint is still a little too short (min 1m) so we had to give it a miss this time,but there is still loads to see and do.

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Like I said, although he was too little to actually get to go down the mine, you're free to walk around the pit-head and wheel house and he loved that.

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Being a fully functioning pit right up till 1980 the infrastructure needed to keep a busy coal mine open was enormous. Now being a Welsh national mining museum they have all the "rolling stock" that was used and they are all left to be climbed on and inspected up closer and personal.

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So that killed another hour but he was still full of beans and we needed something else to tire him out. BOOM!!! Indoor soft play area 😁

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I'll try not to keep you much longer, so I'll finish off with a few more pics

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So if you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, I highly recommend taking a trip here. There is a lot more going on than I showed you, this post would go on forever with all the picture I took. The museum has testimonials and video footage, it has the old tools and equipment all on display. A fantastic day and we will definitely be going back when he's a little bit taller.

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Super place

As I have Welsh ancestry I found your article quite fascinating. Love the photos.

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My friend, how do you pronounce a word that has no vowels (Pwll)? Or is it a digitation error? By the way, I loved this guided tour to the Big Pit.

The welsh don't need vowels. There is quite a bit of that going on :)

Ll is a single letter in Welsh. It's hard to explain how to pronounce it, what I might do is a dtube video in Welsh!! Lol

Interesting trip. Always important to know your history.

Know how it must be with half pint. I am wondering what to do with our own half pint today. It's cold but at least it's sunny here. Probably park life for the win :)

He's a big boy for his age, but just fell short of the min height to be allowed. Funny thing is 100yrs ago, they'd have kids not much older than him to do all the jobs grown men couldn't fit in and do.

Looks like a cracking day out had by all. And free as well that's a rare things these day's. Thanks for sharing when I eventually drop by Wales I try an visit thanks 💯🐒

Free is the best price 😉 It's definitely worth a visit. Lots of history and plenty to keep you entertained

When I eventually make it Wales i'll be on it 💯🐒