Big Pit was my last port of call as it was the most easterly pit and therefore – technically – on the way home. It’s the home of the Welsh Mining Museum so like all museums is free to enter, but they do charge £5 to park so regard that as an entry fee of…
Tag: Wales
#644 – South Wales Road Trip Part 12 – Lewis Merthyr
Unlike Cefn Coed, the colliery museum at Lewis Merthyr remains open. Mine was a flying visit and I didn’t have time for the guided tour round the buildings as I wanted to look at a photographic exhibition that was being held there as well so I had to balance the time I had between making…
#643 – South Wales Road Trip Part 11 – Great Western Colliery
This was a brief stop. The site wasn’t open and a small sign on the gate said it open Sundays 2-4 so I was 24 hours too early and I planned to be on the way home when it was open, so I just had a look from the pavement. And that’s quite easy to…
#642 – South Wales Road Trip Part 10 – Tower Colliery
I’m not sure if you’re allowed in without a booking for one of the rides, but I thought I’d chance my arm – you don’t get if you don’t ask. The lovely girl on the desk was slightly perplexed by my request but agreed that I could go in as long as I stayed in…
#641 – South Wales Road Trip Part 9 – Cefn Coed Colliery
The primary reason for my Wales trip was to photograph the remaining mines for my typology and I have opted to photograph them all from the same side on perspective. This is easier said than done, and not all of the remaining headgears can be photographed side on, but I was going to do my…
#640 – South Wales Road Trip Part 8 Cefn Coed Colliery
Cefn Coed was on my list of places to see on my original, cancelled trip in 2021 but at that time one or both of the headgears were being rebuilt and in pieces. So I suppose one of the benefits of postponing was the ability to see both in a fully restored condition, and they…
#639 – South Wales Road Trip Part 7 – Port Talbot
I’d seen a few views of Port Talbot taken from the hills that overlook the town so wanted to go and have a look at the view myself. My contact who knew the area well warned me that the path up from the town was steep and boy was he right! After a good number…
#638 – South Wales Road Trip Part 6 – Port Talbot
Following the relative disappointment of the steam covered scenes I photographed earlier, I found my hotel, rested up after a long drive and reviewed my photos from Hafodynyrys, Penallta and the steelworks, then went for something to eat. As I ate my tea, I glanced outside and noticed that the sky had cleared, the sun…
#637 – South Wales Road Trip Part 5 – Port Talbot
A few years ago I’d seen a photo on Flickr taken from a street in the Margam district, that depicted a blast furnace towering over the terraced housing. This was exactly the kind of scene which fascinates me and I resolved to make my own version of the photo. Unfortunately, I hadn’t realised that there…
#636 – South Wales Road Trip Part 4 – Penallta
The aerial photograph from 1930 of the site shows what I think is a coal washery along with extensive railway sidings to the east of the site. These are long gone and housing has recently been built on the site, it as this is at a lower elevation than the colliery, the headframe on the…
Mechanical Landscapes 