I went to Blaenavon in June 2013. From Abergavenny station my friend and I took a taxi up the steep steep hill to Blaenavon. The main attraction of the town is the Big Pit mine, which is a former coal mine that operated until 1980.

You can go down the pit on a guided tour with a real ex-miner, and it’s all free, so well worth doing. The miners have adapted well to being tour guides, and have a real bonhomie with the visitors. We were given hard hats with headlamps to put on, as well as a belt with a battery and a carbon monoxide safety device. Coming out of the cool, dank mine was a (literal) breath of fresh air, as the weather was unusually – for Wales – warm and the sky blue.

After Big Pit we headed off toward the village itself to see the ironworks. We were stopped along our way by the sight of a brewery that had a “self-tour” available, including a sample of ale all for £2.50.

At the ironworks they used to smelt the iron ore that was dug out of Big Pit, turning it into useful iron products. The mill employed 5000 people at its peak.