My adventure today included a tour of Big Pit, the National Coal Museum in Blaenafon, Wales. We got to go underground the see the actual mine. This is when we got to wear our hardhats; they even had lights attached to them! We traveled 90 meters down the mineshaft, and a tour guide (who used to work at the coal mine when it was still in operation) led us through part of the mine. He told us that entire families used to work in the mines. The children from ages 7 to 12 were in charge of opening and closing the doors to keep the air in each part of the mine fresh. Because explosions would produce carbon monoxide, this was vital to the safety of the miners. I found it interesting that the mine owners paid the miners in tokens that could only be used at the company store. This added to the already-poor lifestyle of the miners and their families. Most of the ceilings in the mine were very low; even I had to duck down! On the way out of the mine, our tour guide sang us an old mining song and invited us to join in! All of the miners (workers at the museum) were very friendly and joked around a lot. It made for a fun tour!
Left--Stephanie, me, and Jessica rocking the hardhats
My adventure today included a tour of Big Pit, the National Coal Museum in Blaenafon, Wales. We got to go underground the see the actual mine. This is when we got to wear our hardhats; they even had lights attached to them! We traveled 90 meters down the mineshaft, and a tour guide (who used to work at the coal mine when it was still in operation) led us through part of the mine. He told us that entire families used to work in the mines. The children from ages 7 to 12 were in charge of opening and closing the doors to keep the air in each part of the mine fresh. Because explosions would produce carbon monoxide, this was vital to the safety of the miners. I found it interesting that the mine owners paid the miners in tokens that could only be used at the company store. This added to the already-poor lifestyle of the miners and their families. Most of the ceilings in the mine were very low; even I had to duck down! On the way out of the mine, our tour guide sang us an old mining song and invited us to join in! All of the miners (workers at the museum) were very friendly and joked around a lot. It made for a fun tour!
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