Day 26 15/7/19 Cardiff to Renoldston via Blaenavon and Swansea

Leaving Cardiff today and as we don’t have far to travel we decided to visit some of the attractions we had missed. First stop, Blaenavon Ironworks. This should have been easy as we had been there twice already, famous last thoughts. I managed to take a wrong turn at the first intersection and so the GPS obviously decided to play games with us. She took us down some delightful narrow leafy lanes with spectacular views of the countryside, twisting and turning but generally seeming to travel in the right direction, we thought. Then she (and I say she as she has a female voice) turned us into a dead end street and actually said “Go to the end of the lane, leave the roadway and make you way north”. We decided neither we or the Vauxhall hire car where ready for off roading in the wilds of Wales so we re-traced our steps back to near our previous lodging and started again.

Leafy Welsh Lane, tense but excellent driving

Magnificent view, just before the GPS suggested we go off road.

Much better outcome the second time. The Blaenavon Iron Works display is a fascinating insight into the beginnings of the modernisation of the Iron and Steel industries. Huge developments where made in the late 18^th century with the introduction of the use of coke instead of charcoal as a fuel and the development of the Bessemer Process, most of which took place in South Wales. A lot of people got rich and even the workers benefited with better housing and education.

Enormous forging hammer in the carpark

What can say, not safe around machinery

There were some old cars going past, managed to almost catch this one.

Sculpture of the Iron works

Workers huts

There are many birds living in the nooks and crannies

One of the furnaces

Tower used to raise and lower iron making materials

Casting house with furnace at the rear

View from above the furnaces

Where we were yesterday (when lost), in that light green patch, Big Pit is just to the right

Furnaces from above

Workers cottage (circa 1927)

Model of the Ironworks, buildings have indicators and a dialogue can be heard using the brass earphone.

From Blaenavon we went to Swansea to visit the Museums having heard that they were very good. The Waterfront Museum was well worth a visit but the Swansea Museum and the Tram Museum were both closed for the day (A lot of Museums seem to close on Monday’s).

Viaduct (a bit hard to see)

Stark buildings of the Swansea University.

Rotating display of various metal making processes, description in Welsh on one side, English the other.

Rotating display as seen from above

Early Forecycle

Replica of Trevithick's Pneydarren steam tramway locomotive actually runs and is demonstrated about once per month.

View from above

Can't remember what this was but looks impressive

By now it was time to go to our accommodation for the next few days on the Gower Peninsula. We had an excellent dinner at the Britannia Inn but finding it was a bit of a circus due to the tiny lanes which seem to go round in circles and then suddenly stop, it was worth it in the end.