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Visit Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales - Croeso

A Welsh Coal Mining Experience Returns

 

Posted: 14/05/2021

A Welsh Coal Mining Experience Returns

Our award-winning underground experience tours return next week – and we cannot wait to see you!

Rhondda Heritage Park - External Chimney Stack - Winding Gear-4

Online booking for A Welsh Coal Mining Experience is open now and we will welcome our first visitors on Tuesday, May 18.

Things may be a little different since your last visit, as we work to keep you and our staff safe, but the experience is just as thrilling.

RHP -  underground - miner - miners lamp - visitor-26-25 - Copy

Meet the men who worked in the mines as boys. They will fit you with your helmet and take you on a tour “underground” and back in time. They will share their personal, often moving, often hilarious stories with you as they guide you through the experience.

miners

Hold on tight as you ride DRAM! a cinematic experience in which you ride the last dram of coal, hurtling towards the surface of the mine.

The Dram - WME - for social media

Meet Collier Boy Joe, who will tell you all about his first ever day as a coal miner – at the age of 12. And, yes, his story is based on the true stories of the many boys who went to work underground at such a young age.

Collier Boy

A Welsh Coal Mining Experience is based in the footprint of the former Lewis Merthyr Colliery, a mighty mine which shipped thousands of tonnes of coals to Cardiff – where it was then transported across the globe.

Coal from the mine is said to have powered the Titanic. The vast mining action in the Rhondda helped spark the industrial revolution and inspired the minds of the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel and George Stephenson.

Learn more about the big mark we made on the world in our exhibition, which also features fascinating insights into the lives of our mining communities.

WME - Exhibition - New Area-5

The on-site Caffe Bracchi is a tribute to the Italian migrants who flocked to the Rhondda to work in the mining industry, bringing with them coffee shops and ice cream parlours – some of which still operate today.

WME - Cafe March 2019-43

It offers a delicious range of hot and cold drinks and snacks that you can either eat safely outside, or takeaway and eat off site. The cake selection is amazing! 

WME - Cafe March 2019-3

A Welsh Coal Mining Experience is also home to Craft of Hearts, an organisation that aims to bring the community together through being creative. 

It’s a crafters’ paradise and has a huge range of items for sale, plus there are classes and sessions held on site for those who want to get involved.

craftofhearts

A Welsh Coal Mining Experience re-opens on Tuesday, May 18 and will be open Tuesday-Saturday from then on. There is one tour every hour from 10am to 3pm and all bookings must be made by a family or an extended family. Minimum tour size is two, maximum is eight.

Book your tour here