A DISUSED building in the blacksmith’s courtyard at the Big Pit mining museum is to be converted to a rest room for guides who’ve previously had to use a Portakabin. 

It was revealed in April this year the temporary building, used as a rest room for the guides who lead visitors on underground tours of Wales’ national mining museum at Blaenavon, had been in place without planning permission. 

Torfaen Borough Council’s planning department dismissed the unit as out of keeping with the listed buildings such as the Pit Head Building, Headframe and Tram Circuit and Winding Engine House at the museum which forms part of the United Nations recognised UNESCO Blaenavon World Heritage Site. 

It did however grant temporary planning permission, to National Museum Wales which runs the site with a condition the Portakabin is removed before January 27, 2025. 

As a result the museum put in a planning application to refurbish the old fitting shop in the Black Smith’s courtyard near the winding house into a welfare room for its guides, which has been approved by the council. Listed building consent is also required. 

The fitting shop forms part of a grade II-listed building that also houses a shop and tea shop. 

Planning officer Caroline Pulley stated in a report: “The proposal is considered to have an acceptable impact on the listed building and the character of the Blaenavon World Heritage Site.” 

Big Pit was a working mine from 1880 to 1980 and the buildings on the surface date from around 1900 to the 1970s. Information submitted on behalf of National Museum describes the “piecemeal development” as “typical of mines in South Wales” and Big Pit as “now the most complete remaining”.   

Its name is due to its “elliptical shape and vast proportions, measuring 18ft by 13ft, making it the first mine in Wales big enough to allow two tramways.” 

At its peak, in 1923, there were 1,399 men working at Big Pit producing coal including house, steam, ironside, and fireclay.

The modernist pit head baths were built in 1939 and Big Pit became a museum and tourist attraction in 1983. 

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