Successive waves of people passed through our region and made their mark on our landscapes. The Celts left stone circles, the Romans built forts and the Normans established monasteries.
But ultimately, what has defined our area more than anything else had been here the whole time, right under our feet. The abundance of coal in the region, plus being at the forefront of developing new mining technologies during the Industrial Revolution, ensured that the South Wales Coalfield became one of the largest in the world. Coal was also the fuel used for the blast furnaces of the copper and iron works that expanded rapidly in the region too.
So, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that many of our museums and heritage centres are dedicated to telling the stories of the places and people that were once at the very heart of industrialisation.
