The Welsh National Coal Museum is not only free, it's possibly one of the most fascinating days out I've ever had. It's a real mine with everything left more or less as it was when it closed in 1980, though they've added an interesting exhibition on mining's history. But the undoubted highlight was the chance to put on a helmet and take the lift deep underground with a former miner who talked really engagingly and amusingly about the life and the work. It really brings home just how back breaking and risky the work was, and how intense was the cameraderie that developed among those doing it.

Though the whole thing's almost unbearably poignant I didn't leave feeling depressed, just a bit better informed about a job and a way of life that's done so much to shape the identity of the area. We also left with a gleaming car, washed by the local male voice choir raising money for their next tour.

www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/bigpit/

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