Blaenavon Visitors' Centre, South Wales

Based in a renovated school building, Blaenavon Visitors' Centre is modern and inviting.  Although parking opposite is limited, there is a large parking area just down the hill.   Everything is on a slope in Blaenavon.

The automatic door opens onto an area with slate flooring and a Reception area where you receive a cheery smile and can purchase momentoes of your trip, such as books, stuffed sheep or jewellry.   To the right are two viewing areas and the information area.   This area has a timeline located around the room, along with large information boards and interactive screens.   Telephones allow you to listen to local voices telling their own stories and relating their experiences.

Upstairs a display gallery of photographs of South Wales, but this room is also available for meetings and conferences.

The "Lost Landscapes," project holds workshops and events here and uses it as a starting off point for exploring the local mountains.   Drystone walling is just one skill they have encouraged.

As you enjoy coffee and a cake, glass walls provide a light airey feel to the cafe, with open views of Forgeside and the mountains.   Just below the window lies an intriguing cemetery.   Brambles and shrubbery almost swallowed the many impressive grave stones, but recently a local group have been attempting to clear it.   I feel many of the people who helped to make Blaenavon must lie there beneath these magnificent monuments.

Blaenavon Ironworks is a World Heritage site.  Its well worth a visit while you are in the area, as is the Workman's Hall and the Community Museum with its area dedicated to the author Alexander Cordell.   He wrote fiction interwoven with local events, tales and characters.

http://www.thevalleys.co.uk/attractions/blaenavon-world-heritage-centre-and-tourist-information-centre-p9911

www.visitblaenavon.co.uk