A Mineful Moment

Going underground at Big Pit changed something. Standing in those tunnels, feeling rock overhead, breathing air only there because of maintained ventilation—you realize how much trust these jobs required. Six-year-olds worked ventilation doors in complete darkness. Fathers and sons died together in accidents. Mine owners treated horses better than miners. The mine operated until 1980. This isn't ancient history. The Industrial Age isn't distant history—it's the foundation we're still building on.

Underground Trust

September 12, 2025

Drove up to Wales today. The objective was Blaenavon.

First stop: steam trains. The rides were fun but short. Lots of people there taking pictures of the trains.

The Big Pit

Next we went to The Big Pit, a coal mine that was active until the 1980s. Much more modern features compared to some places we've visited. The tour took you underground for 50 minutes, but you had to leave anything with a battery behind—no cameras allowed. The tour guide, Ally, was both entertaining and informative. More reinforcement about kids working in the mines, as young as six years old closing and opening ventilation doors in the dark. My job was to bring up the rear and make sure the doors were closed so the ventilation system continued to work while we were down there. I guess Ally thought I was at least as competent as a six-year-old as long as I had some light.

In another story, a miner would work the face of the mine so chunks of coal fell down. Younger boys—often the miner's own children—would pick them up and load them into the dram. This occasionally resulted in tragedies where father and son were killed in the same accident.

Lots of evidence that mine owners had little respect for human life. They treated the horses that worked in the mines better than the miners. Conditions improved with nationalization in 1946, though it still wasn't a job I'd want.

Next we went to the Blaenavon Iron Works. Very large structures including an elevator that's a unique feature of the site. They also showed worker accommodations from the many decades it operated. Most recently occupied in 1971. The differences and similarities were interesting.

We stopped for dinner at The Ship in Caerleon. Super busy but the food was good and the service was entertaining.

Today we continued filling in the framework: sourcing (coal and iron), fabricating (iron works), and transportation (steam trains). It became clear that I need to recast this trip. It's really about the Industrial Age in Britain—Britain because the implications extend well beyond England, Industrial Age because Britain is post-industrial now. I'm examining the beginning, middle, and end of the British Industrial Age.

Going underground at Big Pit changed something about understanding this history. Standing in those tunnels, feeling the weight of rock overhead, breathing air that's only there because of carefully maintained ventilation systems—you realize how much trust these jobs required. Not just in the technology, but in your coworkers. Everyone had to follow procedures or people died.

The four-year-olds working ventilation doors puts the human cost in perspective. Not teenagers learning trades, but small children doing dangerous work in complete darkness. The mine operated until 1980, meaning this isn't ancient history. People still alive remember these conditions.

The iron works showed how the whole system connected. Coal powered the furnaces that smelted iron ore into usable metal. The same coal that came from mines like Big Pit. Workers lived in company housing and bought from company stores. Everything connected, everything controlled.

Standing in those worker cottages, seeing how recent the occupation was, you realize the Industrial Age isn't distant history. It's the foundation we're still building on.

Images can be found here: https://beloretrato0.picflow.com/d43bka91mw/71v1yntttp