1. Blaenafon / Blaenavon A different story (to that of Crickhowell)

3. A Moorland but with iron ore, coal and water worked for centuries. Iron and coal on surface!

4. The Ironworks from 1788 – birth of the Industrial Revolution.

5. People migrated here to work. Rows D and E survive. Blaenavon population peaked at about 20,000 in 1913.

6. There was also the coalmine Big Pit (Pwll Mawr) until 1980.

7. The closure of the railway left the town even more isolated. Last passenger train to Newport 1962. There is now the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway Society.

8. Many of the old shops in the town centre have closed. The towns population is down to about 5,000. The town lacks work, accessibility and services.

9. The National Museum of Mining at Big Pit offers hope. In 2000 Blaenavon became a World Heritage Site. There is a real chance that TOURISM can bring jobs.

10. Torfaen Council supported the idea of Blaenavon becoming a town of books – just like Hay on Wye! Will it work?

11. To ? 2 3 45 6 1