DON’T miss your chance to see the largest mechanical puppet in Britain when it visits Torfaen this year.
Public tickets are officially available to see the ‘Man Engine’ – a towering sculpture resembling a giant miner and animated by a team of more than a dozen artists.
As the largest mechanical puppet ever constructed in Britain, it stands at 4m when ‘crawling’ before transforming to ‘stand’ at 11.2m high.
Created in Cornwall by Golden Tree Productions, the mighty machine was created to honour the labours and innovation of the mining industry and its workers.
As previously reported, the 'Man Engine Cymru: Forging a Nation' tour, will see the iron giant visit several South Wales industrial heritage sites between April 8 -12.
The aim of the tour is to encourage the public to reflect on and celebrate their industrial past in a festival-type atmosphere.
The tour starts on April 8 at Blaenavon’s Big Pit museum with a parade snaking through Gilchrist Industrial Estate to Blaenavon Ironworks where visitors can ‘meet’ 19th-century industrial hero, Sidney Gilchrist Thomas.
The event will take place between 11am and 4.30pm and will include choirs, brass bands and theatrics to bring the experience to life.
Free un-ticketed entry will be granted to visitors at Big Pit (11am – 1pm) and the Gilchrist Industrial Estate (1pm-2pm) but tickets will be required to join the celebrations at Blaenavon Ironworks (2pm-4.30pm).
Other dates on the Welsh tour include venues and locations in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea.
The tour is a collaboration between Swansea University, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service Cadw, National Museum Wales, several councils, Head 4 Arts and Golden Tree Productions.
Minister for culture, tourism and sport, Lord Elis-Thomas said: “Life in the valleys, as in many other industrial communities across the UK, revolved around iron, copper and coal for hundreds of years.
“The arrival of the Man Engine in south Wales marks a unique chance for the people of Wales to reflect on and remember their industrial heritage.
“The South Wales valleys is an ideal location for the mechanical giant to visit and I urge everyone to come and see this culturally significant reminder of our mining heritage in Wales.”
The creator of the Man Engine, Will Coleman, added: “We have a global ambition to take the Man Engine to all the significant mining and industrial heritage sites across the world, so bringing him to South Wales with its major industrial heritage status, is an ideal stop on his UK-wide journey.
"We can’t wait to meet all the people of the valleys and have the Man Engine share the stories and the significance of the area’s rich mining heritage.”
To secure advance tickets for the Man Engine's visit to Torfaen or for more information on the tour, visit www.themanengine.co.uk
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