IT'S THE WEEKEND: The Great Outdoors - Enjoying the history and beauty of Blaenavon

From visiting the Big Pit to taking part in the Blaenavon Walking Festival which starts today, the world heritage site has something to suit everyone.

Once a small settlement, Blaenavon Ironworks opened in 1789 and directly accounts for the growth of Blaenavon in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Big Pit, now the National Coal Museum of Wales, was just one of a number of collieries in Blaenavon during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Due to the Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s, the British coal industry went into decline.

Big Pit, Blaenavon’s last coalmine, closed in February 1980, and by the end of the 1980s Blaenavon was filled with boarded up shops.

But from 1975 plans had been made to convert Big Pit into a museum to bring national attention to Wales’ coalmining heritage. It opened in April 1983 and was instantly popular, providing visitors with the unique experience of exploring underground passages with former miners.

The management of the site was assumed by the National Museums and Galleries of Wales in 1999 and since Blaenavon received World Heritage Status in 2000, the museum has gone from strength to strength. Since 1983 over three million people have been welcomed to the site.

With plenty to promote, the town is always keen to celebrate. Every year it hosts a world heritage festival that attracts thousands of people and earlier this month, the town held its first vintage festival which attracted around 300 people.

The heritage of the town is also shown by the number of impressive public buildings, including the Workmen’s Hall and numerous churches and chapels.

Passing the picturesque Garn Lakes, Blaenavon’s Heritage Railway travels through the imposing Blaenavon Industrial Landscape.

There are a number of steam and diesel locomotives and a range and two vintage carriages that run on nearly three miles of track between four stations.

But along with its history, the town is also keen to take on new ideas and today marks the start of the third Blaenavon Walking Festival, promising just under a week of daily walks around the famous heritage site.

Organised by the Blaenavon World Heritage Environment Group, the eight walks spread across the six days take walkers around the industrial landscape.

Chief organiser Ron Marchant, who has been a member of the environment group for five years, said the festival is different to other walks on offer because it is not just about the walking.

“We have a variety of walks that all have some sort of interest in history or literature, it’s more than walking” he said.

Each of the walks is led by one of the environment group’s members, who are able to share with walkers their extensive knowledge of the area.

“We all have knowledge and want to share it,” Mr Marchant said.

The first of the week’s walks is today – the Hills Tram Road walk that includes a route up the mountain and then around the tram road passing sights of industrial heritage. Also today is a walk through the town of Blaenavon – to “experience the environment that shaped the spiritual and social lives of the people who created the heritage.”

The rest of the week boasts a varied schedule. Tomorrow [Sunday] a figure-of-eight eight-mile walk to Cwm Sychan and Cwm Ffrwd starts at Talywain Rugby Club and winds through areas rich in early industrial history, which the local leader will bring to life.

On Monday walkers can enjoy a tour celebrating the folklore of the area. Centred on the Clydach Gorge, the longer 12 mile Puck’s Valley walk will visit places associated with witches, fairies, ghosts and other phenomena.

Ron Marchant, who himself will be leading an 11 mile walk around Blaenavon’s industrial landscape – taking in mines, ironworks and other archaeological and historical features, said the festival is usually quite small.

“We are running between 10 to 20 people in each group depending on the group, sometimes smaller than that.“People who come on the walks are mainly local but one or two people always come from across the UK.”

Organisation for the walking festival starts a while before the actual event. Mr Marchant, who has now lived in Gwent for 20 years, said: “Basically the people who organise it, we get round the table and think of some nice walks.

“We examine ideas and people talk about walks they have done. We create them ourselves, although they are not always original. Sometimes one or two is in Blaenavon’s heritage trails guide.”

Mr Marchant stresses that what makes the Blaenavon festival different is the wealth of information available on the area’s heritage.

“They are never hurried, and offer more because of the history and literature,” he said.

“We do a local one in Abersychan for local residents with a volunteer leader who stops and talks about the houses that we come to.”

The festival also usually includes walks led by guest leaders – and this year the walking festival is counting a record three guests coming to lead walks.

Tuesday will see the start of the walks run by guest leaders, with Tom Sharpe leading a five mile walk on the geology of Gilwern Hill and Pwll Du, showing the sequence of carboniferous rocks which show how the area was formed.

Local historian and a heritage officer at Blaenau Gwent Council, Frank Olding, will then lead Wednesday’s walk to the famous Chartists’ cave, east of Garn Fawr. The cave’s main claim to fame rests on the tradition it became an arms factory and secret meeting in the period leading up to the Chartist Insurrection of 1839.

The final walk, on Friday, April 17, will be celebrating “Cordell country,” the area which inspired Alexander Cordell to write his famous trilogy beginning with Rape of the Fair Country. The six mile walk will be led by local historian and author Chris Barber.

Mr Marchant said: “This year we are going just outside of our normal area, doing Chartists cave which is the first time we’ve done a walk there.“The highlight this year will probably be Chris Barber’s walk on Friday, because it’s new and very knowledgeable.”

The walks vary in length, from five miles upwards, but Mr Marchant insists there are walks for everyone.

“Most are fairly long but not particularly difficult,” he said.

All walks are described as either easy, moderate, energetic or strenuous.

Easy means an easy pace, suitable for novice walkers, while moderate is described as a steady pace with some ascent involved. Energetic means the walk includes some steep ascents while strenuous – the most difficult walks – is described with a “number of steep ascents” and requires a good level of fitness.

Mr Marchant, as chief organiser, is one of the members of the group who will be walking every single day of the festival.

There is never any chance of walkers losing their way as members of the heritage environment group have rehearsed the walk.

Tickets for the walks, which all cost £5, can be bought by from Blaenavon tourist centre on 01495 742333.

Walkers are advised to wear appropriate footwear and clothing and to be prepared for changes in the weather. Booking is essential as many of the activities have a limited number of places.