Doing their bit for Blaenavon

But beyond the fanfare, how well is the experiment working? Last week, on a miserable morning of freezing rain I took a stroll up Broad Street and chatted to the traders.

Halfway down the street Megan Murphy runs Serendipity Books which specialises in body, mind, spirit and the occult.

Originally from the Gower she now lives in Ystradgynlais.

Ms Murphy and her husband have been book collectors for 30 years. "Our floorboards were groaning with the weight of books resting on them and as we were both in a position to retire from our jobs we decided to open a shop."

They're certainly not getting fat on the profits. "We're covering the bills but we're not making a living from it.

"Selling on the internet keeps us going in quiet months like this one and we hope to have our own website soon."

Ms Murphy believes the councils in the area could do more with road signage: "Blaenavon is well signed from Newport but poorly signed from Abergavenny and not signed at all from the Heads of the Valleys road."

She also feels more could be done to get visitors to Big Pit to make use of the town centre.

"Big Pit has hundreds of visitors a day but they're not coming here. On this street you get 30 or 40 locals on their way to do their shopping in the Spar. "Passing trade for the bookshops is poor."

However, Ms Murphy believes that the experiment needs longer before any judgment is made about it.

"People should be prepared to give it three or four years."

At the bottom of the street I found Broadleaf books, which the proprietor, Joanna Chambers, told me was the first bookshop to open in the book town initiative.

Ms Chambers is from Abergavenny and ran a book stall for many years in that town's indoor market. She read about James Hanna's plans for Blaenavon and decided to go for it.

Her shop is devoted to books on natural history, design and photography. She said: "It's very hard work. The days of sitting in a shop and expecting people to waltz in and buy are over. You've got to go out and get them. That's why some traders here have fallen by the wayside."

Ms Chambers makes 50 per cent of her sales from the shop and 50 per cent from the internet.

"A lot more locals are coming in now, which I like to see and try to encourage by offering keener prices."

She has faith in the council which she believes is "working incredibly hard" to restore the town.

In this Chinese year of the Rooster, Gail Johnson, the proprietor of Red Rooster Caf, is hoping for good fortune.

At the moment, she said: "We're scraping by". Originally from Brighton, Ms Johnson has lived in Blaenavon for 17 years.

"We opened the caf because of the prospect of visitors coming for the World Heritage Site and book town. There was nowhere to eat except in the pubs.

"We do get local trade and we're starting to get visitors."

Ms Johnson's main complaint is the state of the local roads which she described as "shocking".

One element of Blaenavon life which no one can argue about is house prices. Four or five years ago you could buy houses for less than the cost of a German saloon car.

Now they've gone bonkers with mid-terraces costing anything from £80,000 to £175,000.

A new estate agent, Waldrons, opened in Broad Street late last year to take advantage of the real estate bonanza.

I met sales negotiators Lucy Ellaway from Abergavenny and Jacqui Clark-Davies from Blaenavon.

Ms Ellaway said: "People here are shocked about the rising prices, they don't appreciate that it's all relative to other nearby areas.

"But now people have the chance of buying properties elsewhere if they want to."

She attributed the price rise to World Heritage status and the fact that the council was investing a lot of money in the town by restoring some of the civic buildings.

Ms Ellaway takes her dog, a Jack Russel bitch, to a new grooming parlour which has opened on Broad Street called The Dog House.

And there I met Joy Mahoney from Abersychan and Ceri Lawler from Bridgend.

At first glance you would not think Blaenavon was the kind of town where residents spent a lot on their pooches. But you'd be wrong; the shop is full of mutts waiting to be pampered and preened.

Not surprisingly Joy and Ceri are pleased with their choice of location. Ms Mahoney said: "Many people have acrylic baths and can't put their dogs in them for fear of scratching the sides.

"We've got plenty of local business but we also get people travelling from as far as Cardiff and Hereford because we're well known in the dog world."

Both women have enjoyed success as dog breeders, winning classes at Crufts and they hope to repeat the success this year with their Afghan hounds and Springer spaniels.

Afghan hounds in Blaenavon? Alexander Cordell must be turning in his grave.

The enthusiasm of some of the newer traders did not seem to be shared by two of the more established outfits on Broad Street from whom I received a curt "no comment".

It would be interesting to know what's biting them. They may feel overshadowed by the book publicity but if so why turn down the chance to promote their own trades?

Across the street from The Dog Shop stands Old Lipton's caf.

Behind an antique marble counter stands Tunisian Habib Mhamdi with a smile as broad as a North African beach.

Mr Mhamdi took over the caf last November. Prior to that it had gone through a period of instability which saw frequent closures.

Having left his homeland seven years ago, he has spent the last three years in Wales and prior to that was in Switzerland.

He has two sisters working in Italy and one of them sends him his coffee. "It's the best variety in the world."

Having almost frozen to death, the Argus photographer and I became grateful consumers.

Mr Mhamdi re-opened the caf at the end of last November.

He said: "Up to Christmas it was busy: it's quiet now but we have the Book Town festival coming in the first week of March and things should pick up from then."

If enthusiasm can build a town, Blaenavon should be all right. But there'll be a few more years of lean before traders reach the land of plenty.