Big Pit charging mine ission is wrong - report

3 days ago

Lorna Prichard

Culture correspondent, BBC Wales News

People shared their views after a report found it was wrong to charge people to enter Big Pit

It is wrong to charge people to enter the Big Pit National Coal Museum underground mine, a Senedd report has said.

The museum in Blaenavon, Torfaen, has started charging £8 per person, with some concessions, on a trial basis until July 2026.

But the culture and sport committee says access should remain free on principle and not be a luxury for those who can afford it, calling for better funding for Welsh museums so collections remain free for all.

The Welsh government said it was committed to keeping entry to all seven museum sites free, as well as to the national collections, and would consider the report's findings.

Access to Welsh museums should not be a luxury for those who can afford it, a Senedd committee says

Getty Images A view of Big Pit in Blaenavon - ageing, rusting green trains can be seen with wagons attached to the back of them on a disused railway track with grass growing between the rails. Industrial buildings of an old coal mine can be seen behind them and a hillside is in the distance — Access to Welsh museums should not be a luxury for those who can afford it, a Senedd committee says

Tours of Big Pit, one of Amgueddfa Cymru's seven museums, are led by former miners and explore original mine shafts.

A sign outside the entrance now states: "Due to financial pressures and funding cuts, from 5 April we will be charging for the underground tour."

But Delyth Jewell MS, chair of the Senedd's culture and sports committee, said the tours are "a fundamental part of our national collections, they are part of our national story, and that shouldn't be limiting if people can't afford to access them".

The report says the Welsh government has "not fulfilled its responsibility in funding museums adequately", citing a 17% cut in real to funding for culture and sport in Wales in the past decade.

"We appreciate that it is expensive for Amgueddfa Cymru to provide access to the underground workings at Big Pit," it says.

"However, we think this is an argument for the Welsh government to provide an adequate level of funding, not for Amgueddfa Cymru to charge for access."

Big Pit National Coal Museum will charge entry to mine tours until July 2026

A sign telling visitors that Amgueddfa Cymru will be charging for underground tours at the Big Pit Musuem due to financial pressures. The sign has a background picture of a man and a young girl wearing white hard hats in an underground tour — Big Pit National Coal Museum will charge entry to mine tours until July 2026

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Visitors gave a mixed response to the charge, with Deborah Clubb from Merthyr Tydfil saying: "I think [the fee] would make it something that I wouldn't visit as often, definitely, because it was always a free attraction before and something that you could do as a family without thinking about."

Mother-of-six Amy Hughes, from Aberdare, said she took the underground tour several times when it was free.

She said: "[The ission fee] does make me not want to take all my kids down there but I do feel it's such good value to be able to go underground and see an actual mine.

"It would be good if they did a family ticket."

Deborah Clubb says the tour charge will make families think twice about visiting

A woman dressed in white cardigan and black top looking at the camera with big pit museum in the background. — Deborah Clubb says the tour charge will make families think twice about visiting

Savannah Knox, visiting from Southern Ontario, said she didn't mind paying because she is used to doing that back home in Canada.

She said: "If it's historical or a museum it's usually charged. It helps with the upkeep, right":[]}