The Valleys

The South Wales valleys were the engine room that fuelled a British Empire. Millions of tons of coal poured out of the pits. The blast furnaces of ironworks lit up the night sky. Cities sprang up around the coal exporting ports of the south east. Its a fascinating place for tourists to explore. The valley walls are cobwebbed by mile after mile of tiny terraced cottages, whose slender white fingers cling to the hillsides. The Valleys have a compelling story to tell, and there is no shortage of places to hear it. Many of the old collieries and industrial sites have been converted into museums and heritage parks. Big Pit at Blaenavon and the Rhondda Heritage Park at Trehafod are two of the very best. Both are run by local miners who lost their jobs when the pits closed in the 1980's. The miners contribute their own colourful anecdotes of life underground as they guide visitors on a fascinating journey through the history of coal.

Castles don't come much grander than the one situated at Caerphilly. This is the second biggest castle in Britain. It was built by Gilbert De Clare in the late 13th Century and has everything : classic concentric design, banqueting hall, moats, high towers, working replicas of siege engines and even a leaning tower.

Castell Coch was probably founded by a Welsh lord in c1240-65 and had a round tower keep at the SW corner of a tiny D-shaped courtyard with a hall on the south side, all built of rough rubble sandstone from which the building took the name Castell Coch, or "Red Castle." It stands upon a platform commanding the gorge of the Taff and was protected towards the higher ground by a deep dry moat from the bottom of which the walls rise with a very broadly battered base. The keep contained vaulted rooms, and probably had a fourth storey and a conical roof like it has now. The walls are over 3.3m thick above the square battered base from which it rises with pyramidal spurs.

Wales now boasts one of the most spectacular stadiums in the world. The Millennium Commission stumped up £50 million for the construction of the new Stadium. The rest of the £134 million came from commercial sources. This colossal price was needed to build a modern day Coliseum.