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Work and Industry in Tredegar during the 19th century Part 8—Museum Activity Pack
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Look for coal mining objects in the museum Draw a tool used underground by miners to cut coal, in the box below.
Name of tool:
Draw a tool used by miners to cut wooden pit props, in the box below.
Name of tool:
What materials are these tools made from? ___________________________ Miners carried their tools together hooked on a bar. How was this done? Ask someone in the museum to explain how these tools were used
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Look for coal mining objects in the museum Draw a tool used by miners to hang a lamp on a timber pit prop underground.
Name of tool:
Draw a tool used by miners to break large blocks of coal out of the seam
Name of tool:
What materials are these tools made from? ___________________________ Ask someone in the museum to explain how these tools were used by colliers during the 19th century.
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Look for coal mining objects in the museum Draw a container used underground by miners to keep tea or water to drink.
Name of object:
Draw a container used underground by miners to keep their food.
Name of object:
What materials are these objects made from? _________________________ Why was this material chosen? _______________________________________ Why didn’t miners just go home for food? _____________________________
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Look for coal mining objects in the museum Draw an object used underground by miners to keep pocket watches safe.
Name of object:
Draw a container used underground by miners to keep tobacco in.
Name of object:
What materials are these objects made from? _________________________ Why did watches need to be protected?_______________________________ How was tobacco used if smoking was banned?_______________________
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Look for coal mining objects in the museum Draw an object used to drill boreholes for blasting out coal and rock underground.
Name of object:
Draw an object used for tightening bolts underground by miners.
Name of object:
What materials are these objects made from? _________________________ Ask someone in the museum to explain how explosives were used. Where was the tool used for tightening bolts found? ___________________
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Look for coal mining objects in the museum Draw an object used by miners to test for gases underground. What materials is it made from? _____________________________________ Ask someone in the museum to explain how and when this object would have been used. Ask them to talk about what was normally used by miners for lighting whilst they worked during the 19th century. What were the dangers in using this method of lighting underground? What would be used to provide lighting underground in modern times?
Name of object:
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Look carefully at the photo on the right. Below is a list of things that these colliers would have taken to work in a coal mine. Explain what each one would have been used for. 1. Mandrel 2. Lamp 3. Tommy box 4. Jack 5. Yorks 6. Muffler
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Look for bricks in the museum displays Find a large yellow brick with a print on it. Draw the print in the box opposite. Who might have made this print? The brick comes from the wall of a furnace made in the 19th century. What does the print tell you about the ages of people that may have worked in or been near the brickworks at this time? _____________________________________ Make a list of the names on all the bricks that you can find in the museum. _____________________________________ _____________________________________
Name of object:
Using this evidence, was there a brickworks in Tredegar at one time?
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Making iron in the 1700s Iron is a metal that has been used for thousands of years. In one of the display cases, there is an iron container found near the site of an old ironworks dating back to the 1700s. Draw it in the box opposite. Look for 4 small objects directly below the iron container in the same case. What are they? ______________________ Where were they found? _____________ _____________________________________ What fuel was used to make iron at Pont Gwaith yr Haearn in the 1700s? _____________________________________
Name of object:
From what material is this fuel made? _________________________________
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Iron was used for making all sorts of things. Make a quick sketch of 4 different objects made from iron that are on display in the museum.
Name of object:
Name of object:
Name of object:
Name of object:
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Teachers’ Notes Use of this activity pack will be relevant to the following programmes of study: Wales KS2 / History Changes to people’s daily lives in the locality in the nineteenth century Wales KS3 / History Changes that happened in Wales, Britain and the wider world between 1760 and 1914 and people’s reactions to them It is intended that this activity pack will be used in conjunction with the comprehensive educational resource pack, which is available to download free of charge from the Access to Heritage Project website. Both resources have been produced, as the result of the generous support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and Cymal, by the Access to Heritage Project, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Bedwellty House, Morgan Street, Tredegar, NP22 3XN [heritage@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk; www.access2heritagebg.co.uk; 01495 355662]. All of the activities included within this resource need to be undertaken by visiting Tredegar Museum, which welcomes school visits by prior arrangement. The museum is situated at Tredegar Library, The Circle, Tredegar, NP22 3PS. Visits are free of charge. The museum is run entirely by volunteers who give up their time freely for the benefit of visitors and the community. Opening times are limited and details can be found on the Access to Heritage Project website. Tredegar Museum can also be contacted directly at archiveclub@hotmail.co.uk or by phone [01495 726506 or 01495 357869].
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Further activities
Blaenau Gwent Local Studies Resource Centre at Tredegar library is an excellent, free resource, which is available for research. It welcomes school visits by prior arrangement. It contains an extensive library of books, journals, directories, maps, newspapers and photographs of Blaenau Gwent and, provides free access to online family history resources such as Ancestry and Findmypast, which include census, birth, marriage and burial records. Please contact Tredegar Library, The Circle, Tredegar, NP22 3PS [Tel: 01495 357869 or email: tredegar.library@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk].