Blacksmith Shop Exhibition

Below is a transcript of the narration you can hear when you visit the Blacksmith Shop at the South Wales Miners' Museum:

The forge you see was used in Duffryn Rhondda Colliery which was situated approximately one and a half miles further up the valley.

The pit was opened in 1905 by the Powell Duffryn and was closed in 1966. The Blacksmith was Mr. G.Perkins from Velindre, Port Talbot.

Mr Perkins was a shoeing smith and a general smith. He started work at 6am, his striker would have the forge alight and all tools laid out ready to start work.

All the tools you see were used by the smith on various jobs that he was called upon to do. The time allowed for forging a horseshoe was approximately three quarters of an hour.

He would often have to go down the pit to shoe a horse, this was called cold shoeing, he would then go back to the blacksmith's shop to carry on with the same laborious work.

Sadly, the trade has died out along with the demise of the coal mining industry in South Wales.

The Blacksmith Shop	The Engine House
The Lamproom	The Sheave Wheel