The Mapping Museum research project was created to look at the increase in the number of museums in the UK. As part of this project, Glynn Thomas Probert was interviewed about the Blaenavon Community Museum.

Explore more about the Mapping Museum project here and read Probert's interview below:

Interview summary

Name of person being interviewed: Glynn Thomas Probert

Location of interview: Workmen’s Hall, High Street, Blaenavon, Pontypool

Date of Recording: 08 March 2019

Recording Length: 01:01:23

Name of interviewer: Dr Toby Butler

Description: Blaenavon Community Museum is concerned with the history of Blaenavon and the cultural heritage of its community which developed around the coal and iron industry; the museum is housed in a listed Victorian Workmen's Hall which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Summary of main points in interview: Glynn Probert is president and one of the founders of the museum, which is run entirely by volunteers. The idea started in 1989 and Probert describes how the development of the colliery known as "Big Pit" for heritage tourism helped interest in the project to grow. He describes his life in Blaenavon and how the town changed from a lively company town to one that is much more quiet after the end of the local iron and coal industries.

He worked locally in cement works, tin works and coal mining, and describes the leisure facilities in the town (pubs, cinema, working men’s clubs, chapels, and libraries). Probert was involved in mine safety; took part in a miners’ strike in the early 1970s and then moved to working in factories and eventually worked for the Ministry of Defence fire service.

He explains that many mines were bulldozed but a councillor in Torfaen Council pushed to have "Big Pit" turned into a museum. They found a room above a shop to start it off in 2002, selling old photographs and postcards to raise funds and displaying objects donated by local people. A year later the museum moved to the basement of the Public Library (once a Workmen’s Institute). The Council sold the library building and the museum moved to a smaller area in the Workmen’s Hall. Probert discusses the role of heritage in the area, World Heritage status, and the impact of making Big Pit free.