Tourism & Leisure

Blaina Heritage Museum:

The museum is run by volunteers. Their passion is to keep Blaina's heritage alive. The museum displays the heritage and history of Blaina and the local area.

The Museum displays many artefacts including mining and military memorabilia, a vast collection of old photographs of the area plus a Victorian kitchen. A true little gem to visit when visiting Blaina.

Cwmcelyn Pond & Woodlands-

Cwmcelyn Pond is what remains of an old colliery feeder pond. It has been transformed into a recreational lake for fishing. This is another good walk and picnic spot. with an all-ability path around the pond and an outdoor classroom. The forestry contains the remains of the railway used to carry quarried stone from further up the mountain. It is possible to find arrowheads, flints and other artefacts on the site.

This former feeder pond is now transformed into recreational lake with walks, picnic area and fishing.

A group of Blaenau Gwent volunteers dedicated to cleaning up their own community in Cwmcelyn, near Blaina, have won a Keep Wales Tidy award.

Cwmcelyn Tenants’ and Residents’ Association has spent the past seven years working to improve the environment around Cwmcelyn Pond, the forest, woodland and Ystruth River for the benefit of local people 

Welsh Veteran: John Henry Williams:

In 1916, CSM Williams was part of the 38th (Welsh) Division sent to clear the Mametz Wood, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for "conspicuous gallantry in action.”

A year later, he fought at Pilckem Ridge during the Battle of Passchendaele (3rd battle of Ypres) and was awarded the Military Medal for bravery.
Then at Armentieres on October 30, 1917, he had a Bar added to his Military Medal for saving a wounded comrade.

In 1918, at Villers Outreaux, his unit were being fired on by an enemy machine guns. CSM Williams won the Victoria Cross (VC) for putting his life at risk and managing to take 15 prisoners.

King George V presented CSM Williams with his four medals in Buckingham Palace. It was the highest number of medals the king had presented to one person in one day.

Aberystruth History & Archaeology Society

The roots of the past are the branches of the future.

We are an award-winning society and a Registered Charity set up to explore and record everything to do with the archaeology, history and heritage of the old parish of Aberystruth. The old parish of Aberystruth was around 14 miles long by around 7 miles wide and stretched from modern day Brynmawr to Aberbeeg and from Beaufort to the Tillery Valley.

​The Society is available to give talks, events, TV and radio. We also offer archaeological surveying. We are inviting people to become members. Membership starts form only £5 a year. We run lots projects events to suit all.

​Promotion: If you are a student from the age of 16 up you can get free membership to the society. Contact us for more details.

CURRENTLY CLOSED DURING THE COVID-19 VIRUS

CWMCELYN HIDDEN LANDSCAPES PROJECT EVERY MONDAY AT BLAINA LIBRARY 10AM.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR MORE VOLUNTEERS FOR THIS PROJECT.

 Blaina Library

Round House Towers:

The Nantyglo Roundhouse the complex is a unique relic of the Industrial Revolution.  It was built in about 1816 by Joseph and Crawshay Bailey, the Ironmasters of the Nantyglo Ironworks, as a defended refuge against an armed revolt by their workforce.  In effect, it was the last private castle built in Britain.  
The Nantyglo Roundhouses and the associated agricultural range are Grade II* listed buildings. The site is privately owned but can be viewed from the road.

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Blaina War Memorial:

The Blaina war memorial is situated in the park and sports ground at Surgery Road, Abertillery, Gwent. (View location).
Comprised of a low square platform that supports a huge, local stone, the four sides of the memorial display a series of black marble panels, each bearing the names of the men and women from Nantyglo and Blaina who fell in both world wars and Northern Ireland.

The front of the monument bears this inscription:-
REMEMBER THE LOVE OF THEM
WHO CAME NOT HOME FROM THE WARS
To The Glory of God
AND IN MEMORY OF THE MEN AND WOMEN
OF NANTYGLO AND BLAINA
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE
SERVICE OF OUR COUNTRY.

Translated, means: “To the Glory of God and to the men and women of Nantyglo and Blaenau who gave their lives for our country.”

Of the nine marble panels that surround the Blaina war memorial, three of them contain the names of those who fell in the Second World War. Another panel records the sole name of Lance Corporal J. H. T. Hillman who was killed serving in Northern Ireland.
The remaining five panels each contain thirty names of those who gave their lives for King and Country during the First World War. The one hundred and fifty names are recorded in order of rank:

No other site in Wales gives so stark a reminder of the bitter conflict between Ironmasters and workforce. The towers symbolise the social upheaval which gave birth to the Chartist Insurrection and which would eventually create the modern Labour movement.

Mynydd Carn-y-Cefn:

At a height of 1800 ft ( 500 M) Mynydd Carn-y-Cefn is a Bronze age burial cairn dating to about 1700 BC.

West Mon Golf Club:

Enjoy a warm, Welsh welcome, and a challenging test of golf at West Monmouthshire Golf Club, officially the Highest Golf Club in Great Britain, standing at a maximum elevation of 463m on the 14th tee.

The course, designed by Ben Sayer and full of rugged charm, is on the fringes of the Brecon Beacons National Park, and boasts stunning views of the local countryside and of the spectacular Black Mountains, with the aforementioned 14th tee standing at over 1500ft above sea level.

And after your round, relax in the easy-going surroundings of our well-stocked clubhouse bar, or sample something from our menu of home-cooked food and hearty daily specials, while chatting to the locals.