Museums & Galleries - general information
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council’s Museum Service operates 2 museums:-
- Cynon Valley Museum & Gallery
- Rhondda Heritage Park
Other Museums and Attractions in Rhondda Cynon Taf:-
- Pontypridd Museum
- Nantgarw China Works Museum
- Museum of Law & Order
Cynon Valley Museum & Gallery
Cynon Valley Museum in Aberdare concentrates its exhibitions on the social and industrial history of the Cynon Valley. After a brief glance at the far earlier Bronze and Iron Ages it then examines in detail the last momentous 200 years, from the birth of the Hirwaun iron industry to the closure of the coal, industry in the 1990’s.
With massive influx of people into the area, the ‘Footprints’ Gallery looks at the broadest spectrum of social life of the new community including sport, religion, politics and work.
Multi – media facility enables visitors to follow the lives of a fictitious family by looking at five separate time periods : namely from their immigration into the valley in 1860 and then 1905, 1926, 1954 and finally 1999.
Visitors can also experience:
- Visitors can see how customers were catered for during the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods in the replica shop.
- ‘The Space’ – Contemporary Art Gallery
- ‘Footprints Cafe’ – Freshly prepared light meals and snacks, fairtrade coffees and teas
- Gift Shop – a wide range of contemporary jewellery, glass and ceramics and extensive range of art books and limited prints
- ‘Parry Suite’ - Conference & Meeting Room
- Special Events – ring for details
- Education visits – a range of hand-on workshops e.g. grandma’s wash day
Admission: Free
Opening Hours: 9.00am – 4.30pm Monday – Saturday Closed Sundays
Contact
Cynon Valley Museum & Gallery
Depot Road
Gadlys
Aberdare
CF44 8DL
www.cvmg.co.uk
Telephone: (01685) 886729
Fax: (01685) 886730
Rhondda Heritage Park
Make a Pit Stop at the Award Winning Rhondda Heritage Park – Whatever the Weather!
Based at the former Lewis Merthyr Colliery, Rhondda Heritage Park is a living testament to the mining communities of the World famous Rhondda Valleys.
How to find
On the A4058 between Pontypridd and Porth.
The Visitor Centre
The first stop is the Visitor Centre where you will find an indoor reconstruction of a Period Village Street displaying the domestic and commercial life of the Valleys.
The Gift Shop is also located in this area and is stocked with a wide range of gifts, books and souvenirs from Wales.
The first floor houses the Gallery, where a regularly changing programme of exhibitions presents both local and national artists.
Relax in the licensed ‘Valley View’ Restaurant which commands breathtaking views of the lower Rhondda Valleys and serves a wide range of meals and snacks.
Admission to the Visitor Centre is free of charge ( except on special event days)
Black Gold
In its heyday Rhondda’s coal was as important as the oil produced by the Middle East today. This Welsh Valley helped to power the world, and the character and culture of the Rhondda is brought to life in the ‘Black Gold’ story through exciting multi media displays set in three restored colliery buildings.
Accompanied by your ex-miner guide, your tour takes you to in the Bertie Winding House.
This multi media exhibition takes you back in time to the start of mining in the Rhondda Valleys and tells the history of Lewis Merthyr Colliery, the Tynewydd mining disaster and of important figures in South Wales coal mining history.
The Lamp Room will prepare you for a shift in the safest pit in South Wales and here you will discover the importance of safety lamps before collecting your mining helmets and descending - just like a working miner - in the ‘cage’ to ‘pit bottom’ where your underground experience begins.
Once underground you will soon appreciate what life was like as a coalminer.
You can touch the machinery, hear the effects as explosives are detonated, smell and even taste the changing atmospheric conditions and humidity of life underground.
As an exciting end to your tour you will be transported back to the surface on an amazing simulated ride where you are hurtled and catapulted through the dark and twisting tunnels.
Your tour continues with a visit to the Fan House.
This multi media exhibition portrays the role of women in the community and the cultural and social heritage of the Valleys is vividly brought to life. It traces history to the end of mining in the Rhondda Valleys.
Finally don’t miss the Trevor Winding House. This multi media exhibition transports you back in time to 1958 where you join your narrator Bryn Rees in the middle of a working shift. See the huge winding engine turning during the show.
For younger visitors the excitement continues with a visit to the action-packed
‘ Energy Zone’.
The ‘Energy Zone’ is suitable for children aged 2-13yrs and is available daily from 10am – 5pm April to September with supervised play available throughout the main school holidays and weekends during this period.
Contact
Rhondda Heritage Park
Lewis Merthyr Colliery
Trehafod
Rhondda Cynon Taf
CF37 7NP
Telephone: 01443 682036
Email: info@rhonddaheritagepark.com
Pontypridd Museum
Housed in a converted chapel built in 1861, the centre tells the story of the town and it’s people. Use of audio-visual programmes and ‘hands on’ exhibits illustrate elements of social, military, sporting and cultural history, as well as industry and transport.
Contact
Historical Centre
The Old Bridge
Pontypridd
CF37 3PE
Telephone: 01443 490748
Nantgarw China Works Museum
Explore the history of the works and view Billingsley’s exquisite porcelain. Experience the conditions under which the famous porcelain was made.
Learn of the importance of the Glamorganshire Canal, which formed the Western boundary of the site on its route from Cyfarthfa, Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff Bay.
View the Pardoe pipeworks and examine the tools and technique of clay-pipe manufacture, and the stable area now converted to a classroom for school groups.
Nantgarw China Works is the only remaining archaeological site of porcelain production in the UK!
The grounds contain remains of factory buildings and bottle kilns. The Nantgarw China Works Museum has won an award for its education services under the National Heritage Museum of the Year Award scheme.
Contact
Nantgarw House
Tyla Gwyn
Nantgarw
CF15 7TB
Telephone: 01443 841 703
Website: www.friendsofncwm.org
Museum of Law & Order R.A.I.D. (Rhondda Against Illegal Drugs)
The centre piece of the museum is the 1902 Magistrates Court from Ton Pentre Police Station.
There are displays and information on various aspects of Law and Order of local, national and international interest.
Find out how drugs have penetrated the everyday life of the Rhondda. Have your photograph taken in the dock or prison cell. After your visit why not sample the refreshments in our Café.
Admission: Free
Opening Hours: Viewing is currently by appointment only.
Contact
R.A.I.D. Centre
211 Ystrad Road
Pentre
Rhondda
CF41 7BL
Telephone: (01443) 441600
Local Attractions
For more information on places to stay or things to see and do visit the brand new Tourism website:-
http://www.destinationrct.co.uk
Crafts/Shopping
The range of quality craft items produced in the area include the works of both professionals and gifted amateurs. Lovespoons, lace-making, slate painting, wood turning, drawing and painting are demonstrated and sold at local craft fayres. Private sector businesses produce an impressive array of coal figurines, brass miners lamps and other excellent souvenirs/gifts.
Art Galleries
There are 2 art galleries within Rhondda Cynon Taf. One is based in the Cynon Valley Museum, Aberdare and the Second is based in the Rhondda Heritage Park.
The exhibition change throughout the year and both offer a wide range of art and craft products for sale.
World of Groggs
Fabulous figurines ranging from sporting heroes, film stars, humorous animals and mining figures
Shopping
Go shopping at one of the many town centres such as Aberdare, Tonypandy or the market town of Pontypridd, which have much to offer with a wide range of shops. Get fascinated by the quaint hilltop town of Llantrisant where crafts and gifts are widely available.
Streetmarket in Pontypridd
French Market
Street Markets
- Pontypridd – Wednesday, Saturday
- Mountain Ash – Friday
- Tonypandy – Friday
Covered Markets
- Aberdare – Monday to Saturday
- Pontypridd – Monday to Saturday
How do you rate this information / service?
Content authorised by: Tourism
Last revised on: 15/12/2009