Qualla: Blaenavon https://qualla.com/blaenavon en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Blaenavon https://qualla.com/blaenavon Blaenavon: Introduction https://qualla.com/blaenavon/ Blaenavon means head of the river, or river's source, in Welsh. It sits high on a hillside at the place where the Afon Lwyd actually begins, and that elevation tells you most of what you need to know. The town was not built where farms had been or where trade routes crossed. It was built where the iron was. In 1788 three businessmen from the West Midlands invested £40,000 in three blast furnaces on Lord Abergavenny's empty hills, and a town arrived to feed them. Population in 1800: a little over a thousand. Population at its 1890 peak: above 20,000. Population today: 6,055. The arc of every Welsh valley town in three numbers.

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/y/blaenavon-wp/gcjy-blaenavon-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Blaenavon: Born of Iron https://qualla.com/blaenavon/ Thomas Hill, his partner Thomas Hopkins, and Benjamin Pratt opened the ironworks in 1788. Hopkins ran Cannock Wood Forge in Staffordshire and knew exactly the kind of skilled men a new ironworks needed, so he poached them and brought their families with him. The streets of Blaena...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/y/blaenavon-wp/gcjy-blaenavon-born-of-iron.mp3 0:06 2 full Blaenavon: The Big House https://qualla.com/blaenavon/ Blaenavon House, the mansion Samuel Hopkins built for himself around 1798, has lived more lives than most buildings. It started as the iron master's residence, looking down at the works that paid for it. In 1924 it was repurposed as a cottage hospital, supported by weekly subscri...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/y/blaenavon-wp/gcjy-blaenavon-the-big-house.mp3 0:06 3 full Blaenavon: When the Mines Close https://qualla.com/blaenavon/ The ironworks shut in 1900. The Big Pit hung on until 1980. Between those two dates the town's population fell census by census. Some of that was emigration to other valley towns or out of Wales altogether, but a surprising amount was simply a falling birth rate, families having ...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/y/blaenavon-wp/gcjy-blaenavon-when-the-mines-close.mp3 0:06 4 full Blaenavon: The Book Town That Wasn't https://qualla.com/blaenavon/ In 2003, in a deliberate echo of Hay-on-Wye across the border, Welsh writers and publishers and the local council tried to remake Blaenavon as Wales' second book town. New bookshops opened. Festivals were planned. It did not work. The town was remote, Hay was already established,...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/y/blaenavon-wp/gcjy-blaenavon-the-book-town-that-wasnt.mp3 0:06 5 full Blaenavon: The Voices That Stayed https://qualla.com/blaenavon/ Blaenavon still has its male voice choir and its town band. The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway, restored by volunteers, runs scenic services up the valley. Forgeside RFC and Blaenavon RFC and Blaenavon Blues AFC keep their fixtures going on Saturdays. Notable names that came out...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/j/y/blaenavon-wp/gcjy-blaenavon-the-voices-that-stayed.mp3 0:06 6 full