Mining Gallery
The Mining Gallery explores the realities of life in Carmarthenshire's collieries.
Many visitors do not realize that coal mining took place in Carmarthenshire. This gallery looks at the reality of life in the county's collieries, revealing how skills, danger, and daily routines shaped one of Carmarthenshire's most important industries.
The exhibition focuses on the underground working environment. Protective clothing, helmets, lamps, knee pads, and dust goggles demonstrate how miners prepared for the harsh conditions of mining. Everyday items such as snap tins, water bottles, watches, and tobacco tins provide a personal perspective, reflecting the long shifts spent underground, where smoking was prohibited and keeping track of time was essential. The tradition of hanging tools on a bar at the end of a shift lies at the origin of the phrase "hanging up the tools," a reminder of the strong work culture of the pits.
Safety was central to life in the coal mines, and the gallery highlights the risks faced by miners and the measures developed to protect them. The displays include Davy lamps and later safety lamps, lamp checks to track who was underground, methane detectors, airflow meters, and the equipment used by firemen and deputies to test for gas.
Equipment used underground tells the story of the physical labour involved in coal mining. Picks, shovels, saws, wedges, and prop-cutting tools demonstrate the challenging nature of the work in the pits, while examples of hard coal from local collieries link the objects directly to the landscape of Carmarthenshire.
