Press Releases

Another sell-out crowd at Big Pit: National Coal Museum

Tickets for this year’s Big Pit Annual Lecture sold out in less than 24 hours.

Winner of the 2005 Gulbenkian Prize for UK Museum of the Year, Big Pit, hosted its inaugural Annual Lecture in 2004. The event has always proved very popular, and this year’s free tickets were snapped up within a day of the box office opening.

The subject of this year’s lecture is Dr Joseph Parry, the son of an ironworker from Merthyr Tydfil who went on to become a prolific composer and possibly the most famous Welshman of his generation, is best known now for his love song Myfanwy. The lecture will be delivered by Dr Dulais Rhys, an authority on the life and work of Dr Parry.

Keeper & Mine Manager at Big Pit, Peter Walker, said: “The Annual Lecture has always been a success, but we were amazed at how quickly the event sold out this year.

“We recognise how important music was to the social life in the colliery villages and towns across south Wales and we’ll be celebrating this relationship through a series of events throughout the spring, starting with the Annual Lecture itself.

“However, Dr Rhys will repeat the lecture at the National Eisteddfod in Swansea in August. So if you were unable to get a ticket this time, make sure you’re in Swansea during the first week of August..”

The lecture will be preceded by a lunchtime concert at 12.30pm by the award-winning Tredegar Town Band. This launches the Music in the Coalfield season at Big Pit, a series of Sunday afternoon concerts by leading Bands and Choirs from around south Wales. This will be accompanied by events and activities for the whole family, including children’s workshops to make musical instruments.

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales operates seven national museums across Wales. These are National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

Entry to all the museums is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.

Notes to Editors

  • For further details on the Annual lecture and accompanying activities, please contact: Kathryn Stowers, Marketing & PR Officer: Big Pit.
    Tel: 01495 790311. Mob: 07970 017210
    Email Kathryn Stowers
  • Big Pit is open every day 9.30am – 5pm. Underground tours run frequently 10am – 3.30pm. Children must be one metre tall to go underground.