----- Original Message ----- From: "Dawn Cumbley" <dawn.cumbley@virgin.net> To: <monmouthshire@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2007 11:05 PM Subject: Re: [MON] Blaenavon > Hey thanks John, I thought it might have been a little later than that as > the people of Devauden used to talk when I was little, about being able to > see when they blew at Blaenavon. The sky would light up really bright. I > remember my dad and grancher talking about it. Maybe my dad was > remembering > via his dad as my dad was born 1906. Obviously too late for him to have > experienced it for himself. > Maybe not. See this below from http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/cgi-bin/anw/fulldesc_nofr?inst_id=36&coll_id=76635&expand= The perils of relying on the internet for information. This source however is authoritative. Walt Reference code(s): GB 0218 D.480, D.591.112, D.751 Held at: Gwent Record Office Title: Blaenavon Company Ltd Records Short Title: Blaenavon Company Ltd, records Creation date(s): 1696-1957 Level of description: Fonds Extent: To be supplied Name of creator(s): Blaenavon Company Ltd CONTEXT Administrative/Biographical history: The Blaenavon Iron and Coal Company was formed in 1836 and in that year purchased the ironworks at Blaenavon, Monmouthshire. The company went into liquidation in 1864. It was superseded by the Blaenavon Company Ltd, which sold out to the Blaenavon Iron and Steel Company Ltd in 1870. The cost of the switch to steel production in the 1870s forced that company's liquidation in 1878. It was replaced with a new Blaenavon Co. Ltd (the 'New Company'), incorporated in 1879, which purchased the Blaenavon Iron and Steel Works for £75,000. In 1909 the company's assets comprised 563 acres of freehold land, an iron works and steel works and underlying minerals. The plant then consisted of two blast furnaces, three Siemens Martin open hearth furnaces, soaking pits, reheating furnaces, cogging mill, finishing mill and boilers. There was also a steel tyre works, a quarry and three collieries. These works were extended by the erection of a Coke Oven and By-Product Plant in 1911 and a steel solid wheel and axle plant between 1937 and 1941. During both World Wars the Company was involved in Government work. During the First World War it manufactured shell steel as a Government 'Controlled Establishment'. During the Second World War a Crown Plant was installed for the production of aluminium and magnesium alloys for the Ministry of Aircraft Production. Following the First World War production gradually declined and by the Second World War steel production had stopped altogether. The Company lost its coal mining interests following the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947.

Hi Walt So does that mean I may have actually seen the glow myself which I thought I was imagining? I was born 1938. I was almost positive I had actually seen it but willing to accept that I couldn't possibly have done so. Perhaps it was something else I saw. Spent a lot of time walking the Devauden ridge particularly at night as my grandparents lived in Devauden and us nearer Chepstow. Method of travel - feet or dad's shoulders!!. Lots of us think we actually remember things that have been regularly discussed within the family but are only remembering them in imagination. Certainly then my dad's remembrances are correct according to your info. Maybe I should check at the Record Office. Anyway, we have kept the list alive. I will take a look at the URL for myself as you suggest. Many of my family were furnace/forge workers. Thanks for your help, all info is very welcome. Regards Dawn dawn.cumbley@virgin.net

Hi Dawn, Well I didn't think all the people you quoted could have been mistaken. Here, it says that the last furnace was dismantled in 1938: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites/blaenavon/pages/ironworks.shtml "However, by 1914, Blaenavon was in decline. Steelworks moved nearer to the sea for obvious reasons and in 1938 the last Blaenavon furnace was dismantled." Meanwhile, Wikipedia maintains its customary standards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaenavon Blaenavon grew around an ironworks opened in 1788, part of which is now a museum. The steel-making and coal mining industries followed, boosting the town's population to over 20,000 at one time, but since the ironworks closed in 1900 and the coal mine in 1980, the population has declined, and now consists mostly of older citizens. There is so much junk on the internet and the rubbish gets copied and propagated endlessly so it's important to use reliable sources. Gwent RO and BBC should be good. It seems that the last furnace was dismantled the year you were born............. Walt ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dawn Cumbley" <dawn.cumbley@virgin.net> To: <monmouthshire@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 8:17 PM Subject: Re: [MON] Blaenavon