Thank you Martin Roe (29 October, 09:33). 

I am pleased you mention the role of recording as a method of preservation.
 As the national body of archaeological survey and record, the RCAHMW (or
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales for
short) has being carrying out recording of monuments of all types,
including mining remains, since 1908, as have sister bodies in Scotland and
England. The Commissions are also recognised as the national places of
deposit for archaeological archives, with material held in the respective
National Monuments Records.  As was rightly pointed out, the appreciation
of industrial landscapes is a matter of education of local authorities,
government departments, politicians, and, I would add, the public.  We have
been striving to do just this through, for example, our involvement in the
planning processes, through our publications and through the Welsh
Industrial Archaeology Panel.  However, we cannot always make our input as
confidently as we would like because, as Martin points out, we are often
unaware of the people who have information and opinions.  You have three
national focii for receiving archaeological information and disseminating
it in such a way that will make a difference on the ground - inform them,
not just other archaeologists! The public national records are only as good
as what goes into them and we need all you experts "out there" to feed your
information in so that the corpus is available to inform local authorities,
government departments, politicians and the public and thus find its way
into the policy-making system.

As an example of what can be achieved, the mining landscape of Blaenavon,
perceived by the public until quite recently as an eyesore, is currently
the only mainland site in Britain formally nominated for World Heritage
Site status (a final decision on the application is awaited). This has been
the result of a partnership between Torfaen County Borough Council, Cadw,
the Royal Commission and others to get the whole landscape recognised and
protected, with a sustainable future.  It is unlikely that one organisation
working in isolation could have done this and the need for co-operation and
partnership between relevant bodies and individuals is essential.  This is
a good model for the way preservation should go, because of its holistic
approach to the industrial and related remains, within which preservation
by record is a vital component and sometimes the only practical way
forward, and because of its long-term sustainability.  Although Blaenavon
is something of a flagship site, and no-one can afford to treat all
landscapes similarly, the key achievement is that an extensive mining
landscape, including a town, will be protected from wholesale despoilation
(although it is still a living part of Wales and not frozen in time as a
theme park) and this will hopefully raise public and official awareness and
perception of other mining sites.


Brian Malaws, Industrial Archaeology Project Manager
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
Plas Crug
Aberystwyth
Ceredigion SY23 1NJ
Phone: 01970 - 621216
Fax: 01970 - 627701
Web site: www.rcahmw.org.uk


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