Unloved Heritage?
Connecting young people in Wales with their community, history and heritage.
Unloved Heritage? is a Wales-wide community archaeology project for young people aged 10-15.
Led by Cadw and funded by the Heritage Lottery, the Unloved Heritage? programme is made up of several different groups dotted around Wales, with each group working on different projects designed to engage young people with their community, history and heritage.
The activities include anything from recording traditional music, to cave exploration to doing archaeological excavations. Each project aims to reflect the region and its particular story, encouraging young people to delve into the heritage of their community and share the legacy of the past with both present and future generations.
The Blaenrhondda Project
Since early 2019, DigVentures has worked with Cadw and the Valleys Kids youth group on the Blaenrhondda project of Unloved Heritage?
Based in Treherbert in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, the Blaendrhondda project focused on exploring the industrial heritage of the valley and how coal mining shaped their community.
With DigVentures, the group has learned how to make films about their heritage and community, created 3D models of the industrial landscape and explored the valley through archival research and digital mapping.
Using Minecraft to rebuild a demolished colliery
One of the main goals of the Blaenrhondda project was to digitally rebuild a demolished colliery and its surrounding landscape in Minecraft, a 3D brick-building video game.
Using Minecraft, the group recreated Fernhill Colliery – a once impressive and long since demolished colliery in the heart of the Rhondda Valley.
With an innovative combination of research, construction and imagination, the Blaenrhondda project connected local youth with the industrial heritage that shaped both the immediate and broader community that they live in today.
The Blaenrhondda project was made possible by a number of participants
Headed by Cadw with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project worked with the Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council, Birmingham University, Big Pit National Mining Museum, Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation, Taliesin Conservation, and the Rhondda Historical Society
The project also learned a huge amount of invaluable information from members of the former mining community in the Rhondda Valley. By sharing their stories and experiences of Fernhill Colliery, they helped bring this project to life.
Photogrammetry specialist Adam Stanford, of Aerial-Cam, showed the group how to create 3D models of mining equipment, colliery structures and the coal miners homes, allowing the group to carefully and accurately recreate the buildings in Minecraft based on these models.
The project was also made possible with the hugely helpful support and contribution from archaeogaming experts Angus Mol and Aris Politopoulos of the VALUE Foundation. Angus and Aris have worked on multiple projects which aim to develop knowledge activation and disseminate information in an accessible, interactive, and fun way. They bring a deep experience of working alongside cultural institutions such as the Leiden’s National Museum of Antiquities and the Roman Limes project to utilise digital media to activate interest and learning in heritage.
