Deep mine tour in line for top award

AMINE tour in Snowdonia has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award. Llechwedd Slate Caverns in Blaenau Ffestiniog is a finalist in the National Museums and Heritage Awards’ Innovation category for its revamped Deep Mine Tour – a digital retelling which takes visitors back 150 years to the Victorian slate industry.

Managing director Michael Bewick said the nomination is “recognition the history of the slate mine is a really important story”.

He said: “Last year we renewed the tour and invested in augmented reality, which takes visitors back in time to experience exactly what it was like to work in the 19th century mines.

“Visitors want something that is interactive, something they can expe- rience and take home. People have really responded to that and it’s very exciting that it has led to this.

“Millions of people have visited the attraction over the years so it is a real tribute to have been nominated.”

The miners’ stories come to life through modern technology and traditional storytelling. Visitors can “meet” the mine’s owner and founder, John Whitehead Greaves, and some of the men and boys who spent up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, working underground.

Mr Bewick is confident the attraction has a “good chance of winning”, despite being up against the likes of the National Holocaust Centre and Museum’s Forever Project, the Historic Royal Palaces’ Lost Palace and The Hoxton Hall Experience.

Winners will be announced in London on May 17.