National Waterfront Museum

Find The National Waterfront Museum in Swansea by the Tawe Basin is minutes away from the city centre. With ever changing exhibitions and events there’s always things to do to entertain the family, and with FREE entry, a day out in Swansea is pleasing on the pocket.

The National Waterfront Museum has some permanent exhibitions that tell the story of industry and innovation in Wales, now and over the last 300 years.

The Industrial Revolution in Wales had a tremendous effect on People, Communities and Lives as well as that of the rest of the World. Visitors can soak up the history with a breathtaking mix of old and new in the city’s rapidly developing maritime quarter.

Their vast industrial and maritime heritage is ready to explore via cutting-edge, interactive technology married with traditional displays.

The Social History of Welsh Industry exhibition see’s how industry affected the way we used to live – be it individuals, groups or organisations – and have your eyes opened to the scale of Welsh maritime heritage.

Absorb traditional displays of iconic objects and dabble in the latest sensory technology that responds to hand gestures for a truly interactive experience. Explore the industrial landscape with a panoramic video map, or learn about real lives from the past through digital street maps you can still recognise today.

Unearth the energy behind the industry, and trace the power of the sea with a video timeline charting the history of Wales’s maritime tradition.

Uncover the origins of the most popular and influential organisations and communities, from the Trade Unions, Miners Association and National Health Service to the Freemasons, Order of Foresters and Merched y Wawr.

The Museum is housed in an original listed warehouse linked to an ultra-modern slate and glass building. Here you can discover the Transport, Materials and Networks that were so important and the ‘big things’ that contributed so much to the industrial history of our nation.

In 1800 horseback was the fastest way to travel on land. A century later, most of the world had rail networks and trains travelling up to sixty miles per hour. This transformation in world history was initiated in south Wales with Richard Trevithick’s Steam Locomotive in 1804.

Coal wagons like the one displayed began appearing on the UK rail network in the mid-nineteenth century. The Ocean Coal Company is painted on one side – in its heyday one of the foremost producers of steam coal in south Wales.

By the early 1890s, eighty per cent of the world’s tinplate was produced in Wales. The museum’s Tinplate Rolling Mill is an example of twentieth century automation that transformed a previously labour-intensive industry. At its peak, in the 1920s, it employed over 30,000 in Wales.

These are just a few of the highlights, while interactive workstations allow you to delve deeper into the networks and industries in which these objects played a vital role.

Made in Wales exhibition explores the changes in Wales and displays objects and artefacts from 1930 to the present day.

Wales has seen many changes since the 1930s. The Welsh have evolved from a nation where heavy industry and backbreaking work was the norm, to a country of high tech commerce, research and tourism. As the world has changed, so has Wales.

Made in Wales explores some of these changes and displays objects and artefacts from 1930 to the present day. Many of the objects will be recognisable to visitors. Household names such as Hoover, Smith’s Clocks, Corgi Toys and Spectrum Computers bear testimony to the wide and diverse manufacturing base that we have grown up with. Come with us on a journey through time, be amazed at the products that are still are being created in Wales.