Where are the Coal House cottages?

The Coal House cottages are in Blaenavon. You can find more information about the area on the Blaenavon minisite on the South East Wales BBC Local site.

Where is the mine where the Coal House men worked?

The men worked at the Blaentillery No.2 Mine. It is the last working mine of its kind in Wales and is near the Big Pit mining museum. The mine is owned by the three Blandford brothers who were involved in the programme. Tim Blandford played the part of the mine manager.

Can I visit the location shown on Coal House?

Yes - Coal House was filmed at the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site. One of the featured cottages at Stack Square will be left fully furnished to allow visitors to see the living conditions endured by the families in the series.
More about Cadw and the cottages
See photos of inside the cottages.

Is there a DVD of Coal House available for purchase?

The Coal house DVD was released on 7 February 2008 and is available from your local stockists.

How long were the families in Stack Square?

The families entered Coal House on Monday October 15 and emerged back into 2007 on Friday, November 9.

What contact with the outside world did the families have?

The families were living in a 1927 'bubble' as far as health and safety rules in 2007 would allow. They had no access to modern communication technology and the production team worked hard to make the experience as authentic as possible.

How historically accurate was the programme?

The production team took great care to ensure that as much of the experience was as authentic as possible. They consulted with a range of specialist experts and historians to help them achieve that.

However, we realise that there were certainly some aspects that may not have been exactly right for the period. This was sometimes due to 2007 factors such as health and safety rules. We felt that the important thing was that viewers got the feeling of what life was really like in 1927. More about the research
More about the health and saftey considerations

Were the families paid to take part in Coal House?

The families were reimbursed for things like loss of earnings while they were in the cottages.