Industrial Heritage in Newport

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:33 pm on 9 October 2018.

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Photo of John Griffiths John Griffiths Labour 1:33, 9 October 2018

Yes, First Minister, the transporter bridge, having been built at the turn of the twentieth century, is one of just six working bridges in the world today. It was originally built to transport steel workers across the river Usk to their place of work and it holds very many memories for local people. I remember being on the transporter bridge going to school games, in primary school, standing on one leg when it bumped at the end, to see whether you could remain on one leg, walking over the top, and, of course, the history of the miners' strike, when it was hijacked by striking miners, and when a USA businessman wanted to buy it, dismantle it, transport it to the states and reassemble it. There are so many stories around that Newport transporter bridge—the tranny, as it's known locally. I'm glad that Welsh Government is increasingly recognising this. Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge have an important project, with the Heritage Lottery Fund, to safeguard its future, and Dafydd Elis-Thomas just the other week, in answering a question from my colleague Jayne Bryant, committed to putting it at the forefront of Welsh Government policy for industrial heritage in Wales. I wonder whether you could reinforce that Welsh Government commitment today, First Minister, and perhaps give a little bit more detail as to how it will be taken forward.