Newport's Heritage and Culture

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:17 pm on 21 January 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:17, 21 January 2020

Can I thank Jayne Bryant for that? I see that the Deputy Minister is a regular visitor to Newport, having been to the transporter bridge recently as well, and I look forward to developing possibilities for making more of that attraction in Newport in the future. 

Of course, Jayne Bryant is right in what she says about the importance of the ancient Roman town of Caerleon—the most complete Roman amphitheatre in Britain, the only Roman legionary barracks on view anywhere in Europe—and it's great to see that the work that has been done to repair it, some of the essential work to the roof of the museum, has now been completed and that it's open fully to the public.

I want to just pay tribute to the people who work at the museum for the way in which they kept those educational services going, even when the museum itself wasn't open to the public in the way that it had been previously. It's a really important part of what it does to make sure that those live experiences that it offers to young people—that bring the history of Caerleon and Wales's history alive for them—now continues and develops. And, of course the Welsh Government will work, as I said in my original answer, in partnership with the local authority, with Cadw and others, to make the very most of that really important site.