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Topic outline

 

  • Time: 2 hours
    Level: Introductory

 
 

Introduction

  • Introduction Resource
  • This case study, which is taken from the Open University course Heritage, whose heritage? (A180), looks at Aberdulais Falls near Neath, South Wales. This is a place of great natural beauty, but also an...
 

1 Aberdulais Falls

  • 1.1 Background Resource
  • Aberdulais Falls is under the control of the National Trust. It is set in an area of outstanding natural beauty that has attracted artists for centuries (Turner visited the ten-metre high waterfall in...
  • 1.2 Aberdulais Falls and the National Trust Resource
  • When the National Trust took over the Aberdulais Falls and the associated buildings, the site was derelict, overgrown and dangerous. Prior to the Trust's ownership, public access to the Falls over the...
  • 1.3 Stages of development Resource
  • As a result of the consultation and decision-making process, it was decided, as a primary objective, to undertake a systematic survey of the site in order to uncover and understand the industrial archaeology...
  • 1.4 The economics of maintaining a heritage site Resource
  • The National Trust operates within a complex web of funding. This comes from annual membership fees and from visitor receipts at individual sites. Each National Trust property is responsible for raising...
  • 1.5 Water power Resource
  • This second phase was achieved by focusing on the water-power potential of the site. Water power had been the catalyst for the original industrial development, and it seemed apt to capitalise on that....
  • 1.6 Visitor numbers Resource
  • The National Trust has actively sought to encourage visitors with a wide range of interests to the site, and to broaden the appeal of the site as much as possible:
  • 1.7 Evaluation Resource
  • The preceding description of the history and development of this particular heritage site possibly gives the impression of some inevitability of development, and of a smooth, conflict-free transition from...
  • 1.8 Conflict and tension Resource
  • The management of a site such as Aberdulais Falls by its very nature highlights conflicting interests and tensions. Some relate to problems caused by the decision-making process itself, which can be slow...
  • 1.9 Aberdulais Falls and the local community Resource
  • Other potential areas of conflict are with the local authority and local residents, who see the site as of value to themselves and have differing views about how it should be utilised.
  • 1.10 Other considerations Resource
  • While visitors to Aberdulais Falls seem genuinely to enjoy the experience, there is a possibility that only when they arrive at the site do they realise it is primarily an industrial site, with an attractive...
  • 1.11 Facilities and the visitor experience Resource
  • The quality of any visitor experience is dependent on a number of variables. These include signposting to the tourist attraction, car parking, catering, toilet facilities and overall interpretation.
  • 1.12 Conclusion Resource
  • It is clear that there are tensions in the use of the site, in that it attracts quite different audiences. There are also tensions relating to the number of visitors it is logistically possible to accommodate,...
 

References and Acknowledgements

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