Built on coal

Our industrial heritage is hugely important in Wales and especially in the mining communities of the valleys the legacy of coal is long remembered. the woman in the photo is the wife of the late Geraint Evans, a world famous opera singer who came from the coal mining village of Cilfynydd. The blue plaque will be placed on the wall of the house he was born in and the ceremony took place at Pontypridd High School. I was there representing the Heritage Lottery Fund which funded the project. It is always so nice to see the projects and the people involved. For me, heritage is about people, learning where we've come from and who we are today.

It largely consisted of speeches, memories of Sir Geraint and lots of children singing. What struck me most was watching the primary school kids lined up, maybe 20 or so of them. They are all in uniform, all doing the same thing and yet you can see so clearly for some of them how their cards are marked, where their life is likely to go and what their life is probably like now. It is sad that even in an environment where they should be about as equal as they ever will be, the unspoken disparity is so strong.