National Museum Wales (Amgueddfa Cymru) owns a to-scale replica of Richard Trevithick’s steam-powered locomotive, which debuted in 1804 when it replaced a team of horses. It pulled a train nearly ten miles along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks — a groundbreaking achievment widely perceived to be “ahead of its time”.
However, the Welsh government-sponsored NMW has now pledged to “explore how the slave trade linked and fed into the development of the steam and railway infrastructure in Wales” as they conduct a woke audit their collection — which could lead to the placement of a disclaimer next to their engine replica dubiously connecting it to the slave trade.
