A PHOTOGRAPHER is looking to turn his exhibition on the history of Torfaen’s Mamhilad industrial site into a book.

Robert Smith’s exhibition, ‘The Human Fabric’, ran last May as part of the Diffusion Festival.

Mr Smith, of Newport, said explained: “This project is an investigation into the industrial site of the British Nylon Spinners at Mamhilad near Pontypool, which was built as a high-tech facility for the production of nylon thread.

“The exhibition shows contemporary images taken at the Mamhilad factory over the last three years, together with historical archive images and films on the manufacturing process of nylon from the Pontypool Museum Archive.

“The workforce at Mamhilad shared a faith in the benefits of scientific and technological progress and felt they were contributing to a promise held by society at large that all subsequent generations might look forward to a future characterised by material and social improvement.

“Through the presentation of these diverse threads of testimony we can perceive the aspirations of a generation that hoped to create a new and better society, a bright new social fabric for everyone.”

The factory, opened in 1948, had a huge historic impact on the Cwmbran and Pontypool area.

Falling demand for coal due to a reduction in international trade and competition from overseas led to a drop in the price of coal, which led to mass unemployment and poverty without parallel in Britain.

Alongside a rubber plant at Brynmawr, the factory flagship building was designed to make strong architectural statements of optimism and internationalism after the deprivations of two wars and the Depression years.

It is estimated that at the height of nylon production in the 1960s, the Mamhilad industrial complex employed nearly 10,000 people.

Mr Smith is hoping to continue his work, through further exhibitions and compiling a book.

He said: “I am currently still working on this project and hope to create a book called The Human Fabric.

“The work is a mixture of contemporary work, archive material, found objects and oral histories that have been conducted we people who have worked there.

“Also, I am looking for a venue in Cwmbran and Pontypool to exhibit the work.”