THIS week the Free Press features photographs from the digital archives of Pontypool Museum looking back at one of the region’s more modern industries.

As the heavy industrial processes of ironmaking and mining began to dwindle towards their demise, one process began to flourish in the mid-20th century.

In 1945, British Nylon Spinners (BNS) purchased a site at Mamhilad on the outskirts of Pontypool and within four years, by 1949, the factory was operational.

Designed by Sir Percy Thomas in 1946, the first photo shows an employee working with the nylon created at the factory in the 1950s.

The other image shows the created product on sale at the Fowlers store in nearby Pontypool during the 1960s.

However, the factory in Mamhilad is no longer operational.

Now a Grade II* listed structure, the BNS factory remains one of the prominent features of the borough and was visited by the Queen and Prince Philip during their one and only visit to Torfaen in 1963.

These images were donated by the Pontypool Museum as part of its digital archive, which aims to preserve historic documents, images and records from the area.

To find out more about the digital archive, contact the museum at pontypoolmuseum@hotmail.co.uk or call 01495 752036.

The Free Press thanks Pontypool Museum for allowing the paper to use these images.