WHOOSH-WHOOSH-KABOOM!

Uh-oh… I think we’ve landed inside a volcano—WAIT—nope, it’s just Greenhill in the 1800s. And it’s ON FIRE! (Not really, but kind of…)

Welcome to the land of Copperopolis! That’s a real name — not a superhero city (although it sounds like one, right?!)

Everywhere you look, there’s smoke, sparks, and people running around with big boots, sweaty faces, and giant hammers. BOOM! CLANG! FZZZZT!

That guy over there with the “I’m very important” face? That’s Sir John Morris — and he basically built this whole copper-making mega-world. He opened factories called smelting works where they’d melt rocks into lava (okay, molten metal!) and turn it into pipes, coins, kettles — all kinds of shiny stuff!

But it was HARD work. Hot. Loud. STINKY. People got soot on their noses, in their ears — even in their sandwiches. Ew. Ever had a coal and cheese sandwich? NO THANKS.

Even kids worked here — lifting, cleaning, dodging sparks… They didn’t have iPads, but they definitely had muscles. 💪 This was horrible, dangerous work for us kids. We’re so lucky that’s not allowed anymore.

Swansea made so much copper it was famous all over the world. It was like the Wi-Fi of the 1800s — everyone needed it!

💬 STAMP IDEA: Draw a GIANT factory chimney with smoke puffing out — or a shiny copper coin with a face pulling a silly smile.

Wipe the soot off your goggles — we’re heading to a deeper story now. Some more sad stuff, but I’ll be right there with you. Time to zip ahead…

WHOOSH! TO THE NEXT STOP!