STANDING eleven metres tall, eyes flashing through clouds of steam and with metre-wide feet stamping in time to the sound of the band and choir, a formidable Cornish giant shook Blaenavon Ironworks and awed a three thousand strong crowd on Sunday.

The Man Engine, a mechanical puppet - Britain’s largest, was the centrepiece for a day of fun and festivities in the town.

Throughout the day, modern-day visitors rubbed shoulders with members of Ragged Victorians - a re-enactment group specialising in portraying the common people of the mid-nineteenth century.