The new National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, a £31m development designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects which is scheduled to open in October, is installing objects representing Wales’s history as an industrial nation.

Finishing touches are being put to more than 100 audio-visual exhibits including 36 interactive displays.

A 28-tonne rolling steel mill, the world’s first steam locomotive, a brick press, and one of the few surviving coal wagons, among other items, are being moved into the new slate ad glass building. Also on display is the Benz ‘Duc’ motor car.

Head of the museum, Steph Matsoris, said: “This has been a challenging task involving teams of people, cranes, tractors and lorries in delicate and difficult manoeuvres. Thee important artefacts will now continue to provide an insight into Wales’s growth as a industrial nation.”

The Heritage Lottery Fund provided about a third of the cash required, with the rest coming from the Welsh Assembly Government, Wales Tourist Board, Welsh Development Agency, Objective One funding and other private donors and sponsors.