Wales Feed

Historic Cardiff pub to move to St Fagans National History Museum

2012-05-04T11:21:00+00:00

A historic Cardiff pub, the Vulcan Hotel, has served its last pint and is set to be dismantled and moved, brick by brick, to St Fagans National History Museum.

The Vulcan Hotel opened in 1853

Brewers SA Brain said it was no longer commercially viable for either Brains or licensees Gwyn and Sandra Lewis to keep the pub open.

The exterior of the two-storey Vulcan Hotel, which first opened in 1853, has remained virtually unchanged.

The pub became a "cause célèbre" with supporters such as James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers and Hollywood actor Rhys Ifans supporting the petitions to keep the pub open.

It was also the location where Welsh band Future of the Left recorded their video The Hope That House Built.

Speaking about the closure and move to St Fagans, Scott Waddington, chief executive at Brains said:

"It is with regret that we confirm that the Vulcan pub has closed as of today. As we have previously stated, and despite attempts to attract more customers, the pub is no longer commercially viable for either Brains or the tenant who operated the pub.

"The Vulcan is an important part of our history, which is why we have been working with its owner, Marcol, and the National History Museum, to relocate the building to St Fagans and preserve the history of the pub for the future."

The property's owners Marcol Asset Management Limited have agreed to donate the building, which is rich in original features, to St Fagans National History Museum.

Mark Richards, deputy director general of Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales said:

"The Vulcan hotel will be a welcome addition to the collection of historical buildings at St Fagans. We are grateful to Marcol for donating the building and giving us the opportunity to save and preserve this important part of Cardiff's heritage for the nation and to tell some of the area's rich history."

The pub retains many of its original features

However, there is no firm date as to when the work on rebuilding the Vulcan will begin. Due to current commitments, work is not expected to start for several years. In the meantime, museum curators will work on an interpretation strategy to decide on how and which period to display the building.

An appeal will be made for photographs, objects and stories relating to the Vulcan and its history.

Wales' national museums celebrate record visitor numbers

2012-04-03T10:20:00+00:00

The seven national museums in Wales received 1.69 million visits in 2011-12, the most since free entry was introduced in April 2001.

The Welsh Government and Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales introduced the policy of free entry eight months earlier than in England. The move nearly doubled visitor figures to national museums in Wales.

Back in 2001-02, a 'free for all' campaign resulted in figures increasing 87% - from 764,599 to 1,430,428 - within just 12 months.

The momentum has continued and grown. By 1 April 2012, 16.5 million visits had been made over the 11 years of free entry.

One particular success story during 2011-12 has been the opening of the new National Museum of Art on the top floor of National Museum Cardiff in July 2011.

The French Impressionism and Post Impressionism gallery. Photo © Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales

The developments has proved to be very popular with new audiences. There were 50,485 more visits (+13.7%) made to National Museum Cardiff during 2011-12 compared to 2010-11.

In addition, the National Wool Museum achieved over 30,000 visits for the first time. Since 2000-01, the museum located in the Teifi Valley has seen its visitor figures increase by 236%.

Speaking about the increases, David Anderson, director general of Amgueddfa Cymru, said:

"Our recent visitor figures have been excellent. Thanks to the vision and continued financial support of the Welsh Government, I'm delighted that Wales was the first country in the UK to remove a major barrier to museum attendance.

"In 2000-01 fewer than 250,000 of visits were made by people from ... less affluent groups. Over the years, the figure has increased to over 500,000 - one in every three visits."

Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage, Huw Lewis, added:

"I congratulate Amgueddfa Cymru on such an impressive achievement. The free entry policy has of course proved popular with traditional museum visitors - but what really pleases me is the fact that it has also attracted completely new, harder to reach, audiences through addressing barriers to access such as poverty and social exclusion as well as encouraging tourists to visit Wales. "

Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales operates seven national museums across Wales.

Details of exhibitions and vistor events taking place at each of location can be found here:

Admission to Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales buildings is free.

Get ready to play The Games of Zeus

2012-04-02T15:00:00+00:00

This Easter weekend (Friday 6 - Monday 9 April 2012), the National Roman Legion Museum in Caerleon have planned their own Ancient Games to celebrate the opening of their new exhibition 'The Games of Zeus'.

'The Games of Zues' opens on Friday 6 April

A number of athletic challenges, including an obstacle course in the Roman garden and an Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday are planned.

Speaking about the forthcoming games, Dai Price, manager of the National Roman Legion Museum said:

"We thought 2012 was the perfect time to put on an exhibition about the Ancient Games here at the National Roman Legion Museum.

"The Ancient Games began many years ago but we're still celebrating them today as we can see from this year's sporting events. They're a fantastic opportunity for children to come and test their athleticism in our Easter weekend ancient games challenges."

The Ancient Games were started by King Iphastos of Elis after the Oracle at Delphi told him that by holding games in honour of Zeus the terrible plague that tormented his kingdom would disappear... which it did.

The Ancient Games took place in Olympia for 1,000 years, and when Rome conquered Greece the games continued until 394 AD. The first modern games took place in Athens in 1896 thanks to the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin who believed they would help promote peace.

As well as including artefacts used in the games such as a helmet and coins, the new exhibition The Games of Zeus features information on the Ancient Games and Rome's interest in them.

Visitors to the exhibition can also use 21st century technology to find out more about the artefacts on display using Bluetooth on a mobile phone.

Find out more about the games and other events taking place in museums across Wales this weekend on the Amgueddfa Cymru website.

Strikes and riots at the National Wool Museum

2012-03-05T15:10:00+00:00

A new exhibition at the National Wool Museum called Strikes and Riots, offers an in-depth look into troubled times throughout Wales' industrial history.

The free exhibition, which runs from Tuesday 6 March until 29 June, highlights five strikes and riots relating to work and employment in Wales over a 200-year period.

Troops camped near Llanelli during the Railway Strike, 1911 (Image from Cardiff Central Library)

Ann Whittall, manager of the National Wool Museum in Dre-fach Felindre in the Teifi Valley, said: "This important exhibition is thought provoking and reminds us of the social aspect of our industrial heritage. It adds another dimension to the museum's permanent social history corner."

The exhibition is set up to provoke debate among visitors by asking some uncomfortable questions: What drives workers to down tools and strike? Are bosses always wrong and unions always right, or does the mob always cause trouble?

The events featured in the exhibition include the Merthyr Rising (19th century), Rebecca Riots (19th century), Tonypandy strikes and riots (early 20th century), Llanelli Railway strikes and riots (early 20th century), and Caia Parc Wrexham riots (early 21st century).

The exhibition also coincides with the anniversary of the burning of the toll gate in Dre-fach Felindre which took place on 14 June 1843.

Find out more about the exhibition and opening times on the National Wool Museum website.

Roman treasure's new home at Winding House museum

2011-12-05T14:20:28+00:00

A 2,000 year old Roman ring found by a man with a metal detector on Cefn Brithdir in the Darran Valley earlier this year has been returned by the British Museum for display in a valley's museum.

According to an article on the ��̳ Wales News website, the British Museum has given the ring to the Winding House museum at New Tredegar to be put on permanent display.

The silver Roman ring was found earlier this year (Photos: Winding House museum)

The gemstone is missing from the ring

Speaking about the new exhibit, Emma Wilson, principal museums and heritage officer for Caerphilly, said they were "immensely pleased" to put it on display. "We're a relatively new museum having only been open for three years," she said.

Ms Wilson praised the finder for alerting the authorities to his discovery. "He went through all the correct legal channels, realising it might be treasure trove.

The ring, from the first or second century AD, was initially passed to the National Museum in Cardiff where it was identified it as a typical Roman silver finger ring.

It was then placed in the care of the British Museum, whose officials offered it to the Winding House, a former colliery building, as the relevant local museum.

Read more about this story on the ��̳ Wales News website, or find out more about the Romans on Wales on ��̳ Wales History.

Historic photography collections set to be digitised

2011-07-20T14:56:03+00:00

A new project to curate and digitise historic photography from National Museum Wales collections has been made possible with the support of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. The Foundation, which is marking its 50th Birthday this year, has made the ambitious project possible by gifting £600,000.

Calvert Richard Jones, Canal, Brecon, c. 1845

Natural Images - Amgueddfa Cymru's new initiative, which begins in Autumn 2011, will involve transferring around 500,000 photographs and historic items into accessible digital formats.

Currently items from the museum's photography collection are spread across several disciplines including geology and botany, social and industrial history and more recently, art.

The museums host works by a wide range of photographers, including Welsh pioneer of photography such as John Dillwyn Llewelyn.

"Remember, Remember the 5th of November" by John Dillwyn Llewelyn.

There are 1,500 images and objects associated with Dillwyn Llewelyn which includes original prints from the 1850s and examples of his pioneering work. The above image is perhaps the earliest surviving photograph in Wales of a Guy Fawkes bonfire (c.1853).

The museum hosts a collection of photograph albums and books on photography. It not only owns a first edition of The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot - one of the first books to describe photography, but also images by the Calvert Richard Jones, who developed his own technique for taking panoramic photographs and accompanied Fox Talbot when he toured Britain whilst working on the book.

"How charming it would be if it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durable and remain fixed upon the paper! And why should it not be possible? I ask myself." (The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot)

The museum hopes that Natural Images will take Fox Talbot's vision a step further through transforming photographs from the collection, from glass and celluloid to digital file, and from negative to paper facsimiles and the screen.

Michael Tooby, Director of Learning, Programmes and Development, Amgueddfa Cymru said: "We are extremely grateful to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for its generous gift, which will drive this important and much needed programme for Amgueddfa Cymru, the people of Wales and those further afield.

"We hope the newly interpreted collection will inspire new and established photographers."

Michael Tooby and archivist Lowri Jenkins

Keep up to date with the latest news from National Museum Wales on their website.

The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation was established in 1961 by Ian Fairbairn as a memorial to his wife Esmée. Today it is one of the largest independent grant-making foundations in the UK. Find out more on their website.

Cwmbran manor house to open as heritage centre

2011-07-14T08:50:37+00:00

Llanyrafon Manor, a 17th century grade II-listed manor house in Cwmbran, is set to become a bustling town centre tourist attraction celebrating the history of the local area.

The manor was damaged by fire and fell into disrepair in the 1970s, but was saved and run as a farming museum in the 1980s. After the museum closed, local residents campaigned to save the site from development, eventually resulting in the current restoration initiative.

The manor is one of only a handful of historic buildings that can be found in the town centre of Cwmbran, which was transformed by development after World War Two to provide new employment opportunities in the area.

Torfaen council leader Bob Wellington, speaking about the development of the building said: "Our plans for Llanyrafon Manor will encourage even more people to visit this wonderful part of Torfaen and to see for themselves how important our rural communities are."

The cost will be met by Torfaen County Borough council, Cadw, the Welsh Government and the European Union.

Read more about the plans for Llanyrafon Manor on ��̳ Wales News website.

Cardiff's history brought to life in new museum

2011-03-31T23:00:01+00:00

A new museum dedicated to the history of Cardiff officially opens today, Friday 1 April.

Told through a number of themes, The Cardiff Story will show how much the city has changed over the last 200 years.

Animal wall ©âThe Cardiff Story

The new museum is located on the site of the iconic Victorian Grade II listed Old Library in the centre of the city, and will be open seven days a week. Entry will be free.

The museum focuses on telling Cardiff's history through the eyes of those who made it - its people. The collection is made up of over 3,000 objects, the vast majority of which has been donated by the Cardiff public, and items range from a cutlass used by the Bute Docks police in the late 19th century to a jukebox from Clwb Ifor Bach.

The museum includes a permanent introductory gallery (Cardiff in Context), a fully interactive lifelong learning suite (City Lab), state of the art classrooms, a community showcase gallery and access to the Grade II listed historic tiled corridor.

Inside the museum. ©â The Cardiff Story

Docks ©â The Cardiff Story

City Lab ©â The Cardiff Story

Engelhardt Learning Suite ©â The Cardiff Story

Find out more about The Cardiff Story as well as information on opening times on The Cardiff Story's website.

Wrexham County Borough Museum reopens after £2m facelift

2011-02-15T12:02:28+00:00

The revamped Wrexham County Borough Museum and Archives officially threw open its doors once again yesterday.

The museum has just undergone a £2 million facelift, and over the past 12 months has been modernised to include a wealth of new attractions and interactive displays.

Wrexham County Borough Museum and Archives

You can see a slideshow of images from inside the newly-refurbished museum on the ��̳ North East News website.

Designed to engage and appeal to all the family, new exhibits include 'Smelly Old Wrexham' where visitors can follow their nose through the streets of the Victorian town and take in the aroma of the famous Wrexham Brewery.

The National Museum and National Library for Wales will also have a presence in the Wrexham building to exhibit collections.

Wrexham Mayor Jim Kelly was joined by Welsh historian John Davies for the official opening.

The funding came from Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales which contributed £950,000, CyMAL at the Welsh Assembly Government and Wrexham County Borough Council.

You can find visitor times and exhibition details on the Wrexham Borough Council website.

From Steep Hillsides: Ancient Rock Carvings from Dazu exhibition opens today

2011-01-26T09:43:05+00:00

Visitors to the National Museum Cardiff will from today have an opportunity to see a unique exhibition of ancient rock carvings from China - sculptures never before been seen outside China.

From Steep Hillsides: Ancient Rock Carvings from Dazu, China will be open from Wednesday 26 January to Sunday 3 April 2011, with free entry. National Museum Cardiff is the only venue for the exhibition before it returns to Dazu.

Sakyamuni Buddha, Xiaofowan(AD1174-1252). © Dazu Rock Carvings Museum, Chongqing, China

The steep hillsides of the Dazu World Heritage site near Chongqing contain an exceptional series of rock carvings dating from the middle of the seventh century and developed between the ninth and the 13th centuries.

Head of Sakyamuni Buddha (AD1127-1279). © Dazu Rock Carvings Museum, Chongqing, China

The carvings comprise 50,000 figures in total, and are remarkable for their aesthetic quality, their rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and the light that they shed on everyday life in China during this period.

It contains superb examples that have become detached from their original setting, along with accurate replicas of some of the most important sculptures still in situ and dramatic large-scale images, to give some idea of what it is like to visit these spectacular places.

Stone carving being delivered to the museum

Speaking about the carivings, David Anderson, director general of Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales Director said: "Dazu rock carvings are some of China's greatest cultural treasures from a golden period of Chinese art.

"Hosting their first appearance outside of China is a privilege not just for the Museum but for Wales. I am confident this will be a popular exhibition and hope this is the beginning of a successful relationship between us and the Chongqing Culture Bureau."

Stone carving being delivered into museum building

Li Fangyin, curator of Art Museum of Dazu Rock Carvings in Chongqing, commenting on the exhibition in Cardiff, said: "Wales is such a place that is steeped in history and cultures, and the rich historical and cultural deposits embedded with her are exactly why we choose National Museum Wales, Cardiff to host the first appearance of Dazu Rock Carvings Art outside of China.

"As a world cultural heritage, Dazu Rock Carvings should not only be taken as a treasure for local people of Dazu, but should also be recognized as a cultural property of the whole world, and both the artistic and historical value should be shared and appreciated by world people".

The museum has made a film about the exhibition that you can watch on YouTube.

You can also keep up to date with Dazu on Facebook and follow the National Museum Wales on Twitter.

Restoration of the Aberdare fire engine

2010-10-21T15:12:00+00:00

Wales History visited the Museum of Fire in September 2010. Based in Skewen, near Neath, this small museum, run by an enthusiastic group of volunteers had some exciting plans for expansion. Read the blog article.

One of the fire engines in the museum caught our eye, and it turned out to have quite a remarkable story. Today, on the 44th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, it seems appropriate to tell the story of this Merryweather fire engine.

Nearly five years ago the museum had been contact by a man in New Ross in Ireland who wondered if the Welsh Area Fire Engine Restoration Society (WAFERS) could give him some information on a rusting, dilapidated fire engine that he had bought. It was just minutes from being broken up when the man bought bought the vehicle.

The Merryweather fire engine was rescued from an Irish scrap yard moment before it was to be cut up

The fire engine turned out to be an important find for Wales. Malcolm Evans, secretary of WAFERS, explains why a Welsh fire engine ended up in an Irish scrap yard:

"A lot of these fire engines are bought after their days in the service for pumping water, and this one was on a quay in one of the docks in New Ross where it was actually used for pumping water into the ships. And then it sent to the scrap yard."

It didn't take the WAFERS volunteers long to realise the engine had been one of the emergency vehicles sent to attend the Aberfan tragedy. The engine, a Merryweather Regent 3 (Park Royal) model had been based in Aberdare and the five-man crew that had raced to the village was one of the first vehicles to attend the scene.

A couple of volunteers from WAFERS went out to Ireland to take the fire engine back to Wales. It was in a terrible condition and even just getting the engine out of the scrap yard was problematic.

Malcolm Evans recalls: "It was just in among trees and bushes and overgrown thorns of blackberries and trying to get in and have a look at it.

"Because the wheels were locked they had to force and pull it out as best they could from the bushes. I think it took them about four or five hours. When it arrived back we looked at it and naturally we could see the terrible state it was in, not knowing that it would then take us four years to rebuild it."

Restoring the fire engine took nearly five years

The restoration of the fire engine required enormous amount of work. All the electrics required replacing. The hard wood had rotted and the metal was rusted. View a slideshow of the restoration of the Aberdare fire engine.

Ray Evans, Chairman of WAFERS, was a fireman for 27 years in Port Talbot and Neath. Evans was also one of the many fireman who formed part of the rescue effort during the Aberfan tragedy.

"You get sort of feeling for different machines and because it did attend that incident you know you do have a special feeling for it. I suppose the boys who actually worked on that machine would be surprised to see it now in the condition that it is in."

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Victorian handkerchief donated to National Waterfront Museum

2010-10-19T12:04:54+00:00

The National Waterfront Museum at Swansea has been given a commemorative handkerchief from the 1893 Pontypridd Eisteddfod, which was found hidden in an abandoned house in Burma during World War Two.

Dewi Phillips found the handkerchief hidden inside a wall in Burma and brought it back to Wales

The remarkable souvenir was found by soldier, Dewi Phillips, and had remained in his house in Rhos near Swansea for decades.

Dewi Phillips died in 2000 at the age of 80, and the family had only just started going through the large number of souvenirs and mementos he had gathered when they found the Victorian handkerchief.

The handkerchief depicts the cremation in Llantrisant, near Cardiff, in 1893 of the radical activist, druid and surgeon Dr William Price.

Read more on this story on the ��̳ Wales News website.

Open Doors at the Winding House, New Tredegar

2010-09-22T12:03:54+00:00

If you are planning to be anywhere near New Tredegar on Saturday 25 September between 12 noon and 3pm, make a note to visit the Winding House museum, and catch their Victorian winding engine in action.

The Victorian winding engine was used to raise and lower the cages in the mine shaft at Elliot Colliery.

This museum is in a former colliery building that was originally part of the Elliot Colliery. At its peak the colliery employed around 2,800 people and produced over a million tons of coal every year.

Its Victorian winding engine was used to raise and lower the cages in the mine shaft, and these cages transported men and coal between the surface and the bottom of the pit.

On Saturday.the engine maintenance team will be on hand to answer any questions about the Victorian engine. Admission is free.

The museum also has exhibitions on the coal boom and how it changed the lives of the people of New Tredegar, as well as offering a wide range of activities, including historical talks and family fun days.

The Winding House is participating in the Open Doors initiative, which is the largest annual free celebration of architecture and heritage to be held in Wales.

Open Doors is organised by the Civic Trust for Wales on behalf of Cadw, the Welsh Assembly Government's historic environment service.

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Museum of Fire

2010-09-06T09:33:54+00:00

This week the Welsh Area Fire Engine Restoration Society (WAFERS) will hear if their funding application towards the creation of a new museum and educational centre in Ystalyfera dedicated to the history of the fire service is successful.

Currently the Museum of Fire, with its vast collection of fire service related artefacts, is hidden away in an industrial estate in Skewen, near Neath.

The musum can be found at Llonas Village Workshops in Skewen, Neath

The society formed back in 1994, evolved from what was originally a retirement past-time. Malcolm Evans, the secretary of WAFERS, explains how a hobby grew to become the museum.

"It all started with my colleague Ray Evans, actually bought an old fire engine to restore it," he says.

"I was interested in finding a fire engine for myself and I had seen through a magazine an old fire engine for sale in Oxford and I went to see it. I purchased that, brought it back to Neath and it took me two years to restore.

"The interest just grew from there because people were contacting us, and asking us would we bring the fire engines to shows, events, carnivals and we've actually just grown over the years that WAFERS has been formed."

Public enthusiasm for the museum has seen its collections swell. They have over 3,000 toy fire engines, a vast collection of uniforms, posters, helmets, axes, badges, countless bravery medals, ladders and water pumps but the undoubted stars of the collection - the pristine,fire appliances - which range from a horse-drawn steamer from the 1890s to a rare 1951 Bedford truck, of which only 26 were ever built.

The fire engines have been painstakingly restored to their original glory using original technical drawings so that every detail of the restoration is precise. Vehicle restorations can take up to two years as parts need to be sourced and the vehicles need to be roadworthy.

WAFERS has more than 150 supporters but it is the core team of volunteers of around a dozen people who are responsible for restoring the fire engines, maintaining the museum and taking the fire engines to fetes and carnivals and other public events.

Some of the volunteers are ex-members of the fire service, whilst others simply have a interest in the history of fire fighting. All have a contagious enthusiasm for all things related to the fire service.

John Kelly is one of the dedicated band of volunteers

WAFERS has been working closely with the Welsh Assembly Government and Neath Port Talbot County Council to develop the new museum and although members are excited about the prospect of new home for the museum in Ystalyfera, moving the collection to new premises will take roughly two years, as each item will need to be catalogued.

Malcolm Evans says: "WAFERS has grown to the extent that it is now time to move on. Once this new museum is up and running, I have no doubt that we will be offered new fire engines. There are a lot of fire engines in Wales that we know of that people would like to donate for restoration.

"We want to draw people into that area of Ystalyfera and to have a museum that people will want to come back to."

The current museum is open to visitors by prior appointment only on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 10am and 4pm, throughout the year. Visits can be arranged outside these times.

If you'd like to find out more about the museum or are interested in volunteering, please call 01639 635 761

Find out more about WAFERS on their website.

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