ABERTILLERY & DISTRICT MUSEUM SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER January 2007

Museum News – 2006 was a milestone in the Museum’s history with work commencing on the redesign of the displays.  It was also the year when we received Full Registration from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council – that puts us up with ‘professional’ and national museums and is no mean feat for a community museum run by volunteers.  It says a great deal about the dedication of all those who give their time and energy to the Museum, and the support it receives from the community at large.  The list of supporters is a long one, but Don and Peggy Bearcroft must be singled out for their contribution and commitment over the years. We are all looking forward to the day when the refit is complete and we open up for business with a new set of displays, using material from the extensive collections held by the Museum.  We can promise that you will be impressed!  Taken together with the newly re-opened Cultural Centre/Theatre on the upper floors of the Metropole, Abertillery now has a community venue of which it can be justly proud.  More news in our full-size Newsletter next month.

Lecture Programme  - We used the new centre for our December lecture as the school was unavailable that evening (and some of us took the opportunity for a peek at the theatre which can only be described as stunning).  Our speaker was also very impressive – Mr John Rutter is an octogenarian but spoke eloquently, without notes, as he took us on a journey through Wales, illustrated by an excellent set of slides.  It was a reminder of how much there is to appreciate, in terms of beauty, history and folklore, here in our native Wales.

The new programme of lectures starts in February with a talk by Richie Rudd on Medals and Militaria.  You will also see from the diary that Frank Olding is once again running a series of daytime lectures at the Museum, this time on The Celts, starting on 5^th February. All are welcome – both the Museum lecture programme and Frank Olding’s talks are open to the public at large.

www.cwmtillery.com for local news and for the Newsletter and other Museum events.

100 Club  December
1^st         No.97   Jennifer Price                £25
2^nd        No.70   John Selway                  £10
3^rd        No.25   Hazel Robinson             £5

Museum opening times
The Museum is open to the public, free of charge:
Monday - Thurs 10am - 1pm     2pm - 4pm
Friday                 10am - 1pm
Saturday             10am - 1pm
Museum phone number 01495 211140. Visitors and volunteers are always welcome so please call in as often as you like.

Contact Names
Mrs Peggy Bearcroft,       Chairperson                   01495 213806
Mr DonBearcroft,       Curator                                   01495 213806 
Mr Ron Selway,         Vice Chairman                       01495 215775
Mr Trevor Cook Secretary- c/o Museum               01495 211140
Mrs Margaret Cook  Assistant Secretary
Mr Bernard Jones, Treasurer                                    01495 213185  
Mrs Enid Dean, Fund raising Secretary                  01495 212880 
Mrs M Gilson, Schools Liaison                                01495 212413    
Mrs M Selway, Programme Sec                                01495 211960
Mr Roy Pickford, Social Events Sec                        01495 213377
Mr Bernard Hill, Asst Curator                                   01495 212864 
Mrs Jen Price (Newsletter)                                         01633 482851

Diary Dates
Friday 26^th January 2007 – Annual Dinner
Monday 5^th February 2007 – The Celts, first in a series of 6 daytime lectures by Frank Olding, at the Museum. £3 per lecture or £15 for all 6 sessions. More details available at the Museum.
Wednesday 7^th February 2007 – Medals and Militaria by Richie Rudd
Wednesday 7^th March 2007 – J J Cordes Nail Manufacturer 1835-1961 by Malcolm Johnson

The lectures are will now be held in the Metropole and start at 7.00pm. Entry is £1 and the public are most welcome. Copies of the Newsletter and details of coffee mornings and other events can be found on the notice board at the Museum or the website opposite.

 Page 1

ABERTILLERY & DISTRICT MUSEUM SOCIETY

Vice Presidents
Mr Keith Dykes                         Mr Alan Hunt
Mrs Esme Heal                          Mr Glyn Saunders 
Mrs Kathleen Davies                 Rev. R Watson
Mrs Margaret Herbert               Prof.Gerwyn Griffiths       
Mr David Llewellyn               Mrs Carole Brooks           Mr Edward Meredith (dec'd) 
Mrs Jeanette Fulton                   Mr Arthur Lewis

(Annual Subscription £25)

Poet’s Corner

‘Skeletal’

Perhaps it’s a trick of memory
that makes them seem unreal,
Outlined in early morning light,
frames of wet blackened steel.

Supporting huge turning wheels,
that drove woven steel cable,
carrying men beneath ground,
Sometimes to dangers unavoidable.

Railway lines as an artist pens
into a black and white drawing,
Broken, lacking continuity,
lifeless, much detail missing.

Wet black slated roofs seemed white
when a bright sky was reflected,
Trucks filled with shiny black coal,
Black water in a river so neglected.

Discordant sound of metal clashing,
wheels groaning under load,
Shouts of men at work and play.
Hobnailed boots on street and road.

But I turn pages over to remember
coloured scenes childhood garnered,
All the things that pleased a youth,
in the town where I was nurtured.

Of surrounding hills so green,
Trees and flowers in wood and park,
Blue skies in summer hot and long,
Shops ablaze with light after dark.

Only commemorative plaques mark
where comradeship did flourish,
Before changing face of industry,
caused thousands of jobs to vanish.

                    Gordon Rowlands, Nov. 2005

The Elan Valley – a favorite destination for walks and picnics, and a certain place to see Red Kites although these are now becoming increasingly common in South Wales.  The reservoirs in the Elan and Claerwen Valleys are not dissimilar from the Grwyne Fawr Reservoir which serves Abertillery, in why they were needed in the first place and the effort which went into constructing these engineering marvels.  The reservoirs were built to serve Birmingham which, like Abertillery in the late 19^th century, was suffering from outbreaks of diseases such as typhoid and cholera.  A clean and reliable supply of drinking water for its fast growing population was a priority.  The Elan and Claerwen Valleys were ideal for this purpose being of the right shape, cut into the right sort of rock, lying an accessible distance from Birmingham and, of course, having a high rainfall – the valleys get around 70 inches per year (by comparison annual rainfall in Abertillery averages 55 to 60 inches).   

An Act of Parliament was passed to secure the catchment area, and construction commenced in 1893.  Birmingham gained its water supply but in the process over 100 people living in the valleys had to move, not always willingly, especially as only those who actually owned land were compensated for the loss of their land and buildings.

As at Grwyne Fawr a brand new village grew up to house those working on the reservoirs, and their families.  The village, built of wood, had a bath house (which men could use three times a week but women only once), two hospitals, church, shop, hall, library, canteen, pub and electric street lighting. The village was run on strict lines – men seeking work at the site had to be passed fit and then spend their first night at the ‘doss house’ being de-loused before they were allowed to move to the village.  Once there, the men (and only the men) were allowed to use the pub and a guard was employed to prevent liquor being illegally brought in.  A school was set up for the children but once they reached the age of 11 they had to leave as they were then expected to work.
The first three reservoirs opened in 1904; the last one opened in 1952 by which time, of course, the old village had long gone.  Water from the collection point at Foel Tower is fed by gravity to Birmingham, some 52 metres lower, over a distance of just over 80 miles.