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NEWSLETTER April 2006
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Museum News We have recently had official confirmation from the Heritage Lottery Fund that all the necessary paperwork and procedures are in place. Work will now start on the Museum refit but it is to be organised with discrete areas of the Museum closed off thereby allowing the unaffected parts of the Museum to remain open. It was felt that this was preferable to completing the work in a shorter timescale but involving the prolonged closure of the Museum. Spring Trip This will be on Saturday 6th May when we will travel to Swansea to visit the brand new National Waterfront Museum and Swansea Museum. The coach fare will be £6.50 per person. There is a restaurant at the Museum, and other food places nearby, so finding somewhere for lunch will not present any difficulty. Put your names down as quickly as possible at the Museum or contact Roy on 01495 213377. 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. Details of coffee mornings etc available at the Museum Memberships were due for renewal on 1st January but with last month’s lecture having been snowed-off quite a few subscriptions are still outstanding. The annual fee has been kept to just £4 which is excellent value. Please pay our treasurer Bernard Jones at the lecture or send or drop off your subscription at the Museum Lecture Programme
Heavy snow meant that our March lecture
was cancelled but copies of the March Newsletter are available at the
Museum.
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Diary Dates Saturday 29th April 2006 – Coffee morning to launch new Poem Anthology Wednesday 3rd May 2006 - Ralph Robinson Memorial Lecture Lepcis Magna – The Roman City in the Sand - by Frank Olding Wednesday 11th June 2006 – Serving a Custodial Sentence by Roger Morgan The lectures are usually held at Abertillery Comprehensive School and start at 7.00pm. Entry is £1 and the public are most welcome. The lectures are usually held at Abertillery Comprehensive School and start at 7.00pm. Entry is £1 and the public are most welcome. March Numbers To be drawn at April lecture.
Contact Names “Steps in Time” is the title of the anthology of poems written by Museum Society member Gordon Rowlands to help raise funds for the Museum. The illustrated booklet will be on sale at £3.50 and is sure to delight the reader. The anthology is being launched at a coffee morning arranged for Saturday 29th April. Gordon will give a reading from the anthology so please come along and bring family and friends. Cakes also needed!
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| Grwyne
Fawr Reservoir Further to last
month’s entry in the Newsletter about Grwyne Fawr reservoir, if anyone is
interested in a more detailed account of the building of this reservoir, I
can thoroughly recommend a book called “Stone and Steam in the Black
Mountains” by David Tipper. It was first published in 1975 but a new
edition was published in 1985. It is edited by the well known Chris Barber
and illustrations and maps are by the celebrated Michael Blackmore. Many years ago the late Theo Carter recommended this book to me which I purchased and enjoyed. I subsequently lent the book to an unknown someone whom I have long forgotten. I tried to retrieve the book by asking all likely borrowers but to no avail. About 15 years ago I was talking about this book to Mr Gerwyn Griffiths (Museum Vice President) and my inability to replace it. Within a few weeks Mr Griffiths had located a copy for me. I have read this book several times since - it really is fascinating stuff. Try and get a copy, perhaps from the library. I won’t be lending my copy again, sorry. The Roving reporter Local Voices “Oui ou Non” In about 1964 the family wanted to go abroad for the first time. The only way we could afford it was to rent self catering accommodation and DRIVE there. Dad and Mam, Jennifer aged 16, Robert aged 9, and Richard aged 3 set off. Bert was the only driver and I was navigator. We went to Brittany and during our stay there, visited many interesting places amongst which was a place called Vannes where there was a museum ( we obviously liked museums even in those days). There was a room exhibiting war memorabilia and pictures of the Normandy landings, which particularly interested Bert. The curator came up to him and started talking and Bert just smiled and nodded. We were immediately ushered into his office. Out came the wine and a great fuss was made of Bert. When we left the museum Jennifer told us that the curator had asked Bert if he had taken part in the Normandy landings. Not understanding French Bert had nodded enthusiastically. He had never been in any war action as he was in an essential reserved industry….COAL MINING. Enid Dean
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Book Corner BRUNEL in South Wales; Vol 1 In Trevithic’s Tracks by Stephen K Jones This year sees the bi-centenary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the eminent Victorian engineer, who was responsible for the Great Western Railway between London and Bristol, the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the S.S. Great Britain and many other engineering achievements. A recent publication “Brunel in South Wales” by Stephen K. Jones brings to our attention the story of his work in South Wales which has been largely overlooked. Much of Brunel’s innovative work was pioneered in South Wales and Brunel the engineer is represented at each stage of his career. Many of his engineering landmarks still survive. This first of three volumes “In Trevithic’s Tracks” focuses on the design and structure of the Taff Vale Railway and his links with the early Iron Masters. It will be of interest to all railway historians and followers of Brunel’s career. The Industrial Development of the Ebbw Valleys, 1780-1914 by John Elliott This is the story of the towns and villages of the Ebbw Valleys, from Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr in the north through Newbridge and Risca, to Newport in the south, and their industrial development, for it was as a result of this industrial expansion that these towns and villages grew up. The coal, iron and steel industries of western Monmouthshire have played a major part in the evolution of modern Wales and the world beyond. John Elliott was born and spent his early life in Newbridge and his account of the early development of these towns and their industries is a fascinating one. The chapter on water and sewerage provision will be of particular interest to Abertillery residents as it outlines the discussions leading to the construction of the reservoir at Grwyne Fawr for the supply of water to the area which were instituted by the Abertillery U.D.C. This is an interesting and welcome addition to the literature of the industrial development of this valley. Jean Colwell
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“Gwent Historian”- this was the title of The Journal of Abertillery Museum Society in its early days and the following article featured in the April 1973 edition which was a special issue. Time Marches Back to the Chartists From his picture on the wall of the Abertillery Museum the famous Nantyglo ironmaster, Crawshay Bailey, will be able to look down on a Chartist Exhibition in which he will have more of a personal interest than any of us. It will be there for the month of April through the initiative of the Abertillery Urban District Council, and the Council of Welsh Museums and it will enable all of us to look back on the year 1839 when Crawshay Bailey’s workmen at Nantyglo and their comrades from the neighbouring valleys gave their support to the Chartists, whose leader in Gwent was John Frost, ex-mayor of Newport. What were the aims of the Chartists? They are displayed in the Exhibition and, from our point of view, in these more enlightened times, they were very modest demands. Yet they infuriated the defenders of wealth and privilege because their basic aim was to secure the right to vote – and to vote by secret ballot, without interference – for all adults, rich and poor. This was a monstrous demand from the point of view of people who believed that their wealth gave them the right to govern the country without consulting those whose lot it was to work for them in the factories and fields for as little as they could pay them without causing too much trouble. The story is told in detail in the Exhibition’s posters, pictures and extracts from newspapers, and it is an important chapter in the history of democracy in Great Britain, and a story to fill us with pride for many of its heroes were men from this valley of ours. www.cwmtillery.com Some of you will already be familiar with this excellent website carrying local news and other items of interest. Mr Les Harber who runs the site is to include our monthly Newsletter and so this is an opportunity to thank him as well as let people know where to find our Newsletter if you miss a lecture or are unable to call at the Museum. The excellent photograph and Grwyne Fawr article in last month’s Newsletter were both drawn from the cwmtillery.com website and so belated thanks to Mr Harber for allowing them to be reproduced. |
Newsletter reaches Herne Bay You will remember the story of Brian Abrahams who was evacuated to Six Bells during WW2 and billeted with Mr & Mrs Smart. A few days ago I received a phone call from Mrs Marjorie Taylor (nee Smart) of Herne Bay. She had been sent the Newsletter by her friend Mrs Pat Carter, a staunch supporter of the Museum. She was very interested to hear about Brian after so many years; she remembers a happy childhood with Brian as one of the family. I gave her Brian’s phone number and yesterday had another call from Mrs Taylor. She had been in touch with Brian and in the summer Brian and his wife were going to Herne Bay to visit Marjorie. They have a lot of catching up to do haven’t they? It was nice to reunite two people who had spent some of their childhood together during those momentous times. The Roving Reporter
Vice Presidents Jeremiah Stockdale was appointed the first Police Superintendant of Cardiff in 1836. He was allowed to advertise for four recruits but despite asking for applicants between 21 and 40, at least two were quite elderly. Stockdale was always flamboyant and impulsive and led by example. He was very much a ‘hands on’ policeman - quite literally from all accounts! His most famous arrest followed the Chartist demonstrations in Newport. Zephaniah Williams, one of the leaders, took refuge in the Sea Lock Hotel in Cardiff while he waited to board ‘The Vintage’, a Bristol trader which was to take him to France. Willams was smuggled out to the ship at night ready to leave on the morning tide but Stockdale was in pursuit. Stockdale was rowed out to the ship by his Constable and challenged the captain and handcuffed Williams before he was fully awake. It was fortunate for Stockdale that he landed his prisoner on the west side of the Glamorganshire Canal, rather than the more usual plank at the top of the lock gates as Williams later told his captor he had intended jumping in the canal, dragging Stockdale with him. Although later sentenced to be hanged, Williams and two colleagues were instead sent to a convict settlement in Australia. South Wales Police Museum | |
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