ABERTILLERY & DISTRICT MUSEUM SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER December 2006

Museum Refit   About half the Museum has now been partitioned off while work goes on with installing the new displays.  Health and safety regulations mean that access is restricted to those working in that area and so we are unable to allow any ‘behind the scenes’ tours.  However, we are sure you will be very pleased indeed with the finished result! 

Lecture Programme  Dave Cooksey came along to our November meeting to give us an update on the work of the Welsh Owl and Wildlife Sanctuary since its move a few years ago to a new home in Treowen.  Once again a few of the feathered residents of the Sanctuary gave us an impressive display. The Sanctuary has a particular focus on owls but takes in all species of wildlife (other than domestic pets), and has an impressive record not just of restoring birds and other animals back to health but also back to their natural habitat.  The Sanctuary relies on fund-raising and is always looking for volunteers.  If you would like to find out more their phone number is 01495 244417.  Website -  wowls@lineone.net

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.

100 Club  November

1^st         No.45   Mary Roden                  £25

2^nd        No.41   Len Adams                   £10

3^rd        No.65   Joan Richards               £5

We could do with some new members to the Numbers Club so please try to persuade family and friends to join. It’s in a good cause and a lot of fun.

January Newsletter – at the Museum or on-line.

 Fund raising November £700.

Contact Names

Mrs Peggy Bearcroft, Chairperson                  01495 213806
Mr Don Bearcroft, 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

Wednesday 6^th December 2006 – The Haunted Hills by John Rutter
Friday 26^th January 2007 – Annual Dinner (see below for details)
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

Annual Dinner –Friday 26^th January 2007 at Abertillery Sports Centre.  Roy Pickford is taking bookings now so please be sure to make your menu choices and reserve your seat. Our speaker will be Dr Madelaine Grey – a familiar figure guaranteed to give an entertaining after-dinner speech.

Christmas Bazaar – you did us proud this year and raised the grand total of £600.  Sincere thanks to all those who made, bought, sold and helped in one way or another.

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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

‘Mistletoe’ by Walter de la Mare

Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.

Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen - and kissed me there.

The Rise of the Phoenix

1999 was to be the “Annus Horribilis” for the Abertillery Amateur Dramatic and Musical Society. Ironically, during a survey of the Metropole Theatre, prior to using £140,000 from the Assembly to upgrade facilities, very serious structural faults came to light – the result of water egress caused by inefficient work on the metal exterior cladding. To say that the future looked bleak for this sole remaining Victorian Theatre in Wales would be no understatement. However, a “Save the Met” campaign by the Society was enthusiastically endorsed by the public at large and local Borough Councillors.  The Borough set about safeguarding the structure until such time as funding from the Welsh Assembly could be obtained – a tireless task that Councillor Nigel Daniels and his dedicated team took seven years of hard effort to achieve.  Refusing to take no for an answer their Multi Conference/Cultural Centre Plan gained a £1 ¼ million grant in 2005.

Monday 9^th October 2006 saw the Society being privileged to see a preview of the result of the re-structuring work. Their ecstatic reception of what they saw was to be mirrored by other cultural organisations on succeeding nights. The Architect Mr Simon Jennings      

 has ingeniously incorporated into the building some of the best Victorian features with the most modern innovations. The result is a building of which the Borough, but more particularly Abertillery, can be immensely proud. Together with the newly refurbished Museum and the proposed Square, Abertillery Town Centre will have the catalyst for regeneration it so richly deserves.
So, March 2007 will see the “wandering minstrels” of the Society back at their spiritual home once more. One of the oldest Operatic Groups in Wales (founded in 1916) the Society moved the venue for its erstwhile annual productions from the elegant Pavilion Theatre in 1962 to the Metropole at the behest of the Local Urban District Council, who had purchased the derelict building with the laudable aim of restoring it as the rightful centre for the Town’s cultural activities. It was an act of faith by the Society, since for their opening show-“The Pirates of Penzance”- there were no seats in the Theatre!
The problem was solved by the generosity of local Public Houses lending their chairs for the week. However, the Council had the Theatre seated by the time of the ground breaking production of “Oklahoma” in November (joint winners of the prestigious National Coal Board’s Operatic Society Competition).
A further 59 shows and Music Halls were to be performed before 1999.
But what of the “wilderness years”?  Determined not to fold, decisions were taken, firstly to produce shows at the old Sports Centre and secondly at the Beaufort Theatre. With regard to the former, the colossal effort  in transforming the Sports Centre into a Theatre involved work around the clock by members and friends. The Welsh Representative of the National Operatic and Dramatic Association, declared that he knew of no other Society in the land that could have achieved this feat.
But, despite ¬”all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” the society finds itself at the end of the storm in “golden light” and is ready to make an act of faith once again in our Town’s proud heritage.

Landmarks:
1916 1^st Production – ‘The Mikado’
1939 ‘Merry England’
1939-51 Mothballed
1951 Resurrection ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ at Llanhilleth Institurte
1952 ‘Miss Hook of Holland’ at Pavilion Cinema
1961 Last performance at Pavilion Cinema ‘Student Prince’
1962 1^st show at Metropole ‘The Pirates of Penzance’
1962 2^nd Show ‘Oklahoma’ – joint winners of South wales Coalfield award for Best Amateur Society
1999 ‘Calamity Jane’ – Calamity indeed! ‘Annus Horribilis’, ‘Save the Met Campaign’
2000-2002 Three productions at Sports Centre
2003-2006  Three productions at Beaufort Theatre
2007  HOME AT LAST! – ‘Anything Goes’ March

Trevor Cook

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ABERTILLERY & DISTRICT MUSEUM SOCIETY

 Get well soon – best wishes to Mary Coles for a speedy recovery from her foot injury.

Used Specs and Stamps – Jen Price is still collecting these so bring yours to one of the lectures or the Museum.  They go overseas to help those who would otherwise not have access to glasses.

Book Corner (all published November 2006)

“100 Cracking Jokes, the Best from the Valleys” by David Jandrell, price £3.95, published by Y Lolfa

“Portrait of the Severn: Photographing the River from the Mountains to the Sea” by Chris Morris, published by Tanners Yard Press, hardback price £17.99.
A photographic book celebrating the Severn, including insights into the cultural and historic references of the river which the Romans named for their god 'Sabrina' and which was exploited during the industrial revolution.

“Library of Wales: A Man’s Estate” by Emyr Humphreys, published by Parthian Books, paperback price £7.99

The sixth title in the landmark series of classics, the Library of Wales. A novel about Hannah Elis, a thirty-five year old woman who lives under the powerful hold of her stepfather in the family farm. She yearns for the return of her long-banished brother Philip, believing he will rescue her from the bleakness. However, his arrival heralds passions and upheaval in the community.

“Heart of a Dragon – VCs of the Welsh Regiments 1854-1902” by W Alister Williams, published by Bridge Books, hardback price £30.

A volume which traces the story of the Welsh soldiers who won Victoria Crosses for bravey during the period 1854-1902

“Weatherman Walks” by Derek Brockway, price £7.95, published by Y Lolfa. Twelve walks in Wales, grouped around the seasons.

…and for the youngsters

“The Telling Pool” by David Clement-Davies, published by Bloomsbury Publishing, hardback price £12.99

Rhodri Falcon, son of Owen master Falconer to a Norman lord on the border with Wales, has his fortune read at a fair. It foretells of war and sends Rhodri on a quest to unlock the sword of Excalibur. Suitable for readers aged 12+ years.

Seventy Years Ago - October saw the 70th anniversary of the marches to London by unemployed workers. The 1920s and 1930s were times of great hardship for a vast number of the working people of Britain. Recession in trade led to closure of mines and other heavy industries, throwing thousands out of work. Unemployment peaked at 66% in Abertillery Urban District, and 74% in Blaina, and there were demonstrations against the hated Means Test and cuts in Welfare Benefits. The National Unemployed Workers Movement grew, and one mass meeting held at Abertillery Park drew a crowd of 35,000. In 1934 there was nationwide anger over the Unemployment Insurance Bill passed by Parliament, which replaced Public Assistance Committees with Unemployment Assistance Boards.
In October 1936 a rally was held in Hyde Park, London, and 500 men marched from South Wales to meet contingents from other areas. These were called Hunger Marches but perhaps the best known was the Jarrow Crusade, from the North East of England. They insisted they were not campaigning for benefits, but for work to be provided, many having been thrown out of work in Jarrow when Palmers shipyard was closed, in th face of reduced demand. An American firm had hoped to build a modern steel works there, but failed due to fierce opposition from The Board of Trade, Iron and Steel Federation, and the banks. This left Jarrow with an unemployment figure of 80%. Many people were malnourished and so for the march, 200 of the fittest were chosen, and those without were fitted with boots. They covered 280 miles in 22 days, arriving in London in late October to present a petition of 11,000 names, pleading for the government to take urgent action to provide work to end the distress and misery caused by prolonged unemployment. They were accompanied on the March by four town councillors, and the local MP, Ellen Wilkinson, who addressed the rally in Hyde Park She served in minor government positions during World War 2, but became the first ever woman Minister of Education in the Attlee Government. She wrote the book ‘The Town That was Murdered’. When the marchers arrived home the District Assistance Board cut their benefits by 4s and 11s, because they had not been available for work during the period. It took the war to bring back full employment, and after it a Labour Government was elected in the hope that such terrible days would never return
Young people today will find it hard to imagine what poverty was like in those days, in the era of the Shoeless Children Fund, that provided boots to prevent children having to go barefoot. Men sometimes went miles on foot to collect wood and bits of coal to sustain house fires, while wives and mothers became proficient in spinning meals out of potatoes, margarine, dripping, scraps of meat, and cheap jam. Most houses had a single water-tap outside in the backyard, and unheated bedrooms saw frost on the inside of window panes. However, people did help each other, and it was not uncommon to lend mats, and other household possessions to make a home look better for occasions such as the birth of a baby, while outgrown clothes were always passed on.
Gordon Rowlands

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Museum matters.

Museum Matters.                       

Christmas as always is suddenly upon us, it always seems to come before we are ready, this year with all the work that has been and is being done in the museum it was doubly so. It started me thinking of the Christmas’s of the past.

 In 1991 when I first became curator the museum was under the library and to gain access we had to go into the library to get the key. After I had opened up I donned the Prussian helmet (the first of my Christmas hats) and went up into the library to wish them a Merry Christmas. Not long after this a new Head Librarian Ann Maund came to Abertillery. Ann gave me the key to the museum and also the connecting door to the library and a new relationship was formed between the museum society and the library which endures even now when we are in our new home. 

In 1996 when we had lost our home it was decided to hold a Christmas Fayre to raise funds for the new museum. It was held in the Arcade complete with a Santa’s Grotto, (courtesy of Pam and Harold Hopkins of Brynithel Builders Merchants) complete with his family and erected in SM. Ash’s doorway. The Fire Service attended bringing their Fire Engine, Fireman Sam and Welephant.

In 1997 a new Santa came (Lyn Gladwyn) and has been with us ever since.

In 1998 due to a policy change the Fire Service could not attend but we were allowed to borrow the outfits if we could get someone to wear them.

Ron Selway became Fireman Sam and because of my size and shape I was chosen to be Welephant. It was bitterly cold on the morning of the Fayre but as I was wearing the Welephant suit I was boiling hot. Not only that but I could not see and had to be led by Sam who took me into the centre of town and went away. After bumping into people, some of whom were not too happy about it, I found my way back to the Arcade.

As time progressed we were all getting older and it was decided to hold our Christmas Fayre indoors where it would be warmer. Thanks to the good offices of Ebenezer Church and Keith Dykes we were able to hold it there. This was our venue until the museum was opened and we were able to hold our fayre there. This year due to the work being done in the museum once again we were obliged to the Ebenezer Church for our venue.

asked me into the house which was clean but Spartanly furnished. Taking 5 shillings out of her purse she said “Merry Christmas”. This was a large amount of money in those days and I told her this is too much. “Take it son” her husband said, “and have a good Christmas.” I left with a lump in my throat and with brimming eyes.

This year when we were in Egypt on a Nile Cruse I became friendly with the Egyptian and Nubian crew who again were not very wealthy but have a marvellous sense of humour. On the night before we left Sayeed Hassan the Nubian Head Chef gave me a small present, saying “You come back again to Egypt” “Inshalla” I replied as this had become natural to say. 

These two stories illustrate the saying “it is better to give than to receive”. There are many ways of giving; those in our society who work in the museum and behind the scenes give up their precious time throughout the year to do so.

This is true of other organisations and churches; we have many dedicated hard working and talented people in our valley and our society. Our new museum design will be completed next year and this will be a testimony to all of them.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

to you all.

Don Bearcroft Curator.