Amgueddfeydd, Arddangosfeydd a Digwyddiadau

Ym Medi 2017 bydd Institiwt y Gweithwyr Oakdale yn dathlu ei gan-mlwyddiant. Wedi ei adeiladu yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, mi roedd unwaith yn ganolbwynt gymdeithasol bwysig i drigolion pentref Oakdale. Symudwyd yr adeilad i’r Amgueddfa yn 1989 ac i nodi penblwydd yr adeilad eleni, mae’r Amgueddfa wedi lawnsio prosiect #Oakdale100. Bwriad y prosiect yw ail-ddehongli’r adeilad a’i ddod yn fyw unwaith eto gyda lleisiau’r gymuned.

Fel rhan o’r gwaith paratoi, mae staff yr Amgueddfa wedi ail-ymweld ag archifau’r adeilad, gan dynnu ynghyd ffotograffau, cyfweliadau hanes llafar a gwrthrychau perthnasol. Dwi wedi bod yn edrych ar y casgliad ffotograffau yn benodol. Gyda chymorth yr Adran Ffotograffiaeth, rydym wedi digideiddio cannoedd o ddelweddau a oedd gynt ar gael ar ffurf negatifau yn unig. Mae’r ffotograffau hyn yn dangos ystod y digwyddiadau ar gweithgareddau a oedd yn cael eu cynnal yn y Stiwt – o ymweliad y Tywysog Albert yn 1920 i berfformiadau dramatig y 50au. Maen nhw hefyd yn dogfennu pensaerniaeth yr adaeilad a manylion yr ystafelloedd mewnol. Fy hoff lun i yw hwnnw o’r bachgen yn ei arddegau yn pori silffoedd y llyfrgell.

Yn ogystal â digideiddio’r deunydd sydd eisoes yng nghasgliad yr Amgueddfa, rydym hefyd wedi bod yn brysur yn ymgysylltu gyda’r gymuned yn Oakdale heddiw. Llynedd cynhaliwyd gweithdy galw-heibio yn y pentref i annog trigolion yr ardal i rannu storiau ac i sganio eu ffotograffau ar gyfer archif yr Amgueddfa a Casgliad y Werin.

Yn ddiweddar, rydym hefyd wedi agor tudalen Facebook ar gyfer y prosiect ac mae’r ymateb wedi bod yn anghygoel! Mae llu o bobl wedi cyfrannu eu hatgofion, gadael sylwadau a rhannu delweddau ar y dudalen. Yn ddi-os, mae Facebook yn adnodd gwych i ail-gysylltu gyda’r gymuned.

Os oes gennych unrhyw storiau neu ffotograffau sy’n gysylltiedig â Stiwt Oakdale, cysylltwch â ni. Byddem wrth ein boddau i weld unrhyw ffotograffau o bartion neu gigs yn y Stiwt yn ystod y 1960au-80au.

Rydym ni wrth ein bodd bod USA Today wedi nodi bod 'Mwydod! Y Da, y drwg ac yr hyll' yn un o'r 'arddangosfeydd gorau yn Ewrop y gaeaf hwn', felly dyma weld beth yw barn ein hymwelwyr am y sioe:

@wpduk #wpd 1st week in Wales. No school placement yet so went to @Museum_Cardiff. Loved the worm exhibition! pic.twitter.com/wFpo2kt7po

— Olwen Ringrose (@olwenringrose) November 17, 2016

@wpduk enjoyed the Wriggle exhibition today. Love an opportunity to dress up #wpd pic.twitter.com/XwM2wwkXLb

— Rhoss Adams (@therealrhoss) October 30, 2016

@Museum_Cardiff @wpduk we enjoyed learning about the worms in the wriggle exhibition #wpd pic.twitter.com/hdvz2pr27l

— Rhian Jenkins (@rhirog) November 17, 2016

Mae Mwydod! yn arddangosfa i bob aelod o'r teulu, a cewch ymweld â'r sioe am ddim yn Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd. Mae digon o gyfleoedd o wisgo lan, i archwilio a mwynhau - yn ogystal â gweld llwyth o fwydod rhyfeddol.

Mae croeso cynnes i chi ymweld â Mwydod - am ragor o wybodaeth, ewch i'n tudalen ddigwyddiadau. Fe welwn ni chi'n fuan!

Cyfle i ennill penwythnos i ddau yn Nhŷ Newydd!
 
Rydyn ni wedi bod yn helpu Llenyddiaeth Cymru i greu hwb twristiaeth newydd yng Nghymru. Fel rhan o deithiau llenyddol newydd, bydd ymwelwyr yn cael eu hannog i ddod i weld gwrthrychau perthnasol yn ein casgliadau. Mae’n portreadau o Dylan Thomas wastad yn boblogaidd!

Fel rhan o’r prosiect, mae Llenyddiaeth Cymru eisiau dysgu am y mathau o wyliau byr a theithiau rydych yn mynd arnynt - a beth sy'n bwysig i chi pan fyddwch yn cael gwyliau yn y DU. I gael cyfle i ennill penwythnos hunanddarpar arbennig i ddau berson am ddwy noson yn Nhŷ Newydd, cwblhewch holiadur byr.

Pob lwc!

The country craft of hedgelaying is being demonstrated at Fagans National History Museum during 2017. Hedgelaying creates a stronger, thicker barrier to keep animals within fields, and provides shelter and shade for them. This year it will be combined with opportunities to try out the craft and the museum provided its first hedge-laying training courses for the public.

Creating fields and hedges

From the sixteenth century onwards, vast areas of open land were enclosed and turned into fields for agricultural use. Hedges were planted to prevent sheep and cattle from straying, and to separate grassland from crops. Such hedges also provided shelter, a source of food such as berries, and habitat for wildlife and fauna. Hedges were also cheaper than building and maintaining dry-stone walls.

The craft of hedge laying

Hedges are maintained by laying. Once the trees had grown to a certain height, they were cut and laid horizontally to form a stock-proof barrier. The cut is not made through the branch in order to allow the tree to re-grow. What is created is effectively a living fence. The work is done during the less busy winter months when there is less foliage and the tree will re-grow.

Welsh hedging styles

Methods of laying hedges vary in different parts of Wales. Styles differ according to how the branches are positioned, the use of stakes, and whether binding is used. Hedging is often accompanied by building banks and digging ditches. The hedges being laid this year at St Fagans are in the stake and pleach style from Brecknockshire (Powys).

Stages in laying a hedge, stake and pleach style.

Photographs taken in Sennybridge and Cray, Brecknockshire, 1972-73.

Gareth Beech

Senior Curator: Rural Economy

Historic Properties Section

History and Archaeology Department

If you have read any of the recent blog posts about the Saving Treasures; Telling Stories Project, or the Lost Treasures of Swansea Bay Project and its various exciting activities, you will know that Saving Treasures works with metal detector groups and local museums in Wales to widen access to, and understanding of, the material heritage of Wales.

What is material heritage?

Material heritage is the physical remains of the past, the objects left behind by past societies. Often, these are brought to light by members of the public, mainly metal detectorists, who report their significant finds to their local Finds Liaison Officer in order that they can be recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database.

Taken together, these objects – especially when they are made available to the public in museum collections – help to build up a picture of how we used to live and who we used to be.

Why is it important?

The Saving Treasures; Telling Stories Project recognises that interaction with the history of your local area through the objects past communities left behind can be a powerful and enriching experience.

For those who are interested in the past, having access to the actual things that long-dead people used, wore and handled can bring us into contact with them much more directly than a history book ever could.

Every object has a story to tell

The discovery of a lost mourning ring or a hoard of Bronze Age axes tells us something about the people who used such objects and raises questions about how they came to be in the ground. Were they lost, discarded, or put there deliberately? And if so, why?

Thinking about these questions allows us to empathise with our forebears, understand something of their hopes, fears and concerns, and walk a little way in their shoes.