: Casgliadau ac Ymchwil

Charles Horace Watkins Inventor Extraordinaire

Ian Smith, 5 Chwefror 2019

Charles designed, and built a monoplane around 1906, taught himself to fly and flew the plane between 1907 and 1910. Although no photographic evidence of this exists, the Charles Horace Watkins Monoplane Special, now better known as the ‘Robin Goch’ or ‘Red Robin’ has a strong claim to be the first aeroplane to fly in Wales.

Charles lived in Cardiff and his workshop can still be found a stone’s throw from Cardiff University. It was here he built the plane making use of everyday parts that he converted for his needs. For instance, a kitchen chair for the pilot’s seat; a brass domestic light switch on the dashboard; an egg timer as a navigation aid; a ball bearing in a cradle to tell if the plane was flying level and two weights dangling on string under the aircraft, one 20 feet long and one 10 feet long so he knew how far off the ground he was when landing!     

In 2010 I interviewed two brothers, Michael and Sean Gomez, whose family lived next door to Mr Watkins. The brothers, who were in their 70s, remembered Charles fondly and told me many tales of what it was like in the 1950s for two young boys growing up next door to the ‘great inventor’. Here is an extract of my conversation with them.

He always had time for us and he was always trying to do something new (he would have been in his late 60s at this time). We were fascinated going there, the projects he was working on seemed totally out of this world, and quite possibly one was! He showed us a mock-up of a flying saucer he’d built. When we asked him how it would fly he replied “It’s top secret!” We couldn’t tell if he meant it or whether he was working on a secret project as the saucer seemed to work on the same principle as a hovercraft with fans providing downward thrust and other fans along the sides for direction.

He was very interested in project ‘ZETA’ – obtaining energy from water (Zero Energy Thermonuclear Reactor). He had diagrams all over his walls and said he was being consulted on this and also the Concorde project.

He was always inventing something every time we met him. During the war he came up with an idea to deflect headlights of cars down to just in front of the vehicle. This was tested by South Wales Police on behalf of the MoD.

One thing that stands out about his workshop is that he had about thirty cuckoo clocks and Westminster chiming clocks. He would faithfully wind them up every day and when it came to the hour they all went off at slightly different times! You had this cacophony of sound!

He lived with his sister who was profoundly deaf so he came up with an idea whereby if the doorbell was pushed a beam of light went all the way to the end of the hall where it reflected off various mirrors until it reached the kitchen so his sister could see it!

He invented a machine from which he made most of his money. In those days spectacle frames were made of tortoiseshell and being relatively brittle, typically they would snap just behind the hinge. So, I remember in his middle room he had hundreds of cardboard boxes containing the arms of these glasses.

He’d invented some sort of ultra-sound machine. He’d put the two arms of the specs into this tiny machine and he’d bring the nozzle down on it. The machine had lots of coils of wires and all sorts of strange things and it hummed and buzzed. And ‘hey presto’ when it came out you couldn’t see where the join was – it was seamless. Of course ultrasonic welding is quite common now for welding plastics.

He had spectacles from opticians from all over the country and he made a tremendous amount of money from it. I remember seeing a pile of white five pound notes on his table just tied up with string. It seemed to me as a boy quite a lot, but in reality was probably only a couple of thousand (pounds) still a lot of money then though. He didn’t believe in banks! I don’t think he had a bank account, he kept all his money at home.

He also had a radio, that he built himself, which could receive American radio stations. This was quite something at that time. He took it apart one day and let me have a look at it and it had about fifteen valves!

He didn’t show the monoplane to anyone, although we nagged constantly to see it. Then one day he told us if we came round on Saturday we could see it. The amazing thing was that this man had a plane in his garage when most people didn’t have cars!

He had the prop hanging up on the wall and we asked him where he got it from because at that time you couldn’t just get one from anywhere? He told us he’d carved it himself out of a piece of sapele. When we asked how he knew the shape to make it he replied “Well one just knows these things you see”

We questioned him about how he learned to fly and he said “I just taught myself. I wasn’t worried about getting it up, but I was worried about getting it back down!”

From the conversations that I had with him, I developed the opinion that the plane really did fly. If it had not I think Mr Watkins would have been more evasive with his answers and he certainly wasn’t evasive in any way.

When we asked him what he was going to do with it he said that he’d like to leave it to the nation.

“I had an American sniffing around, said he wanted to buy it. Offered me several hundred pounds for it. I told him to bugger off!”

For me Charles represents a generation filled with explorers, scientists and inventors who were making new discoveries on a daily basis. They were at the birth of an age, of which we are still a part, when people have seen massive technological changes in their lives. I do wonder sometimes where we would be without people like Charles Horace Watkins, the great inventor!

The Robyn Goch is on permanent display at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. Visitors can crane their necks up at the undercarriage from the floor of the ‘Large Object’ Gallery. The monoplane is suspended from the ceiling giving the impression that it is flying. A more personal view can be seen from the balcony alongside the plane.

Having the plane fixed so high up presents the museum with a number of problems. It is impossible to clean properly for one and a layer of dust can soon build up. Also, for safety reasons, the steel cables and mountings must be checked for wear and tear to ensure that the Red Robin does not come crashing down.

The cablework must be checked every five years and this gives us the chance to thoroughly clean the wings and cockpit and generally spruce things up.

To do this a framework of scaffolding is built from the floor up to the ceiling to get easy access to all of the plane. The scaffolding itself is a complex work of art put together by a very skilled team.

Once the scaffolding is in place our conservation team can get to work.

Shells at the source of “Brought to the Surface”

Ben Rowson, 22 Ionawr 2019

Every river has its source, starting small then gathering pace. Our project on freshwater snails is doing just that as we tumble into 2019. “Codi i’r Wyneb – Brought to the Surface is a 2-year project to create a new guide to the freshwater snails of Britain and Ireland, supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. Where better to begin than with Amgueddfa Cymru’s world class Mollusca collections?

This month we are joined by three new faces: our Project Officer, Harry Powell, and volunteers Jelena Nefjodova and Mike Tynen. Harry studied biology and ecology at Plymouth University, and is a former volunteer here himself. Mike spent many years with the Cheshire Wildlife Trust and Jelena is a current student at Cardiff University. All four of us have gotten stuck in to the snail collections here, of which we’ll say more in a moment.

To date over 1000 other people, and several organisations, have already engaged with Brought to the Surface. Our travelling display was especially popular at Swansea Science Festival in November 2018, where many members of the public took the chance to get up close (up to 50X magnification!) with British and foreign freshwater snails on our stand. We also showcased specimens at two conferences at the Museum, Unknown Wales (Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales) and at the Wales Biodiversity Partnership.

These displays will evolve as the project does, but also on the way is a more permanent exhibit at the Museum, now in the design stages. This gives us an excuse to feature a photo by our partner Hannah Shaw, of the magnificent Llangloffan Fen near Fishguard, Pembrokeshire. We’ve been looking for a lush landscape, captured in summer, to make a good backdrop for the display. It’s also a reminder that, having passed the solstice, outdoor snail activities are not too far away.

Summer will also bring our series of “Snail Day” training and key testing events around Wales. Our partner Mike Dobson has been especially quick of the mark in helping draft a comprehensive key to try out with the public at these. We are fortunate in having such a range of snail specimens from the Museum to use in these activities, but it will also be fun for people to have a go at finding and identifying their own. After all, the ideal key is one that should allow a total beginner to identify the very first snail they find…

And so back to the collections, the foundation of this kind of biology and a unique asset of museums. Harry, Mike and Jelena have been helping review and curate what we already have, and others have kindly been sending specimens from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland for our project. Particular thanks to our partner Martin Willing from the Conchological Society, who is hot on the trail of Britain’s more obscure freshwater snail species. Our Twitter account @CardiffCurator will feature many of these over the next couple of years with the hashtag #FreshwaterSnailoftheFortnight. The photos, descriptions and DNA sequences from 150 years’ worth of snail study will all be the basis for our eventual Field Studies Council publication.

We’ll report again as more people, places and snails join us on our journey.

2019 - Y Cenhedloedd Unedig yn nodi blwyddyn ryngwladol yr elfennau cemegol

Tom Cotterell & Jennifer Protheroe-Jones, 14 Ionawr 2019

I gydnabod hyn, bydd Amgueddfa Cymru yn cynnal cyfres o flogiau misol, pob un yn trafod gwahanol elfen gemegol a’i harwyddocâd i Gymru. Cadwch lygad yn agored am y rhain trwy gydol y flwyddyn ar ein gwefan.

I ddechrau ein cyfres o flogiau, ym mis Ionawr rydym yn trafod arian.

Mae arian (symbol cemegol – Ag), rhif atomig 47, yn un o saith metel gwreiddiol alcemi a châi ei gynrychioli gan symbol y lleuad ar gynnydd. Mae arian yn fetel gwerthfawr ond ni fu erioed mor werthfawr ag aur.

Mae arian wedi chwarae rhan bwysig yn hanes Cymru ond nid yw hyn yn cael llawer o sylw. Yn rhan fwyaf gogleddol Ceredigion, ger pentref Goginan, mae nifer o hen fwyngloddiau a fu ymhlith cynhyrchwyr arian mwyaf toreithiog Ynysoedd Prydain. Mae bron yn sicr bod y Rhufeiniaid wedi darganfod y gwythiennau o fwynau llawn metelau yn y ddaear, ond y Frenhines Elisabeth I oedd yn gyfrifol am eu datblygu fel mwyngloddiau arian.

Dywed rhai mai Thomas Smythe, Prif Swyddog Tollau Porthladd Llundain a ddarganfu’r swm sylweddol cyntaf o arian ym mwynglawdd Cwmsymlog ym 1583. Mae’n llawer mwy tebygol mai Ulrich Frosse, peiriannydd mwyngloddio o’r Almaen a wnaeth y darganfyddiad a rhoi gwybod i Smythe. Roedd ganddo ef brofiad o gloddio am arian ac ymwelodd â’r mwynglawdd tua'r un pryd â Smythe. Yn ystod teyrnasiad Elisabeth I, amcangyfrifir bod pedair tunnell o arian wedi’i gloddio o fwyngloddiau Ceredigion.

Gwnaeth y Brenin J I a’r Brenin Siarl I elw sylweddol o’r mwyngloddiau (cynhyrchwyd 7 tunnell yn nheyrnasiad y naill a 100 tunnell yn nheyrnasiad y llall). Yn wir, ym 1638, penderfynodd Siarl I sefydlu bathdy yng Nghastell Aberystwyth gerllaw. Oherwydd ei lwyddiant, cafodd ei ddinistrio gan Oliver Cromwell a’r Seneddwyr yn ystod Rhyfel Cartref Lloegr ym 1646.

Mae gan Amgueddfa Cymru enghreifftiau o’r llu o ddarnau arian bath wedi’u gwneud o arian a fathwyd yn Aberystwyth. Un peth sy’n nodweddiadol ohonynt yw’r tair pluen ar y naill ochr a’r llall. Mae nod y llyfr bychan agored ar y darnau’n dangos mai Thomas Bushell a gafodd yr arian o fwyngloddiau Ceredigion a ran y Company of Mines Royal.

Mae'r mapiau a'r planiau a gynhyrchwyd i farchnata'r mwyngloddiau arian i fuddsoddwyr ymhlith y rhai cynharaf i'w cynhyrchu ym Mhrydain. Yn Llyfrgell Amgueddfa Cymru, mae sawl fersiwn o fapiau William Waller a gynhyrchwyd ar gyfer y Company of Mine Adventurers ym 1693 a 1704 ynghyd â Fodinae Regales Syr John Pettus a gyhoeddwyd ym 1670.

Cafodd un o’r mwyngloddiau, Bwlch yr Esgair Hir, ei frolio fel Potosi Cymru a defnyddiwyd peth o’r arian a gloddiwyd yno i wneud jwg ddŵr ac arni'r arysgrif ‘The Mines of Bwlch-yr-Eskir-hir’, tua 1692. Fodd bynnag, methiant oedd y mwynglawdd. Ni chynhyrchwyd cymaint o arian â’r disgwyl erioed ond problem ddaearegol oedd hyn yn hytrach na diffyg yn y dulliau cloddio. Efallai bod y safle’n fwyaf adnabyddus am ei ran mewn achos cyfreithiol yn erbyn rheolaeth y Goron dros fetelau gwerthfawr. Dygwyd yr achos gan y tirfeddiannwr Syr Carbery Pryse yn 1693 a rhoddodd derfyn ar ormes y Mines Royal.

Parhawyd i fwyngloddio arian mewn modd cynhyrchiol yng ngogledd Ceredigion, yn gyntaf o dan y Company of Mine Adventurers ac yna, trwy gydol y Chwyldro Diwydiannol, gan nifer o gwmnïau preifat. Cynhyrchwyd cyfanswm o dros 150 tunnell o fetel arian yn y rhan hon o Gymru.

Yn rhyfedd iawn, cymerodd tan y 1980au i ddaearegwyr adnabod y mwyn sy’n gyfrifol am fod cymaint o arian yr y rhan fechan hon o Gymru. Ei enw yw tetrahedrit – mwyn yn cynnwys copr, sinc, haearn ac antimoni sylffid – ac mae arian yn gallu cymryd lle peth o’r copr, y sinc a’r haearn sydd ynddo. Cofnodwyd bod hyd at 18%, yn ôl pwysau, o’r tetrahedrit o fwynglawdd Esgair Hir yn arian. Mae sbesimenau pwysig o fwynau a ddefnyddiwyd i adnabod y tetrahedrit yn cael eu cadw yn ein casgliadau daearegol yn yr Amgueddfa.

Nid oes metel arian naturiol yn weladwy yn yr un o fwyngloddiau Cymru ond mae rhai o’r enghreifftiau gorau yn y byd gan yr Amgueddfa yn ei chasgliad o fwynau. Mae’r sbesimenau, o fwynglawdd Kongsberg yn Norwy, o ansawdd eithriadol a chawsant eu caffael yn yr 1980au fel rhan o gasgliad R. J. King.

 

Angels of Wales

Jenny Walford, 10 Ionawr 2019

The National Waterfront Museum is one of the partners in the Angelshark Project, which aims to gather information, both current and historic, about this protected species, one of the rarest sharks in the world. Prior to a roadshow at the Museum on 15 and 16 February, Jake Davies, from the Zoological Society of London, shares his work.

Angels of Wales - How can you help?

Angel Shark Project: Wales is a pioneering new project with an aim to better understand and safeguard the Angelshark (Squatina squatina) in Wales through fisher-participation, heritage and citizen-science.

We are working with Amgueddfa Cymru and alongside fishers and coastal communities in Wales to better understand the Angelshark through gathering historic and current information about its life off the Welsh coast.

Angelsharks are large, flat-bodied sharks can reach 2.4m in length. Also known as monkfish or angel fish, they are sometimes mistaken for a ray or misrecorded as anglerfish. Angelsharks feed on a range of fish, crustaceans and molluscs and have an important role in maintaining a balanced marine ecosystem.

They are not threatening to humans, living mainly on sand or mud at the bottom of the sea, lying in wait to ambush unsuspecting prey.

Angelsharks are protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

It is illegal to intentionally disturb, target, injure or kill Angelsharks within 12 nautical miles of Welsh and English coastlines.

The four major areas of the Angelshark Project are:

  1. Understand status and ecology of Angelsharks in Wales
  2. Fishers are stewards of Angelshark conservation
  3. Communities help unlock Angelshark heritage to share across the generations.
  4. Develop Wales’s Angelshark Action Plan to identify key steps to secure their future

As part of the historical research, Angel Shark Project: Wales will be running the Angelshark History Roadshow from January to March 2019 in five of the project’s focal regions: North Anglesey, the Llŷn Peninsula, Porthmadog to Aberarth, Fishguard to Milford Haven and Swansea to Porthcawl (though we also welcome information from across Wales). The free events provide the opportunity to bring your memories, photos or stories of Angelsharks (or any other interesting shark, skate or ray species off the Welsh Coast) and see how they help build our understanding of Wales’s rich maritime landscape. The roadshows will also be a good opportunity to meet the team and find out more about the project. The roadshow dates are:

Date Venue Location
25 & 26 Jan Llŷn Maritime museum Nefyn
11 & 12 Feb Milford Heritage Museum Milford Haven
15 & 16 Feb National Waterfront Museum Swansea
1 & 2 Mar The National Library of Wales Aberystwyth
4 & 5 March Sea Cadets Holyhead

Following the roadshows, we will be recruiting and training citizen scientists to continue the historical research by scouring local libraries, archives, historic magazines and museums. Information captured through this research will be digitalised and displayed in collaboration with Peoples Collection Wales and provided to the next generation via a History of Angels iBook.

Those who are interested in being part of the project but unable to attend the roadshows and would like to share memories or photographs of Angelsharks can get in touch at angelsharks@zsl.org to help save one of the rarest sharks in the world. You can report personal sightings and accidental captures of Angelsharks to the sightings webpage http://angelsharknetwork.com/#map or email angelsharks@zsl.org.

Angel Shark Project: Wales is led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Welsh Government.

Angel Shark Project: Wales (PDF)

The advent doors are open

Katie Mortimer-Jones, 24 Rhagfyr 2018

 

Hope that you have been following our Natural Science #MuseumAdvent Calendar

Our curators and scientists in the Natural Science Department at National Museum Cardiff have been choosing their favourite objects from the collections, to place behind the doors of our very own museum advent calendar. As it is Christmas Eve, all of the doors are now open and we wanted to share with you all of the wonderful 24 objects chosen, and the staff who have helped created it. 

Why not have a look back through all of the doors and find out about these amazing objects and specimens within Amgueddfa Cymru collections.

Nadolig Llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda oddi wrth @CardiffCurator
 
Merry Christmas and a happy new year from @CardiffCurator