Local shops in the St.Fagans area are probably wondering why their stock of swedes have been running so low lately!  Before the pumpkin, made popular by the American love of the festival, we had the humble swede. Although smaller, with its gnarled appearance and hairy roots, it did the job well and was traditionally carved and used as a lantern just like a pumpkin today.

The flesh of a swede is harder than a pumpkin so a bit more effort had to be put into removing it. After a little experimentation, the kitchen utensil of choice turned out to be the apple corer.   A scary face could then be easily carved with a knife.

What to do with all that swede! Traditionally it would have been thrown into the cooking pot, but an alternative recipe comes from Poland.  A swede tastes like radish when eaten raw. Sliced very thinly, seasoned with salt and pepper then mixed with chopped spring onion, parsley and a drop of olive oil, it makes a very light and refreshing salad. A phrase I've never applied to a swede before!

A big thank you to our conservation volunteers who worked so hard to recreate our traditional Jack O’ Lanterns. 31 were made in all, so if you're coming along to our spooktacular Halloween festival this year, keep an eye out for them, they are likely to jump out and scare you at any time.

Happy Halloween everyone

Helo Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Mae'n bron diwrnod plannu! Ydych chi'n barod? Dyma rai adnoddau defnyddiol i'ch paratoi ar gyfer plannu eich bylbiau a gofalu amdanynt dros y misoedd nesaf! Mae'r rhain hefyd ar wefan Bylbiau'r Gwanwyn i Ysgolion: https://amgueddfa.cymru/bylbiau-gwanwyn/

Dylech ddarllen y dogfennau hyn:

• Llythyr oddi wrth Athro'r Ardd (cyflwyniad i'r prosiect)

• Mabwysiadu eich Bwlb (trosolwg o’r gofal fydd angen ar eich Bylbiau)

• Plannu eich bylbiau (canllawiau ar gyfer sicrhau arbrawf teg)

A chwblhewch y gweithgareddau hyn:

• Tystysgrif Mabwysiadu Bylbiau

• Creu Labelai Bylbiau

Mae'n bwysig eich bod yn darllen y rhain oherwydd maent yn cynnwys gwybodaeth bwysig! Er enghraifft, ydych chi'n gwybod pa mor ddwfn mae angen i chi blannu eich bylbiau? Neu sut i labelu fel mae’n glir lle mae'r Cennin Pedr a Chrocws wedi eu plannu?

Cofiwch dynnu lluniau o'ch diwrnod plannu i gystadlu yn y Gystadleuaeth Ffotograffydd Diwrnod Plannu!

Cadwch lygad ar dudalen Twitter Athro'r Ardd i weld lluniau o ysgolion eraill: https://twitter.com/professor_plant

Pob lwc! Gadewch i ni wybod sut mae'n mynd!

Athro'r Ardd a Bwlb Bychan

Mae e-lyfr newydd ‘Amser Golchi’ yn trafod golchi dillad yng Nghymru cyn dyfodiad y peiriant golchi. Mae wedi ei gynllunio ar gyfer plant, ac mae’n cynnwys gemau bach a deunydd archif er mwyn rhoi cyd-destun gweladwy i’r broses. Mae gan blant ysgol gyfle i ddod i’n hamgueddfeydd hefyd er mwyn profi sut beth oedd gwneud y ‘golch’ â llaw, fel oedd yn digwydd ymhell i mewn i’r 20fed ganrif.

Y Golch

Os ydych chi weithiau’n laru ar roi tomen o ddillad drwy’r golch a mynd trwy’r rigma-rôl o’u sychu, ddim ond iddynt gael eu gwisgo a glanio yn y fasged olchi unwaith eto, dychmygwch hynny i gyd heb beiriant!

Fel hwylusydd yn chwarae rhan Beti Bwt sydd yn gwneud y ‘Golch’ yn Sain Ffagan gyda grwpiau ysgol, ‘dwi’n dod ar draws sawl athro neu athrawes gydag atgof plentyn o’u neiniau yn golchi heb beiriant, neu o weld offer golchi o gwmpas y lle.

Mae’r e-lyfr hwn yn cyd-fynd gyda gweithdai golchi dillad yn Sain Ffagan, Amgueddfa Lechi Cymru, a Big Pit, Amgueddfa Lofaol Cymru.

Sut oedd mynd ati:

Cyn peiriannau golchi, roedd gwneud y golch yn broses hir a chaled. Yn y canol oesoedd gallai barau dyddiau, ac roedd yn weithgaredd a ddigwyddai bob mis neu ddau, yn dibynnu ar y cyflenwad o ddillad glân oedd ar gael. Roedd gallu byw heb olchi dillad yn symbol o statws gan ei fod yn golygu fod y tylwyth yn gyfoethocach gyda digon o ddillad wrth gefn.

Erbyn y 19eg ganrif, roedd teclynnau a nwyddau wedi datblygu a daeth y golch yn ddigwyddiad wythnosol, pob dydd Llun i fod mwy penodol. Roedd merched yn aml am y cyntaf i orffen y golch, ac yn ceisio ei gwblhau mewn diwrnod.

Er gwaetha’r teclynnau, roedd gwaith i’w wneud cyn hyd yn oed cychwyn ar y dillad. Doedd dim tapiau mewn llawer o dai ymhell i mewn i’r 20fed ganrif ac felly roedd rhaid ei nôl o ffynnon, afon neu dap cyfagos, cyn ei gynhesu dros y tan.

Yna roedd rhaid rhoi sebon neu soda, yn dibynnu os oedd lliw ar y dillad, yn syth arnynt a’u sgrwbio yn erbyn bwrdd sgrwbio. I’r twba doli â’r dillad wedyn, er mwyn defnyddio’r doli i’w rinsio. Ar ôl eu sychu ar y gwrychoedd neu’r lein, roedd angen eu startsio a’u smwddio gyda haearn wedi ei gynhesu yn y tan.

Y dillad olaf i gael eu golchi oedd y dillad gwaith. Mewn ardaloedd llechi neu lo, roedd y ffustion yn drwch o lwch. Gwrandewch ar y clip sain er mwyn clywed mwy am olchi dillad chwarelwr:

Gallwch lawr lwytho'r e-lyfr oddi ar iTunes trwy ein gwefan, ble gallwch ddod o hyd i fanylion er mwyn archebu lle ar gyfer grwpiau ysgol yn un o’n hamgueddfeydd a chael tro eich hun ar wneud y golch.

Hi, it’s me Mike, volunteer curator with The Wallich working on a new exhibition called ‘Who Decides: Making Connections with Contemporary Art’. The old exhibition that was in the gallery has come down, it’s totally empty now.

So we are going to start this new exhibition; with new art, photos and films that you won’t have seen before. You can see some of my favourite pieces. I really hope you enjoy this new exhibition.

 ‘Who Decides: Making Connections with Contemporary Art’ opens on October 26^th 2017. More information here and here

This year the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society is celebrating its 150th anniversary. You can read about the history of the Society, and its close links with the National Museum here and here.

Right from the outset the Society amassed its own Library focusing on natural history, geology, the physical sciences, and archaeology.

Many of the publications in the Library were received as exchanges with societies and institutions around the world. They would send out copies of their Transactions, and then receive copies of those organisations’ publications in return. Some of the institutions and societies they were exchanging with included; the Edinburgh Botanical Society; the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences; the South West Africa Scientific Society; the Polish Academy of Science; the Royal Society of Tasmania; the Sociedad Geographia de Lima; and the Kagoshima University in Japan.

A number of the publications in the Library were later bound by William Lewis, a bookseller and stationer based in Duke Street in Cardiff. They all have beautiful marbled covers, endpapers, and a matching marbling pattern on the edges of the text block. Each one also has a bookplate with an embossed image of the Society logo, they are incredibly beautiful examples of bookbinding.

Not all the items in the Library were received on exchange, a great many were also the result of donations, especially by members. A lovely example is a copy of a second edition of An illustrated manual of British birds by Howard Saunders from 1899. Many of the pages contain annotations relating to whether the previous owner had encountered that particular species in the local area, such as spotting the nest of a pair of mistle-thrushes in Penylan in 1900. Unfortunately the signature of ownership is somewhat illegible, so it’s not possible to make out their name, all that we can tell is that they lived in Richmond Road in 1900.

There is also a copy of Claudia and Pudens, a book by John Williams published in 1848. The book was presented to the Society by C. H. James Esq. of Merthyr, and in it is attached a letter to T. H. Thomas (a prominent member of the Society) dated 1892. The letter discusses Roman remains in Cardiff, and advises Thomas not to get drawn in to the ‘Claudia myth’, a popular theory suggesting a Claudia mentioned in the New Testament was a British princess. The author of the letter is quite scathing about the claims, calling them “a ridiculous fabrication”.

In 1996 a copy of Castell Coch by Robert Drane, a founding member of the Society was donated to the Library. It was published in 1857, and is now quite rare, as according to John Ward (former curator at the Cardiff Museum, and the National Museum), Drane subsequently destroyed as many copies of this book as possible! The copy donated to the Society contains annotations throughout, correcting or commenting on the contents, and a listing of all the people the author presented with copies.

In 1925 the Society decided to place its Library in the Museum Library, with the following stipulations;

•              To the ownership of the Society’s Library remaining with the Society

•              To all accessions to the Society’s Library being entered in the Society’s register

•              To all accessions to the Society’s Library being stamped with the Society’s stamp

•              That members of the Society may enjoy the same privileges as at present in the matter of the volumes and periodicals belonging to the Society

•              That this proposal does not refer to the “Transactions”, offprints, and other publications of the Society

Later in 1927 they decided to make it a permanent deposit, provided the Museum agreed to the additional stipulations;

●     That members of the Society may enjoy the same privileges as at present in the matter of the volumes and periodicals belonging to the Society, and which may be received in the future in exchange for publications of the Society

●     The Museum will bear the cost of all binding, which shall be undertaken as and when, in the opinion of the Museum Council finances permit. There shall be no differentiation, in this respect, between the Museum Library and the Society’s Library.

Although the Society’s Library had been in the care of the Museum Librarian since that time, the Honorary Librarian had always been a member of the Society. But, from 1964 the Honorary Librarian was both a member of the Society and a member of staff in the Museum Library.

List of Honorary Librarians

R.W. Atkinson          1892-1902

P. Rhys Griffiths       1902-1906

E.T.B. Reece             1907-1911

H.M. Hallett               1911-1948

H.N. Savory               1949-1962

G.T. Jefferson           1962-1964

E.H. Edwards            1964-1970

E.C. Bridgeman        1970-1976

W.J. Jones                1976-1985

J.R. Kenyon              1985-2013