If you’re a regular visitor to our blog pages, you may have read about our work to improve the visitor experience for those who are blind or visually impaired. We’ve had training with Cardiff Institute for the Blind, worked with our Youth Forum to make our art galleries more accessible and even discovered a specially created exhibition from the 80s.

We were proud to host RNIB Cymru’s launch event introducing a series of Welsh-language Roald Dahl Talking Books. The RNIB’s Talking Books (neu Llyfrau Llafar yn Gymraeg) scheme offers a library of over 25,000 free audiobooks that helps create a lifeline to the outside world for people who are blind or partially sighted. The service’s 6,000 customers will now be able to listen to Dahl’s stories in Welsh for the first time.

At the launch, there were inspiring talks from RNIB staff, S4C announcer/Talking Books narrator Huw Charles and a long-time Talking Books subscriber who shared just how big a difference the service can make to people’s lives.

We were then treated to readings from The BFG and Jiraff, a'r Pelican a Fi by Melangell Dolma, a Welsh-language Talking Books narrator, who demonstrated how expressive and engaging Talking Books can be.

Following the event in the Main Hall, we ran brief audio description tours of our illustration exhibition, Quentin Blake: Inside Stories. The tours were designed to offer a taster of our audio description gallery tours, which are now on offer to the public. As the day was a celebration of Roald Dahl, we focused on Blake’s illustrations from two Roald Dahl stories.

First we explored artworks from The Twits, describing how Blake captures the mean and disgusting title characters using scratchy lines and drab watercolours.

To add a tactile element, we passed around several tools that Quentin Blake might use, including watercolour paint brushes, metallic dip pens and feather quills. The brave among the group were also given the opportunity to sample the scent of Mr Twit’s beard, a striking blend of sardines and Stilton cheese.

Finally we moved on to illustrations from Matilda, focusing in particular on Matilda’s tyrannical head teacher, Miss Trunchbull. The story is one of Roald Dahl’s most popular books and was a fitting end to the morning of Dahl-themed fun. The tour was then repeated for our Welsh-speaking visitors.

We were also lucky enough to welcome RNIB Connect Radio, who did a segment on the launch, including interviews with visitors and members of staff. The comments from CIB member and good friend (along with our number one canine visitor) Sian Healy showed how the tour made Quentin Blake’s work more accessible to people with visual impairments.

“Through the description that the guide gave us of what was in the picture,” she said. “I could piece it together and know what I was seeing. I got the feel of the whole energy of the painting. And that’s what Quentin Blake can give, that energy”.

Sian also said some very kind things about her role in helping us develop these tours, proving that, although we still have a lot to learn, we’re certainly on the right track.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being involved, getting to know the staff here, getting to know more about the Museum …It’s been lovely to have this sort of response from the Museum who have really embraced the idea of making the Museum accessible with these tours.”

Our audio description tours run once every other month. For more information and future dates, please call (029) 2057 3240.

The @CardiffCurator Twitter account tweets the latest news, research and events from the Natural Sciences Department at Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales. This can be anything from shells, insects, plants and fossils to minerals and birds. From specimens in our collections, to an insight of the research that happens every day just beyond the museum gallery walls. So what are our followers most interested in?

Here's a look back at the TOP TWEET and TOP MEDIA TWEET of each month during 2016 from the the account: TOP TWEETS 2016

Sometime at the beginning of the Bronze Age, about 2,250 to 2,000 BC, some people walked through the wetlands where Swansea Bay now lies. Perhaps they used one of the wooden trackways which had been laid across the wet ground, parts of which can still be seen when the tide is out.

They had with them a special object, a fine flint dagger, a piece of exquisite workmanship made by an expert craftsman. The dagger was part of a Europe-wide culture, and was perhaps an important part of their identity.

For some reason the precious object was dropped; perhaps by accident, but more likely left as a deliberate offering in shallow water in a place of special significance.

Rediscovery

The dagger remained submerged, first in the water, and then, as the environment changed, in peat beneath the sands of Swansea Bay, for four millennia. Then, in 1971, a student, Paul Tambling and his girlfriend, Angela, were walking across the bay and saw it sticking out of the sand.

They picked it up and took it home, and it became a treasured object once more, associated with happy memories and a unique symbol of their relationship.

Reporting

Early in 2016 Paul and Angela heard of a flint knapping demonstration being held at Cyfarthfa House Museum in Merthyr Tydfil and decided to take their dagger along to show an expert.

The flint knapper recognised the dagger’s significance and it was reported to Mark Lodwick, the Portable Antiquities Scheme finds co-ordinator at Amgueddfa Cymru.

The dagger was identified as a ‘Beaker Dagger’, more commonly found in south-eastern England, often accompanying high-status burials, with only four other examples known of in Wales.

The discovery was exciting, and Mark contacted Paul and Angela, who brought the dagger in for recording and told him their story.

Recreation

Ideally, an object of this importance would belong in a public collection in a museum, but it is understandable that Paul and Angela want to keep it, given its personal significance to them.

Happily, a solution has been found in the form of flint-knapper Karl Lee, who attended Swansea Museum’s Welsh Museums Festival event in October and made a replica for display in their galleries.

It will now become a part of Swansea Museum’s Lost Treasures of Swansea Bay project, which invites communities to respond to the deep history of the bay through the many archaeological items found there by members of the public.

Here at the Mary Gillham Archive Project hub we’ve recently begun ‘timehopping’ on social media.

This involves using Mary’s detailed writings to find out what she was doing on today’s date, so many years ago, and then posting it on Twitter and Facebook (i.e. “on this date, in this year, Mary was doing this…”). It’s an interesting way to learn about Mary’s life history and see the many activities that she got up to in her day-to-day life.

A recent and particularly intriguing timehop posted on 16^th October described how on that day in 1982, Mary witnessed the enormous humpback whale lying washed up on Gilestone beach at Aberthaw, near the Power Station.

This sparked the interest of many and after a twitter conversation with National Museum Cardiff it turns out that the bones of the whale are now on display at the museum, right here in Cardiff! This means that you can still visit this gigantic sea mammal today and see a part of Welsh history with your own eyes, just like Mary did.

Crowds on Aberthaw Beach

For those fortunate enough to be there in 1982 Aberthaw, the experience was an unforgettable one.

In her archive, Mary explains that it was almost “impossible to photograph the whale” due to the thousands of people congregating to get a glimpse.

The coastguard had tied the tail of the whale to a large iron post in the ground with ropes (to prevent the animal from washing back out to sea).

Mary describes how she got the chance to hold one of the whale’s gigantic flippers while Piers Langhalt, formerly of National Museum Cardiff, cut the large barnacles from the animal. These same barnacles can be found preserved at the museum, alongside the whale!

One volunteer on the Mary Gillham Archive Project, Julia Banks, recalls the “overpowering, rotting smell” of the beached whale that she witnessed as a young child. Julia visited the scene with her parents and remembers joining the masses of locals all gathering for the unusual sight, as well as seeing a group of people measuring the whale in order to figure out its age.

Julia also remembers visiting National Museum Cardiff when the skeleton was put up on display, and “feeling proud that [their] whale was in the museum”.

For more of the story and info on how the whale was managed by National Museum Cardiff, why not take a trip to the museum to see for yourself how it stands today?

The Mary Gillham Archive Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project at South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre. 
For more info about the project visit our website: https://marygillhamarchiveproject.com/the-project/

Helo Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Diolch am rannu eich sylwadau gyda'r data tywydd wythnos dwytha. Rwyf wedi atodi rhai yn isod. Mae llawer ohonoch yn ddweud bod y tywydd wedi oeri a bod 'na mwy o law. Mae rhai ohonoch chi hyd yn oed wedi cael eira! Dyma pam dwi am esbonio sut mae meteorolegwyr (gwyddonwyr tywydd) yn mesur eira. 

Mae mesur faint o law sy’n disgyn yn hawdd o’i gymharu â mesur faint o eira sy’n disgyn. Fydd eira ddim yn bihafio! Bydd yn aml yn cael ei chwythu gan y gwynt ac yn lluwchio, sy’n golygu bod yr eira’n ddwfn mewn mannau ond yn llawer llai dafliad carreg i ffwrdd. Oherwydd bod yr eira’n disgyn yn anghyson, bydd y mesuriadau o’r llefydd yma’n anghywir! Dyna pam mae’n rhaid mesur mewn mannau gwastad, agored ymhell o ble fydd eira’n lluwchio. Bydd eira hefyd yn chwarae gemau gyda’r Meteorolegwyr sy’n ceisio ei fesur – bydd yn toddi’n ddŵr, cyn rhewi fel iâ. Felly dyw’r eira sy’n cael ei fesur ddim bob tro yn cyfateb i faint o eira sydd wedi disgyn. Mae eira newydd yn disgyn ar ben hen eira hefyd, ac mae’n anodd dweud faint o eira sydd wedi disgyn o un diwrnod i’r llall. 

Mae’n rhaid i’r meteorolegwyr gofio holl driciau’r eira a meddwl am ffyrdd i ddarganfod faint o eira sydd wedi disgyn. Byddan nhw’n edrych ar gwymp eira (faint o eira sy’n disgyn mewn diwrnod) a dyfnder eira (cyfanswm dyfnder yr eira, hen a newydd). Un ffordd o fesur cwymp eira yw gyda ffon bren. Bydd y meteorolegwr yn gosod y pren mewn lleoliad agored lle na fydd eira’n lluwchio ac yn mesur yr eira bob chwech awr. Drwy glirio’r eira o’r pren ar ôl ei fesur, dim ond eira’r diwrnod hwnnw fydd yn cael ei fesur, a gall y gwyddonydd ddweud faint o eira sydd wedi cwympo ar y diwrnod hwnnw. 

Gallwn ni hefyd fesur eira wedi toddi ar ffurf dŵr. Gallwch chi felly ddefnyddio’ch mesurydd glaw i fesur cwymp eira. Os taw dim ond ychydig o eira sy’n cwympo, bydd yn toddi yn y mesurydd beth bynnag, ond os yw hi’n bwrw’n drwm, ewch â’r mesurydd i mewn ac aros iddo doddi’n ddŵr. Gallwch chi wedyn fesur y dŵr fel rydych chi wedi’i wneud bob wythnos, a’i gofnodi fel glawiad yn eich cofnodion tywydd. 

Os oes eira ar lawr a bod digon o amser i arbrofi, beth am fynd ati i fesur dyfnder yr eira? Y cyfan sydd ei angen arnoch chi yw pren mesur (neu pren eira os ydych chi am siarad fel gwyddonydd gwych!). Gwthiwch y pren i’r eira tan ei fod yn cyffwrdd y ddaear a chofnodi pa mor ddwfn yw’r ddaear fesul milimedr. Rhaid i chi fesur o arwyneb gwastad (fel mainc) mewn lle agored lle nad yw’r eira’n lluwchio. Rhaid i chi gofnodi o leiaf tri mesuriad i gyfrifo dyfnder cyfartalog yr eira lleol. Cyfrifwch y cyfartaledd drwy adio’r cofnodion gwahanol a’u rhannu gyda’r nifer o gofnodion. Os ydw i’n cofnodi tri dyfnder o 7cm, 9cm a 6cm, rhaid i fi adio pob rhif (7 + 9 + 6 = 22) cyn rhannu gyda 3 (22 / 3 = 7.33). Dyfnder cyfartalog yr eira felly yw 7.33cm. 

Mae gorsafoedd tywydd fel y Swyddfa Dywydd (MET Office) wedi troi at dechnoleg i ddyfeisio dulliau newydd o fesur dyfnder eira. Edrychwch ar y llun o un o orsafoedd eira’r Swyddfa Dywydd. Mae nhw’n defnyddio synwyryddion laser i fesur dyfnder yr eira ar yr arwyneb gwastad. Gall meteorolegwyr gasglu data o bob cwr o’r wlad wrth wasgu botwm – llawer haws a mwy dibynadwy nag anfon pobl allan i’r oerfel gyda phren eira! Mae pob un o orsafoedd eira’r Swyddfa Dywydd i’w gweld ar y map – oes un yn agos atoch chi? 

Os yw hi wedi bwrw eira, cofiwch fesur y cwymp gyda’r mesurydd glaw neu’r dyfnder gyda phren eira a nodi’r canlyniadau fel ‘Sylwadau’ wrth uwchlwytho eich cofnodion wythnosol. Bydd yn ddiddorol cymharu dyfnder yr eira â chwymp yr eira yn y mesurydd glaw! 

Daliwch ati Gyfeillion y Gwanwyn, 

Athro’r Ardd

Eich sylwadau:

Carnbroe Primary School: The weather in Carnbroe changed throughout the week. It started with beautiful crisp sunny days, snow on Wednesday and finally it rained and rained. Our plants were all well watered. Hooray!!

East Fulton Primary School: We had snow during Tues evening which is why rainfall reading is so high on Wed.

Auchenlodment Primary School: On Tuesday night it snowed so the rain gauge was filled with snow on Wednesday. We had to melt the snow so we could get a reading.

St. Charles Primary School: It was very icy this week and the water in the water gauge was frozen.

Ysgol Y Wern: Mae'r tywydd wedi oeri ond mae hi wedi bod yn heulog.

Arkholme CE Primary School: First really cold weather also got a bit of frost and one of the pots fell over. None of the bulbs have started to sprout yet though.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: Frosty mornings, bright blue skies we have experienced this week.  Heavy rain on Wednesday.

Henllys CIW Primary: We had a lot of rain on Wednesday and it was cold on Monday

Beulah School: very rainy Tuesday night !!!!!!!!!!

Trellech Primary School: It rained on Wednesday but not any other day of the week. It was fun measuring the rainfall.

St. Nicholas Primary School: We had a lot of rain on Tuesday night.

Barmston Village Primary School: The weather has been rainy this week.

Ysgol Glanyfferi: A wet week in Wales! Getting colder. Looking forward to seeing green shoots.

Broad Haven Primary School: It was very windy to start this week but with some sun. We had more rain and it was cold in the mornings.

Ysgol Rhys Prichard: A lot of rain on Wednesday. Really cold on Tuesday.

Darran Park Primary: The rainfall hasn't been very consistent. On the other hand the temperature has been very consistent has only varied by 1 or 2 degrees.

St. Charles Primary School: It was very icy this week and the water in the water gauge was frozen.

Garstang St. Thomas' CE Primary School: We were on half term this week but Mrs Bosson kept a record of the rainfall and temperature for us.

Professor Plant: Thank you Mrs Bosson!

Breckon Hill Primary School: We have measured the temperature and the rainfall in the location of the pots (front of the school) and in the flower beds (at the back of the school). We have noticed that it is slightly warmer at the front of the school as this area gets a little bit more sun.