Exhibition review by Museum's Youth Forum.

As youth forum members we were able to help input our opinions into the design of the temporary exhibition and have been able to see it develop from a drawing on paper to a physical form. Today we have examined the exhibition and have evaluated the information and items displayed.

Amgueddfa Cymru has been tasked with commemorating the WW1 centenary. Personally, we believe that the exhibition is very interesting as it gives an insight into the medicinal history starting from Ancient Greece right up to the 21st century. We enjoyed the exhibition overall. The video grabbed our attention the most and we were able to see a visual aspect of medicinal practice with a humorous touch.

The exhibition has a number of different displays which hold valuable information about medicine and the different tools used to carry out medical procedures such as amputations. It contains a silent video in both Welsh and English that shows a few medical procedures from the Roman times. There are some replicas of medical items in the display case that have been used such as a Face Mask used in World War One to disguise facial wounds. 

There is also a small game on an iPad that tests your knowledge of the information in the exhibition. This together with the video has proved to be a success with the general public. Some reviews say that they liked “the doctor video” and a young person enjoyed it when the doctor was “cutting the leg off”.

By Joel Powell, Emma Jones and Hannah Sweetapple.

It’s been another busy lambing season down at Llwyn yr Eos – we really hope you’ve enjoyed watching all the action via #lambcam.  This year, as well as welcoming lots of excited visitors to the farm to see our mums and babies, there’s been a couple of new additions to the programme. We ran our first ever Lambing Experience Day Courses and were really pleased to get great feedback that included 'a once in a lifetime experience'! They're something we hope to build on in 2017 - so watch this space!. Our Learning Team also organised lambing tours for schools, with over 600 children visiting (some of whom were lucky enough to witness births happening!).

The lamb-o-meter clocked up 186 at close of play – there’s a few stragglers left to deliver, but we’re on course for a total of 204 births. For those of you who like some stats, here goes…

• Lambing 204 from 114 ewes gives a lambing percentage of 178% (which is good).
• The vast majority of those are happy, healthy and with their mothers.
• But we’ve also lost a few along the way…
  • One set of twins were a late miscarriage.
  • One lamb too premature to survive.
  • 2 failed to thrive and died at a few days old.
  • 2 stillborn.
  • 1 accidentallly smothered by its mother.
• So far we have ended up with two lambs being bottle fed:
  • One was born very poorly and had to be hand reared from the start.
  • The other was from a set of twins where the mother had mastitis and only had enough milk for one lamb.
  • Both of them are bouncing around happily now.

• There’s also been a couple of bonuses – two ewes that we thought were carrying singles delivered twins!

So here’s a few of this year’s cutest pictures to keep you going till next year……

Yma yn y popty gallwn glywed yr ŵyn bach yn brefu yn y caeau wrth i ni weithio, yn dangos bod y gaeaf drosodd a’r gwanwyn ar ei ffordd o’r diwedd i Sain Ffagan. Ar ôl ein cot o baent a gwaith trwsio blynyddol, mae’n bryd tanio Idris unwaith eto – Idris y ddraig yw llysenw’r popty. Mae’n ddigon hoffus ond yn gallu bod ychydig yn anwadal weithiau!

Mae pobi Cymreig traddodiadol yn rhan allweddol o waith y becws, oedd yn wreiddiol yn fusnes teuluol yn Aberystwyth. Codwyd yr adeilad ym 1900 gan Evan Jenkins, ffermwr lleol, fel busnes ar gyfer ei ddwy ferch, Catherine Jane a Mary Elizabeth. Christine fy mam gafodd y fraint o ail-danio’r popty a phobi’r bara cyntaf ar ôl ailagor yr adeilad yn yr Amgueddfa ym 1987. Yn anffodus fe wnaeth hi’n gadael ni yr haf diwethaf, ond rydyn ni’n parhau i ddefnyddio’r ryseitiau y gweithiodd hithau a’r ymchwilydd Minwel Tibbott mor galed i’w casglu.

Dros y gaeaf rydw i a’r tîm wedi bod yn datblygu syniadau ar gyfer cynnyrch newydd. Mae gerddi’r amgueddfa o’n hamgylch ni yn llawn ffrwythau a llysiau sy’n ein hysbrydoli ni. Rhai o’r ffefrynnau hyd yn hyn yw’r bara riwbob, y deisen gellyg a siocled a’r Rholiau Sir Benfro.

Ond mae’r Pasg ar ein pennau ni’n barod a dyw rhai pethau byth yn newid – ar ddydd Gwener y Groglith byddwn ni’n croesi a rhoi sglein ar deisennau’r Groglith, gan flasu ambell un... i sicrhau safon wrth gwrs! Rydyn ni’n edrych ymlaen at groesawu ein cwsmeriaid yn ôl dros y misoedd nesaf. Mae arogl bara ffres yn rhoi rhyw deimlad cynnes i lawer o bobl, felly dilynwch eich trwyn i’r popty i ddweud helo.

This week marks the centenary of the St Fagans Red Cross VAD Hospital which opened in the grounds of St Fagans Castle on 22 March 1916. This blog looks at three examples of needlework made by serving soldiers from the collection, including a delicate piece of beadwork hand-crafted by a patient at the St Fagans auxiliary hospital.

Patchwork chest of drawers cover (1883)

Richard Evans from Llanbrynmair served with the Army in India. While stationed there in 1883, he supposedly made this striking patchwork chest of drawers cover as a present for his mother. The back is marked with a handwritten dedication in black ink: Rhodd i fy mam Sarah Evans 1883 (A gift for my mother Sarah Evans 1883).

The bold geometric design is stylistically very similar to other patchworks made by soldiers of this period. The Victoria & Albert Museum has a large bedcover in its collection attributed to Private Francis Brayley, whose regiment was based in India between 1864 and 1877. Both Richard Evans and Francis Brayley made their patchworks from thick woollen cloths, likely to be off-cuts or remnants of military uniforms.

Needlework was considered a very useful skill for soldiers to learn, not only to maintain and repair their kit, but also as a method of relaxation – a distraction from the temptations of alcohol and gambling. Textile crafts were also used as occupational therapy for injured soldiers, as depicted by the artist Thomas William Wood in his painting of Private Thomas Walker. Held by the Hunterian Museum, the painting shows the convalescing soldier stitching a patchwork quilt from his sick-bed.

Sweetheart pincushion (1914 - 1918)

Private Brinley Rhys Edmunds from Barry died of dysentery while imprisoned at Konigsbruck in September 1918. During the War, he made this heart-shaped pincushion for his mother – possibly at a military training camp or barracks. The centre of the pincushion features the insignia of the Welsh Regiment and the motto Gwell Angau na Chywilydd (Better Death than Dishonour). Known as ‘sweetheart’ pincushions, many thousands have survived in museums and family collections, although very little is known about their production and distribution. The uniformity of these pincushions suggests they were produced as craft kits for soldiers and civilians to assemble.

Beadwork butterfly (1918)

Corporal Walter Stinson, a painter from Battersea, was a patient at the St Fagans Red Cross Hospital in early 1918. While recuperating from injuries sustained in France, he made this intricate butterfly belt buckle from tiny glass beads. It seems that he and his fellow patients made and sold similar pieces in aid of the Evening Express Prisoners of War Fund. The following note was published in the Western Mail on 19 April 1918.

Yesterday’s total of £38 15s 6d sent to the Evening Express Prisoners of War Fund included… £10 from the patients at St Fagans Red Cross VAD Hospital (proceeds of bead work).

According to Walter Stinson’s descendants, the Prince of Wales bought one of his pieces at an exhibition in Cardiff. He was discharged from the Army on 3 December 1918 for being no longer physically fit for service.

To discover more about the use of textiles and needlework to commemorate, celebrate, mourn and heal during the First World War, take a look at Amgueddfa Cymru's online collections database. And as we continue to mark the centenary of the St Fagans Red Cross Hospital, follow the hashtags #Hospital100 #Ysbyty100 on Twitter.

We are 6 months old now and still going strong.  We have achived loads in that time, such as treating 130 objects and sorting out the support collection so we can use the objects on site.  We have also produced handcrafted soft furnishings to help improve interpretation in the houses, plus introduced traditional skills back into the historic buildings by using herbs to protect our textiles from pests and creating rag rugs to keep the dust down. Not to mention learning to spin the wool from our sheep.  Phew what a lot!

We are now well settled into our cottage at Llwyn yr eos farm at St. Fagans and even reinstated the open fireplace, which has been a welcome boost to the heating on colder days this winter.  Also it's good for toasting teacakes!

Yesterday we put our work on show during a one day seminar in Cardiff ' Small Changes Add Up' organised by the the Wales Council for Voluntary Action and the Museum. Here are some photos