Visitors to our I Spy….Nature pop-up museum at the Capitol Shopping center over the summer were given the opportunity to enter a drawing competition, using our museum specimens as inspiration for their artwork. Nine winners were chosen in three age groups, winning Natural History prizes from the museum shop. As part of the prize, all winners were offered the opportunity to have a special tour behind the scenes at the museum. Several of the prizewinners have already been to visit us and the rest will be visiting us over the next few weeks. All of the winning entries can be viewed here. 

Wel, mae'r wythnos wedi cyrraedd. Ar ôl misoedd o gynllunio a thrafod, yn hwyrach yr wythnos hon, bydd y #fflachamgueddfa yn cael ei wireddu. Er bod gennym eisoes rhai straeon yn barod i rannu fel rhan o'r #fflachamgueddfa a rhai gwrthrychau o’r amgueddfa i arddangos, fel Billy y Morlo, y gwir yw, nid oes gennym unrhyw syniad beth fydd ffurf derfynol yr amgueddfa hon gan ei fod yn llwyr ddibynnol ar bobl sy'n dod i Ganolfan y Mileniwm ar ddydd Iau a dydd Gwener (9 a 10 Hydref) gyda'u straeon a / neu wrthrychau sy'n ymwneud â, neu ‘n eu hatgoffa o Gaerdydd.

Dyma sut y bydd yn gweithio. Bydd y #fflachamgueddfa  yng nghyntedd Canolfan y Mileniwm, a bydd rhywun yno o 9:00-17:30 ar y ddau ddiwrnod. Gallwch naill ai roi gwrthrych a'i adael gyda ni, gyda disgrifiad ysgrifenedig neu sain ohono, neu gallwch gael eich llun wedi'i dynnu gyda'r gwrthrych. Os byddwch yn dewis gadael unrhyw beth gyda ni, bydd yn cael ei dychwelyd atoch ar ôl i’r #fflachamgueddfa ddod i ben! Fel arall, os oes gennych stori, gallwch naill ai ei hysgrifennu i lawr neu gael eich ffilmio yn adrodd yr hanes ni, a bydd yn cael ei ddangos fel rhan o'r #fflachamgueddfa.

Dal i fod gyda mi? Da iawn...

Bydd popeth yn wych os yw pobl yn troi fyny. Felly, dyma pam mae angen eich cymorth chi arnom. Wnewch chi os gwelwch yn dda ledaenu'r neges, drwy siarad am y prosiect gyda ffrindiau a theulu a’n helpu i hyrwyddo trwy gyfryngau cymdeithasol. Nid oes rhaid i wrthrychau fod yn rai gwerthfawr neu'n nodweddiadol o amgueddfa. Gall fod yn ddoniol, od, rhyfedd, difrifol, syfrdanol- yn wir, unrhyw beth dan haul cyn belled â bod ganddo stori ynglÅ·n â Chaerdydd. Gall olygu rhywbeth i chi yn bersonol neu gall fod yn rhan o'r stori sefydliad neu gwmni yng Nghaerdydd. Dyma eich cyfle i greu math gwahanol o amgueddfa.

Am ragor o wybodaeth, e-bostiwch heledd.fychan@amgueddfacymrmu.ac.uk neu @heleddfychan

The 13^th September 2014 was not your average day at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. There was childlike music playing, story-time in front of the caravan exhibition and a strange fellow walking around who seemed to have lost his famous Chocolate Factory. The Youth Forum was also there, collecting stories and memories of caravanning holidays from visitors to the Museum to feature alongside the main exhibit of the family caravan.

Roald Dahl day certainly attracted a lot of families to the Museum, and many of them were more than happy to share their own personal stories of caravanning. We even managed to film a few people, including one person who could only remember the bad weather – this is Wales after all! The weather was a constant theme in the recollections, but happily many people enjoyed caravanning and camping despite the rain. My favourite memory would have to be the person who towed a 2-berth caravan with their Harley-Davidson motorbike, although I wouldn’t want to be stuck behind them in traffic! People young and old were sharing their memories and stories of caravanning with their family and friends, showing that caravan holidays are still a popular choice for many people in the age of package holidays.

All in all it was a nice day for the children and families, and we were able to collect lots of memories to travel alongside the caravan when it moves to St Fagans National History Museum as a key display in one of the new galleries.

Daisy Binks Youth Forum Member       

Amongst the new collections we have received in September is this unusual miniature miner’s dial. This is a compass-like instrument used underground for the surveying of passages and seams. The engraved plate on the lid of the box of this example shows that it was presented to Mr. W. Meredith by the workmen of Tylecoch Colliery on Sept. 12th 1881. The manufacturer is unknown.

We have been donated two twist boxes this month. These twist boxes were used by miners to carry their chewing tobacco. They were not allowed to smoke underground due to the risk of explosions. The one on the left even contains some original tobacco! Both examples belonged to ancestors of the donor and were both used in south Wales collieries. Twist boxes are fairly common mining related objects. An excellent display can be seen in our galleries in the old pit head baths at Big Pit: National Mining Museum.

This photograph was donated along with the two twist boxes and is a souvenir of the stay in strike at Parc Colliery. The donor’s grandfather is one of the men in the photograph.

Finally the certificate below was issued by the Monmouthshire Education Authority to Abraham Evans in 1945.

Mark Etheridge

Curator: Industry & Transport

Follow us on Twitter - @IndustryACNMW

Last Saturday 20^th September we ran our annual Beachwatch event at Ogmore Beach in the Vale of Glamorgan. This was part of the national campaign run by the Marine Conservation Society encouraging communities to get out and about to care for their local shorelines. This is the 10^th year that museum staff have been organising a Great British Beach Clean at this beach.

In the morning families took part in workshops with museum curators finding out about different types of seaweeds and animals in the strandline and in rock pools. There were fossil hunts where people discovered lots of fossilised bivalve shells and sily lilies (crinoids) in the rocks. Families also helped create our ‘Beach Museum’ making Landart, inspired by the works of artists like Richard Long.

After lunch the serious work began, museum staff and families scoured a 150m stretch of beach near to the slipway searching for rubbish. Sadly this wasn’t a challenge, we collected over 35kg of litter in an hour!  Each piece of rubbish found was logged and all this data will be sent on to the Marine Conservation Society who will use it to find out where beach litter comes from and contribute to marine conservation. Over the last 10 years we have seen a change in the rubbish that we have collected on this beach. During initial cleans one of the greatest problems encountered were cotton bud sticks, however these have declined over the years. Sadly one of the greatest problems encountered this year was dog poo in plastic bags and hypodermic needles. Over 65 people took part in the day’s activities and we look forward to taking part in Beachwatch the same time next year.