No one fails to be impressed by the imposing stone building that is the Oakdale Institute.  It was built in 1917, with a loan from the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company and which the miners repaid over the following years.  There were no philanthropic Quaker businessmen, like Joseph Rowntree in York and George Cadbury in Bournville, to fund facilities for workers in South Wales.

As volunteers we explain the importance of the actual building but we wish it to be remembered as it was, a cultural centre for the mining community where they educated themselves and enjoyed social activities on a regular basis. We welcome visitors and over the past year have had people from many countries come in to the building from as far away as New Zealand and America.

We have had classes of school children with interesting questions and have endeavoured to bring the institute to life for them and, through stories and laughter, show them how the building was the centre of the community.

On the upper floor of the Institute is a large function room, with a sprung dance floor. One visitor we met used to live in Oakdale and recalled the room full and the floor shaking as he and his friends danced along to a live performance by Shakin’ Stevens - himself a Welshman, from Ely, Cardiff.  The function room also houses a pianola, usually an object of curiosity to visitors. However, one visitor recounted how his family used to own a pianola at home, when he was a child.  He and his brothers and sisters all contracted scarlet fever, a dangerous illness in the days before antibiotics.  Fortunately they all survived but his parents threw the pianola and all the music rolls onto a bonfire, in case they remained sources of infection!  The pianola can also be played, of course, as a piano and a visiting French student treated us to a Chopin étude.  On another occasion, as the pianola played a dance tune, a couple of visitors spontaneously waltzed around the floor.

Downstairs the miners originally used the reading room, in their precious off duty time, to read newspapers and play card games and dominoes.  Today there is a selection of games for children, instead, to play, although mums and dads not infrequently join in. Children wander in, with their parents telling them anxiously not to touch anything.  Their reaction when they are told to choose a game is always heartwarming.  We sometimes have opportunity to play the games with the children (they invariably win) and often have to explain the rules of forgotten board games to kids who are more familiar with Fortnite than draughts.  It is a two way process, however and some have taught us new card games, such as Trash, which was most entertaining.  The old fashioned games of snakes and ladders, Ludo, dominoes, draughts and magnetic fishing pool are still enjoyed, though.  It is great, in school holiday times, to see a table full of children engrossed in winning their chosen game.

We’re looking forward to an end to the terrible coronavirus illness which is plaguing the world at this time.  Oakdale survived Spanish Flu, to flourish again and we look forward to it being able to entertain visitors once again in the future.

Yn 2016 cefais alwad ffôn gan Nichola Thomas. Roedd ganddi fab, Rhys, a fyddai wrth ei fodd yn gwirfoddoli yn yr amgueddfa. Roedd yn ddwy ar bymtheg ac yn y coleg yn rhan-amser ac yn awtistig.

Fe benderfynon ni gwrdd â Rhys a Nichola i ddarganfod beth oedd ei ddiddordebau a sut y gallai helpu yn yr amgueddfa.

Roedd Rhys yn eithaf swil ar y dechrau ac ni ddywedodd lawer, ond cymerodd bopeth i mewn. Fe wnaethon ni gytuno ar gynllun fyddai’n gofyn iddo ddod am ddwy awr bob dydd Mercher o unarddeg o'r gloch tan un. Byddai Rhys yn fy helpu ar y bwrdd ‘trin gwrthrych’ a byddem yn annog ymwelwyr i ddal gwrthrychau o’r 1950au, 60au a’r 70au a siarad am eu hatgofion neu ddim ond dysgu am y gwrthrychau. Pethau fel ‘Green Shield Stamps’, cwponau sigaréts, hen eitemau trydanol a hen offer.

Nawr, nid oedd gan y mwyafrif o staff yr amgueddfa fawr o ddealltwriaeth o awtistiaeth, os o gwbl. Mae gan un ddynes, Suzanne, fab awtistig a gallai egluro pethau fel sut i gyfathrebu’n effeithiol â Rhys. Roeddem i gyd yn teimlo y dylem fod yn fwy gwybodus, felly cynigiwyd hyfforddiant ‘ymwybyddiaeth awtistiaeth’ i’r holl staff. Rwy'n credu bod pawb wedi cofrestru. Agorodd yr hyfforddiant ein llygaid i fyd awtistiaeth. Un pwynt enfawr a ddaeth allan o’r hyfforddiant oedd bod gan lawer o sefydliadau le ‘ymlacio’. Mae hyn ar gyfer unrhyw un sy'n teimlo'n bryderus neu dan straen neu sydd angen dianc o'r prysurdeb am dipyn. Fe wnaethon ni benderfynu bod angen rhywbeth fel hyn arnom yn yr amgueddfa.

Rhys Thomas, gwirfoddolwr Amgueddfa Genedlaethol y Glannau cerbyd trydan o gasgliad yr amgueddfa.

Erbyn hyn roedd Rhys wir wedi dechrau mwynhau ei amser yn y ‘gwaith’. Sylwodd pawb ar weddnewidiad go iawn wrth iddo ddod yn fwy allblyg a llai swil a dechrau sgyrsiau gyda dieithriaid llwyr yn rheolaidd. Gofynnom i Rhys ein helpu gyda dyluniad yr Ystafell Ymlacio. Roedd e’n wych - gan wneud argymhellion pwysig a hefyd bod yn llefarydd ar ein rhan am yr hyn yr oeddem yn ceisio'i gyflawni. Gwnaeth hyd yn oed nifer o ymddangosiadau ar sioe radio Wynne Evans. Daeth Rhys yn gymaint o ffefryn ar y sioe nes iddo wahodd Wynne i ddod i agor ein Hystafell Ymlacio yn swyddogol.

Erbyn hyn, mae Rhys yn mynychu coleg llawn amser, felly dim ond yn ystod y gwyliau y gall wirfoddoli yn yr amgueddfa. Rydyn ni bob amser wrth ein bodd yn ei weld ac mae wir yn ychwanegu rhywbeth arbennig at ein tîm. Mae ein Hystafell Ymlacio yn llwyddiant ysgubol ac yn cael ei defnyddio’n ddyddiol.

 

 

Ym mis Gorffennaf, cynhaliwyd y Grŵp Pontio’r Cenedlaethau cyntaf yn Big Pit. Nod y grŵp oedd dod â’r hen a’r ifanc ynghyd, chwalu’r rhwystrau rhwng cenedlaethau a chefnogi aelodau’r gymuned sy’n byw gyda dementia neu’n ei brofi.

Bob mis, mae thema wahanol ac mae pobl o bob oed yn dod at ei gilydd i rannu profiadau ac atgofion, weithiau i ddysgu rhywbeth newydd, ymweld â rhywle newydd neu am baned a chlonc.

Mae gennym nifer o wirfoddolwyr hen ac ifanc, gan gynnwys rhai sy’n byw gyda dementia.

Dyma Gavin a Kim. Mae Gavin yn berson iau sydd â dementia, ac yn ddiweddar mae wedi ymuno â ni fel gwirfoddolwr gweithredol ar gyfer y grŵp. Mae wedi arwain gweithgareddau celf hefyd.

O’r sesiynau cynnar, rydym wedi sylwi ar gynnydd sylweddol yn hyder pobl, a mae’r parodrwydd i rannu sgiliau, syniadau a gwybodaeth wedi tyfu o wythnos i wythnos. Mae cyfeillgarwch wedi datblygu ar draws y cenedlaethau, gyda phobl yn trefnu cymryd rhan mewn gweithgareddau cymdeithasol tu hwnt i sesiynau’r grŵp.

Os hoffech chi ymuno â’r grŵp fel gwirfoddolwr, neu os hoffech ragor o wybodaeth am y grŵp, cysylltwch â: gwirfoddoli@amgueddfacymru.ac.uk

Mewn partneriaeth â Chyngor Tref Blaenafon, gyda chymorth Hwb Ieuenctid Blaenafon a Western Power Distribution.

Dyma ddyfyniadau ac adborth gan aelodau a’u teuluoedd:

“[Mae Mam] wedi bod yn dweud wrtha i am y clwb, a dwi’n cael y teimlad ei bod wedi mwynhau ei phrynhawn yn fawr… roedd hi’n falch iawn o’i darluniau o’r pwll… mae hi wedi darlunio mwy yn y diwrnodau diwetha nag ers blynyddoedd! Mae hi wir yn hoffi cwrdd â phobl mae hi’n eu ’nabod am glonc”.

Adborth gan ferch i aelod Grŵp Pontio Cenedlaethau Blaenafon. Cafodd yr aelod strôc yn ddiweddar sydd wedi effeithio ar ei golwg felly mae hi wedi colli peth o’i hannibyniaeth.

“Dwi wastad yn mwynhau dod i’r grŵp. Rydych chi wastad yn gwneud i ni deimlo’n arbennig, ac mae cael bod gyda’r plant yn hyfryd. Maen nhw’n rhoi cip gwahanol i chi ar y byd. Gallwch chi deimlo’n unig yn y cartref, hyd yn oed pan mae llawer o bobl o’ch cwmpas. Alla i ddim diolch digon i chi gyd”.

Aelod rheolaidd o Grŵp Pontio Cenedlaethau Blaenafon, sy’n byw mewn cartref gofal.

News of a very special new fossil from north Wales was recently published in the scientific journal Royal Society Open Science.  I was lucky enough to be involved in the study of the fossil, which was led by Dr Stephen Pates of Harvard University and also included two Museum Honorary Research Fellows, Dr Joe Botting and Dr Lucy Muir.  Joe and Lucy found the fossil back in 2012, during fieldwork funded by the National Geographic Society, and donated it to the Museum along with other fascinating fossils from the same site, including various sponges and worms.  The fossil was not looked at in any detail until Stephen visited the Museum last year to research other fossils from our collections.  His experience told him that it looked like something unusual, so we decided to investigate further.  We studied it under the microscope and took detailed photographs, which were then compared with fossils from other places.  It turned out to be not only an animal previously unknown to science, but the first of its kind ever to be found in the UK, and probably the smallest known example of its kind.

The new fossil radiodont 'claw'.

Where is the fossil from?

The fossil was found in a block of rock collected from a stream section close to the Arenig Fawr mountain, near Bala in north Wales.  You can see a video of Joe collecting fossils at the site here.  It comes from the Dol-cy-Afon Formation, rocks that were laid down in the sea around 480 million years ago. What we think of as Wales today, was at that time part of a continent called Avalonia, which was located in the southern hemisphere.  The animal was fossilised inside a large burrow, along with remains of other small creatures.  We don't know if it was intentionally brought in by the burrow's owner (as a meal perhaps), or if its remains just happened to be present in mud that was pulled in during burrowing. 

 

What kind of fossil is it?

Reconstruction of Hurdia victoria, a close relative of the new Welsh radiodont from Canada.  White arrow points to the 'claws', equivalent to the Welsh fossil.  Credit: image adapted from original by Apokryltaros, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The fossil is tiny, less than 2mm long.  It looks a bit like a comb, with long, thin spines coming off a chunkier shaft.  It is actually only part of an animal, a 'claw' used by a creature called a radiodont for feeding with.  Radiodonts are relatives of modern-day arthropods such as crabs, insects, spiders and scorpions - segmented animals with hard skins.  They were unusual in lacking the jointed legs that their distant cousins scuttle around on.  Instead, they had a row of overlapping flaps along the sides of their segmented body, used for swimming rapidly through the ocean.  They had large eyes on the end of stalks, one of the features that equipped them to be the earliest known group of large predators to exist on Earth.  The new Welsh fossil represents one of a pair of large segmented, spiny claws, which these animals had at the front of their head for capturing food.

Radiodont means 'wheel spoke tooth', a name that reflects their circular mouth, which had a ring of hard, sharp-edged plates that looks a bit like a pineapple ring with razor-sharp teeth.  The most famous member of the group is Anomalocaris, first found in Canada's Burgess Shale and thought to have been top predator in the seas over 500 million years ago.  If Jaws had been made about the Cambrian Period when it lived, the film might have been called Claws and Anomalocaris would've been the reason not to go back in the water.  It is thought to have spied its prey using its large eyes, swooped down and grabbed it with its spiny claws, and then crushed it between the hard plates of its circular mouth.  

But while Anomalocaris was a giant for its time, one of the largest animals in existence 500 million years ago at up to half a metre in length, the new Welsh animal was tiny.  The whole creature is estimated to have been only around a centimetre long.  That makes it the smallest radiodont fossil ever found.  We can't tell if it was a fully-grown adult or not, because, as far as we know, juvenile radiodonts looked like their parents.

 

What did it look like and how did it feed?

Reconstruction of Aegirocassis benmoulai, the largest radiodont ever discovered.  It lived in Morocco at around the same time as its relative, the new Welsh radiodont.  White arrow points to the 'claws', equivalent to the Welsh fossil

Credit: image adapted from original by Nobu Tamura, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Not all radiodonts were predators like Anomalocaris. Features of their 'claws' provide evidence about how they likely lived.  Some had tiny secondary spines coming off the long main spines, creating a network of fine combs that they used for sifting food particles out of mud at the bottom of the sea, or for filtering them out of the water.  The Welsh fossil 'claw' has a small number of these secondary spines on it, and it may originally have had these along the full length of the main spines.  In any case, its main spines are very close together, which suggests that it was either using them as filters to trap small food particles, or was using them to actively pick up very small items of food. 

Although we have only found the fossilised 'claw' of this animal, the bodies of other known radiodonts are all fairly similar, so we can make a good educated guess as to what the rest of it probably looked like.  It is likely to have looked similar to one of its closest known relatives, Hurdia, which is known from North America and the Czech Republic.  The head was likely covered in a tough carapace with stalked eyes, a mouth underneath consisting of a circle of tooth plates, and the pair of claws attached in front of the mouth to capture and shovel in its food.  The segmented body likely narrowed backwards, and had an overlapping row of flaps along its sides for swimming, with gills along its back for breathing.  Almost all radiodonts, like the Welsh animal, would have been good swimmers, perhaps spending much of their time skimming along just above the sea bed in search of food.  Intriguingly, this tiny Welsh animal is a very similar age to the largest radiodont ever discovered, its relative Aegirocassis from Morocco, which reached two metres in length.  By 480 million years ago, radiodonts had clearly adapted to life at both ends of the size scale.

The radiodont shared its home with a huge variety of different sponges.  There were also various kinds of worms around, trilobites, shellfish including brachiopods and primitive molluscs, and primitive relatives of starfish.

 

What can I do if I find an unusual-looking fossil?

Reconstruction of Aegirocassis benmoulai, the largest radiodont ever discovered.  It lived in Morocco at around the same time as its relative, the new Welsh radiodont.  White arrow points to the 'claws', equivalent to the Welsh fossil

Credit: image adapted from original by Nobu Tamura, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

As this fossil shows, there are still lots of exciting new things to discover in Wales.  If you find something that looks interesting and you're not sure what it is, our Museum scientists would be happy to try to identify it for you, whether it's a fossil, rock, mineral, animal or plant.  Just send us a photo (with a coin or ruler included for scale) with details of where you found it.  You can contact us via our website or on Twitter: @CardiffCurator