As part of the Wales REACH project, we’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with a range of people across Wales. Among these is Ammah, a Wales REACH Community Curator. Discover what Ammah has been working on as part of the project.

When Hywel Squires, Senior Engagement Coordinator at Amgueddfa Cymru, selected me as a Community Curator for the REACH project, I knew it was a rare opportunity.

Helping develop an exhibition at St Fagans National Museum of History, one of the UK's most respected living museums, isn't something you take lightly. It's also an experience that stays with you.

Why this work matters to me

My work as a curator comes from a simple belief: objects help people find connections across cultures and communities. That belief is also shaping something I'm building closer to home: Earthen Acres CIC, a community interest company through which I'm working towards opening a nature museum in South Wales. Everything I learn here feeds into that vision.

What I focused on

My curatorial interests kept returning to four areas:

Objects with meaning
Everyday items can tell powerful stories. I wanted to help present artefacts in ways that show how they were used, valued and passed on by real people.

Craft and hands
Traditional skills deserve recognition, as do the people who keep them alive. I wanted visitors to appreciate the time, care and expertise behind the objects on display.

Visitor voice
Museums work best when people feel part of the conversation. I explored ways for visitors to share stories, contribute ideas and give feedback so their experiences become part of the wider story.

A lasting record
I was interested in how community voices can be recorded and preserved, becoming part of the museum's ongoing work rather than existing only for the duration of an exhibition.

The collection itself

I won't spoil what's coming, but getting access to the storehouses and seeing selected objects up close has been one of the highlights of my recent working life.

The harp collection at St Fagans stopped me in my tracks, and that was only a small glimpse of what is held across Amgueddfa Cymru's seven museums and five million objects.

Researching the histories of objects and seeing how knowledge is shared between different teams has been fascinating. Everyone I worked with was generous with their time, happy to answer questions, and keen to connect me with the right people. It's an approach to collaboration that I hope to carry into my own organisation.

Access and sustainability: small changes, real impact

Good museums keep listening to the people who use them. I suggested a number of practical changes, including reducing glare in some spaces, creating quieter zones, and providing waiting areas that still offer opportunities for engagement.

These are relatively modest adjustments, but they can make a significant difference to visitors' experiences.

Sustainability also featured in many conversations. Learning about how St Fagans manages its woodland and uses timber grown on site reinforced my view that museums can play an important role in demonstrating environmental responsibility through everyday practice.

How this team worked

The REACH exhibition team brought together people with different backgrounds, experiences and needs. Hywel worked hard to make sure everyone could contribute, making use of facilities already available at St Fagans, including quieter spaces, low-lit rooms, a prayer room, and flexibility in how people took part.

That thoughtful approach helped create an environment where people felt comfortable contributing their skills and ideas, and I think the exhibition is stronger because of it.

Looking ahead

This experience has given me a much clearer understanding of how museums operate. I've learned more about collections care, community engagement, sustainability and accessibility, and how these different areas connect with one another.

I joined the project as a community curator and leave it with a deeper appreciation of the people, knowledge and work that sit behind every exhibition.

If you'd like to get involved as a volunteer at Amgueddfa Cymru, please visit: Get Involved | Museum Wales or email: volunteering@museumwales.ac.uk.

Keep an eye out for others upcoming blogs, showcasing the amazing work that’s been happening across all our participating communities. 

Wales REACH is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is a partnership between thirteen organisations and is led by The Open University and Amgueddfa Cymru. It is funded with a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The current phase started in autumn 2024 and is scheduled to run until autumn 2026. 

“I remember Miners’ Fortnight when I was just a lad, I went to Barry Island and the weather always bad.”

Max Boyce ‘Ode to Barry Island’

Traditionally, the last week of July and the first week of August was known as ‘Miners’ Fortnight’. Between the 1940s and 1970s there was a mass exodus from the coalfields to the coast, especially the seaside towns of Barry and Porthcawl.

The miners had fought for holidays from the late 19^th century. Between 1888 and 1898, a day’s holiday was secured by the Welsh miners’ leader, William Abraham (known by his bardic name Mabon). Known as ‘St. Mabon’s Day’ this holiday every month was designed to give the coal miner a day away from their usual heavy labour.  On these days large Eisteddfodau were held in places such as Blaenafon, Risca, and the Rhondda. This holiday had to be given up following the bitter coal strike and lockout of 1898 when the owners forced the men to give the day up.  Following this set back,  miners had to take unpaid leave, in fact, in 1924, a Government Report stated that ‘in no case apart from officials and clerical staff, is any payment to be made for holidays either public or otherwise in the mining industry.

In the 1920s and 1930s, it was usual for miners’ families to camp out in places like the dunes in Porthcawl.  They used large ex-Army tents and transported furniture from their houses for the length of the school holidays.  The husbands worked during the week and travelled down to their families on the weekend.

In 1938 a Holiday with Pay Act was passed by the government which gave employees a statutory right to paid holidays.  By the 1940s, miners were entitled to two weeks paid holidays. This occurred the last week of July and the first week of August and coal mines and factories would halt production for two weeks, however many men volunteered for essential safety and maintenance work and received extra pay for their sacrifice.

The two major resorts in south Wales were Barry and Porthcawl , as well as Aberavon Beach and Tenby, although Tenby was regarded as more ‘middle class’. In north Wales, miners occupied places such as Prestatyn. Families flocked to occupy every caravan and guest house in these resorts – Porthcawl was known as ‘Hiyabutt Bay’ because of the number of miners there on holiday. In these places there were fairgrounds, boxing booths, a beach and, in Barry, there was the famous Butlins Holiday Camp. As well as beaches and activities these places were connected to the coal field towns and villages by the same rail network that usually carried coal down to the docks.

By the 1970s there were as many factory workers as miners on the beaches and the holidays later became known as ‘Factory Fortnight’.

By the late 1970s, many families, often entire streets, swapped the Welsh resorts for Spanish ones although Porthcawl and Barry still catered for ‘day trippers’ as well as the more traditional beach holidays.

Although I had given up on a fortnight in Porthcawl by the 1970s, I still found the paid two weeks useful. As with many others, weddings were arranged for the end of July so that the happy couple could enjoy a two week honeymoon.

Ceri Thompson

Curator

Big Pit: national Coal Museum

Photographs © David Hurn / Magnum Photos / Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales

Day 1

We had an introduction from Chloe and we also got lanyards that show we are on our placement here. We went to the quarry hospital to help out, making a video on how to get to the quarry so that more people are interested in coming to the area. Even though we didn't do that much today, it was a good ease into how the work environment is. We learnt that museums are very complicated behind the scenes and have a lot of jobs within them that make it up. It was very quiet and there weren't that many visitors in the quarry hospital so we are hoping the video makes people want to go. We realised there are a majority of English people going and visiting these places which is good that they want to learn about the history but surprisingly Welsh people themselves do not want to go and learn their own history. At the end of the day we looked at the beautiful view that the quarry hospital looks over and got to know each other, since we didn't know each other before today. 

Day 2

On day 2 we started off with an admin task where we learned more about using excel to maintain information and numbers. We used excel to type up the stats from old visits from e.e 1967. We learned that details like this can be useful in terms of patterns and what needs to be improved about the event or task. We also helped Lowri create an activity for young children which was very helpful to me as I learned that there is many jobs within one company that you would never expect for example we later helped Mari who works in the education department with Lowri to go down to storage, she works part time which was something I didn't know you could do when working as an adult but it was interesting and useful to know that there's always a job or opportunity that can suite everyone which would be great for when just starting of your career. We later had an opportunity to have a meeting with Amgueddfa Cymru about the importance of using both languages equally, which was very interesting because we learned that it really is helpful to be bilingual as it provides more job opportunities. 

Day 3

This was one of the most exciting days of the week, actually being able to go into the slate museum while closed. But at the start of the day we helped Lois by making a plan on how to get children and parents aware of the nature trail Amgueddfa Cymru has to offer. We brainstormed together until our early lunch break. Then we went down to the construction site to get protective gear so everyone was safe during the tour. We also had to take other safety precautions like wearing trousers and walking shoes. The tour was really fun and we both helped keep everyone together but it was extremely hot that day so it was really hard to focus. After the tour Chloe treated us both to ice cream, we both got cookie dough, and it was very lovely and helped with the heat. After we walked back up to the quarry and filmed a tiktok on the nature trail before having to leave. We learnt about preservation and how important and how much work goes into preserving museums and showed the careful work they have to do to get everything right to tell the story of the museum. 

Day 4

On day four we went to Castell Penrhyn. We had a walk around the castle however later learned more about the history of the castle and the history of the Penrhyn family which I we learned is a big part of having a museum or a historical land because although people love going to castell Penrhyn, most people see it as walking around a beautiful house instead of looking at the good and bad parts of the castles history, for instance the slavery in the 18th-19th century. We think its very important to the visitors to know what really went on instead of only seeing it as a house. We then watched a slate demo and then helped people complete a survey about the experience and their past visits of the museum in Llanberis which was very good to see how useful surveys can we when running a company because it allows the company to see the visitors opinions and thoughts about what they offer, it also helps to know what the company need to promote or do better. 

Day 5

Our last day here at Amgueddfa Cymru, we started the day by summarizing how the week has been and what we have done and learnt. We wrote this blog and will after create a blog on the importance of the slate history in Penrhyn castle. Afterwards we will make a few promotional social media videos before leaving early. This work experience has shown us a lot and helped us realise the importance and how museums work behind the scenes and given us skills like talking to new people, teamwork and helping others. And we weren't really shocked how museums work and is exactly how we pictured working at a museum was like. 

In celebration of National Meadows Day, we’re sharing the story of the Urban Meadow at National Museum Cardiff, which is 13 years old this year!

Meadows are habitats dominated by native grasses and flowers, traditionally managed by a single annual hay cut and grazed by animals during the autumn and winter. They are diverse habitats that support a wide range of plants, animals and fungi however, the amount of land managed in this way has significantly decreased. In Wales, meadows are an example of a priority habitat of principle importance as they are under threat from changes to management, climate change and invasive species.

The urban meadow beside National Museum Cardiff was created in 2013. This patch of grass has been transformed from an area once described as species poor to one full of different species of grass and native wildflowers. It provides a haven for wildlife, enhancing the biodiversity around our site and, within the city, it also helps to form a green corridor for nature, linking up other green spaces across Cardiff and beyond.

Early ransformation of the meadow

Early transformation of the meadow

The meadow is now a lovely example of neutral semi-improved grassland in the centre of Cardiff. Cowslips (Primula veris), daffodils (Narcissus) and cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) in spring are followed by familiar meadow species such as ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), clovers (Trifolium spp.), meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris) and knapweed (Centaurea) along with grasses such as sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), crested dog’s-tail (Cynosurus cristatus) and Yorkshire fog (Holcus lanatus). Last year we recorded, corky-fruited water-dropwort (Oenanthe pimpinelloides), a new species for the Urban Meadow, and one which is uncommon in Wales.

The Urban Meadow in Summer

Hoverfly on buttercup flower

All meadows need some annual maintenance to keep them in good condition and although we have followed the traditional regime of a single annual cut, as the years have gone by, we have seen some dominant grasses such as false oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius) start to establish.

In autumn 2024, we added yellow rattle seed (Rhinanthus minor) with the help of funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund GROW project. This annual plant is semi-parasitic and can play an important role in helping to keep a healthy balance between grass and wildflowers. As it grows, it takes nutrients from the roots of surrounding grasses, in turn weakening and reducing their dominance and allowing space for wildflower species to spread.

The common name comes from its yellow flowers, forming round seed pods in summer which rattle when the seeds are ripe! It is also known as “the Meadow Maker” owing to its reputation for increasing floral diversity.

Yellow rattle seedling in May 2025

Yellow rattle flower in June 2025

The native wildflowers found on the meadow provide an important source of pollen and nectar for insects and butterflies, but it is the variety of grasses and flowers together that ensure it provides food, shelter and habitat for many other species too! The leaves, stems and roots can be just as important.

In recent years we have recorded pollinators including hoverflies, bees – solitary, honey and bumble, wasps, butterflies, moths and beetles. We have also spotted spiders, grasshoppers, caterpillars, dragonflies, woodlice, slugs and snails… the list could go on!

A male swollen thighed beetle

They are good pollinators, visiting a variety of open faced flowers such as this ox-eye daisy.

Some recent records include Swollen thighed beetle (Oedemera nobilis), Cinnabar moth caterpillars (Tyria jacobaeae) which feed primarily on Ragwort leaves (Jacobaea vulgaris) and Essex Skipper Butterfly (Thymelicus lineola). Day flying moth visitors include Six spot burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae) and spotted on different occasions last year Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), which visits Wales from southern Europe in the summer.

Cinnabar moth caterpillars

Essex skipper butterfly

Six spot burnet moth

A number of different habitats have also been created to provide more opportunities for wildlife around the meadow.

It’s not just insects that visit the meadow, groups of Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) can often be seen wandering through searching for insects and one evening recently, a hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) was spotted beside the meadow.

Our Natural Science Curators have created resources to help you identify plants, animals, rocks and fossils on your doorstep. You can find them on our website: Spotter’s Guide | Museum Wales