You’re sure of a big surprise! Okay you are not likely to find a Teddy Bear’s picnic but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be any the less surprising! There is plenty to discover and learn about the amazing wildlife we have around the coasts of Wales.

Our marine biologists, the museum scientists who study the life within the sea, have set you a challenge to see if you can find 16 objects at the seaside. Fancy giving it a go?

See if you can find and photograph all of these objects. Some may be more familiar to you, but some are not so obvious. To help our scientists have shared the results of their last visit to the beach to give you a helping hand [Bingo answers]. They have also prepared some spotter’s sheets that you can print out and take with you when you go to help you spot the things on the shore: 

https://museum.wales/media/52516/10SG-Treasures-of-the-Strandline.pdf

https://museum.wales/media/51467/08SG-Spotting-Seaweeds-in-Wales-reds-and-greens.pdf

https://museum.wales/media/52514/09SG-Common-Seashells.pdf

https://museum.wales/media/51473/03SG-Have-I-found-a-fossil.pdf

https://museum.wales/media/51468/07SG-Spotting-Seaweeds-in-Wales-brown-seaweeds.pdf

There are a few that are a little bit harder than others to spot, so our marine biologists have given you some helpful tips;

Hornwrack

Hornwrack may look like seaweed but it is actually a bryozoan moss animal! They are made up of a colony of tiny individuals called zooids, which you may be able to see using a magnifying glass. Find pieces washed ashore on the strandline.

Efallai bod gwymon corniog yn edrych fel gwymon ond mewn gwirionedd yr hyn ydyw yw anifail mwsogl bryosoaidd! Cytref o unigolion bychan bach o’r enw sõoidau ydyn nhw, y mae’n bosib y byddwch chi’n gallu eu gweld drwy ddefnyddio sbienddrych. Dewch o hyd i ddarnau wedi eu golchi i’r lan ar ymyl y traeth.

Thrift

Thrift is a plant that is called Clustog Fair in Welsh, or Mary’s Pillow. The plants grow in small mounds that look like cushions at the top of the shore. 

Yr enw Cymraeg ar Thrift yw Clustog Fair. Mae’r planhigion yn tyfu mewn twmpathau bach sy’n edrych fel clustogau.

Barnacle

You can find barnacles attached to rocks at the beach. They may look like shells, but did you know that they are related to crabs and lobsters! Rather than using their feet to walk, they actually use them to gather food from the water column. Most of the barnacles you see are pretty small, but we have some whale barnacles in the collections at National Museum Cardiff. They came off the Humpback Whale that is on display and they are a lot bigger, almost the size of a human fist!

Starfish

There are several different types (species) of starfish you might see at the beach. The most common one to find is the Common Starfish, which is reddish/orange in colour. However, you might come across a spiny starfish, a sand starfish or even brittlestars, which have very delicate legs. There are even some very small starfish called cushion stars, which you might see stuck on rocks. They take some finding though as they are not very big at all. Next time you see a starfish, count how many legs they have. 

Lugworms

We might all be familiar with the squiggles of sand that you see on a sandy beach. These are called lugworm casts, and they are actually worm “poo”. They are left behind after a lugworm, a type of marine bristleworm, has consumed lots of sand. However, there are actually a couple of different types of lugworms in South Wales, and you can tell them apart from the shape of the cast they make! The blow lugworm has very messy casts whilst the black lugworm has very neat and tidy casts.

Honeycomb worms

Have you seen this strange honeycomb like structure covering rocks near a sandy beach? Well, this has been made by the Honeycomb Worm. Each opening is the home of one worm and they build this reef-like structure together. It’s really important that we try to look after the reefs and to not tread on them as we walk over the rocks. 

Remember if you do go out on the beach be safe (RNLI Beach Safety – Top Five Tips To Stay Safe By The Sea) and follow the seashore code (Seashore code-web.pdf)., Respect | Wild Seas Wales 

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