Una is undergoing essential repairs at Boston Lodge, the engineering works of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways. In December and January, a group of volunteers spent a couple of weekends offering their time to help with the task! 

Una the engine was built in 1905 by the Hunslet company of Leeds and worked at Pen-yr-Orsedd until about 1960, being used mainly to haul wagons of rubble inside the Quarry. Sadly, she failed her safety tests a few years ago and has had to remain out of action since then - much to the disappointment of staff and visitors.

This opportunity to help with the repairs has been a part of the collaboration between Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways and the National Slate Museum, as we knew people would jump at the chance to be a part of Una’s story! 

Over the course of two weekends, several volunteers helped to sand, scrape, clean and prepare metalwork from Una, ready for repainting. This is an essential part of restoring Una and ensuring the steam engine is preserved for future generations, as fresh paint helps protect the metal. 

"The day I spent working on Una has led to me pursuing the opportunity to volunteer on other projects within the Northwest Wales Slate Heritage Site... I really enjoyed the day" 

- David, volunteer

A big thank you to all those who came and contributed their time on cold winter weekends! It was wonderful to share Una’s story and see everyone’s passion shine through. 

As work continues with Una, we hope to offer more opportunities for people to engage with the journey! Join our mailing list to ensure you are kept up to date with the latest opportunities: 

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The project is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, UK Government via Cyngor Gwynedd as part of the Llewyrch o'r Llechi project, Welsh Government including the Community Facilities Programme, the Wolfson Foundation and The Garfield Weston Foundation and other funders. We are extremely grateful to all our funders for their support. 

January is traditionally a quiet time. The thrill of the festive season has passed, and we all wait eagerly for the end of winter, but it is also a time for new beginnings. 

At St Fagans, we’re starting the year off with a bang! Over the next few months, you’ll notice lots of activity around the museum while we deliver projects to improve the visitor experience including: 

• Updating the play area 
• Re-roofing St Fagans Castle 
• Revamping Siop Losin and introducing a new range of products 
• An exciting redesign of the shop in the main building 
• Developing a new coffee shop in Gweithdy 
• Renovating the toilet block near Rhyd-y-car Terrace 

Your visit will be different during this time, and some areas will be closed. We’ll keep you updated with developments as they happen. 

Thank you for your patience while we undertake this work - we promise you it’ll be worth it! 

If you’d like to stay up to date with the latest news, you can sign up to our newsletter or follow us on social media. 

Hi Bulb Buddies – Happy 2026!

Well done for continuing to log your data last month before your break, it has been great to read your comments and observations about what kind of weather you had coming into December. I have also read lots of comments logging that you are starting to see your bulbs growing – amazing!

Overall December was wet and windy, but mostly mild for usual UK weather, with temperatures getting colder at the end of the month. 

We had Storm Bram passing closely around the 8^th of December, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to northern Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of Wales. This resulted in flooding, power outage and road closures in many areas, as reported on by the Met Office.

Once Storm Bram had passed, the weather began to change for the last 10 or so days of December, when it became dryer, but colder.

The colder temperatures have carried on into 2026, with some snow and ice warnings, and some school closures! I am interested to read your comments on these colder temperatures as January continues.

Let’s look at some of your comments from last month!

-

Temperature and Weather observations:

Henllys Church in Wales School:

This week was a rainy and cold week

Irvinestown Primary School:

We had so much heavy rain on Friday that we didn’t get outside to play and we were very sad

Ysgol Pentreuchaf:

Mae wedi bwrw glaw mawr yma wythnos yma ond tydi hi ddim yn oer yma.

Professor Plant:

Well done for adding these details to your data – even when you weren’t able to go outside to play! It is important to notice the changes in weather and temperature, and to consider how this might affect your bulbs. The rain and mild weather might mean that the bulbs could flower a bit earlier than expected!

-

Plant Growth!

Gavinburn Primary School:

We have attached a photo of our bulbs which are beginning to peek through the soil. We've seen lots of roots underneath too!

Cornist Park C.P:

It has been very cold this week. We had lots of rain in the middle of the week. We are beginning to get very excited because our first spring bulbs have started to come through the soil.

Mountain Lane School:

Green growth noticed in our bulb planters.

Pil Primary School:

-It has been cold this week. Our spring bulbs are shotting up.

-It has been raining a lot this week. We like checking the rainfall and temperature.

Llanmartin Primary School:

Our bulbs are starting to grow, approximately 1.5cm of growth.

Professor Plant:

Wow! How exciting that you are reporting seeing your bulbs grow! Well done for logging this and keeping watch over your plants. Over the next couple of months, you may be able to start logging your flowering data, if you notice any flowers opening!

-

How is the project going?

Pinehurst Primary School:

We love going and checking our data every day.

Professor Plant:

I am so glad to hear that you are enjoying collecting data! Your observations are very valuable, so keep up the brilliant work. Great job!

-

I have loved reading through your data and observations over December. Keep up the amazing work Bulb Buddies, I look forward to seeing what happens next over January!

Professor Plant

Winter might seem like a quiet time in the gardens, but there's still plenty happening behind the scenes. As the days grow shorter and colder, the gardening team gets to work preparing for the season ahead. Some of the busiest areas are the Castle gardens, where we prune roses and trees, mulch the beds, and cut back the hedges.

The castle itself is surrounded by tall, thick yew hedges. These create ‘garden rooms’, small, enclosed spaces with different themes, hidden from one another. This style was especially popular in the Edwardian period. Each space had its own character, and the hedges and walls created a sense of surprise and discovery around every corner.

In the past, these hedges were trimmed entirely by hand but thankfully, we now use electric hedge cutters too!

We also work on the avenue of lime trees leading to the castle, which were planted in 1901. These are pollarded - a special way of pruning that involves cutting off the upper branches while keeping the main trunk. It’s hard work, but it helps maintain their striking shape and keeps the trees looking much as they would have done over the past century.

In the cottage gardens, we begin putting the gardens to bed for winter. This means cutting back spent plants, tidying the beds, and digging over the soil, much to the delight of the local robins, who follow us closely in the hope of finding a worm! We also add well-rotted manure to enrich the soil, helping us grow healthy, strong crops in the year ahead.

Another important job is harvesting materials for our Christmas wreaths. Each year, we make traditional wreaths to decorate the doors of our historic houses (you can read more about this in our online article from last Christmas!). To do this, we use natural materials gathered from around the museum grounds.

We coppice hazel and willow to make strong, flexible bases for the wreaths. Coppicing is a traditional and sustainable woodland practice, where young stems are cut back to ground level so that new shoots can grow. It was once a common method in Welsh gardens and woodlands. We also use other bendy plants like wisteria and crimson glory vine, which has beautiful curly tendrils that look lovely emerging from a wreath.

Even though the flowers have faded, there’s still plenty of magic in the gardens. Frost glitters on the seed heads and stems we’ve left standing to provide food and shelter for wildlife. Bare branches dusted with lichen create beautiful patterns against the winter sky. Red berries glow in the low sunlight. And if you’re lucky, you might even catch sight of a kingfisher swooping low over the ponds through the morning mist.

There’s still so much to see and enjoy as we head into winter in the St Fagans gardens.

I know, archaeology is not something you would automatically associate with the Slate Museum – it’s usually geology! But in December, three volunteers joined us to take part with the archaeological surveying required for the enabling works of the redevelopment project at National Slate Museum, Llanberis.

Archaeology Wales were commissioned to survey and record two features at the Gilfach Ddu workshops, where the museum is based. They were recording a post-1970s staircase in the Foundry, and original railway tracks outside in the yard. This surveying is required due to the Gilfach Ddu workshops being a listed building, and to ensure anything changed during the redevelopment project is recorded. The staircase is being replaced with a more accessible and safer design, whereas the railway tracks will be replaced once drainage has been installed beneath them. 

Three volunteers, Nicola, Donna and Shay, joined buildings archaeologist Emily to draw and photograph these features, creating a permanent record for the future. This provided volunteers with a good base of knowledge of buildings archaeology and how to survey features by drawing and photographing. It also gave a great opportunity to learn about the Slate Museum redevelopment and the improvements being made. 

DIOLCH Nicola, Donna a Shay! 

Sign up to the mailing list to hear about any future volunteering opportunities with the Slate Museum:

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The project is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, UK Government via Cyngor Gwynedd as part of the Llewyrch o'r Llechi project, Welsh Government including the Community Facilities Programme, the Wolfson Foundation and The Garfield Weston Foundation and other funders. We are extremely grateful to all our funders for their support.