In June 2023 Amgueddfa Lechi Cymru started a craft volunteering role to create 6 rag rugs for the education programme. We recruited 6 volunteers, and Isabel de Silva was part of the group. She started volunteering while she was finishing her master's degree at Bangor University, and her reason for volunteering was to gain experience for a job or career.
As well as creating rag rugs, Isabel and the volunteers had to engage with visitors at the Chief Engineer's House to explain how they were made and share the history of the tradition. When Isabel started volunteering, she was quite shy and lacked confidence. To work on this further, Isabel volunteered to help us at Christmas with rag wreath making workshops too – it was a busy and lively environment! Her confidence grew as she spoke to more and more visitors and dealt with the many questions about the rugs from enthusiastic visitors.
"Volunteering with the Slate Museum helped me to improve my confidence, improve my communication skills and learn a new practical skill." - Isabel de Silva
Isabel has since graduated and completed her master’s degree, and since gaining confidence and developing work skills, has now got a job with the Gwynedd Libraries Service and at Storiel, Gwynedd's museum and gallery. Isabel also completed a wonderful rug by herself by July 2024… it took a year of volunteering once a week!
"Through my volunteering I learned so much about the history of the local area, and the impact of the quarry on the lives of the people of North Wales today. That knowledge inspired me to do my part in preserving and sharing the history of Wales, and I have had the opportunity to do that through my job at Storiel." - Isabel de Silva
To celebrate Pride Month this year, some of our amazing ACPs will be hosting Pride themed workshops across some of our museums this June. As part of that celebration, we asked them to reflect on the themes and inspiration behind their workshop and what Pride means to them.
The Workshop: Breaking, Repairing, Becoming
Pride Month is more than celebration — it’s also about restoration. About finding stillness. About reclaiming space — not only in the world around us but within ourselves. My workshop Broken Yet Beautiful lives in that in-between space. It’s where creative expression meets personal healing, where fragments are not failures, but materials for something new.
This project began during my final year, born out of a personal journey exploring identity, repair, and resilience. It wasn’t just a project — it became a way of understanding the world and our place within it. Over time, it has grown into something deeply collective: a workshop where people are invited to break a ceramic object and rebuild it using fast-drying clay. There’s a strange beauty in that process — a catharsis, a stillness, a soft power.
At the end of my internship, I wrote a detailed blog for Cynfas reflecting on how Broken YetBeautifulgrew out of my final project and personal journey.
So, when I brought Broken Yet Beautiful to the National Waterfront Museum this Pride Month, I wasn’t introducing something new. I was holding space for others to experience what I had: the quiet liberation of breaking and rebuilding, of letting go, and of forming something new with care.
During the workshop, participants chose objects, gently broke them, and spent time thoughtfully reassembling each piece — no longer what it was, but still full of meaning. The soundscape of breaking ceramics echoed in the background, not as destruction, but as release.
Fragments of History: Artworks That Spoke to Me
While reflecting on this work, I spent time looking through the LGBTQ+ collection at Amgueddfa Cymru. A few pieces in particular resonated with me - Cup, Theatre Container and Extended Teapot by Suttie,Angus (1946-1993). When I came across Ladies of Llangollen – Dillwyn and Cow Creamers by Paul Scott, I stopped. Just for a moment — I froze. It felt like I’d stumbled into a story that didn’t need to shout to be heard.
This work — a wooden tray filled with ceramic fragments — reads like a memory map. A cabinet of echoes. Each shard of blue-and-white domestic ware holds something: a glimpse into time, place, love, rupture. It’s not just ceramic — it’s a landscape of emotion. A kind of quiet archive. And as both an artist and a curator working with themes of identity and repair, I felt an immediate kinship with what Scott was doing.
We do not mend to hide the scar, but
trace its curve and let it sing. The
past may splinter — still, we hold
each shard like it remembers spring.
The reference to the Ladies of Llangollen — Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby — adds a tender depth. Two women who defied 18th-century expectations and lived together in a self-declared romantic friendship, they turned their home into a sanctuary for intellectuals, artists, and thinkers. Their story is often romanticised — but here, in Scott’s work, it is made material. Grounded. The fragments of everyday domestic life — plates, cups, cow creamers — become vessels of queer memory, intimacy, and resistance.
What moved me most was the way the piece doesn’t try to “fix” anything. The broken pieces aren’t disguised or forced back into their original form. They’re framed. Held. Given new meaning. There’s a quiet dignity in that. A soft resilience that speaks more truthfully than restoration ever could.
To me, Ladies of Llangollen mirrors what we try to do in Broken Yet Beautiful: not to erase cracks, but to honour them. Not to return something to what it was, but to allow it to become something else — something that tells the truth of what it’s been through.
It’s in this act of holding — not hiding — that the work finds its power.
Belonging in the Making
Through my work with Amgueddfa Cymru, I’ve connected with Bloedd — a youth-led programme uplifting LGBTQ+ voices across Wales. If you're a young person, Bloedd is a space for you. To create, to speak, to belong.
This Pride Month, I’m celebrating more than identity — I’m honouring the quiet strength it takes to rebuild, and the power of coming together.
Workshops like this offer more than creativity. They offer space — to reflect, to exist, and to heal. Even in fragments, we are still whole.
Amgueddfa Cymru Producers [ACPs] are a group of young people aged 16 – 25 living in or from Wales who collaborate with the Museum through participatory and paid opportunities.
This is a space to deepen knowledge and to ensure that cultural and heritage spaces are more representational of the young people and their many cultures that make up Wales today. We are here to make heritage relevant!
We explore art, heritage and identity, environmentalism, natural science, social history and archaeology through our collections and by co-producing events, workshops, exhibitions, digital media, publications, development groups and more! Our ACPs work closely with departments across the Museum to help us deepen representation within our collections and programming, that reflects all communities in Wales. This includes expanding our LGBTQ+ collection, decolonising our collections and gathering working-class history through oral histories. ACPs can also bring their own ideas or topics they wish to explore through our collections!
You can sign up to our mailing list here to keep up to date with news and new opportunities.
Climate Cymru’s Great Big Green Week has been running since 7th June, with people across Wales (and the UK!) coming together to help protect our planet. There are fun activities, cool events, and lots of ways for you and your school to get involved.
What is The Great Big Green Week?
The Great Big Green Week is the UK’s biggest celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. All sorts of people are making swaps and taking small steps that make a difference to the planet. From planting flowers to picking up litter, every action counts!
Who are Climate Cymru?
Climate Cymru is a movement made up of hundreds of organisations and thousands of people from all across Wales, working together to tackle the climate and nature emergencies. By bringing together voices from every part of Welsh society (schools, businesses, community groups, and more) Climate Cymru makes sure that everyone is heard and that leaders take meaningful action for a greener, fairer future for Wales and the planet.
What is the Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation?
The Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation engages thousands of children from across the UK every year in a scientific study around the effects of climate change on the flowering dates of Spring Bulbs. Pupils adopt, care for and study their plants. They take weather readings every day that they are in school between November and March and share their findings to the Amgueddfa Cymru website. Our reports from last year’s investigation can be found here, along with many other educational resources. The bilingual reports from this year will be published in early July.
If you’ve participated in this year’s project by planting and growing spring bulbs, then you’re already a climate champion! If you’re looking for a Great Big Green Week Action that your school could take, applications for schools in Wales are open, and you can apply here! 2025-2026 will be the 20th anniversary year of this fantastic project!
Who are The Edina Trust?
The Edina Trust are partners and funders of Amgueddfa Cymru’s Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation. They are a charity that helps primary schools with science by offering non-competitive grants for exciting projects like gardening, science resources, and outdoor learning. This year, schools in Denbighshire, Newport, and Torfaen can apply for Edina Trust grants, so if your school is in one of these areas, you’re guaranteed to get funding to help develop your science adventures! Find out more here!
Try the Climate Quiz by Amgueddfa Cymru!
To celebrate The Great Big Green Week, Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) has created a special Climate Quiz just for you. It’s part of the Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation, and it’s a fun way to test your knowledge about the climate and how we can all help protect nature.
What's the difference between weather and climate?
How much of the UK's total energy comes from renewable sources?
Why are insects important for the climate?
What actions could you take to help?
Find out by taking the quiz with your classmates or family. You might be surprised at what you learn!
Let’s Be Planet Protectors!
Remember, even small changes can make a big difference. By joining in with The Great Big Green Week and the Climate Quiz, you’re helping to raise awareness of how we can all look after the Earth for animals, plants, and people everywhere.
Share what you’ve learnt:
Tell your teacher about The Great Big Green Week and The Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation. There are loads of great resources that can be used in class.
Victoria Hillman, Project Lead: Sustainable Development and Decarbonisation, 29 May 2025
Victoria Hillman, Project Lead: Sustainable Development and Decarbonisation
Hi Victoria, can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your role here at Amgueddfa Cymru?
Of course! I was born and brought up in Cardiff, so, like many people, my earliest memories of Amgueddfa Cymru are school trips to St Fagans and Big Pit! The immersive experiences provided were so vivid and inspirational – especially as a child when your mind is open to all possibilities. A “few” years after these formative experiences, I was fortunate enough to join Amgueddfa Cymru in April 2024 as the Project Lead for Sustainable Development and Decarbonisation. My remit is organisation-wide, so I interact with all Museum sites and with every team. It’s a privilege being able to work with so many different people. Each site is unique and colleagues across the organisation are extremely knowledgeable and incredibly passionate about their roles.
I am responsible for ensuring Amgueddfa Cymru remains compliant with environmental legislation and for driving improvements in other aspects relating to environmental sustainability across the organisation. This ranges from looking at procurement practices, to how exhibitions are designed; from optimising environmental conditions within galleries to promoting active travel with staff and volunteers; from enhancing biodiversity to decarbonising the estate.
In the last 10 months, I have also worked part time on the sustainability aspects of the Redevelopment Project at the National Slate Museum. The design work is now complete, and May is the month when the site is handed over to contractors for construction work to begin – it’s a very exciting time for the project!
As citizens of the world, we know how crucial sustainability is, in practice. What can you tell us about the work we're doing at Amgueddfa Cymru to meet the targets set out across Wales?
Heat pump being installed in St Fagans
Indeed. Amgueddfa Cymru declared a climate emergency and a nature emergency in 2019. We have long taken our commitment to protecting the environment seriously, but since this important milestone, we’ve increased our efforts and provided inspiration for others to follow. Our 2030 Strategy set out six commitments, one of which was “putting the planet first”. This commitment underpins our desire to contribute to the Welsh public sector achieving carbon net zero by 2030. Across the estate, work has been on-going to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels by upgrading equipment to more efficient versions and by replacing heating systems with electrically powered alternatives (e.g. air source heat pumps). Over 5 years (2019/20 to 2023/24), the consumption of natural gas has reduced by 36%.
In addition to decarbonising the estate, Amgueddfa Cymru operates in a way that fully aligns with the requirements of the Well-being of Future Generations Act. Consideration of the five ways of working (Collaboration, Integration, Involvement, Prevention and Long Term) is embedded in internal processes and reporting.
You talk about ‘Putting the planet first’; what projects happening across our museums today are helping us create a sustainable Wales?
I’ve already mentioned the great progress in decarbonising the estate and that work is continuing thanks to funding made available by the Public Sector Low Carbon Heat Grant. From January to March 2025, eight buildings at four sites had fossil fuel heating systems (natural gas, LPG and oil) replaced with air source heat pumps. We have plans in place to carry out similar work in 2025/26, pending the approval of funding applications.
Our Roman Garden in the National Roman Legion Museum
On a larger and longer-term scale, there are two projects currently in the design stage which will embed sustainability in the culture sector over the coming 5–10 years. The first is the redevelopment of Roman Caerleon which is a joint effort between Amgueddfa Cymru, Cadw and Newport City Council. The project aims to maximise the potential of Caerleon’s Roman heritage while improving the visitor experience and attracting more people. One key to project success will be ensuring sufficient works are carried out in order to adapt the sites to the impacts that changing climate will bring. In a similar vein, the second project where a focus on climate change adaptation will be key is the redevelopment of National Museum Cardiff. It is no secret that the 100-year-old building has experienced challenges in recent times and there is no simple fix. A multi-disciplinary team has been established in order to plan the optimum way forward to both preserve and modernise this beautiful and iconic building.
From a people perspective, the really powerful internal project is the roll out of Carbon Literacy training. This started back in 2018 with a small group of dedicated individuals and has snowballed into hundreds of staff members being trained and becoming certified carbon literate. A key benefit of the Carbon Literacy training is that behaviour changes are encouraged at home as well as in the workplace – staff members who have taken the course see this as a strong selling point.
More broadly, daily work across the Museum contributes to a more sustainable Wales. Natural Sciences Curators carry out pioneering research, describe species and monitor invasive species; Curators and Conservators interpret and preserve items so that they can be understood by today’s visitors and enjoyed by future visitors; the Learning Team provide resources to inspire and stimulate enquiring minds; the Engagement Team offer a variety of accessible and inclusive activities and opportunities to people from across Wales; the Visitor Experience team use their extensive knowledge to answer questions and spark imagination in visitors… The list goes on.
We have the Senedd's Biodiversity Day, Endangered Species Day, International Day of Biodiversity and World Bee Day, to name a few, highlighted in our diaries this month! How can we get involved with these key dates, as a collection of seven national museums and a collections centre?
Action Summit 2025 held in National Museum Cardiff
May is certainly a busy month for nature-based celebrations! Such days provide the opportunity to focus on particular campaigns and, more importantly, to collaborate with colleagues in other public sector or third sector organisations. Quite often, individuals have similar goals, but may lack influence or direction alone. By joining forces (and there are a lot of brilliant organisations across Wales), we are stronger and more targeted. This was never more evident than at the Action Summit held on 29 April at National Museum Cardiff to mark the release of the Future Generations 2025 Report. This inspiring day cemented the fact that nature, culture and a well-being economy are essential to creating the Wales we’d all like to see.
People may know us as indoor and outdoor museums, but they may not know about our gardens and wild meadows! Tell us about these.
Volunteer gardening in our GRAFT garden, National Waterfront Museum
Yes – we have some beautiful gardens, meadows, woodland and wetland habitats across the Museum estate. The site with most outdoor space is St Fagans National Museum of History; this is where our Gardening Team is based. The Gardening Team create and look after formal gardens in the area surrounding St Fagans Castle and in recent years have introduced environmentally friendly methods such as planting perennials rather than annuals, harvesting rainwater for irrigation purposes, using peat-free compost and switching from fossil fuel–powered equipment to electric alternatives. At the National Roman Legion Museum, the Learning Team have recreated what a Roman garden may have looked like, while ensuring there are plenty of species present to attract pollinators.
#NoMowMay in the National Wool Museum
Speaking of pollinators, all museum sites enthusiastically support No Mow May and wildflower plug plants were planted in the urban meadow at National Museum Cardiff and in three areas at St Fagans earlier this year. The GRAFT garden at the National Waterfront Museum proudly combines food production with growing pollinator-friendly species. The National Wool Museum is located next to Nant Bargod and the flood meadow there is full of life – both plants and animals. A family-friendly trail has been created to encourage people to explore more!
And finally, we save the best for last. What's your favourite piece in our collection?
Such a tough question and it’s impossible to answer of course! I really love old, industrial machinery – especially when it’s still working. There are great examples of this on display across the organisation – at the National Wool Museum, National Slate Museum, Big Pit National Coal Museum and National Waterfront Museum. The industrial items at the National Collections Centre are also fantastic and are a real eclectic mix – as you’d expect from the stores of a national museum!
Trilobite from our collection
However, if you’re going to force me to pick one item, my heart lies with the Evolution of Wales gallery in National Museum Cardiff. My degree was in Environmental Geoscience and I am fascinated by natural processes – plate tectonics, ocean currents, rock formation, the variety and adaptability of life on Earth… My favourite collection would therefore have to be the trilobite fossils, while an individual piece would be the imprint of a Megalosaurus jaw, found near Bridgend in 1898. It’s exhilarating to learn that huge carnivores used to roam the place that we now call home!
At St Fagans National Museum of History, the rose garden, or Rosery, is full of colour and scent during the summer. But behind the beauty, there is a lot of hard work, and a long and interesting story.
The first Rosery was planned in 1898 by Hugh Pettigrew, the head gardener at the time. It had winding grass paths, trellises with climbing roses, and a canal planted with water lilies and filled with ornamental fish. More than 100 types of roses were planted in the garden.
After the First World War, the Rosery was not looked after. The canal was filled in, and the trellises and pergolas were removed. In the 1940s, after the Plymouth family donated St Fagans Castle and grounds to the Museum, a simpler rose garden was created, with triangular beds.
In 1998, the Museum decided to restore Pettigrew’s original design. The old canal was dug out and replanted with water lilies. The triangular beds were removed, and new curved beds were laid out around the canal, following Pettigrew’s plan. Roses were chosen carefully, based on a list made by Pettigrew in 1904.
However, over time, many of the old roses became unhealthy. They suffered badly from a disease called black spot, which makes the leaves turn yellow, develop black spots and fall off. Before the Clean Air Act of 1956, black spot was rare because the air was full of sulphur from pollution, which helped protect the plants. But when the air became cleaner, black spot became a much bigger problem.
In 2017, the Rosery was replanted again. This time, many modern roses were used, strong, healthy plants that flower for a long time and still have the beauty and scent of traditional roses. Most of the roses are from David Austin, a famous rose breeder. One special rose growing in the garden is called ‘Roald Dahl’, named after the famous author who was born in Cardiff.
We still garden in the spirit of the Edwardian period, because most of the ornamental gardens at St Fagans date back from that time. The Edwardians loved roses - and so do we! But looking after them is not always glamorous. Every January, the gardeners prune the roses hard to keep them healthy. Then the beds are mulched with manure, we add manure to the soil to feed it. Healthy soil helps the roses to grow strong and healthy.
Throughout the summer, the gardeners deadhead the roses to encourage more flowers, but they leave some blooms to make rose hips, which are used to decorate the historic houses in winter. Around the roses, there are also flowering perennial plants like lavender and violas planted to help pollinators like bees and butterflies.
Some roses, called single roses, have fewer petals and an open centre. These are better for insects because bees can easily reach the nectar and pollen. Some of our favourites include roses called ‘Tottering-by- Gently’ and ‘Starlight Symphony’.
Today, the Rosery is full of colour and scent. The new roses look and feel like old roses, but they flower again and again through the summer. They remind us of the love, care, and hard work that goes into keeping a garden full of life.
