: Museums, Exhibitions and Events

I can’t believe that 21 years have passed since Fron Haul was officially opened at the National Slate Museum. This was my first project at the Museum, and as someone who grew up in the area, I feel extremely lucky to be associated with Fron Haul. The following is a piece I wrote back in 1999.

Why Fron Haul?

Originally located on the edge of the road in Tanygrisiau; the buildings were chosen because they are typical of the cramped terraces characteristic of the quarrying towns and villages.

When it came to re-erecting and interpreting these houses, we decided to take the lead from the popular and successful Rhyd-y-car terrace. But rather than limit the story to Tanygrisiau, each house not only illustrates different periods, but also depicts different quarrying areas.

‘Golden Age’

The houses are first recorded in the 1861 Census - with the slate industry well on its way to becoming one of the most important industries in Wales and the main employer in Gwynedd. As demand for slate increased, men moved from neighbouring agricultural areas to work in the quarries. In a number of cases quarrymen would stay the working week in the barracks, built near the quarries, returning to their homes for the weekend. With the building of houses near the quarries, many of the families moved to join the breadwinner, forming new and unique communities. As would be expected, Fron Haul’s first inhabitants were quarrymen born in parishes outside Ffestiniog.

However, there weren’t enough houses to meet the demands of the growing workforce. According to the 1871 Census, seven people lived in one of the Fron Haul houses.  As well as the father and mother, there lived a 13 year old daughter, two sons, six and one year old, a 27 year old servant and a 29 year old lodger. Considering the houses originally only had one bedroom, it’s hard to imagine how they managed. In addition to overcrowding, damp was a problem, the water was impure and the sewage system primitive.  It is no wonder that diseases such as typhoid and tuberculosis were rife.

The Penrhyn Lockout

Although the quarryman received a reasonably fair wage, there was nothing to protect them from losing their jobs or receiving wage cuts in times of recession. There were periodical strikes and lock-outs, the most prominent being the Penrhyn Lockout - one of the longest running disputes in the industrial history of Britain, extended from November 1900 until November 1903.

Furnishing the house to reflect the poverty and hardship of a family on strike was quite a challenge, especially as the visitor’s eyes are naturally drawn to the oak dresser with its Willow Pattern plates and the lustre jugs; the ornaments on the mantelpiece and pictures on the walls. But there are a few clues – the sign 'Nid oes Bradwr yn y tŷ hwn’(There is no traitor in this house), that was displayed in the windows of everyone still on strike, showing clearly which side they were on. The wives and children would have used the conch-shell on the windowsill as a trumpet to shame the ‘traitors’ as they returned home from the quarry. Upstairs, in the main bedroom the father’s trunk is in the process of being packed as heads to The Tumble, Carmarthenshire. It’s estimated that between 1,400 and 1,600 quarrymen moved to south Wales to work in the coal mines and support their families during the Strike.

End of an Era

The Strike failed in its aim, and the industry declined soon after. The closure of such an influential quarry as Penrhyn for three whole years starved the market of its supply of slate, and merchants turned their sights towards foreign markets for roofing materials.

Quarries gradually closed, with the process reaching its peak between 1969 and 1971 when work came to an end at three of the previous mainstays: Dinorwig, Dorothea and Oakeley.

In less than a century, the slate industry developed, grew, then declined.  The houses have been furnished to reflect this change within the slate industry.

For Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum of Wales' craft week, we've been asking our teams to share their passion for craft. Here, Head of the National Waterfront Museum, Steph Mastoris shares a little about his passion for letterpress.

Throughout my working life (and a bit before) I have been fascinated by the craft of letterpress printing –that messy process of covering metal and wooden type with ink and then squeezing a sheet of paper onto the surface to make a beautiful, clean impression. Although it sounds a simple thing to do, it actually requires much trial and error before a uniform and correctly-positioned impression of the type can be made repeatedly to create a leaflet or book. This also doesn’t sound very relaxing, but like most crafts it is totally absorbing and a wonderful way to give your mind a break from the day-job.

The biggest problem for anyone wanting to print by letterpress is that there is quite a lot of equipment needed just to get started, and it took me about ten years to find an affordable little press, type and all the bits and pieces to hold the assembled words together for printing. But printers are a friendly bunch and generous in giving advice and help to people like me who had no training in this inky art.

Steph Mastoris' work at the On the Brink show.

Like many amateur printers I started by making my own Christmas cards or type-works for special occasions such as weddings or christenings, using lovely old wooden type that is easy to set and gives a very textured impression, especially when printed on dampened hand-made paper. These I printed at first on an old office ‘nipping press’ (designed originally for copying hand-written letters before photocopiers were invented), then I acquired a proofing press from a prison workshop and then, in the early 1990s, a beautiful cast-iron Albion printing press came my way. This had been made in the late 1860s from an original design of about 1820 and still prints perfectly today. 

A few years after I moved to Swansea in 2004 to help set up the National Waterfront Museum I was lucky to join the Elysium Studios –a dynamic artist-led co-operative in the heart of the city. The additional space this provided meant that I could use proper metal type in my work. More importantly, having somewhere to print that was not on the kitchen table, which had to be cleared away for meals, meant that I could my take time to think through my work and move beyond just making pretty texts.

One of Steph Mastoris' letterpress triptychs displayed at an exhibition

As a result of this new-found freedom and the opportunity to talk with practicing artists I have become interested in using letterpress printing to explore the subtleties of language where punctuation, form and layout can change or create ambiguities of meaning. At its simplest the aesthetics and tonal impact of hand-printed wood type can be radically altered by enlarging it several hundred per cent. More subtly I use small typographic triptychs to draw the viewer’s attention to the three-dimensional quality of language that arises when similar-sounding words and the different silences between them are exhibited in plain, hand-printed type.

 

 

Imagine cleaning a house that’s visited by 140,000 people every year. That’s the task facing the cleaning team at the National Slate Museum as they look after Fron Haul, the quarrymen’s houses.

Cleaning in a museum is different to cleaning your home. At home, we clean so that things can look their best. We want things to look clean and shiny, using quick and easy techniques. We want things to look good in the museum too, of course, but there are other considerations when it comes to cleaning, in order to preserve the objects in the long term. This is called preventative conservation.

With so many visitors, coupled with a very dusty site, intensive cleaning – like a kind of spring clean – is needed four times a year. This means closing every house in turn for a whole week, so we can concentrate on the work without being disturbed. We work in a systematic way, one room at a time. It’s important to take pictures before starting the work so we can put everything back in the right place at the end.

We have to be very careful not to damage anything, so we use specialist tools and techniques for different objects.

Floors

For slate and wooden floors, we use a vacuum cleaner and brush. Occasionally we mop slate floors with water, but we don’t use modern chemicals. It’s important not to brush the mop against any furniture as the water could cause damage.

Furniture

Large furniture with flat, smooth surfaces are cleaned using a lint free duster. We use this kind of duster as it doesn’t contain any particles that could scratch the furniture. More ornamental furniture with mouldings are cleaned using a vacuum cleaner and brush. We use a technique called shadow vacuuming – holding the vacuum cleaner close to the brush so that dust is sucked from the air, without touching the object with the nozzle, which could scratch the surface.

Ceramic objects

Ceramic objects such as plates and saucers require more attention. Four times a year we clean them using cotton wool, cotton buds, a tiny amount of water and cleaning liquid. We use a specialist cleaning liquid rather than normal washing up liquid, and we wipe the cotton wool lightly over the ceramic.

Brasses and copper

Brasso may be your best friend when it comes to cleaning at home, but it’s no good for cleaning brasses in a museum! Cleaning means getting rid of dirt and dust, while polishing removes tarnish and creates a shiny surface. Polishing requires using abrasives, so every time you polish, a thin layer of the original surface is lost. Regular polishing can eventually lead to markings and ornamental details being lost.

So, in a museum, a hogs hair brush and vacuum cleaner is the way to go, with a special cloth used to give the objects some shine.

Plastic, frames, and books

We use a soft brush for these objects – a pony hair brush. Once again, we use the shadow vacuuming technique. The covers, front and last pages of books need to be cleaned – this takes time!

Clocks

Once a year the clocks get to visit St Fagans National Museum of History for a rest. In St Fagans, the inner mechanisms are treated by Amgueddfa Cymru’s conservators.

Textiles

The process of cleaning and washing textiles can be very damaging. Every time a textile such as a curtain, tablecloth or item of clothing is washed, it is damaged slightly as loose fibres are washed away. To protect textiles, we must avoid washing them if possible, so the best way of cleaning is with a vacuum cleaner. We place a piece of muslin between the textile and the nozzle.

Tin and cast-iron objects

To clean tin and cast-iron objects, we use an old faithful from the garage or workshop – 3 in 1 oil. Rub a thin layer into the object with a lint free duster, and it will look brand new.

Grates and chimney

Yes, the fireplace, or the ‘range’, also needs attention, in the form of a good coat of black lead polish. Two cloths are used, one for rubbing the polish into the range and the other to get the shine. The chimney also needs to be cleaned, once a year. This is necessary from a safety point of view of course, but chimneys are also good breeding grounds for insects which can damage objects. Sometimes birds will nest in chimneys, and nests are perfect homes for insects. The cleaning is done by a local chimney sweep, using a traditional brush and a giant vacuum cleaner.

After the cleaning is done, everything must be put back in place using the photographs taken at the beginning of the work as a reference.

 

 

Gwelodd Eryri oes aur y llechi.
Trawsnewid y werin o gaib i gŷn.
Yn nyffryn ‘Stradau, rhesi o feini,
Ymlusga’r rhimyn â‘r graig gyferbyn.
Enfawr fu’r chwyldro, ergyd fu’r chwalfa,
Dirywiad diwydiant, mwy na’i dyfiant.
Tawelwch. Y baracs fu’n segura.
Difrod gan ddwylo diarth, llechfeddiant.
Cyflawni lladrad absen fel llwynog,
Sleifio’n llechwraidd a dwyn o’r Gorlan.
A glaw fu’n llifo o’r llechwedd creigiog,
Trueni mai hyn fu tranc y drigfan.
Rhaid gwarchod ein treftadaeth, mae’n drysor,
Neu diflannu wna, fel llong heb angor.

Daw cyfnod du i darfu – gwêl golau.
Geiriau gobeithiol gŵr gwydn; Elfyn.
Parhau i drigo’r tai mae eneidiau.
Drws llonydd ddaw a cartref i’w derfyn.
Datgymalwyd hwy, cymerwyd sawl dydd
A’u gweddnewid nes nad oedd hoel o draul.
Er yr ail-gartrefwyd yr aelwydydd,
Disgleiriau edefyn ar dîr Fron Haul.
Wrth feddwl am y teuluoedd hynny,
Mae cysylltiad wrth gyffwrdd y meini.
A nghefn at y drws, edrychaf fyny
Ar olygfa gyfarwydd o lechi.
Er fod pellter i gyrraedd Llyn Padarn,
Mi wn y saif y pedwar yn gadarn.

 

When I was in primary school, I remember going on a trip to the National Slate Museum. I remember a guide taking us around the site and visiting a row of old quarrymen’s houses. Mam or Nain had mentioned before that Taid’s old house had been moved to a museum – I had assumed that it must have been moved to St Fagans. It is only this year that I learnt that I had already been to Taid’s house, on that trip to the Slate Museum.

Gwenlli from BROcast Ffestiniog, a new community venture, contacted me to mention that the Slate Museum was holding an online event, ‘Fron Haul 21’, to celebrate 21 years since moving the houses. I was very keen to be part of the celebration, but struggling to think what I could offer in the middle of a pandemic as my normal field of work is theatre!

During a phonecall in June with Lowri, the events officer at the Slate Museum, we reached a decision that I would write a poem. Lowri had a copy of a poem written by Reverend T. R. Jones about Abel Lloyd (formerly of 1 Fron Haul) in 1998, when the relocation project had started. Writing a poem was a challenge for me as I did not know the people who had lived there like the Reverend did, but I had a real interest in learning more about the development of Tanygrisiau as a quarrying village.

Soon after we had a zoom meeting with museum staff – Lowri, Cadi and Julie. Lleucu, who had been commissioned to create a drawing of Fron Haul, also joined. During this conversation, I learned from Cadi that Taid had lived at no 3 Fron Haul from 1927 to 1933! Nobody lived in the houses for long at that time because usually, the residents were newlywed couples who had not yet started raising children.

I also learnt about another poet local to Tanygrisiau, Elfyn. I have referred to a line he wrote whilst ill and confined to his home, “Hyderaf y caf fel cynt, weld yr haul wedi’r helynt”. For me, this line in the context of my poem means this: although the slate industry is unlikely to be as prosperous as it was for the last two centuries, I am confident of Wales’ potential to overcome obstacles and succeed as a small nation. Following the meeting, I received several documents over email that were full of information, such as research about Tanygrisiau when the houses were built, census lists, a blog about the conservation work on the houses, and transcriptions of interviews with former residents.

The sonnet measure is familiar to me, and the iambic pentameter which mimics the rhythm of a heartbeat is pleasant to hear out loud. Having finished one sonnet, I realised that it could not stand alone, and I felt that it should follow another sonnet due to its hopeful content. The feel of the first sonnet is darker than the second as I discuss the closure of the quarries and the consequent destruction of related buildings by the environment, and, unfortunately, by people.

In the 70s it was discovered that slates had been stolen from the roof of Capel Gorlan in Cwmorthin, close to Tanygrisiau. In 1997 the tourist centre at Gloddfa Ganol was closed when the quarry was sold. One part of the attraction at Gloddfa Ganol was a row of original cottages built for the quarrymen. 1-4 Tai Gloddfa is a sorry sight by today. At the start of this year, a local woman posted a picture on the internet page for Blaenau Ffestiniog’s community group. She had been walking in Cwmorthin an noticed a group of young children who were visiting the area standing near Tai’r Llyn. They were pushing the remains of the walls over.

I understand that it is not possible to protect everything, but education is incredibly important so that we understand and respect our history, and this means educating the children of Wales and beyond. Our industrial history is no less important than our castles and grand manor houses.

I am very proud to have been part of this celebration. Myself and the people of Ffestiniog are very thankful that the Fron Haul houses were saved from demolition. Here we have a successful attempt to protect and document an important chapter in Welsh history. Cadi the curator mentioned that over a million people have visited Fron Haul since 1999. I wish the museum well as they welcome the next million over the threshold.

Youth-led projects across the museum are part of the Hands on Heritage initiative, made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund's Kick the Dust Grant. Diolch yn fawr to The Fund and all our National Lottery Players - keeping our fingers crossed for you!