Don’t know what to get the children for Christmas this year? How about a little inspiration from the museum collections. Some of these items are going to be on display in the new galleries at St Fagans National Museum of History in the autumn of 2018.

Miniature toy sewing machine

Accession No: F82.51.63

Got any budding sewers in your family? This lovely little sewing machine belonged to Margaret Eckley of Sully who played with it as a child in the 1930s. It is hand operated and decorated with an image of Little Red Riding Hood. It comes with an instruction manual too.

 

Set of toy soldiers

Accession No: 56.313.134 – 154

You could try the classic set of toy soldiers? These came from Brecon. Did they march all the way? They were donated to the museum in the 1950s and probably belonged to the donor’s children, who were born in the 1890s.

 

Corgi Toy Tractor

Accession No: F00.27.9

You could try the ever popular Corgi toy range. This tractor was played with in Cardiff in the 1950s – 1960s.

 

Welsh Costume Doll

Accession No: 30.316

This doll dressed in traditional Welsh costume was played with in the middle of the 19^th century. She must have been a treasured item, she was in the donor’s family for eighty years. To see more Welsh costume dolls visit the People’s Collection Wales website.

 

Lego Christmas set

Accession No: 2000.194/1

Would Christmas be complete without Lego? Here’s Father Christmas with his sleigh made in the Lego factory in Wrexham.

These objects are not on display at the moment, but you’ll soon be able to see them on our website along with many of our Art, Archaeology, Industrial and Social & Cultural History collections. Thanks to the players of People’s Postcode Lottery for support with this ongoing work.

If there is a specific object you want to see at any of our museums, check that it’s on display first, and if it’s not, you can always make an appointment to view it.

What’s it all about?

‘Buried in the Borderlands’ is a brilliant Community Archaeology Project at Wrexham Museum, funded by the Saving Treasures; Telling Stories Project.

It’s based on the recent acquisition of a hoard of 15^th century gold and silver coins and a gold and sapphire ring, known as the Bronington Hoard, found by local metal detectorists.

The project is working with the local community, inspiring creative responses to the material heritage on their doorstep, which will go on display in March 2018.

This post introduces two museum volunteers who have been working on the project.

Leon and Tom’s story

Hello everyone, we’re Leon and Tom. We’ve been working recently on the very exciting Buried in the Borderlands project with Wrexham Museums and Archives.

The two of us are currently studying AS Levels at The Maelor School, Penley. I (Leon) am studying Biology, Chemistry and Maths whilst Tom is studying Politics, English Literature and Psychology.

But we have one subject in common, that’s History!

We’ve both always loved history, from learning about the World Wars, to the history of Wrexham county. That’s why we are thrilled to be volunteering with the Bronington Hoard.

We get to learn about the history of the Maelor, complete our Community Challenge for the Welsh Baccalaureate, and work with all our Friends at Wrexham Museum. Win, win, win.

We’ll keep you up-to-date with our progress as part of our Blog every 1 to 2 weeks.

We look forward to your feedback and hope you’re as ecstatic as we are for the arrival of the Bronington Hoard in March 2018. 

 

Stori Leon a Tom

Helo bawb, Leon a Tom ydym ni. Rydym ni wedi bod yn gweithio ar brosiect cyffrous Yn Gudd yn y Gororau yn ddiweddar gydag Amgueddfa ac Archifau Wrecsam.

Mae’r ddau ohonom ni’n astudio Lefel AS yn Ysgol Maelor ar hyn o bryd. Rydw i (Leon) yn astudio Bywydeg, Cemeg a Mathemateg tra bod Tom yn astudio Gwleidyddiaeth, Llenyddiaeth Saesneg a Seicoleg.

Ond mae gennym un pwnc yn gyffredin, sef Hanes!

Mae’r ddau ohonom ni yn mwynhau hanes, o ddysgu am y ddau Ryfel Byd, i hanes bwrdeistref Wrecsam. Dyna pam ein bod wrth ein boddau yn gwirfoddoli gyda Chelc Is-y-Coed.

Rydym ni’n cael dysgu am hanes Maelor, cwblhau Her y Gymuned ar gyfer Bagloriaeth Cymru, a gweithio gyda’n ffrindiau yn Amgueddfa Wrecsam. Mae pawb ar eu hennill.

Fe fyddwn ni’n eich diweddaru gyda’n cynnydd yn rhan o’n Blog bob 1 i 2 wythnos.

Edrychwn ymlaen at glywed eich adborth a gobeithio eich bod chi'r un mor hapus â ni y bydd Celc Is-y-Coed yn cyrraedd ym mis Mawrth 2018. 

When we were designing the exhibition  we discussed different ways visitors could share their connections with the art on show. We designed conversation prompts to get people thinking and post cards for people to give their feedback:

 

It's been really exciting to read people's responses and we'll be sharing some of our favourites over the coming months along with our thoughts. We'd really like to hear from you as well, tell us what you think, how do you connect with art?

 

Here's the first one:

 

I like this comment because it's so positive, starting with self awareness, other people, then the world. Seeing involvement with art and creativity as a journey is something I can indentify with. In a way we all have the same journey but with different twists and turns which is what makes life so interesting. When someone describes or makes something real you can laugh in recognition. Maybe art is about mutual recognition of beauty, horror and humour?

#WallichXart

 

Nearing the four-month mark since I stepped into National Museum Wales for the first day of my Professional Training Year (PTY) placement from Cardiff University, my goal of achieving new experiences in the world of marine invertebrate research is definitely underway. This is now taking form in the way of the Magelonidae, the shovelhead worms, a family of polychaetes with many unanswered questions hovering around them in regards to their ecology, taxonomy and behaviour.

Through starting with live observations in the museum lab in July of Magelona alleni, a rather chunky species of magelonid, my project has developed into some exciting discoveries regarding not only the feeding of these amazing worms, but also how they poo, hence the title of the blog post! As boring as worm defecation sounds, this is not the case when you watch how these amazing animals decide to actually get rid of their dinner (there will be more about the details of this in my next blog post when we have finished working on this interesting behaviour).

These findings have led me down a road of using many new techniques to be able to present my work in a professional and scientific manner. This includes scientific drawing using a camera lucida attachment on a microscope, photography in the way of time-lapse captures, film and image stacking, image editing, reviewing relevant literature, statistical analysis, dissection and SEM (scanning electron microscopy) to name but a few.

In addition to these skills I have learnt much about day to day tasks the museum carries out, including learning methods of curation for an impressive collection of marine invertebrates, holding over 750,000 specimens and having the opportunity to partake in sampling trips to collect more animals for the further development of my project and other projects around the museum. I have also settled into the role of tank maintenance for not only the shovelhead worms, but also some of our resident anemones, hermit crabs, starfish, sea potatoes and prawns. I have even tried my hand at outreach on one of the museum’s stands during the evening event ‘After Dark at the Museum’ with Cardiff University, which saw nearly 2000 people (mainly families) enjoy a hands on experience.

One crucial advantage that I feel I have obtained over these last few months is that I am starting to enjoy a great appreciation for the diversity of life in our seas, from the very tiny, such as organisms like diatoms and foraminiferans to the impressively large, like the young humpback whale skeleton on display in the museum, which I get the pleasure of walking past most days. All in all, my experiences so far have been beyond valuable and who knows what the next few months of research here will bring.

Find out more about how I got on when I first started at the museum

Archibald H. Lee was the first Secretary appointed to National Museum Wales in 1909 and held the post for 44 years. His professional life began in 1899 when he entered the service of the Cardiff Corporation as a junior clerk in the old Town-hall on St Mary Street. During this time he would have worked on the City’s case for the establishment of a National Museum, so it must have been gratifying for him to join the fledgling staff of the new Museum.

After a few quietly productive years, the outbreak of WWI saw a large number of staff leave the museum for military service and Lee was no exception. He commanded a company of the 5^th Welch Regiment and was awarded the Military Cross after the Battle of Gaza.

After the war, Lee resumed his position as Secretary and the Library holds a great number of photographs showing him at the forefront of important events and gatherings. In 1927 the new building at Cathays Park was officially opened by King George V and Queen Mary and Lee lead the Royal party up the steps to officially knock on the door with the ceremonial staff.

He established a life time bond with the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society when he joined in 1909, going on to hold the posts of Honourable Secretary, Council Member, President [1931-2] and finally Honorary Member in 1954. Some highlights during these years were helping to organize and celebrate the Society’s Diamond Jubilee, contributing an article titled Museums in Cardiff for the Society Transactions [1932] and being awarded the Honorary Degree of M.A. by the University of Wales [1937].

During WWII, he was an active member of the 16^th Glamorgan Home Guard ‘National Museum Wales Section’. The Museum suffered some damage through enemy air raids on Cardiff and extensive precautions were implemented to protect the collections. These involved the transfer of important specimens to the basement strong room, sandbagging of sculptural and bulky exhibits, the protecting of all glass cases and windows with gummed strips, and night time ‘fire-watch’ duties, all of which  Lee would most likely have been involved in.

In 1953 Lee retired as Secretary with a civic luncheon held in his honour and the award of an O.B. E [Officer of the British Empire].

He passed away in 1970, aged 87 years.