General

Before 2017 the Waterfront Museum’s central garden was plain, and had no interest for wildlife to thrive. Then in came the GRAFT Garden to shake up the soil and to introduce a haven for wildlife in what is a concreted area of Swansea. 

Over the last two years I have found many species of insects and birds visit the Garden, and some have even made the Garden their home. 

In GRAFT we do not use any pesticides, and try to use natural organic solutions to the problems posed by pests. 

For World Wildlife Day I am spotlighting some of our most exciting and annoying bugs and birds that visit the Garden and how they impact the space. 

Compost Royalty! 👑🌱

We produce our own compost on site, this is the best place to spot the royalty of the compost heap, and the best bugs in the business of breaking down organic matter into the lovely soil for our growing beds. 

We have the humble Earthworm which helps Aerate the soil and breaking the organic matter into useable soil. We have hundreds if not thousands of them! And did you know that there are over 16 different species! 

Pollinators 🐝🌼      

The insects we love the most! The pollinators. These are a collection of insects (and sometimes birds but not in our case) that support our ecosystem. 

We of course have our Honeybee’s managed by our beekeeper Alyson and a group of students from Dylan Thomas School. At its peak we have over 100,000 bees in our hives!

Bee’s play a massive part in global biodiversity and food production and we are lucky to have them here on site! Please keep an eye out on our what’s on pages on the website for your opportunity to see them! 

Pests 🐛

Every gardener will have a battle with insects, be it Cabbage Moth or Slugs eating all our crops! 

But I am going to highlight a lesser known garden pest called the Aphid. These are tiny black insects that collect in their thousands on plants. Aphids love our Broad beans and Broccoli. They can cause disease in plants so it is important to regulate them. We use companion planting and also some water mixed with fairy liquid to try and support our plants.

We also have a super hero in the form of Ladybugs who eat Aphids and help us create balance. Did you know you can buy ladybugs in the post? I didn’t! 

Birds 🐦

I am not a bird watcher, however when I am working in the garden and see birds follow me around the garden it fills me with a little bit of Joy! 

We found evidence of a nest in our Grapevine last year, I am not sure what species this belonged to, but we also have a resident Robin that calls Graft its home and is its ‘patch’. 

Robins are extremely territorial and you will rarely see more than one Robin. We haven’t named this one yet, but maybe we should name it Charles Watkins after the inventor and creator of The Robin Goch monoplane …. 

So next time you visit the museum, take a walk out into the GRAFT garden and see what wildlife you can spot. 

Earlier this year, I took the helm at the National Waterfront Museum, and as we enter the Autumn it already feels like we’re catching the wind in our sails. From my very first day, I’ve been inspired by the passion and expertise of our team, who love and breathe the extraordinary stories held in our collections. Their insights, and the warm welcome I’ve had from Swansea itself, have convinced me of one thing: this museum has the potential to be a destination that surprises, delights and connects people in new ways. 

Anchoring Our Story

One of the first challenges we’re tackling is how we tell our story. Visitors often arrive and are unsure of where their journey should start. With three different entrances and meandering routes, it’s easy to lose your bearings. Add to that an expectation (based on our name and location) that the museum is about the sea, and Wales’s maritime stories, and you can see why some visitors leave a little puzzled. 

Visitors are often curious about the story behind our historical warehouse. What was it built for? Why is it here? And for too long, we realised, we hadn’t been telling the story behind this remarkable building. 

The Warehouse stands proudly in its original setting, where it once overlooked a bustling dock alive with ships, dockworkers, and the rhythm of industry. Here, the Warehouse played its part in the great exchange between Wales’s heavy industries and the wider world across the sea. 

It is that story that inspired us to turn our gaze seaward, to let the sea guide how we tell our stories: the sea really is at the heart of our vision. It’s the thread that ties everything together – industry, art, archaeology, and the lives of communities from across Wales. From coal and copper exports, to the journeys of families who crossed oceans, the story of Wales is a story shaped by the sea. 

And what better place to tell this story than in our historic Warehouse? Built in 1900 beside South Dock – now Swansea Marina – the building itself still whispers of its industrial past. Rail tracks run through its floor, the Harbour Trust office and Pump House still stand nearby. This is history you can see, touch and feel all around you. 

Opening the Doors to the Sea

We’ve already begun small but powerful changes. Shuttered windows in the Warehouse are now open again, letting in light and reconnecting the space with the Marina outside. This simple act has transformed the atmosphere, and it feels like the building is breathing again. We’ve also removed bulky exhibition structures that block the view, making the Warehouse’s historic environment part of the visitor experience once more. 

The Weston Hall, which links the New Gallery to the Warehouse has already seen some changes as well. We’re stripping back the clutter and reimagining it as an inspiring space of welcome and orientation. Here, visitors will encounter stunning focal points – objects that stop you in your tracks and give you that WOW moment!

Picture this: the 1842 South Bishop Lighthouse optic, restored to working order, its top glowing each day when wound by hand. Or a historic railway van positioned on the historic tracks, making the Warehouse’s industrial past visible at a glance. These aren’t just exhibits, they’re the beacons of our identity and conversation starts about safety at sea, Swansea as a City of Sanctuary, and the deep connections between Wales and the wider World. 

Coffee with a View

Our café is also likely going to move. We’re scoping to relocate it upstairs to make the most of our balcony overlooking the marina. Imagine sipping your coffee with a panoramic view of the waterfront. It will also help us transform the Marina Entrance into a true front door to the museum, ready to welcome the growing number of people who pass by.

Fresh Horizons for Exhibitions

Until now, temporary exhibitions have been held in the Weston Hall, a space which was never designed to host exhibitions. This resulted in compromises and limits on what we could show. That’s about to change!

We’re expecting to create a dedicated temporary exhibition space on the mezzanine of the New Gallery. This fresh, flexible area will allow us to host high quality, ambitious exhibitions that surprise and inspire, giving visitors more reasons to return again and again. 

Looking Further Ahead

The journey ahead is an exciting one for us as a museum and for Swansea. We plan to redevelop the New Gallery and Warehouse displays in line with modern exhibition standards, placing communities and inspiration for all at the heart of what we do. Over the coming months, we’ll be shaping the details, working with communities and our visitors, mapping out how to tell Wales’s story through the lens of the sea. 

Until then, expect small but powerful changes – unexpected moments, joyful encounters, and new perspectives that highlight how the sea has shaped life across Wales. 

A Living Museum for Everyone

I’m incredibly grateful to the team here, whose ideas and enthusiasm are steering us forward. Together with the people of Swansea and our visitors, we’re making the Waterfront a place to be explored, enjoyed, and celebrated – a living museum, full of hands-on, joyful experiences for everyone. 

So come board. The tide is turning, and a new chapter for the National Waterfront Museum is just beginning. 

Last year we celebrated Adult Learners Week in September, alongside other learning providers across Wales. 
We were excited to deliver activities across all 7 museums within the  Amgueddfa Cymru family, building on existing offers and piloting new sessions and activities.
At St Fagans we were able to develop a full programme of activities which took place throughout the week, including crafting taster sessions and workshops, mindful nature walks and opportunities for Welsh and English learners. 
The Amgueddfa Cymru programme was promoted via the new Adult and Community Learning section of our website, with the individual site offers also appearing on their main What’s On listings page. We were also able to promote our programme via the Adult Learners Week platform, supported by the Learning and Work Institute, as well as ensuring we ran a comprehensive social media campaign in the run up and throughout the week, across X (Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
As part of this work, we also promoted our series of virtual craft tutorials and taster sessions and the self-led learner resources we offer. 
We worked closely with partners including Dysgu Cymraeg Caerdydd, Menter Caerdydd, Adult Learning Wales and Creative Lives to ensure our programme was tailored to the needs of the learners we hoped to attract and was enhanced by the richness that partnership working brings.
Over the course of the week, we saw a total of 160 people take part in the learning opportunities on offer at St Fagans and a total of 331 people across Amgueddfa Cymru as a whole. This marked our biggest ever Adult Learners Week, of which we are very proud. Take a look at some of the highlight here: https://youtu.be/lgKtmLHr1_Q 
We wanted to ensure we collected feedback from learners to help us develop and improve our adult learning offer across the organization. 
Here’s a sample of some of the learner feedback we received: 
“Wonderful, positive, creative environment.” 
“Learning a new skill is fun and fulfilling”.  
“Very social and therapeutic experience”  
“I really enjoyed the workshop. Very fun and positive experience. Facilitators were really friendly and found it really therapeutic and sociable.”  
“Very much enjoyed – great opportunity to learn a new skill. Great teacher. I feel very chilled now.” 
“Thoroughly enjoyable and interesting walk – saw things I’d never noticed previously.” 
“Yn agordrws i fydhudol.”  
“I really enjoyed the Mindful Nature Walk at St Fagans. I learnt a lot and would recommend it! It was great to have someone so knowledgeable leading the session.” 
“Friendly environment, not at all intimidating, so if you want to try something new go for it!” (willow weaving bird feeders) 
“Empowered! A great way to learn a new skill.” 
“Great fun! Just go do it, you will enjoy learning a new skill!”  
“Dw i’nmeddwl bod digwyddiadauyn y Cymraeg yndddaiawn.”  
“I have always wanted to make an autumn wreath and the course gave me the confidence. It was an inspirational course.” 
The tuition was fantastic. There was help when needed but given enough space and time to try and do it yourself.”  
“Very much enjoyed drawing again after 20 years. Must get back into it now!” 
“I thoroughly enjoyed the sketching session at St Fagans and the encouraging nature of the group.”  
“A motivating, supporting and encouraging session which was led excellently by Marion and Gareth and so well hosted by Loveday.” (Sketching workshop at St Fagans with Creative Lives).  
“It feels so wonderful to try something new and see the results so quickly.” (Enamelling taster session).  
Legacy programmes: 
As a result of the piloting opportunities Adult Learners Week provided, we have since been able to launch 3 new regular Adult Learning programmes at St Fagans and National Museum Cardiff. 
Our monthly Audio Described Tour programme (alternating monthly between the two museums and shortly to launch at the National Roman Legionary Museum in Caerleon, with a view to extend to other sites as and when capacity allows).
Our new monthly Sketching Group at St Fagans, in partnership with Creative Lives (and building on the success of the wonderful National Museum Cardiff Drawing Group). So far we’ve held 3 sessions. Our first attracted 6 people, our second 8 and our third 24! Feedback has been so positive and word is spreading far and wide. If you’d like to join us next month please do so. All the info can be found in the link above. 
New termly Bore i Ddysgwyr Cymraeg Welsh Learner Mornings in collaboration with Dysgu Cymraeg Caerdydd and Menter Caerdydd. Last term we welcomed 35 Welsh learners to the museum to take part in a session on Welsh Christmas traditions. We’re looking forward to welcoming an existing group of Welsh speakers and learners on 25^th January for Dydd Santes Dwynwen where we’ll be exploring the Welsh Love Spoon collection and then the next Bore i Ddysgwyr Cymraeg. 
The 6 commitments enshrined in our 10-year strategy Amgueddfa2030 are embedded throughout our adult learning programme, specifically that of inspiring creativity and learning for life. 
We look forward to continuing to grow our adult learning offer and hope to welcome you in 2024 to one of our museums to take part in an activity or enjoy using one of our self-led learner resources! 

If you can believe it, we keep a copy of every museum publication we produce. Yes, every flyer and brochure and after a while it starts to pile up! While in the process of ordering and categorising this mountain of coffee table litter and ephemera into a cohesive collection, it’s been fascinating to see the way that Amgueddfa Cymru’s branding has changed and evolved over the years. The logos and designs tell us not just about how the museum represents itself but also they tell us something about the time they were written in. So, let’s take a look at the museums branding and design over the decades.
In a museum brochure from 1968, the simplicity of the design is striking with its bold text and the solid red graphic of columns and pediment, which is the globally used symbol for museums (but more on that later). Yet for a modern eye it still looks old fashioned; there are no photos or even a colour gradient and it is printed onto plain white paper. The inside contains only small black text of museum department events, in a list, with little formatting. for example:
Zoology: In the Gallery near the Restaurant: Demonstration of Taxidermy of birds and mammals. 10am -12 noon

In 1969 we get a new look for monthly Programmes. This style sticks for the next decade. A bright solid colour fills the background, and the words “Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru National Museum of Wales” are in a large clear bold text. The front of each issue has a large single black and white image that takes up the centre of the cover. This is however the only image the programmes contain, but maybe as a result the images picked usually look dramatic and intriguing. There is something reminiscent of album cover art about them. In the December 1969 issue the cover features a picture of a lunar landing module and the moon from space. Inside are details of a 3-day exhibition where the museum had genuine moon rock on display.

In the 1980’s we get a new look again, which we can see in the museum’s monthly programmes. But if it wasn’t for the date, you might assume it to be older than it is. The writing is in a traditional serif font and each issue has the same image a marble fresco of a woman holding a picture of the Welsh dragon with Ionic columns in the background. It is the Seal of the National Museum of Wales. It is an architectural feature of the Cardiff site that you can see today above the entrance of gallery 1. 

It is an image that is meant to invoke a certain ideal of “The Museum” that it is grand, historic, noble, and “cultured”. The monthly programmes certainly work hard to solidify this visual brand, having the large logo/seal prominent on every issue that leans into the imagery we already associate with museums. As with the earlier 1968 programme both are invoking the image of the Museum as a grand marble Greco-Romanesque styled structure. This seal is then used in slightly different forms on all publications for the next decade and a half.

The icon for museums as a row of pillars with a triangle pediment on top is widely used. It is the image you will see on brown road signs or tourist maps to mark the location of a museum and certainly the National Museum Cardiff and the Roman Legion Museum do have that classic museum look complete with towering columns. It is an image that may well reflect what museums used to be like, opulent buildings that looked at foreign artefacts like Greek statues. But it is an image that now many museums are working hard to move away from.  Ultimately as an icon it doesn’t really capture or express the totality of what Amgueddfa Cymru is all about, a diverse and varied family of museums that celebrate Welsh life.

Then in 1995 there is a major rebrand. We have moved away from the traditional imagery of museums and galleries and instead have a range of icons that highlight the different parts of the museum’s collections including a spinning wheel, anchor, and steam powered machinery to name a few. It excellently highlights the diversity of what we have to offer. The graphics almost look like a website banner with clickable icons displaying the range of choices. The publications go through various changes over the following years with a greater focus on full colour photos, and a variety of graphics and fonts. The publications are exciting and colourful, but is there a downside? Some might see this iteration of publications as overly crowded and busy. Furthermore, there is no signal unifying image for Amgueddfa Cymru as an integrated organisation.

Then in the 2000’s a new rebrand ditched the icons and opted for words. The words “National Museum Wales” and “Amugueddfa Cymu” were placed at an angle to each other in a modern sans serif font for all publications. This echoes the priorities and vision of the museum in this era. Balancing the English and Welsh language at angles so that neither takes priority over the other. It is effective straightforward and unambiguous. However the thirty three characters at 45 degree angles do not work well on a small scale and can become cluttered and difficult to read. As more and more we switched to phones as our primary reading devices there was a greater need to have a clean simple design.

Since last year we have had a brand-new redesign. The Amgueddfa Cymru logo is written in a bold capitalized font, created for the Museum it emulates the look of an industrial brand like that which you would find on metal or bricks to show the maker; it reflects the industrial past of some of our national museums.  For social media, where space is limited, we have a simple “AC” icon on a red background. Clean and simple bold texts work well for online platforms and this process of simplifying graphics has happened across many brands over the past decade as reading from phone screens has become the norm. Amgueddfa Cymru’s new design uses only the Welsh language title, further simplifying the design and highlighting the museum’s commitment to telling the story of Wales, from its earliest times, through its industrial transformation to the modern day. The font highlights the special characters that don’t exist in English, such as the “DD” which is has been linked together in “Amgueddfa” further showing our pride in the Welsh language.

Ultimately there will be pros and cons to any logo or icon. Often it is about what is right for the time, and what is best for the medium the icons will be on. Do you have a favourite?