: Museum Voices

Hi Penny, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Amgueddfa Cymru?

Hi, I have a lovely role as the Spring Bulbs for Schools Project Coordinator. I’m line-managed by Danielle Cowell, who established the project in 2005. The project engages primary schools in outdoor learning through a scientific climate investigation. My role involves being the primary contact for schools, supporting them to engage with the investigation.

The investigation runs throughout the full academic year. Schools receive resource packs in late September, adopt and plant their bulbs in October, and take weather readings every school day from November through to the end of March. From January, they monitor their flowers, recording the flowering date and the height of their plants on that date. All this data is shared on our website.

In May, we send prizes to schools for their contributions. The winning school for Wales receives a trip to their nearest Amgueddfa Cymru museum, with coach hire and facilitated workshops included. There’s also a Planting Day Photo Competition and a Bulbcast video competition, with additional prizes for schools. In July we share an end-of-year report exploring that year's data and the project’s overall findings.

Working on the project is extremely rewarding, and the comments shared by pupils about the weather and their plants are often heart-warming.

This year we’re celebrating 20 years of the Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation; tell us more about that!

Certainly. The Spring Bulbs for Schools Investigation began in 2005 with a handful of schools local to National Museum Cardiff. It steadily grew to cover all of Wales, offering a digital engagement project that allowed schools across Wales to connect with us. Thanks to external funding from The Edina Trust, the investigation expanded further. Since 2011, the project has included schools in England and Scotland, and since 2017, schools in Northern Ireland.

To celebrate this 20-year milestone, we aim to raise awareness of the investigation and its impact, as well as highlight Amgueddfa Cymru’s legacy in climate and sustainability education. Although the organisation declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2018, it has a much longer history working in this area, as demonstrated by the longevity and reach of this project.

The Edina Trust have provided additional funding for this year’s celebrations. This has included recruiting a Celebration Officer to support this year’s enhanced activities. The celebrations include new virtual workshops for participating schools, the creation and naming of a new daffodil variety, and the establishment of a nature-themed workshop at St Fagans National Museum of History (free to the first 20 participating schools). We are also collaborating with our enterprises team to develop displays linked to the project themes in museum shops. The new daffodil variety will be planted as part of displays at St Fagans and National Museum Cardiff, and family activities related to the project will run over the October half-term at both sites.

It's a busy time for our small team, but we’re all very excited about what’s ahead.

Can you introduce us to Professor Plant and Baby Bulb, our favourite unofficial Amgueddfa Cymru team members?

Of course! Professor Plant is the project’s mascot, and Baby Bulb is their helpful, more spontaneous sidekick. We engage with schools through Professor Plant, who writes the resources and blog updates for the project. There have been four Project Coordinators over the years, with a fifth joining soon, so this helps maintain consistency. It’s also a fun way to engage younger pupils, as many comments and questions from schools are addressed to the Professor.

What can we learn about climate change from the data schools send us?

The data submitted by schools’ feeds into our end-of-year reports. Each academic year, we produce a report comparing MET Office weather data since the investigation began with the flower data collected by schools. The report is a handy tool for teaching maths and numeracy, as it introduces different tables and graphs and highlights trends and patterns. The focus of the report is often on why plants might have flowered earlier or later than expected, and how that year’s weather may have impacted on this.

The Edina Trust also produces a report that uses weather data collected by schools and compares flowering dates of plants planted in the ground to those planted in pots. These reports support learning by introducing the concepts of hypothesis formation, fair experimentation, and data analysis. We also create digital quizzes to make exploring the data engaging and fun.

Our focus is on encouraging pupils to connect with nature, develop data interpretation skills, deepen their understanding of climate issues, and build the confidence to advocate on these topics. While there is still much to explore in the data, the main insight I have gleaned from working on the investigation has been through witnessing the value of giving ownership to the children and creating immersive experiences that connect them to nature; this fosters a genuine love for their plants and encourages them to pay closer attention to the natural world. This is an approach which recent studies have shown significantly enhances pupil engagement, personal development, mental wellbeing, and long-term environmental stewardship.

How important is scientific work like this to Amgueddfa Cymru, and for the future of Wales?

Scientific research and educational projects are fundamental to our mission and vision as a national institution dedicated to inspiring people and changing lives. Central to the museum’s priorities is acting as a steward of both Wales’s cultural and natural heritage for the benefit of future generations. The museum’s 2030 Strategy highlights a strong focus on sustainability and public understanding of environmental issues, aiming to develop lifelong learning and promote wellbeing through connection with nature. Projects like this enable Amgueddfa Cymru to fulfil its remit to advance public education, contribute to knowledge about Wales’s biodiversity and climate, and support communities to actively participate in shaping a sustainable future.

By supporting citizen science and encouraging pupils ownership of data collection and analysis, Amgueddfa Cymru not only teaches scientific skills but inspires a deeper emotional connection to nature, fostering a lasting connection and feeling of responsibility towards the environment that will prove important for the future of Wales.

How can we get involved this Autumn?

We are inviting people to ‘plant along’ with us. Schools will plant their bulbs on 20 October, and anyone interested can plant bulbs simultaneously and monitor their growth alongside our Super Scientists.

As part of this, we will run Family Planting activities at St Fagans National Museum of History on 27 and 28 October, and at National Museum Cardiff on 30 and 31 October. Bulb packs will be available for purchase in the shops at both sites, complete with information about the project and how to follow it online.

Every year, schools that miss out on places still follow the project through the Bulb Blog and social media pages. We also signpost to the MET Office WOW website, which allows citizen scientists to upload weather data that they have collected. Anyone can participate in this way and can then compare their results with those of schools from across the UK and the findings in the end-of-year reports.

So, to get involved…get planting! Visit the project website for fun activities, resources and updates from schools across the country.

And our final question is always fun—what’s your favourite piece in the collection?

That’s a tough one! I think it has to be the leatherback turtle on display at National Museum Cardiff. Not only was this beautiful specimen found on the shores of my hometown of Harlech, but its story powerfully illustrates human impact on the natural world and the small actions we can all take to make a difference.

The turtle was discovered in 1988, 23 years before the introduction of the plastic bag charge and 35 years before legislation limiting single-use plastics. Amgueddfa Cymru moved the turtle to the 'Man and the Environment' display in 2006, telling the story of this giant 100-year-old turtle that died after becoming tangled in fishing wires and was found to have a stomach full of plastic bags. It’s a harrowing but impactful story.

Another favourite aspect of the collections is the natural environment at St Fagans. The woods and gardens are beautiful and home to protected species such as horseshoe bats and great crested newts, alongside kingfishers, woodpeckers, dragonflies and on occasion otters. I’ve been fortunate to assist with family bat walks and school visits that include pond dipping and mini-beast hunting. It’s fantastic to highlight aspects of the site that surprise and captivate groups, and to work for an organisation that actively prioritises conservation.

Siân Iles behind the scenes in our medieval collections storeroom

Hi Siân, tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Amgueddfa Cymru.

I grew up in Cardiff and trips to the Museum to view the archaeology displays at Cathays Park are a happy childhood memory for me. I was so excited to begin working at the Museum in 2008 when I joined as curatorial assistant of the medieval archaeology collections. I am now the Senior Curator responsible for this collection, which covers the period c. AD 500–1500. Prior to that I worked in an archaeology museum in Southampton, which was a wonderful experience working with material from many time periods. At Amgueddfa Cymru I love being part of a team of passionate and knowledgeable colleagues who all work hard to care for the many different aspects of the archaeology collections at Amgueddfa Cymru.

What does the responsibility of looking after our medieval collections entail on a day-to-day basis?

The role is a really varied one, which is a big part of what I love about my job! Some of my day-to-day tasks include the accessioning of archaeological materials, writing treasure and other specialist reports, answering enquiries from the public and facilitating volunteering projects focussing on our medieval archaeological collections. I also enjoy working on large projects including exhibitions.

Tell us a little about the objects and stories you’ve come across. Is there a particular object with a story that has stuck with you?

The joined tile from Neath Abbey, made from three cut pieces forming a single design.

I recently came across an odd discovery whilst working on a volunteer project to repackage and check the documentation of our medieval floor tiles. Amongst a group of tile from Neath Abbey was one was made up of three separate tiles of the same design that had been deliberately cut and stuck together. This isn’t something we would consider doing today but it gave us an interesting perspective into the curatorial practices of the past!

You mentioned our Treasure findings take up some of your time. Can you tell us more about our involvement with Treasure in Wales, and any exciting findings we have recently received?

17th-century vervel, or hawking ring, acquired by us via the Treasure process.

I’m part of a team at Amgueddfa Cymru who help administer the Treasure process in Wales. We offer advice to finders, coroners, local museums, and other interested parties on items of potential Treasure found in Wales. A large part of my treasure role is to research and write specialist reports for the medieval and post-medieval treasure cases, making recommendations to coroners who decide on whether an object or collections qualifies as Treasure.

Looking at all aspects, what do you wish our visitors knew about the work you do behind the scenes?

That the care we provide to the collections is active and continual. A key responsibility of the role of curator is provide a balance between providing access to collections with providing continued care to preserve them for future generations.

And finally, what’s your favourite piece in the Amgueddfa Cymru collection and why?

I find picking a favourite object very hard! I really enjoy working with all materials, but I particularly enjoy working with medieval ceramics – basically fragments of broken pottery and tile! I enjoy the variety of information you can glean from studying it about both the makers and the users. You can see a creative choice or moment (sometimes a fingerprint!) recorded in clay. A single action by a single person representing a single moment in time.

Sherds from 14th-century jugs found at Drybridge Park, Monmouth

Siôn Davies-Rollinson, Engagement and Volunteer Co-ordinator

Hi Siôn, tell us about yourself and your role at Amgueddfa Cymru.

I’m Siôn and I first joined Amgueddfa Cymru in 2012 as part of the Front of House team at St Fagans. For the past three years, I’ve been the Engagement & Volunteer Co-ordinator based at St Fagans. In this role, I support our volunteers and community groups to engage with Amgueddfa Cymru across a wide range of roles. One of the best aspects of my role which I really enjoy is getting to know our diverse mix of volunteers and to learn the reasons why they choose to volunteer at Amgueddfa Cymru.

Recently I have also become the Engagement & Volunteer Co-ordinator at Big Pit to help develop a volunteering programme, which is very exciting!

How many volunteers are there across the estate and what sort of things do they do?

There are over 850 volunteers involved with different programmes across Amgueddfa Cymru. At St Fagans we have over eight volunteering roles alone! Just to name a few, the garden volunteers help maintain the historical gardens on the Castle side, and our Book Project volunteers help collect and sell second-hand books in order to raise donations for Amgueddfa Cymru. Explore volunteers use our handling trolleys in the galleries, allowing our visitors to get up close to some of our collections. You may also see large groups of volunteers from community groups helping us with tasks such as fence painting, hedge cutting, and limewashing. We recently had Cardiff and Vale College students volunteering with us for the third year running. It’s really rewarding to see the students’ confidence develop through volunteering, whilst they give some of these tasks a go for the very first time.

Volunteer-led Book Project at St Fagans

We once saw old miners’ helmets from Big Pit become hanging baskets at St Fagans. They were brilliant. Are there any similar projects in the pipeline?

The miners’ helmets hanging baskets were a fun project, and the volunteers really enjoyed getting involved. The flowers also added a lot of colour to our Volunteering Hub. We’re always on the lookout for new ways to support sustainability and finding new way to reuse and recycle. One of our most recent projects was having volunteers plant over 2,000 native bluebell and snowdrop bulbs at St Fagans. Once they bloom next Spring, there’ll be a lovely trail of flowers stretching from Llys Llywelyn to Bryn Eryr. Not only will it look beautiful in early spring, but it’ll also support local pollinators like bees, which rely on early blooms for nectar and pollen when there’s little else in flower. It’s a small step that make a big difference for local biodiversity.

What’s been your favourite project to date?

Celtic-inspired garden outside Bryn Eryr, St Fagans

My favourite project that I’ve been involved in has been the Bryn Eryr Volunteers’ Garden at St Fagans. We brought a group of volunteers together to help make and maintain a Celtic-inspired garden as part of the Bryn Eryr roundhouses. The garden consists of four different beds growing a mixture of peas, beans and parsnips, various types of herbs, and one bed dedicated to different dye plants. We have also recently planted some flax seeds in the garden, so it’ll be exciting to see how they turn out. I also enjoy that the project is mainly volunteer-led and allows the volunteers to help make decisions on how to further develop the garden. We’re hoping to clear a small area in the garden in order to plant some crab apple trees for next year.

Bryn Eryr garden, St Fagans

How can people get involved with volunteering at Amgueddfa Cymru?

There are many different ways that people can get in involved with volunteering at Amgueddfa Cymru. The easiest way for people to find out about different opportunities is to visit our website. We advertise all our roles and opportunities online; here’s a link.

People can also sign up to our mailing list to get alerts about new roles as they appear. If people have any questions, they can get in contact with our Volunteering team via volunteering@museumwales.ac.uk.

And the one question we ask everyone – what’s your favourite piece in the collection?

Rhyd y Car, St Fagans

That’s a tough one! Working in Front of House, I got to spend a lot of time around the historic buildings at St Fagans, and each one has its own unique story and feel. If I had to pick, I’d say the Rhyd-y-Car Cottages. I really enjoy how each cottage goes up in a timeline and that you can see how the interiors and the adjoining gardens change. You can really tell that the visitors enjoy making their way through and experiencing each cottage. Plus, the feel of the cottages and gardens change with the season, meaning there’s always something new to notice and see.

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!

Imprint of a Megalosaurus jaw

Hi, Nicole, tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Amgueddfa Cymru. 

I'm Dr Nicole Deufel, and I'm Head of Museum here at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. My role is to lead the team, and at the moment we're looking at redeveloping the museum over the next few years.

What’s really special about this museum, the Waterfront within Amgueddfa Cymru, is that we’re in partnership with Swansea Council. A big part of my role right now is focused on that partnership, shaping it, strengthening it and securing it for the future.

We're so excited to hear about the plans you have for National Waterfront Museum, what can you share with us?

They’re big plans and coming in different phases, but we’re really keen to get started this year. In fact, we already have!

One of the key things for us is re-establishing the connection between our historic warehouse and its historic surroundings. We’re using that as a starting point to interpret the story of industry, development and innovation in Wales, and the global connections through the sea. It’s a really exciting story.

Personally, I’m just so thrilled we have the warehouse as a historic asset to help tell it.

Another big focus right now is identity. When you walk into the museum, I don’t think it’s immediately obvious who we are, especially when you compare it to other Amgueddfa Cymru museums. At Big Pit, for example, its identity is clear the moment you arrive. The same goes for the Wool Museum, I was there recently, and it just radiates what it’s about.

The Waterfront isn’t quite there yet, so that’s something we want to tackle. We want visitors coming in, especially through the city side entrance, to see wow objects that not only impress but also capture the essence of the stories we tell. We want our identity to shine just as brightly as it does in our other museums. So that people walk in and immediately know - I’m at the National Waterfront Museum!

You mentioned wow pieces. What role does the collection play in this new vision, and how important is the preservation and conservation of the collection? 

If I take the idea for the Weston Hall, the collection really helps us develop and illustrate the stories, which are the stories of people. The collection isn’t just a group of objects. They represent the story of Wales and the people of Wales.

That’s how we want to use the collection more. Not just showing the objects but digging deeper into the stories behind them and helping them shine.

As part of this redevelopment process, we’ll also be conserving and reinterpreting some of the objects by bringing out items that haven’t been on display for a long time and using them to tell the story here.

That’s what excites me about the collection. I was at the collection store recently, and the curator showed me the box van. That’s one of the objects we want to restore and use in an immersive exhibition space. Just by placing it in this space, it helps explain the colonnade, the warehouse, and the connections through the railways to the Welsh hinterland, and how goods travelled out into the world and back again. The collection enables us to share all of that. That’s why it’s so important.

What do you find most inspiring when you step into the Waterfront Museum, as it is today? 

We’re all just so excited to be here. I feel so lucky to come to work each day with an amazing, creative, professional team.

Together we’re looking at what works in the museum, what we can improve, and how we can place people, their stories and their experiences at the heart of everything we do. We want to connect people through their visit here and that’s what excites me.

I get to do this with a brilliant team, in a wonderful location. I absolutely love the warehouse, and so many of the objects in our collection. It’s all just so exciting. Every day, we really enjoy what we do.

Your GRAFT Garden is celebrating its seventh birthday this year, and it’s thriving, in a bustling city. How can we as Amgueddfa Cymru, or as visitors, get involved in the garden?

Everyone is welcome to visit and work in the garden.

At the moment, if you’re a general visitor, it might not be clear how the garden connects with the museum’s work. But there are so many innovative ideas and themes being explored in the garden, with people from all walks of life contributing their experiences.

We’re now looking at how we can make that more visible. We want to help people see that connection, so the garden becomes something they actively engage with and not just something they pass by.

It links so well with the themes we explore in our more traditional exhibition spaces, and it was such a brilliant idea to establish it. It’s a place where everyone can experience something meaningful, whether they’re volunteering or just popping out to have a look.

It’s a lovely contrast, this heavy industrial machinery alongside a sustainable, biodiversity-led garden. It really shows where Wales has come from and where it’s going. Sustainability is clearly at the heart of that. 

Absolutely. If we’re talking about deindustrialisation, which is one of the key themes we want to explore here, the garden is a great example.

The ground was polluted, which is why we use raised beds. Everything has grown from there. That’s what’s so exciting about it.

We hear you’ve been spending time exploring your new home, Wales. Have you had a chance to visit all of our museums yet?

Not quite. I haven’t made it to Llanberis yet, that’s top of my list. I’m going to Caerleon next week, and Big Pit on Friday. I’ve been to Big Pit before, but this time I’m really looking forward to going behind the scenes.

I’m loving it. And when it comes to our own development work here, it’s so important for us to understand our place in the wider story. That means really getting to know the other sites, beyond just the visitor experience.

Our National Slate Museum, the National Wool Museum, Roman Legion Museum and Big Pit all have such rich, recognised stories. How do you give industry and transport that same global recognition? It’s such an important part of Wales’s story, but not as synonymous as coal or slate. 

Exactly. Wales was the first industrial nation, and geography plays a big part in that. That’s something we’re really interested in.

The warehouse reflects all of it, you’ve got the railway lines coming through from the coalfields, the minerals, the docks, the people who worked here, and the connections to the sea.

But it’s not just a story of heavy industry. It’s also about geography, movement, innovation. One of my favourite pieces is the Robin Goch. It’s such a creative object, that kind of inventive spirit made industrial development possible, and it’s also central to the story of deindustrialisation and sustainability today.

We were just talking recently about community energy schemes happening now in Wales. These are stories we need to tell more strongly, and share with the world.

You mentioned the Robin Goch. Do you have a favourite object from the Amgueddfa Cymru collection?

I don’t have just one, but I absolutely adore the Robin Goch. It’s so ingenious, using everyday materials to make a flying object. It’s fantastic.

I also love the Penydarren locomotive. I probably have a soft spot for it because I worked in Wales previously, and Trevithick’s story was one of the first I came across.

To come here and see the replica is just brilliant. It’s not here at the moment it’s in Darlington, but when I saw it being moved and all the parts coming to life, it was really emotional. So yes, those two are probably my favourites.