: REACH

As part of the Wales REACH project, we’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with a range of housing associations and community organisations across Wales. Among these are Adra and Yr Orsaf, both dedicated to supporting people in North Wales with housing and community initiatives.

Discover what Lotti, Yr Orsaf’s Heritage Officer, has been organising and delivering in Dyffryn Nantlle as part of the Wales REACH programme.

How do cultures, histories, and language sit within the open arms of this valley, swim with the rivers, and dance across the etched cliff faces? These are some of the things I have been ruminating on as a Heritage Officer - neu Swyddog Treftadaeth - in Dyffryn Nantlle over the past few months. See Fig 1.

I arrived to this role at Yr Orsaf community hub feeling a post-uni-lostness; I had returned to my childhood home near Clynnog after spending time away in Oxford and felt pretty rusty in my Welsh. Thus, working as a heritage officer in Dyffryn Nantlle was a time re-turn and re-connection. 

Our first session - Noson Hen lunia/Old Pictures Evening - was a chance to open up conversations about heritage. It was golden to hear people’s pride and passion for their sense of place, and to see such care that people had for material pieces relating to their past.  See Fig 2.

Seeing old images of Penygroes shocked me: a bustling place of independent shops, trains, quarrying, a cinema, when compared to its relative understatedness now. Someone told me about the fun they had dancing and singing at farms for Noson Lawen and the excitement of meeting people from different towns at Clynnog disco. Beyond nostalgia, seeing how Dyffryn Nantlle has changed over time also gave me excitement at the feeling of possibility and was a reminder of the importance of ongoing community work happening at places like Yr Orsaf. See Fig 3.

Our Noson Streuon - storytelling night - was bustling with eager listeners for Gwynn and Gethin’s tales. I was mesmerised by Gethin’ delicate, unfurling image of the oak sampling sprouting up before the grand tale of Blodeuwedd and Lleu Llaw Gyffes. What felt most meaningful were that the stories were rooted in this landscape - that the story of the tylwyth teg unfolded on a farm just across from the top of the high street and another one just down at the river I cycled passed on the way to work. It added cultural depth to my internal map of home. I had never been to a storytelling yn Gymraeg. It felt right to hear these stories in the language of which they had been borne, the language of this land; a powerful holder of heritage. 

Heritage is a personal thing, where complex feelings towards it are shaped by particular moments and experiences. As a heritage officer, this means a humble approach that recognises that people already have their own heritages and connect to them in a range of personal ways.

Our collaging afternoon with year 6 from Ysgol Bro Lleu and our fortnightly coffee club for older members of the community - BeNawnNi - was an example of the reciprocal learning that can emerge from intergenerational exchange. Many of the older members were unsure about collaging since it was something that they did not have much experience of. Meanwhile, the primary school kids got stuck right in and took up the opportunity to show their older counterparts what they were doing. They worked together to collage their favourite places in Dyffryn Nantlle and talk about what it meant to them. See Fig 4. 

Our three open evenings in May - Nosweithiau Treftadaeth - provided a space for people to share their knowledge and experiences of living in Dyffryn Nantlle. I got to hear about captivating things that have punctuated people’s lives: the trembling cupboards of the 1984 Llŷn Peninsula earthquake (5.4 Richter scale!), traces of old ways of land ownership in the landscape such as names carved on rocks, and a familial pride at the sight of old farming equipment such as maen melin (millstones). Even mysterious, ghostly musings of a flying circus act that once came to Dorothea Quarry. See Fig 5. 

From these heritage events arose particular challenges. How, for example, to engage secondary school age people in heritage? I found the recent work by Gwyrddni with local schools on the theme of climate change very inspiring. Their work culminated in a bright, big book and a beautiful range of singing and poetry performances for the crew at BeNawnNi. What struck me was that their work not only touched on themes of climate change but were also deeply rooted in a sense of place and heritage. This performance showed me the opportunities that arise when we approach heritage with loosened meanings, one that does not wholly have to be fixed on the past, but is an ongoing process; a conversation that encompasses practices and ways of living that are important for the future. 

Following this theme of heritage as an ongoing process, later workshops explored heritage by actively doing arts and crafts. We had weaving and natural dyeing sessions with the artist Ella Jones, made sculptural portraits of local famous figures with Luned Rhys Parri, and braided willow baskets with Eirian Muse while listening to Welsh folk on BBC Radio Cymru. See Fig 6. 

Following a theme of wool, we had a series of sessions on natural dyeing woollen embroidery threads with a local community textiles company called Tecstiliau, and a bowl felting workshop with Nicole LeMaire. Angharad Tomos kindly showed me poems along the way which were relevant to the agricultural love of place that has been nurtured in this area. Reading them during the workshop provided a lovely framing for reflecting on the relationship between wool and this landscape while working with our hands. Many people mentioned grandmothers who had been skilled quilters, embroiderers and makers of clothing. See Fig 7 and 8. 

Heritage will continue to be cultivated in Dyffryn Nantlle. The very active ‘Criw Kate’ group in Penygroes are organising a festival for the prominent writer - Kate Roberts - at Cae’r Gors in September. I am particularly excited about an old place names project which we started off in August with a session for collecting field names from farmers. Place names - like ‘mini pdf files’ - give interesting and surprising clues about past land use, topographical features like water sources, or can even connect to folktales. Names can change with different ownership or be passed down for generations. Elinor Gwynn and Carwyn Graves - who recently did a talk about the ‘Iaith Yn Y Tir/Language in The Land’ at Yr Orsaf - have been particularly inspiring in this regards; attending to the ways relationships with land have been carried in Cymraeg - is key to making a more just future which respects the beautiful ways that people have inhabited places across time. 

I am grateful to have been entrusted with people’s memories and stories over the past few months. To braid these strands together, I hope that we can make something creative and collaborative with these place names, such as a quilt or an embroidery piece, to celebrate their beauty and rootedness in this landscape.

Keep an eye out for others upcoming blogs, showcasing the amazing work that’s been happening across all our participating communities. 

Wales REACH is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is a partnership between thirteen organisations and is led by The Open University and Amgueddfa Cymru. It is funded with a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The current phase started in autumn 2024 and is scheduled to run until autumn 2026. 

In June 2025, as part of the Wales REACH project, Amgueddfa Cymru invited applications for two Amgueddfa Cymru Producers to design and deliver a workshop about Pride. Here’s what James, one of our ACPs, had to say about the experience:

For pride month, Amgueddfa Cymru invited myself and Kleo to organise a workshop alongside Innovate Trust: a charity dedicated to helping adults with learning disabilities. We provided the materials, inspiration, and a brief history lesson so that people could create signs to carry at the Cardiff pride parade held on the 21st of June.

Part of my role was scouring the museum’s collection for some inspiration and the catalogue did not disappoint. I was surprised by the array of material available; from protest materials of the 1980s, to works by proudly queer artists, works loved by queer people, and private family photographs. Protest materials included t-shirts, banners, and badges, many of which were aimed against Section 28 in particular. This was part of the law put in place by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government that saw any mention of homosexuality in schools as an attempt to ‘promote’ the lifestyle. This meant that for over twenty years children in schools had no way to access accurate and unbiased information regarding sexuality or safe sex. Amgueddfa Cymru has a t-shirt with the exact wording of Section 28 printed on it. For me, part of pride has to be about looking back to all of the work done in the past so that we have the strength to look to the future. For museums to include objects like these is so important to me, and a huge step forwards for our communities and cultural institutions. 

My first time at pride was moderately unsuccessful. In either 2018 or 2019 myself and a friend travelled to London hoping to find the kind of community that was out of reach for kids in a relatively small secondary school. On the journey there we overheard a group of people warning each other that pride was on. That they had to be careful because we would all be having sex in the streets. I can safely say that hearing this made me feel infinitely more uncomfortable than anything I experienced at pride. But it still felt isolating. The two of us wandered around London and largely kept to ourselves and it didn’t feel like pride was the sort of thing I’d want to go to again.

On the morning of Cardiff pride this year I was exhausted and found myself sorry to miss the parade. But by the afternoon I was alive enough to walk into the city centre and within minutes it became easy to recognise many of the people that were there for pride or the big queer picnic. The number of families with children really warmed my heart. And I didn’t hear a single bad word about queer people. No warnings that we didn’t know how to control ourselves. No fearmongering about trans people in public spaces. I sat in the sunshine with some friends. I saw dogs dressed up in colourful outfits and silly hats. And it finally felt like a pride event that had done what it set out to achieve, it gave me an overwhelming sense of joy and family. I felt relaxed.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with Amgueddfa Cymru for pride month. Someone once described queer history to me as “cruising” through archives; seeing what or who catches your eye. I would encourage everyone to do the same and to seek out queer joy, whatever the month.

Wales REACH is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is a partnership between thirteen organisations and is led by The Open University and Amgueddfa Cymru. It is funded with a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The current phase started in autumn 2024 and is scheduled to run until autumn 2026.

As part of the Wales REACH (Residents Engaging in Arts, Culture and Heritage) project, we’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with groups from Innovate Trust and First Choice- two organisations supporting people with learning disabilities in Rhondda Cynon Taf and the Vale of Glamorgan. Over the past few months, we’ve come together for a series of creative workshops to connect with our local history and heritage through art and creativity.

Since starting REACH, we have held six museum-focussed workshops. We started off with a mindfulness walk around St Fagans National Museum of History. It gave us all a chance to slow down, notice our surroundings, and chat in a relaxed setting. It set a gentle and open tone, one that has carried through all the sessions since. 

One of the standout moments was a visit from our Principal Curator of Collection Development: LGBTQ+, Mark Etheridge. Mark shared powerful LGBTQ+ stories from the museum’s collections, which led to some thoughtful conversations. It gave the group space to reflect, ask questions and connect those stories to their own experiences. Rhys, one of the participants, said “The LGBTQ+ activity at St Fagans was important to me, after that I started to talk to people and be more open with the group about being gay”. Zac also added “this is for me, I’m gay so this is for me, look it’s cool”.

Inspired by objects from the museum, the group began creating their own artwork. Some people sketched out images and messages, while others designed T-shirts. What really stood out was the thoughtfulness behind each piece. Every design had meaning and reflected something real to the person who made it. According to Rhys, “Two of my favourite activities were the art lesson with Marion and designing a t-shirt about what being Welsh meant to me. I liked them because I liked sitting down with friends and support workers, just having fun and getting creative”.

Some of our more recent workshops focused Pride. Two of our Amgueddfa Cymru Producers led an engaging session about the history and significance of Pride, which sparked lots of curiosity and discussion. The group were tasked with creating bold, bright banners that could be carried in the parade. These sessions were full of enthusiasm, plenty of colours and a real sense of celebration. 

REACH is all about learning new skills and making new friendships. It is about telling unheard stories and strengthening and highlighting pride. It is about using the talents of local people to challenge the stigmas that their communities face. Hear what Eve, Health and Wellbeing Coordinator for First Choice, has to say: 

"Being part of the Wales REACH Project, I've loved seeing a core group form of people who are passionate about learning, sharing and creating. Wales REACH has provided the group with opportunities to try new things and form new friendships; some of these people may have never otherwise crossed paths despite their common interests. Their energy and enthusiasm has been infectious and it's been wonderful to join in with some of the sessions, hosted by kind and knowledgeable facilitators".

Keep an eye out for others upcoming blogs, showcasing the amazing work that’s been happening across all our participating communities. 

Wales REACH is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is a partnership between thirteen organisations and is led by The Open University and Amgueddfa Cymru. It is funded with a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The current phase started in autumn 2024 and is scheduled to run until autumn 2026.