Celebrating Women Who Lead: Helen Goddard, Project Director, National Slate Museum Redevelopment 6 March 2026 For International Women's Day, we are shining a light on one of the incredible women that’s shaping the future of the National Slate Museum. Let us introduce you to Helen Goddard, Project Director for our redevelopment project. Leading with Purpose As Project Director, Helen oversees every aspect of the ambitious redevelopment of the National Slate Museum. Her role is all about ensuring the project delivers on its full potential creatively, culturally, and for communities across Wales and beyond. “I’m responsible for the project as a whole,” Helen explains, “and for making sure it delivers on its ambition.” A Journey Through Heritage Before joining the museum, Helen worked as an archaeologist and community archaeologist before moving into community development work. She spent many years working in the breathtaking northern and western Isles of Scotland, supporting island communities with heritage and community infrastructure projects. Helen moved to Wales in 2011, driven by a personal ambition to learn Welsh. She later qualified as a museum professional while working for Conwy County Borough Council. Women Leading the Way Helen is passionate about women taking up space in sectors where they’ve historically been underrepresented. While the heritage world has strong female representation, construction remains more male dominated. But at the National Slate Museum, the picture is different. “One of the wonderful things about our project is that there are numerous women in leadership roles,” she says. “Our Head of Site, Elen; Exhibition Development Manager, Ulli; our Curator, Cadi; and our Heads of Capital Projects, Julie and Diane. All outstanding women.” Her advice for other women entering similar fields? “Lead authentically. You don’t need to behave in traditionally male ways to lead. It’s okay to show emotion, to be collaborative, and to trust your team.” Life Beyond the Museum When she’s not leading a major redevelopment, Helen’s full of surprises, including one unforgettable chapter of her life: “I once worked on a fishing boat in the Outer Hebrides!” Inspired by a Strong Woman Helen credits her mother as one of her greatest inspirations. “My mum came from a family of 10 children living in rural poverty and went on to carve out her own destiny, never compromising on her dream to help people. She became a Nurse Practitioner towards the end of her career.” Thanks for sharing, Helen, you are a true leader and inspiration!
Bats at the National Slate Museum: Protecting Our Smallest Residents During Redevelopment 3 March 2026 As the National Slate Museum continues its major redevelopment programme, an important community of residents remains very much at the heart of our plans - our bats! Working closely with ecologist Carola Hoskins of SK Environmental Solutions ltd, we’ve been carefully monitoring and protecting ten known bat roosts across the site. These roosts are home mainly to common and soprano pipistrelle bats, two of the smallest bat species in the UK. Seven of the roosts are used by individual males or non-breeding females, but one is particularly special - a soprano pipistrelle maternity roost that supports around 65 bats at its Summer peak.A Safe Place for New LifeAlthough the colony is currently winter hibernating elsewhere, by late April the bats will begin to return. At this time around 35 females will settle into the maternity roost and by late May or early June, each Mother gives birth to a single pup doubling the colony size almost overnight. While 65 bats might sound like a lot, it’s a relatively small maternity colony for soprano pipistrelles, making every individual important.One of Nature’s Cleverest Adaptations“Bats have many remarkable traits, but one of the most fascinating is delayed fertilisation." said Carola. "Female bats mate in autumn, but they delay pregnancy until spring, storing sperm through the winter months. This ensures that pups are born at exactly the right time when warmth, food, and safe roosting conditions give them the best chance of survival. It’s one of the many reasons these tiny mammals are so well adapted to life in the UK."Conservation at the Heart of Our RedevelopmentBecause bats and their roosts are legally protected, all redevelopment work involving the roofs at the Naional Slate Museum or potential bat habitat is carried out under licence, and only during winter while the bats are away. Carola is working alongside our Museum and Construction teams to guide every step of this process, by ensuring that roost entrances remain open, structures remain suitable, and the bats can return safely each spring. This careful approach allows us to progress with essential redevelopment while safeguarding a species that has lived alongside the museum buildings for generations.The National Slate Museum redevelopment project is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, UK Government via Cyngor Gwynedd as part of the Llewyrch o'r Llechi project, Welsh Government including the Community Facilities Programme, the Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation and other funders. We are extremely grateful to all our funders for their support.
Working in partnership to help repair Una Chloe Ward, 26 January 2026 Una is undergoing essential repairs at Boston Lodge, the engineering works of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways. In December and January, a group of volunteers spent a couple of weekends offering their time to help with the task! Una the engine was built in 1905 by the Hunslet company of Leeds and worked at Pen-yr-Orsedd until about 1960, being used mainly to haul wagons of rubble inside the Quarry. Sadly, she failed her safety tests a few years ago and has had to remain out of action since then - much to the disappointment of staff and visitors.This opportunity to help with the repairs has been a part of the collaboration between Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways and the National Slate Museum, as we knew people would jump at the chance to be a part of Una’s story! Over the course of two weekends, several volunteers helped to sand, scrape, clean and prepare metalwork from Una, ready for repainting. This is an essential part of restoring Una and ensuring the steam engine is preserved for future generations, as fresh paint helps protect the metal. "The day I spent working on Una has led to me pursuing the opportunity to volunteer on other projects within the Northwest Wales Slate Heritage Site... I really enjoyed the day" - David, volunteerA big thank you to all those who came and contributed their time on cold winter weekends! It was wonderful to share Una’s story and see everyone’s passion shine through. As work continues with Una, we hope to offer more opportunities for people to engage with the journey! Join our mailing list to ensure you are kept up to date with the latest opportunities: Sign up to the mailing listThe project is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, UK Government via Cyngor Gwynedd as part of the Llewyrch o'r Llechi project, Welsh Government including the Community Facilities Programme, the Wolfson Foundation and The Garfield Weston Foundation and other funders. We are extremely grateful to all our funders for their support.
Archaeologists at National Slate Museum? Chloe Ward, 5 January 2026 I know, archaeology is not something you would automatically associate with the Slate Museum – it’s usually geology! But in December, three volunteers joined us to take part with the archaeological surveying required for the enabling works of the redevelopment project at National Slate Museum, Llanberis.Archaeology Wales were commissioned to survey and record two features at the Gilfach Ddu workshops, where the museum is based. They were recording a post-1970s staircase in the Foundry, and original railway tracks outside in the yard. This surveying is required due to the Gilfach Ddu workshops being a listed building, and to ensure anything changed during the redevelopment project is recorded. The staircase is being replaced with a more accessible and safer design, whereas the railway tracks will be replaced once drainage has been installed beneath them. Three volunteers, Nicola, Donna and Shay, joined buildings archaeologist Emily to draw and photograph these features, creating a permanent record for the future. This provided volunteers with a good base of knowledge of buildings archaeology and how to survey features by drawing and photographing. It also gave a great opportunity to learn about the Slate Museum redevelopment and the improvements being made. DIOLCH Nicola, Donna a Shay! Sign up to the mailing list to hear about any future volunteering opportunities with the Slate Museum:Sign up to the mailing listThe project is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, UK Government via Cyngor Gwynedd as part of the Llewyrch o'r Llechi project, Welsh Government including the Community Facilities Programme, the Wolfson Foundation and The Garfield Weston Foundation and other funders. We are extremely grateful to all our funders for their support.
An extraordinary year! One year on since closing the National Slate Museum temporarily for redevelopment! Helen Goddard, Project Director National Slate Museum Redevelopment Project, 3 November 2025 It's been an extraordinary twelve months for the National Slate Museum Redevelopment Project. Since we temporarily closed our doors in November 2024, the team has undertaken the incredible feat of preparing the museum for redevelopment. We've been successful with a hugely ambitious £12m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This, together with the investment from our other supporters, has finally enabled us to realise the full ambition of the project. We've safely packaged and moved our collections to their temporary home at Llandygai Collections Centre and we've appointed MPH Ltd as lead contractor and started the exciting and highly specialised work of conservation and repair on site. During the enabling works phase, we've seen the demolition of the old shop and café buildings in preparation for the new developments on site. It has been incredible to see these parts of the site temporarily returned to how they looked when the workshops were in operation.Our staff and collections have taken the museum experience beyond the museum walls into partner locations across the World Heritage Site with our ambitious 'Museum on the Move' campaign. Some of our staff are located at the Quarry Hospital here in Llanberis where we've introduced a new Museum character - Margaret the Matron! Our slate quarrymen have made themselves at home in their temporary location at Penrhyn Castle, a powerful and symbolic moment for the story of slate and its place in the history of our local communities here in northwest Wales. Our Blacksmith meanwhile has a space at Crefft Migldi Magldi in the slate quay in Caernarfon working alongside another young Blacksmith. We've also been working very hard on designs for some of the key areas for reinterpretation in the Museum which has been very exciting. Below is a list of some of the things that have taken place thanks to the dedication of our extraordinary team and wider partners. 123 people attended our Silent Spaces Tours of the Museum before closing. 27,643 people have visited our semi-permanent locationsWe’ve been to 19 community events where we’ve met and engaged with 1068 people. 1,115 children have enjoyed our digital and in person Learning activities including the Quarryman’s Day, the waterwheel challenge and 'Strike!' We used 1,734 cable ties to label all the original nails in the walls of the Museum. 165 objects have been boxed up at the Museum to protect them from damage.We've packed away 13,208 objects to our new collections centre in Llandygai by The collections team have hosted 13 visits to the Llandygai Collections Centre and provided guided tours to 119 people.It feels like a good time to pause, reflect and celebrate what we have achieved over the last year but the pace of the project shows no signs of slowing! Over the next two years we will continue to evolve the visitor experience on site including the exhibitions that will define a truly world-class gateway to the world heritage site of the Slate Landscapes of North-West Wales alongside our partners across this special region. Watch this space!
