National Slate Museum

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

I’ve been with Amgueddfa Cymru for a whirlwind 12 months. I am on secondment from Conwy County Borough Council where I usually look after the museum, library, arts, and archives services. Before moving to North Wales 14 years ago I worked across the Scottish islands as an archaeologist and community development worker.

My mum is from North Wales, and I always wanted to learn Welsh. It has taken me 14 years to get there, but I would say that a year at Llanberis has certainly supercharged my learning experience!

My role as Project Director means that I’m responsible for the overall management and delivery of the National Slate Museum Redevelopment project. I lead a number of wider project teams and report on progress to the Project Board. I’m charged with ensuring that the project stays on schedule and within budget and that we are meeting the expectations of our funders and stakeholders. Its also my job to make sure that we all share and drive forward the same vision to deliver the project together with our communities in a way that meets their own needs and aspirations.

The Llanberis project is really exciting, what can you share about it, as it progresses?

We refer to it as a once-in-a-generation opportunity and that really is true. Since the Slate Landscapes of Northwest Wales were designated as a World Heritage Site back in 2021, strategic funding opportunities have made it possible for us develop a really ambitious scheme. We will be able to create a brand new shop, café and learning space to transform the visitor experience. We are also going to install a lift to the first floor pattern lofts for the first time, as well as provide more accessible spaces throughout and better toilets (including a changing places toilet).

We are trying to create a nuanced balance between respecting the sensitivity of Gilfach Ddu and providing a contemporary experience. Visitors, locals and staff alike tell us that they love the site just the way it is – as though the workers have just downed tools and gone home for the day. That’s the spirit of the historic workshops that we are trying to honour, whilst at the same time making more significant improvements to spaces that have historically seen a lot of change already. For example, in our new gallery spaces, we will be able to show off more of our national collection, but also develop our role as a gateway to the wider slate landscape WHS.

We have just finalised our RIBA4 stage, which is the technical design phase where all the detailed specifications and materials are agreed. We have gone out to tender for the main works and with all being well are starting on site in April.

What’s happened to the collection while the renovation works are happening and can we still visit?

Almost the entire collection – around 10,000 objects - have been moved off site to a new dedicated accessible collections centre at Llandygai just outside Bangor. Anything that can move, has moved! This is to protect the collection but also to keep it accessible while the museum is closed temporarily. Our activity programme over the coming year will provide lots of opportunities for people to visit, experience and work with the collections in their temporary home and help select objects for display and decide how their stories will be told.

Is the Llanberis site open while works happen, it would be cool to have a tour of the empty museum!

The museum is closed temporarily, partly to keep staff and visitors safe because of the scale of the works, but also because we are working to a very tight timescale! We are offering some ‘Silent Spaces’ tours at the moment for the local community as we prepare to hand over to the contractor, and we will look to offer more sneak peak and behind the scenes tours over the coming months.

We’ve seen the Development and Llanberis Redevelopment Team working hard to secure funding, whose contributed to the project that we can shout about!

Goodness me, there are so many people doing extraordinary work. Certainly in the last 6 months I have been bowled over by Cadi, our curator, and the wider site staff for the work they’ve done to prepare the museum for closure. Kerry Vicker is my hero. She got me through our Stage 2 National Lottery Heritage Fund bid for just under £10m.

What sustainability measures are being considered, to protect the future of the museum and the collection?

We have Victoria Hillman working on the project team as part of the redevelopment so that we can keep a focused eye on sustainability and environment. There are so many elements to this which are a combination of preventative measures and new initiatives.

In terms of the collection we are being pragmatic and responsive to the types of industrial collections we have. We are conserving some elements – such as Una the engine – who will be brought back into steam through the project. The environments we achieve for the main gallery spaces will achieve a new level of conditioning, which will help us to display more sensitive objects for the first time.

We have also been working with Cardiff Met university on a climate adaptation pathway exercise and building this into the specification for things like landscaping materials, managing run-off, breathability of buildings and design of rainwater goods. We are also looking to achieve:

• BREEAM excellent for the new buildings
• New bat and swift boxes
• Translocation of lichens and mosses
• Planting of native and rare species
• Rainwater harvesting
• Highly sensitive lighting strategy
• Sustainability and environmental learning outcomes embedded across all interpretation

The list goes on!

What are you most looking forward to about the redevelopment?

I can’t wait to see my two young children playing in the spaces we create. I’m hoping to see nothing but delight and wonder on their faces as they explore.

Finally, we love asking this - what’s your favourite piece in the Amgueddfa Cymru collection?

Well, I haven’t been here very long, but I would say my favourite object so far is our beautiful Caban Eisteddfod Chair in the NSM collection. What a simple, beautiful expression of life in the slate quarrying communities and the lived experience of those who sat together in the Caban.

We're busy getting ready for the redevelopment project at the National Slate Museum, which is due to start November 2024! We want to give volunteers the opportunity to be a part of this phase of the project by helping us clean, catalogue and pack our collection in the Pattern Loft. 

To ensure our wonderful industrial collection is protected whilst essential conservation and renovation work is done on the Gilfach Ddu, the collection will be moving. Or at least some of it! Our Collections & Cataloguing Assistants, Osian and Mathew, have been busy labelling and cataloguing items of the collection that haven't before been looked at in such detail. They will be cleaning them, and packing them safely in crates with tissue paper. 

This is a unique opportunity to welcome volunteers and involve them in new ways. We want to make the most of this opportunity to provide experiences, skills development and help improve people's wellbeing through volunteering. 

Sound interesting? Want to Take Part? Take a look at the full Collection Volunteer role description on the website.  You will be able to volunteer on Tuesdays or Thursdays, 10:00-1:00. We can be flexible to suit public transport. This project will run from 24 September to 31 October, but further collections volunteering opportunities will become available in the new year. Any questions? Get in touch with Chloe Ward, Volunteering & Engagement Coordinator on chloe.ward@museumwales.ac.uk. 

What are the volunteering opportunities at the National Slate Museum? 

Getting people involved in volunteering at the National Slate Museum has been a priority since I began my role as Volunteering Co-ordinator here in May 2022. So what opportunities for taking part are there at the Museum?

Blacksmithing placement 
In December 2022 we excitingly welcomed Dai to the museum on a Student Work Placement. Dai was on a Welding and Fabricating college course, which requires students to partake in 20 days of work experience. He worked with Liam, our Blacksmith, in the historic forge in the Gilfach Ddu workshops and over the 20 days learnt how to make a bottle opener, a fire poker, and a pair of tongs. It was great to see his confidence and skills develop over the months he was here!

Skills Development Placements 
Last year we started Skills Development Placements in Llanberis, something that already exists at Cardiff National Museum. They are one day a week of shadowing the front of house team, providing invaluable experience for people who have barriers to work. We piloted the placement over the Winter 2022, and this year Aaron has just started a placement with us. He says he is looking forward to learning about the history and the opportunity to be part of a team. These placements are available almost all year round – please feel free to get in touch for more information.

Rag rug volunteers 
If crafting is your thing, helping us create rugs might be your motivation to volunteer! We have around 3 volunteers weekly in the Chief Engineer’s House, working on making rag rugs for our historic houses. Since they started in May they have had many interesting conversations with our visitors. Many of our visitors talk about how they used to make rag rugs with their grandparents when they were younger, albeit not everyone knows them as rag rugs! They are known by different names across the United Kingdom – we have learnt about 'proddy rugs', 'peg rugs' and many more!

What can we look forward to?  
We’re currently developing a few interesting roles in Llanberis... we will soon be recruiting for an Ambassador Volunteering Role, and a Machine Conservation Volunteering role! We will also be advertising a Heritage Student Work Placement in September for students looking for general experience in the heritage industry. Keep your eyes peeled!

Amgueddfa Cymru Museum Wales have been working with Refugees and Asylum Seekers, supporting people to integrate into their new communities for many years. 

As part of this work, we have developed partnerships with key organisations such as Addysg Oedolion Cymru Adult Learning Cymru. They have been working with us over the past year, alongside their ESOL students, to develop new ESOL learner resources designed to support people learning English to explore our museums and galleries. 

The new resources cover the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, the National Slate Museum in Llanberis and the National Roman Legion Museum in Caerleon. 

The resources have been created by ESOL tutors and tested by ESOL learners. They follow the ESOL curriculum and cover a range of different levels from Entry to Level 2. 

Now that the new resources have been tested, tweaked, and trialed they are ready to download from our website for any ESOL learner or group visiting one of the museums. (See the links above). 

We also have a suite of ESOL resources for St Fagans National Museum of History which were developed in a similar way as part of the HLF funded Creu Hanes Making History Project in 2014. 

We continue to work with our partners and community members to provide meaningful opportunities for people facing barriers to participation in the arts and cultural heritage. 

We learn so much from the people who visit our sites and engage in the learning opportunities we offer. 

Supporting those people who are newly arrived in Wales to settle and integrate into their new communities is a very important area of our work and we hope that these new learner resources help many people on that journey. 

Diolch yn fawr to Addysg Oedolion Cymru Adult Learning Wales and the ESOL tutors and learners who have contributed to the creation of these new learner resources. 

I can’t believe that 21 years have passed since Fron Haul was officially opened at the National Slate Museum. This was my first project at the Museum, and as someone who grew up in the area, I feel extremely lucky to be associated with Fron Haul. The following is a piece I wrote back in 1999.

Why Fron Haul?

Originally located on the edge of the road in Tanygrisiau; the buildings were chosen because they are typical of the cramped terraces characteristic of the quarrying towns and villages.

When it came to re-erecting and interpreting these houses, we decided to take the lead from the popular and successful Rhyd-y-car terrace. But rather than limit the story to Tanygrisiau, each house not only illustrates different periods, but also depicts different quarrying areas.

‘Golden Age’

The houses are first recorded in the 1861 Census - with the slate industry well on its way to becoming one of the most important industries in Wales and the main employer in Gwynedd. As demand for slate increased, men moved from neighbouring agricultural areas to work in the quarries. In a number of cases quarrymen would stay the working week in the barracks, built near the quarries, returning to their homes for the weekend. With the building of houses near the quarries, many of the families moved to join the breadwinner, forming new and unique communities. As would be expected, Fron Haul’s first inhabitants were quarrymen born in parishes outside Ffestiniog.

However, there weren’t enough houses to meet the demands of the growing workforce. According to the 1871 Census, seven people lived in one of the Fron Haul houses.  As well as the father and mother, there lived a 13 year old daughter, two sons, six and one year old, a 27 year old servant and a 29 year old lodger. Considering the houses originally only had one bedroom, it’s hard to imagine how they managed. In addition to overcrowding, damp was a problem, the water was impure and the sewage system primitive.  It is no wonder that diseases such as typhoid and tuberculosis were rife.

The Penrhyn Lockout

Although the quarryman received a reasonably fair wage, there was nothing to protect them from losing their jobs or receiving wage cuts in times of recession. There were periodical strikes and lock-outs, the most prominent being the Penrhyn Lockout - one of the longest running disputes in the industrial history of Britain, extended from November 1900 until November 1903.

Furnishing the house to reflect the poverty and hardship of a family on strike was quite a challenge, especially as the visitor’s eyes are naturally drawn to the oak dresser with its Willow Pattern plates and the lustre jugs; the ornaments on the mantelpiece and pictures on the walls. But there are a few clues – the sign 'Nid oes Bradwr yn y tŷ hwn’(There is no traitor in this house), that was displayed in the windows of everyone still on strike, showing clearly which side they were on. The wives and children would have used the conch-shell on the windowsill as a trumpet to shame the ‘traitors’ as they returned home from the quarry. Upstairs, in the main bedroom the father’s trunk is in the process of being packed as heads to The Tumble, Carmarthenshire. It’s estimated that between 1,400 and 1,600 quarrymen moved to south Wales to work in the coal mines and support their families during the Strike.

End of an Era

The Strike failed in its aim, and the industry declined soon after. The closure of such an influential quarry as Penrhyn for three whole years starved the market of its supply of slate, and merchants turned their sights towards foreign markets for roofing materials.

Quarries gradually closed, with the process reaching its peak between 1969 and 1971 when work came to an end at three of the previous mainstays: Dinorwig, Dorothea and Oakeley.

In less than a century, the slate industry developed, grew, then declined.  The houses have been furnished to reflect this change within the slate industry.