The old clock at the National Slate Museum in Llanberis, north Wales 22 February 2007 The clock above the entrance to the Welsh Slate Museum A distinctive feature of the National Slate Museum building is the diamond-shaped face of a clock on the front of the Museum. On the roofline above it is a small pagoda-like structure containing a bell and hammer, connected to the clock by a wire rope. The mechanism is installed on the second floor of the building. It was manufactured in Shropshire but it is not possible to read the date. Early photographs of the building, erected in 1870, do not show the clock, so it was probably not installed until the mid-1890s Timekeeper for quarry explosions The Museum is located within the Victorian workshops of the Dinorwig Quarry. The clock helped ensure the trains taking slate from the quarry to the Company's port at Port Dinorwic were always on time. The clock was more than simply a timekeeper for the workshops though. At some stage in its life, a series of electrical connections were added. At set intervals the clock transmitted an electrical signal to other parts of the Quarry's large site. This was to ensure that blasting happened on time. Such systems were usually marketed as 'pulsynetic clocks'. They were sold by well-known makers such as Gent, Leicester. At Dinorwig, however, a home-made, reliable solution was produced. 100-year-old graffiti A power supply was required to provide the electrical signals. This was supplied via wet cells, or accumulators, stored alongside the clock. One of the discoveries made when renovating this part of the building, in the mid-1990s, was the original graffiti on adjacent walls and panels noting the dates of battery charges. On June 10, 1909, for example, Willie Owen Williams and George Hughes charged the batteries. Cleaning the clock Although well cared for over the years, by 2001 the clock required specialist attention. J.B. Joyce and Company, the manufacturers, were still in existence. They were established at Whitchurch in Shropshire, and are still there over three hundred years later. Unfortunately, they have no records of individual clocks manufactured, but were prepared to visit the Museum to inspect the clock. The mechanism ended up being returned to the Joyce workshops where it was cleaned and serviced. The clock was then reassembled, brought back to the Museum and commissioned. Today the clock works smoothly and to a good degree of accuracy. Village timekeeper At a time when few people possessed watches, the clock installed in the Dinorwig Quarry workshops was a timekeeper for its surrounding community, with its bell being audible to most of those living in and around Llanberis. To quote one local author: 'Torrai ar y distawrwydd yn nhrymder nos, a chlywyd aml i glaf yn cwyno yn y bore,"Chysgis i ddim gwerth neithiwr - clywed yr hen gloc yn taro pob awr nes iddi 'leuo"' (It relieved the silence of the depth of night, and quite frequently one would hear of those who were unwell complaining the next morning, "I didn't sleep well last night - I could hear the old clock striking each hour until it dawned".) The old clock continues to measure the passage of time into the 21st century at Llanberis.
The Edwinsford Sofa - spectacular embroidery spends a month in deep freeze 19 February 2007 In 1998 Amgueddfa Cymru purchased furniture from the Edwinsford estate, near Talley, Llandeilo. The largest and most spectacular piece is a unique embroidered sofa from 1845. Conserving this proved to be a fascinating and challenging project, included dismantling, rebuilding and even freezing the object for a month. The sofa contains several individually embroidered squares of wool and silk decorated with metal threads and beads, illustrating original Berlin wool-work designs. The squares form four separate panels along with carved wooden mouldings around the lower edge and carved scroll panels over the arm fronts. Conserving the sofa The reverse side of the back panel before removal of the labels and cleaning. At first glace, it was clear that a lot of repair would be needed if the sofa was to be displayed, as it was dirty, worn and shabby. Many seams had ripped and a moth infestation had destroyed much of the delicate embroidery. In order for each panel of canvas-work to be conserved properly, it had to be removed from the framework. The mouldings were removed easily. However, instead of the usual upholstered technique, the sofa was made up of four individually upholstered sections, covered in the canvas work panels, and then screwed and bolted together. Approximately 300 tacks had to be carefully removed without ripping the canvas work — although they had already made rusty holes in the fabric. A sofa decorated by guests One canvas square was dated on the reverse 'Charlotte Chichester March 22nd 1845' The dismantling process uncovered a fascinating story. As the tacks were removed, paper labels started to drop out from behind the canvas work, each label bearing a someone's name. The names showed who had embroidered each square. Apparently, visitors to Edwinsford had embroidered the squares, and the sofa was designed to display this work. After careful documentation of the labels, each canvas-work square was cleaned with washing solutions and solvents according to the dyes present. Each panel was then supported on undyed linen to strengthen the fabric and make the finished sofa more stable. Fine nylon net was applied around the frayed edges. A month in deep freeze In case there might be still live moth eggs in the sofa, each section was double-wrapped and sealed in polythene, and then frozen for a month. Putting the sofa back together Much of the upholstered furniture on display in the withdrawing room of St Fagans Castle comes originally from Edwinsford Estate, Camarthenshire. A method of re-attaching the cleaned canvas panels had to be found. It was important not to staple directly through the canvas-work, and to limit the number of staples put into the already damaged wooden carcass. It was equally important to be able to remove the panels without damage, should this be necessary in the future. To achieve this, cotton tape was stapled to the wooden frames along the original tack hole lines. Staples were positioned approximately every 15cm to provide a rigid base to which the panels could be sewn using a curved needle. The inner edges of the arms and back had to be stitched first and then screwed and bolted back in position. The outer edges could then be stitched in place. After treatment, the remaining sections of the sofa were replaced, using the original screws and nails wherever possible. Treatment of the paper labels will allow future study and display. The sofa is on display in St Fagans Castle.
