Work & Labour

Glo - people's history online

2 September 2014

COAL magazine from the National Coal Board

All issues of the magazine Glo are now available on this site.

The style of Glo is based on the photojournalistic magazine Picture Post and compliments the excellent St Fagans publication Homefront, which commemorated Welsh life during the Second World War.

Glo is also similar in appearance to COAL, the National Coal Board's magazine, first published in 1947.

Glo can best be described as a 'people's history' magazine; people are asked to contribute their own views, images and experiences of a particular topic.

A selection of stories and images from the magazines are also available on Rhagor as individual articles, each linking to the relevant issue of Glo.

Issues are available to download below.

'Bevin Boys': Conscription into the mines during the Second World War

'NC-Bloody-B' The nationalization of the coal industry

Glo - Foreign workers in the Welsh Coalfields - pdf dowload

'All Poles?' Foreign workers in the Welsh coal fields

'Strike!' The 1984/5 Miners' Strike

Mineworkers

North Wales: The Forgotten Coalfield?

A Cog in the Wheel

Big Pit

When Dai became Tommy

Cambrian Voices

Laughter and Tears

Publish date: 2 September 2014

Tagged with: Coal, Iron & Slate History Industry - Workshop of the World Mining & Extraction Work & Labour

The Great War: Britain’s Efforts and Ideals

2 August 2014

The most ambitious print project of the First World War

This exhibition presents the complete print series, The Great War: Britain’s Efforts and Ideals. These sixty-six prints were produced by the British government in 1917 as artistic propaganda with the aim of encouraging a war-weary public and raising support for the war effort.

Eighteen artists contributed to the series, including Augustus John, George Clausen and Frank Brangwyn – some of the most celebrated artists of the time.

As a government commission, the artists did not have full artistic freedom. They were given their subjects and each image had to pass censorship regulations.

The prints are divided into two sets of portfolios, ‘Ideals’ and ‘Efforts’. The ‘Ideals’ address the question of why Britain was at war and what it aimed to achieve. These images are dramatic and symbolic, such as The Freedom of the Seas and The Triumph of Democracy. The ‘Efforts’ illustrate some of the activities of the war effort, the means by which Britain was to achieve the ‘Ideals’. The Efforts are separated into nine subject headings, each depicting a different activity or theme.

Producing and Exhibiting

These prints were commissioned by Wellington House, a government department secretly set up to produce propaganda. The project was managed by the artist Thomas Derrick (1885–1954), and the printing carried out under the direction of the artist and contributor F. Ernest Jackson (1872–1945). The printer was Avenue Press, London.

The contributing artists were paid well, each receiving £210 (about £10,000 today) with the possibility of further royalties from sales. The prints were a limited edition of two hundred. The ‘Efforts’ were sold for £2 2s 0d (£100) each and the ‘Ideals’ for £10 10s 0d (£500).

As a government commission, the artists did not have full artistic freedom. They were given their subjects and each image had to pass censorship regulations.

The series was first exhibited at the Fine Art Society, London in July 1917, followed by regional art galleries around Britain. It was also shown in France and in America, where the majority of the portfolios were sent to be exhibited and sold.

Contemporary Reaction to Prints

“The very soul of the war is to be read in the set of sixty-six brilliant lithographs.”
(The Illustrated London News, 1917)

These prints were commissioned as propaganda with the specific aim of raising civilian morale and manipulating public opinion towards the First World War in Britain and abroad. In 1917, after three years of hard fighting and unprecedented loss of life, the government needed a new way to maintain public support for the war. These prints were designed to remind people of the aims and objectives, and emphasise the importance of patriotic duty.

It is hard to know whether the prints were successful as propaganda. They were widely published when first exhibited in 1917. Some journalists supported the message, “To see these lithographs is a patriotic as well as an artistic duty” (Burton Daily Mail, Feb 15, 1918). Others were not so positive, “their efforts are in almost every instance sincere; yet the result is, on the whole, meagre and unsatisfying.” (The Daily Telegraph, 20 July 1917). In America, the reaction initially seemed positive, ‘they have been a revelation to American Fifth Avenue art patrons, dealer, critics…They put up British prestige’. However, prints sales there did not meet expectations and a loss was made on the project as a whole.

Lithography and the Senefelder Club

‘The most brilliant of the younger men are all now making remarkable lithographs…there is a genuine renaissance of the art’ (Joseph Pennell, 1914)

Lithography is a printing technique based on the principle that oil and water do not mix. An artist draws an image onto a smooth surface, traditionally a limestone, with a greasy material. Ink is then rolled onto the surface, it is attracted to the drawing, but repelled by the dampened un-drawn areas. Paper is laid down on the stone and run through a press. Different effects can be achieved using different greasy materials to draw. These can imitate a chalk or pencil drawing or even watercolour. Many of these prints were produced using a ‘transfer’ method, where a drawing made on special paper is transferred to the stone, rather than working on it directly. For colour lithographs, the artist begins with the design on a key-stone using one colour. Any further colours require a different stone, inked up and printed one on top of another.

Many of the contributing artists were members of the Senefelder club, a small club set up in 1908 to encourage and revive artistic lithography. It was named after the 18th century German inventor of the process. This portfolio was produced at a time of a revival of interest in the artistic opportunities of lithography.

Ideals

The Freedom of the Seas - Frank Brangwyn

The Reign of Justice - Edmund J. Sullivan

The Rebirth of the Arts - Charles Shannon

The Triumph of Democracy - William Rothenstein

The Restoration of Serbia - Gerald Moira

United Defence Against Aggression (England and France, 1914) - F. Ernest Jackson

The Restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France - Maurice Greiffenhagen

The Reconstruction of Belgium - George Clausen

“To lose sight of Britain's ultimate ideals of freedom and democratic justice is to reduce the present war to nothing less than a carnival of carnage” (Burton Daily Mail, Feb 15, 1918)

Twelve artists each contributed a large colour lithograph to this section. Some of the artists, including Brangwyn and F. Ernest Jackson, were accomplished lithographers, whilst for others, such as Clausen and Grieffenhagen, it was the first time that they had used the technique.

The Ideals express the aims and ambitions of the war through use of allegory and symbolism. Allegory is a traditional form of representation in art in which historical or mythological figures are used to communicate broader ideas and concepts. In Ideals, the message and meaning of the composition is referenced by the title of each work. Countries and concepts are represented as figures and forms. Although allegorical representation had been out of artistic fashion for some time when these prints were made, it was used here as a propaganda tool to emphasise the importance of the objectives. Through grandiose associations, the prints aimed to justify the means and realities of the war for ordinary people.

Although many people praised the project, The Ideals received some criticism for their idealistic portrayal of war.

Making Soldiers

Showing soldiers in training and at the Front, one journalist described these prints as capturing ‘the spirit of our new, young army’. Kennington was probably chosen for this subject as he had himself enlisted with the 13th (Kensington) Battalion London Regiment and fought on the Western Front, France, 1914-1915. He was wounded and discharged as unfit in 1915. These prints do not attempt to depict the horror and tragedy of war; as in most of his war art, Kennington instead champions the common soldier.

Kennington was born in Chelsea, London, the son of a well-known portrait artist. He studied at St Paul’s Art School, the Lambeth School of Art and the City and Guilds School. He was appointed an official war artist from 1917-1919 and again in 1940-1943, painting portraits of sailors and airmen.

Making Sailors

Brangwyn’s subject reflects his interest in the sea. In many of his prints he has exploited the particular quality of lithography that enables artists to create prints similar to sketches and drawings. Brangwyn was deeply affected by the destruction and loss of life in the war, particularly in Belgium, where he had been born. He was never appointed an official war artist, but produced many further lithographs to support various charities.

Brangwyn was born in Bruges to an Anglo-Welsh father and Welsh mother from Brecon. The family moved back to Britain and by the age of fifteen Brangwyn was studying under designer and socialist William Morris. As he became successful as a painter, etcher and lithographer, Brangwyn began to travel widely across the world. He had an international reputation at the time of undertaking this commission and was a member of the Senefelder Club, which promoted the medium of lithography.

Making Guns

Where the Guns are made - George Clausen

Clausen researched this set of prints at the Royal Gun Factory, Woolwich Arsenal, London, which manufactured armaments, ammunition and explosives for the British Armed Forces. At its peak during the First World War it employed around 80,000 people and extended over 1,30 acres. Clausen was appointed an official war artist in 1917. As an older artist he did not go to the Front line, instead recording activities on the home front.

Clausen was born in London to George Clausen Senior, a decorative painter of Danish descent. He attended the Royal College of Art and South Kensington art schools, then the Académie Julian in Paris. He was a founding member of the New English Art Club and was elected Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy in 1904. He was knighted in 1927.

Building Ships

A shipyard seen from a big crane - Muirhead Bone

Muirhead Bone was the first appointed official war artist. As one of Britain’s leading draughtsmen, he was renowned for the almost photographic detail he achieved in his drawings. As well as recording the war on the Front, Bone spent time on the Clyde in Scotland, documenting shipbuilding. He sketched with a notebook strapped to his hand. These prints show different stages in the building, as well as views of the yard, one from the top of crane. One journalist wrote that his series, ‘delights in the intricacies of scaffolding and mechanical contrivances’. These images were also published in a War Office publication, The Western Front, vol II, 1917.

Bone was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art. He settled in London in 1901. He was an official war artist in 1916-1918, and the official Admiralty artist in 1939-1946. Bone was knighted in 1937.

Building Aircraft

Swooping down on a Taube - Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson

Banking at 4,000 feet - Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson

In the air - Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson

Acetylene Welder - Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson

Assembling Parts - Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson

Making the Engine - Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson

Nevinson’s prints were particularly admired when first exhibited. He ‘contrives to make the visitor almost giddy’, one critic wrote, another that he possessed ‘the power of expressing sensations rather than visual facts’.

Nevinson studied lithography under Ernest Jackson in 1912. At the outbreak of war he volunteered as an ambulance driver, an experience which deeply affected him. He was appointed an official war artist in 1917. These prints follow the process of building aircraft from making parts to assembly and flight. Acetylene Welder and Assembling parts both show the growing contribution of women workers.

Nevinson was born in London to the war correspondent and journalist Henry Nevinson. He studied at the Slade School and in Paris. He is one of the most renowned war artists of the period. His work was influenced by avant-garde European art movements such as Cubism and Futurism, yet slowly moved to a more realist style as he attempted to portray conflict.

Work on the Land

Burning couch-grass - William Rothenstein

On 15th May 1917, Rothenstein wrote to Ernest Jackson, ‘I hope to have the 5th drawing finished early this week and the last next week. I will then come up to town and do what is needful to the stones’. He was not happy with some of his early work, writing, ‘somehow the lines seem poor and thin’. He decided to print some in a red/brown colour rather than black. These works are simple and understated, a contrast to the busyness and modernity of war shown in many of the other prints in the series. They take their cue from images of rural labour that characterised much landscape painting from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. They were probably drawn around Stroud, Gloucestershire, where Rothenstein was living.

Rothenstein was born in Bradford of German-Jewish descent. He studied at the Slade School of art, London and the Académie Julian, Paris. As well as being appointed official war artist to the British Army 1917-1918, he was artist to the Canadian army in 1919. Between 1920 and 1935 he served as Principal of the Royal College of Art and in 1931 he was knighted.

Tending the Wounded

Casualty Clearing Station in France - Claude Shepperson

Convalescence in England - Claude Shepperson

In Hospital in England - Claude Shepperson

Detraining in England - Claude Shepperson

On Board a Hospital Transport - Claude Shepperson

Advanced Dressing Station in France - Claude Shepperson

These prints follow the journey of a wounded soldier from the Front Line, through treatment, to convalescence back at home. The organisers initially asked the artist Henry Tonks (1867-1937), a surgeon before becoming an artist, to respond to the work of the medical services. However, Tonks found the paper supplied ‘entirely unsympathetic’for drawing and declined. Shepperson was later commissioned for the subject and produced a very well received series.

Shepperson was born in Beckenham, Kent, and was a successful water-colourist, pen and ink artist, illustrator and lithographer. Having given up law he studied art in Paris and London. He is well-known for his humorous drawings contributed to the Punch magazine between 1905 and 1920.

Women's work

On Munitions: Skilled Work - A. S. Hartrick

On Munitions: Heavy work (Drilling and casting) - A. S. Hartrick

On Munitions: Dangerous Work (Packing T.N.T) - A. S. Hartrick

On the Railways: Engine and Carriage Cleaners - A. S. Hartrick

In the Towns: A bus conductress - A. S. Hartrick

These prints record the vital contribution made by women as part of the war effort. When more men were required for fighting in 1915, there was a call to women to 'do their bit'. In taking on jobs in areas traditionally reserved for men the female workforce raised levels of production both in factories and fields. Although much of the work was both arduous and dangerous, the war allowed many women an unprecedented degree of freedom, and an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities in previously male-dominated spheres. Hartrick was sent to make studies on the spot, and many of the compositions seem deliberately posed - as propaganda images they give no indication of the hardships and hazards that women faced on a daily basis.

The artist and illustrator Hartrick was born in India and brought up in Scotland. He first studied medicine, before attending the Slade School in London, and art schools in Paris, exhibiting in the 1887 Paris Salon. In 1909 he became a founding member of the Senefelder Club. He also turned to teaching the method, writing an instruction book on Lithography As A Fine Art in 1932.

Transport by Sea

Maintaining Forces Overseas - Charles Pears

Maintaining Export Trade - Charles Pears

Maintaining Food Supplies - Charles Pears

The merchant navy undertook vital tasks during the war, supporting naval ships, transporting troops and carrying essential supplies. It was dangerous work and the fleet suffered great losses. Pears’ images capture the ships in great detail.

Pears was born in Pontefract, Yorkshire and, although he worked as a successful illustrator and lithographer, is best known for his marine paintings. During the First World War Pears was a commissioned officer in the Royal Marines, and worked as an official naval artist from 1914-1918, and again in 1940. Throughout his career he was also a popular poster designer, creating works for organisations including the London Underground.

Conservation

Each of the works has been treated in the Paper Conservation studio at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. Since their arrival at the Museum in 1919, the prints had been stored in their original mounts and folders for almost 100 years.

Many of the prints were foxed (reddish-brown spots) and dirty. This is a sign that the paper is in poor condition and without treatment, would continue to deteriorate.

Funding was sought to appoint a trainee Paper conservator to work on this project for five months. All the works were washed, pressed, repaired and re-mounted. They are now in the best possible condition and the new mounts provide excellent storage conditions. This conservation will ensure that they will be preserved for generations to come.

Research has also been carried out on the type of paper used for the prints. From the watermark ‘HOLBEIN’ we have discovered that the paper was made by Spalding and Hodge, a paper merchant and manufacturer whose paper mills were located in Kent.

Publish date: 2 August 2014

Tagged with: Art Artists & Makers Collectors & Collections Conflict & Invasion Construction & Architecture Portraiture & Landscape The 20th Century Wales in the World Work & Labour

The scout flag that went South with Scott

Jennifer Barsby, Department of Conservation, Elen Phillips, Department of Social and Cultural History, and Tom Sharpe, 14 June 2013

Commander Evans returns the flag to Scoutmaster T.W. Harvey on board the <em>Terra Nova</em> on 17 June 1913.

The flag being retrieved from the rubble of the scout hall in Wyverne Road, Cathays, Cardiff after the German bombing raid of 30 April 1941

When Captain Scott's Antarctic Expedition ship, the Terra Nova, sailed into her home port of Cardiff on 14 June 1913, she had not only the White Ensign flying at the stern, the Welsh flag on the mainmast and the Cardiff City coat of arms on the foremast, but another, much smaller flag fluttering at the bow. Bearing the colour of the 4th Cardiff Scout Troop, this little green flag had accompanied the expedition to the Antarctic and back.

The 4th Cardiff (St Andrews) Troop had been set up in the Cathays district of Cardiff in October 1908, just five months after the first publication in book form of Scouting for boys by the organisation's founder, Robert Baden-Powell. Despite its title as the 4th Cardiff, it was the first scout troop established in Wales.

In March 1910, their Scoutmaster, T.W. Harvey, ordered a flag from the Boy Scouts headquarters in London, with the intention of presenting it to Scott's upcoming expedition to the South Pole. The flag cost six shillings, plus threepence postage, and the invoice, which was returned with the payment by postal order, he marked "Urgent. For Captain Scott Terra Nova for South Pole".

The flag was presented to the expedition in June 1910 when the Terra Nova was in Cardiff to take on coal and other supplies prior to sailing for Antarctica on 15 June. It was one of several flags given to the expedition in Cardiff with requests that they be taken to the South Pole. The flags certainly made it to the expedition's base hut at Cape Evans on McMurdo Sound in the Ross Sea, but it is unlikely that they were taken by Scott to the South Pole itself.

The 4th Cardiff scouts formed a guard of honour on the quayside at the Roath Dock when the Terra Nova sailed back into Cardiff on Saturday 14 June 1913. Three days later, on 17 June, some fifty members of the troop gathered on the deck of the Terra Nova to see their colour handed back to their Scoutmaster, T.W. Harvey, by Commander Teddy Evans who had assumed command of the ship after the death of Scott. Addressing the boys, Evans said, "Well, boys, here's your flag, and I hope you will treasure it. It has been a long way. If you become such good soldiers as Captain Oates, you will be good men."

Following the flag's return to the scouts, it hung, framed, in a place of honour in the scout hall in Wyverne Road in Cardiff until the night of 30 April 1941 when a German land mine, dropped during an air raid, destroyed the building. A search of the ruins soon afterwards revealed that, remarkably, the flag had survived intact. But that wasn't the last of the flag's adventures. The rebuilt hut in which it later hung burnt down, and yet the flag survived. Replacement premises in Cathays flooded when a pipe burst, but still the flag came through unscathed.

Now in the textile collections of Amgueddfa Cymru, the flag of the 4th Cardiff (St Andrews) Scout Troop has been reunited with two of the other Terra Nova flags which flew on the ship when she returned to Cardiff, the White Ensign and the Welsh flag.

Boy Scouts Be Prepared

The flag is made from two pieces of coarse green, plain weave, woollen cloth, machine sewn across the centre with a double line of stitching in black cotton thread. Its sides have been turned to the reverse and machine sewn using the same black thread. The centre features the yellow fleur-de-lis motif of the Boy Scouts with a painted outline in black and brown. The green cloth has been cut-away and the edges turned in, the motif laid on the front, and the edges turned under and machine sewn with double line of stitching. This technique enables the motif to be seen from both sides when flying, although the text can only be viewed from the front. Below the fleur-de-lis is a scroll, also in yellow wool, with the motto BOY SCOUTS BE PREPARED painted in black capital letters. The troop's name is painted in white in the bottom left corner. It measures 92.5 cm x 115cm, making it the smallest of the Terra Nova flags in the Museum's collection.

The edge which would have been exposed to the wind is quite frayed. This type of damage is often found on flags. There are also lines of black soiling on the front, the source of which has not yet been identified, but is comparable to the soiling found on the other two Terra Nova flags in the collection. Small rust marks, pin holes and long tacking stitches indicate that it was previously displayed on a stiff board inside a frame. It has also suffered substantial light damage to its front side. Unfortunately, light damage cannot be reversed, but the physical structure of the flag will be supported with the use of conservation-grade materials.

Faded areas, stains and tears help us to understand how the flag has been used, stored and displayed during its 103 year history. Our goal is to preserve as much information about its past as possible.

Publish date: 14 June 2013

Tagged with: Heroes & Disasters History Textile & Dress Transport & Maritime Work & Labour

Senghenydd Disaster: Mine inspector's notebook

17 May 2013

The final death toll from the Senghenydd mine disaster on 14 October 1913 was 439 men. Some of the bodies were never recovered. It was the worst mining disaster in the history of the British coalfields.

Below you can view pages from the notebooks made by the Inspector of Mines immediately following the explosion as he walked around the devistated workings.

Senghenydd Mine Disaster: Inspector of Mines notebooks

Notes made by the Inspector of Mines as he travelled around the devastated underground workings following the Senghenydd mine explosion on 14th October 1913 that killed 439 men. Courtesy of the National Coal Mining Museum for England [Notebook 3/4]

vNotes made by the Inspector of Mines as he travelled around the devastated underground workings following the Senghenydd mine explosion on 14th October 1913 that killed 439 men. Courtesy of the National Coal Mining Museum for England [Notebook 1/2]

Publish date: 17 May 2013

Tagged with: Coal, Iron & Slate Heroes & Disasters History Mining & Extraction The 20th Century Work & Labour

Colliery checks and tokens

Ceri Thompson, 30 January 2013

Lamp check number 523 used at Groesfaen Colliery

A red plastic disc used by Mines Rescue during incidents

Lamp checks (or 'tokens' or 'tallies') are one of the most popular coal mining objects collected by both museums and the general public. They basically informed colliery management of who was in work but became vital when rescue services needed to know how many men were actually underground during an incident such as a fire or explosion. Colliery check systems apparently became common during the late nineteenth century and became mandatory in 1913 after an amendment to the 1911 Coal Mines Act.

Early check systems usually employed a single check for each underground worker, which was usually taken home at the end of the shift. At the start of the shift the check was handed to the lamp man and exchanged for a safety lamp stamped with the same number as on the check. At the end of the shift the miner handed his lamp in and retrieved his check either from the lamp man or from a 'tally board'.

Check systems varied between coal fields and altered over time, by the late 1970s a three check system (safety check system) became common. In this system each underground worker was issued with three checks, often of different shapes and sizes, one to be handed in to the lamp room, one to be handed to the banksman before the man descended the shaft and one was kept on the person during the shift.

Colliery checks were stamped with a number and, usually, the colliery or company name. After nationalisation checks were stamped 'National Coal Board' and often the individual division as well. They were usually of brass but zinc, aluminium, Bakelite and plastic versions can also be found. They come in a variety of shapes including square, round, oval, hexagonal and octagonal. By the late 1990s the lamp check was being replaced by a plastic swipe card.

A similar system was used by Mines Rescue during incidents. This was similar to the three check system but pre dated it. In this system a red plastic disc was handed into the lamp room, a yellow plastic disc to the banksman and a copper disc was worn around the neck during the time the rescue man was underground.

Other types of checks were also issued in the mining industry such as those used for shotfiring, canteens, pithead baths and bus and train passes. The mining trade unions also issued checks in various forms to show when a member had paid his contributions. Mining institutes and public houses in mining areas also issued

beer checks on various occasions.