‘What a vista of possibilities is opened up in this wonderful discovery … Surely it marks the dawn of a new era – with what results, who can tell?’

With these words, the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Alderman Dr J. J. E. Biggs, opened the Cardiff Station of the British Broadcasting Company at 5.00pm on 13 February 1923. Three months after the BBC began broadcasting from its London station with the call sign 2LO, Wales had its own station – 5WA – which brought a diet of music, talks, and religious services to listeners in Cardiff, the south Wales valleys, and over the Bristol Channel in parts of the west of England.

Humble beginnings

From humble beginnings in a small studio above a cinema in Castle Street, the BBC in Wales grew to play a major part in the life of the nation. Despite being placed in the so-called ‘West Region’ in the BBC’s Regional Scheme in 1930s, pressure from institutions, groups and concerned individuals from across Wales resulted in the establishment of the Welsh Region in 1937, giving the nation a clear sense of identity. Indeed, the historian, John Davies, once argued that Wales was an entity created by broadcasting.

The advent of television and the opening of the Wenvoe transmitter in August 1952 heralded a new era in the history of the BBC in Wales. However, as transmitters did not respect national boundaries, Wales was once again ‘tied’ to the west of England, which led to complaints on both sides of the channel. The decision to create a BBC Cymru Wales service in February 1964 was a step to resolve the issue. The BBC was required to produce 7 hours of Welsh-language and 5 hours of English-language programming for Wales. Further public pressure and an increased understanding of the needs of Wales on the part of the BBC’s management in London led to the establishment of national radio stations Radio Cymru and Radio Wales in the late 1970s. The establishment of S4C in 1982 changed the broadcasting landscape of Wales and the BBC continues to play a major part in the success of the channel.

The future

And what of the future for the BBC in Wales? Well, radio is holding its ground well in the multi-platform age. Wales had the greatest proportion of radio listeners than any other nation in the UK and loyalty to BBC stations is clear. Television, which came to Wales just over 70 years ago, faces challenges from streaming services but continues to inform, educate and entertain. There are threats from a UK government which questions the whole raison d’etre of public service broadcasting and the licence fee has been called into question (although that particular debate appears to have been put on the back burner … for now).

Whatever your views on the BBC, there is no doubting the central role has played in Welsh life for a century. Happy Birthday BBC Cymru Wales – and here’s to the next hundred years!

Jamie Medhurst

Professor of Media and Communication

Aberystwyth University

The BBC 100 in Wales exhibition continues at National Museum Cardiff until 16 April 2023.

The MET Office have issued weather warnings for fog for large parts of the UK today. Fog is dangerous when travelling because it causes poor visibility. Have you walked in a thick fog before? I’ve walked into a fog where I could only see about a foot to either side of me. It was thrilling, but I was on a long, even, mostly empty beach at the time. I wouldn’t have liked to be crossing roads or surrounded by obstacles I couldn’t see. 

Fog is made of water droplets smaller than rain drops. Some parts of the world use nets designed to capture the water droplets of fog, which provides a supply of water in areas that don’t see much rain. Some places call this ‘sky fishing’ or ‘stealing from the sky’. How much water do you think can be collected from fog? The MET Office website states that ‘if you were to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool with fog and then somehow condense it, you would be left with around 1.25 litres of water (or just over 2 pints).’ 

Do you know the difference between mist and fog? It’s visibility! The Met Office states that ‘If you can see more than 1,000 metres it's called mist, but if it is thicker and the visibility drops below 1,000 metres it's called fog.’ Mist and fog are both formed from water droplets collecting in the air, but mist is less dense (meaning an Olympic sized pool full of mist would provide less water when condensed) this means it can be seen through easier and is less likely to stick around for a long time. 

Fog can also be described as a cloud forming at ground level. This is because fog and clouds form in the same way. They are the result of warm, moist air being cooled. Water vapour in the air cools to form water droplets. For example, think about how the water vapour from a hot shower, clings to the cool glass of a mirror as condensation. Or, how on a cold day your breath forms a mist when you exhale, as your warm breath mixes with the cold air. Clouds form when warm, moist air meets with cooler air flows. Fog often forms when warm, moist air is cooled by cold surfaces. For this reason, fog is more common in autumn and winter when the ground is coldest. Except for coastal fog, which is more common when warm, moist summer air meets the cold surface of the sea. 

Water droplets in fog cause poor visibility by reflecting light, which can distort shapes and make it difficult to judge distances. The MET Office refers to thick fog when visibility is below 180m and dense fog when it’s below 50m (that’s the length of the Olympic sized pool we’ve been talking about!). It’s interesting to note that thicker fogs often form in industrial areas. This is because water droplets cling to tiny particles in the air. At the coast the water usually attaches to salt particles in the air. In industrial areas it’s often particles of air pollution that the water collects around. This means that industrial areas (which are usually the areas of highest air pollution) are more likely to see thicker fogs, because there are more particles in the air for the water to cling to. 

Fog that mixes with air pollution is often called smog (smoke fog). Smog can turn the sky green, yellow, red, brown, black or grey. It’s been a problem since the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700’s, which saw an increase in coal burning for industry (for example to fuel factories and steam trains). In December 1952 London saw what become known as ‘The Great Smog’, during which weather conditions trapped the smoke from coal fires and produced ideal conditions for the formation of a dense fog. Combined, this caused poor air quality that was extremely dangerous. The Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968 were a direct result of this, reducing emissions of black smoke. As a result, fewer smogs were reported in the UK in the following decades. 

However, since then something known as Photochemical smog (or summer fog) has become more common, especially in largely populated industrial cities with warm climates. This forms when sunlight reacts with pollution particles in the air (nitrogen oxides from car exhausts or coal burning and volatile organic compounds from gasoline, cleaning products and household aerosols). Photochemical smog is bad for our health and damaging to crops and plants. It forms without smoke or fog and is only named the same (smog) because the resulting haze is similar. 

So, what can we do? Well, raising awareness by talking to others about what you learn is key. That's why I'm writing this blog and telling you!  We can also think about how we can reduce chemicals in the atmosphere. We might choose to walk, cycle or get the bus rather than travel by car. We might choose natural household cleaners and detergents over chemical ones. It can be as simple as choosing a roll-on deodorant over a spray (aerosol) one. By talking about what we learn we can encourage others to sign petitions that raise awareness of issues like air quality and  to vote for politicians who show by their voting record that they take issues relating to climate seriously. There are lots of things that can be done, gaining an understanding of the problems and their causes is the first step. 

Let’s look at the weather observations sent in by schools this week. I wonder if anyone has mentioned the fog!

School comments:

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: It’s been a windy week and we have finally got to see two digit numbers with the temperatures finally. We can see spring is just around the corner with buds on the trees and snowdrops around the school grounds. We are checking our bulbs every day at the moment. 

Livingston Village Primary School: We noticed that all the bulbs have started to grow which are the daffodils. Last year’s daffodils have started growing too.

Irvinestown Primary School: We had snow this week!

Logan Primary School: We have some little green shoots in our plantpots

Sacred Heart Primary School – Omagh: Our bulbs are shooting in both the pots and the ground

St Mary's Primary School (Newry): Still no sight of flowers but the shoots are up for the leaves. 

Gavinburn Primary School: After all the rain last week the has been none at all this week and it has felt really cold.

Roseacre Primary Academy: WE can't wait for the flowers.

St Anne's Catholic Primary School – Knowsley: Other days not recorded as ground frozen and path slippery

Fleet Wood Lane Primary School: We are starting to take pictures of the bulbs because we can see the start of the daffodil flowers.

Hello bulb buddies,

What an interesting time to be studying and observing the weather! Most of you will have had frost and cold winds this last week. I've heard that many schools have had to close in January because of the effects of extreme weather conditions, such as ice and floods.  Even on days where schools were open, conditions in the school grounds may have meant you weren’t able to collect weather data.

It’s likely that you’ve heard people talking about weather warnings a lot recently. Weather warnings are released by the MET Office (the UK’s official weather service) and are colour coded (green, yellow, amber and red) to indicate how extreme the weather will be in different areas.

Green: weather is not expected to be extreme.

Yellow: possibility of extreme weather so you should be aware of it.

Amber (orange): strong chance of the weather effecting you in some way, so be prepared.

Red: extreme weather expected, plan ahead and follow the advice of the emergency services and local authorities.

The Met Office also use symbols to indicate what type of weather to expect. For example, the symbols to the right show (in order) a red warning for rain, green for wind, green for snow, amber for ice and green for fog. This means there will be heavy rain and that you should prepare for ice. Why not have a look at the Met Office website and see what the weather forecast is for where you live?

The Met Office warn us about bad weather so that we can prepare for it. This is because extreme weather (such as strong winds and ice) can cause difficulties and make it hard to travel. Roads and train lines can close, flights can be cancelled, and walking conditions can be dangerous.

What was the weather like where you live? If you weren’t able to collect weather records you can enter ‘no record’ on the online form, but please let me know in the comment section what the weather was like! You can also let me know how your plants are doing and whether they have begun to sprout!

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies,

Professor Plant

A sad fact is that this disappearance is mirroring what is happening in the outside world. Birds are suffering a pandemic of their own, the worst outbreak of avian flu ever known in the northern hemisphere. A new strain of bird flu has been attacking bird populations since the autumn of 2021, spreading from intensively farmed poultry in China. By late spring of 2022 there were increasing reports of the disease in seabird colonies in the north of the UK, and this has now spread across the whole of the country.

Avian flu is a virus that affects a range of birds but as with other viruses there are many different strains, most of which cause few or moderate symptoms. The difference is that this current strain, HPAI H5N1, is transmitted easily and causes symptoms that can be fatal to birds.

The effect on wild bird populations has been devastating, particularly on sea birds who live in large dense colonies along cliffs and islands where the virus is easily transmitted. It is estimated that tens of thousands of birds have died - you may well have seen some of the footage of dead or dying birds or even seen dead birds along our coasts.

In the UK we are privileged to host internationally important breeding populations of seabirds, a whopping 25% of Europe’s breeding seabirds. Worst affected species are the Great Skua and Northern Gannet populations. Up to 11% (over 2,200 birds) of the UK population of Great Skuas have been lost and scientists have recorded such high numbers of Gannet deaths that they think some populations are near collapse. 

The situation is continuing to be monitored, particularly with waterfowl, like geese, who overwinter in the UK. The hope is that populations will eventually develop an immunity to the disease, and there have been some encouraging signs in some birds, like Puffins, who seem to have had a good breeding year in 2022.

We hope to see the return of our seabirds both in the galleries and along our coasts soon!

You can find more information and recent updates on the situation in Wales here: Avian influenza (bird flu): latest update | GOV.WALES. You can also read a more detailed blog about it on The Wildlife Trust blog pages: Avian flu – the latest symptom of our ailing ecosystems | The Wildlife Trusts.

If you want to help, there are several organizations appealing for support to help monitor the situation and help seabirds recover: The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO): BTO Avian Influenza Appeal | BTO - British Trust for Ornithology and RSPB: Bird Flu Emergency Appeal Donation Form | The RSPB.

If you find dead wild birds, you should follow the latest guidance on GOV.WALES (Report and dispose of dead birds | GOV.WALES) or GOV.UK (Report dead wild birds - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) or  webpages. Remember not to touch or handle any dead or sick birds.

For a handy guide to identifying Welsh coastal birds, download our Nature On Your Doorstep spotters guide: Spotter's Guide | Museum Wales

After decades in a private collection, and under layers of dirt and yellow varnish, this tender portrait entered the Amgueddfa Cymru collection in lieu of tax in 2020. We were fortunate to receive funding from TEFAF, The Finnis Scott Foundation and the Friends of Amgueddfa Cymru to conserve the painting and frame.

The painting was cleaned and conserved in our own paintings conservation studio and the frame in a private studio. The process was transformative, the true colours, subtlety of brushwork and tonal values being gradually revealed as the surface coatings were removed. We also repaired and strengthened the weak edges and removed the unsightly bulges from the canvas.

We carried out all the professional documentation necessary for such treatment, but also made a time lapse video of the treatment and recorded interviews with the conservator and curator at key stages in the process. These will be displayed at Amgueddfa Cymru alongside the painting from the beginning of 2023 and will feature in our online content. We hope this will demystify the process for our visitors and even provide a bit of mindfulness along the way!

Adam

Adam Webster and Rhodri Viney making a film about the restoration of Manet's portrait of Jules Dejouy.

The restoration process took several months, and we wanted to document as much of it as possible. The first piece of filming relating to the portrait took place in June 2021, so this was a long production by our standards.

The process started in earnest in June 2022. We set up a timelapse camera to capture the transformation that recorded over several months, and I visited the conservation studio regularly to interview Adam on the latest progress. It was a pleasure and privilege to see the portrait change with every visit. I also made a significant dent in their teabag supply - the conservation team are very hospitable!

We filmed nearly 3 and a half hours of footage in the studio, and you can see the edited results in the film above. I hope it does justice to the amazing conservation work done by Adam.

Rhodri