Following on from the last post about our Natural History Halloween Open Day, we thought you might like to see some more pictures of the event.

We had some freshly collected fungi on display, including an invitation to sample the smell of a fresh stinkhorn and to speculate on the significance of the smell to the biology of the fungus. We found it got some interesting reactions (although it’s not so fun being sat downwind from it!).

There were also some less stinky but realistic wax models of fungi. These were made in the mid 1900s by our in-house botanical model-maker, a practice that continues today.

A ‘murder mystery’ had also taken place in our herbarium (the plant collections), an area not usually open to the public. Whilst surrounded by our quarter of a million pressed herbarium specimens, you had to work out which plant was used to poison the victim!

If this has whetted your appetite, keep an eye on our Natural History collections Twitter feed @NatHistConservation for more behind the scenes sneak peeks. Also stay tuned to the What’s On guide on our main website for details of the next Open Day. More stories from behind the scenes can also be found on the 'Rhagor' pages of our website e.g. conserving wax models.

During half term we held a Natural History open day in the main hall at National Museum Wales, Cardiff. It was a great opportunity for us to chat to visitors about our work and show them parts of the collections not normally seen by the public.

The day had a Halloween theme, and visitors had the chance to engage with a wide range of material from the collections. This included solving a ‘murder mystery’ in the herbarium, comparing our UK bats to the size of the largest fruit bat or studying closely a bedbug!

It was a busy, but fun day for all the staff involved. Look out on the website for the next open day.

Today, pupils across the UK have begun keeping weather records for the Spring Bulbs for Schools investigation. Until the end of March they will record temperatures and the amount of rainfall as part of this climate investigation.

It was only just five degrees in my garden in Cardiff this morning. Last year our average temperature for November was 9 degrees Celsius – so it’s a lot colder. Parts of the UK even had snow today and are now at risk from flooding when the snow melts! See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/nov/05/flood-warnings-weekend-rain-snow

Please let me know if you got any snow!

I look forward to seeing the weather records come in on Friday. If you have any questions about recording – please get in touch.

Many thanks

Professor Plant.

The Cardiff Cycle Challenge sees workplaces compete to see who can get the most staff cycling. This summer staff at National Museum Cardiff took and won their category! Our team prize was a delicious cup cake delivery – well deserved after the calories we burnt!

The stats:

Fifty of the 297 staff cycled 4,565 miles and burnt 144,350 calories as part of their daily commute!

By cycling they prevented another 1,170kg of carbon dioxide being pumped into our atmosphere.

Whilst we put in an extra bit of effort for the competition – we do cycle all year around. Recent, investment in bicycles shelters and staff training has helped to get more and more people involved.

Two thousand bulbs being planted in Scotland today! Good luck Scotland and please wrap up warm as the temperature is a chilly 3 or 4 degrees! Temperatures across the UK have fallen dramatically today making it feel very much like winter.

Welsh and English schools are finishing up for half term and all the schools are preparing for recording their 1st weather records on the 5th of November! 

Click here for info on keeping weather records

Click here to ensure fair test when planting your bulbs

Please take a look at these lovely pics sent in by Stanford in the Vale Primary School.

Many thanks

Professor Plant