Food from our shores 23 July 2012 Introduction Cockle-gathering on Llan-saint beach. Cockle–gathering tools — a large sieve, a rake and cocses (a bent sickle blade). For centuries, communities living close to the coast have taken advantage of the source of food available to them on the beach or coastal rocks. There is extensive evidence from prehistoric and Roman sites that shellfish have been harvested in Wales throughout the centuries. Free for their collecting, shell-fish have been found in profusion along the coast, the types most commonly collected and marketed by ordinary people being cockles and mussels. Cockle gathering During the latter half of the nineteenth and early decades of the 20th century, female cockle-gatherers were regular stall-holders at urban markets in south Wales. Others sold their harvest from door to door in industrial and coastal villages in both north and south. Cockles, boiled and removed from their shells (cocs rhython), were usually carried in a wooden pail, balanced on the vendor's head, while the untreated variety (cocs cregyn) were carried in a large basket on the arm. By the time she reached her eightieth year one woman from Llan-saint, a coastal village in south Wales, had experienced sixty years of beach-combing for cockles. She referred to the usual pattern of daughters succeeding mothers in this occupation. They were dependent on this source of income. She recalled selling cockles for halfpenny a pint, but towards the end of her career the same quantity was sold for sixpence, a very mean reward for the tedious work involved. Gathering, washing and transporting them home from the beach was the initial stage, which had to be followed by a second process of washing, boiling and further transporting for marketing. Served with bread and butter or oatcakes, cockles made a light meal and were included in various dishes containing eggs or milk and chives. Women in the village of Penrhyndeudraeth, Merioneth, would sing the following rhyme as they sold the shellfish from door to door: Cocos a wya Bara ceirch tena Merched y Penrhyn Yn ysgwyd 'u tina (Eggs and cockles Thin oatcake The girls of Penrhyn Their bottoms ashake) Welsh caviar? Laver gatherer huts (1936) Another important food product from the sea was an edible seaweed called laver. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries women living in the coastal regions of Anglesey, Glamorgan and Pembrokeshire were ardent gatherers of laver. Collected from sea-shore rocks and stones, it had to be washed in seven lots of water to rid it of all its grit and sand. All excess moisture was then removed, and the clean laver boiled away slowly in its own moisture for some seven hours. Finally, it was drained and chopped very finely to give a greeny-black pulp. Tossed in oatmeal and fried in bacon fat, it was usually served with bacon. Know as bara lawr, llafan or menyn y môr, laverbread was prepared as a commercial product by Glamorgan families, and was sold along with the cockles on the market stalls. At one time, these two items were prepared and sold strictly by low-income families. Eventually their marketing was developed into commercial enterprises of considerable importance. Today laverbread, often called Welsh caviar, has found its way on to delicatessen counters and is offered as an hors d'œuvre in first-class restaurants.
Improve numeracy & get free bulbs for your school! Danielle Cowell, 17 July 2012 Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales is looking for new schools to be involved in this exciting project and receive free spring bulbs. Spring Bulbs for Schools (KS2)Plant bulbs in your school grounds to study climate change. Join this UK wide investigation and improve science and numeracy skills. For more details visit www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/scan/bulbsThe application only takes a minute to complete and the project is FREE to all schools who apply by the 30th July.
‘Miners’ lives at 5½p each’: The Government Enquiry into the 1913 Senghenydd mine disaster 6 July 2012 A young mother and baby wait for news This watch was found on a body following the Senghenydd mine disaster on 14th October 1913 and was used to identify the deceased. The final death toll from the disaster reached 440 men. Some of the bodies were never recovered. It was the worst mining disaster in the history of the British coalfields. Bodies of the victims being recovered from the mine 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.At ten minutes past eight on the morning of 14 October 1913 the 950 men on the day shift at the Universal Colliery, Senghenydd had just began work when a huge explosion ripped through the workings.The blast was so powerful that it sent the two-ton cage shooting up the Lancaster Shaft into the headgear.The men working on the east side of the underground workings were all safely brought to the surface, but the west side was a raging inferno from which only a few escaped.By 20 October the death toll had reached 440, including one rescue worker.The subsequent inquiry could not determine the origin of the explosion although it was agreed that methane gas ('firedamp') was involved. However, it was apparent that there had been a number of violations of the 1911 Coal Mines Act.In May 1914 the mine manager, Edward Shaw, faced 17 charges while the colliery owners, the Lewis Merthyr Coal Company, faced 4 charges.Edward Shaw was convicted of 8 of the charges and fined £24 - leading a local newspaper to publish the headline 'Miners Lives at 5½p each'. The owners were convicted of the single charge of not fitting reversible ventilation fans and were fined £10 with £5.25 costs.Of the disaster victims, 60 were younger than 20 years old, and 8 of those were only 14 years old. The disaster left 205 widows, 542 children and 62 dependent parents.This was the second explosion at the Universal Colliery: in 1901, 81 men had died.The Universal Colliery closed in March 1928.Below is a copy of the complete Home Office enquiry on the 1913 explosion at Universal Colliery, Senghenydd. Senghenydd-Explosion-Report-opt.pdf Senghenydd Explosion Enquiry and Report to the Home Office 1913 Senghenydd-Explosion-Report-APPENDICES.pdf Senghenydd Explosion Enquiry and Report - APPENDICES
Coal Miners' Union Badges 2 July 2012 Badges are an important way of showing a person's allegiance to a particular cause or interest. They can also commemorate a particular event. There are many examples of badges connected to the coal industry. These badges were usually produced during industrial disputes or following mining disasters and were often sold to raise funds. The greatest number of badges were produced during and after the 1984-85 miners' strike. They came in various shapes and colours but usually gave the name of the National Union of Mineworkers (N.U.M.) Lodge or area, as well as a particular symbol. This could be an icon of the mining industry such as a lamp, headgear, crossed pick and shovel; or an example of working class symbolism such as clasped hands, broken chains and the scales of justice. In addition, badges produced in Wales often include a red dragon or a leek. The Industry Department of Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales has collected several hundred examples of these badges. Some are on display at Big Pit National Coal Museum and examples can be seen on our Images of Industry collections database. If you would like further information, you may be interested to read 'Enamel Badges of the National Union of Mineworkers' by Brian Witts (2008). Click on the thumbnail below for a selection of Badges from our Images of Industry collections database. Coal Miners' Badges Fattorini The Scottish Area National Union of Mineworkers (1984-1985) Fattorini National Union of Mineworkers North Western Area (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. Cumberland Miners' Union (1972) Fattorini National Union of Mineworkers (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. Yorks Area (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. Cumberland Miners' Union (1982) Manufacturer unknown Power Group N.U.M. (1984-1985) Fattorini N.U.M. S.C.E.B.T.A. (1984-1985) Parry, F.C. M.F.G.B. N.U.M. (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. Cokemens Area (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. Durham Enginemen (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. South Wales Area Hon. Member (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. Derbys (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown North Western Area N.U.M. (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown National Union of Mineworkers C.O.S.A. (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. Northumberland Miners' Union (1963) Manufacturer unknown National N.U.M. (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. Yorks Area (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown National N.U.M. (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. South Wales Area (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. North Wales (1984-1985) Fattorini Durham Colliery Mechanics (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown N.U.M. Midland Area (1984-1985) Manufacturer unknown National Union of Mineworkers Lancashire Area (1984-1985) Fattorini N.U.M. Northumberland Miners' Union (1984-1985)
Self Assembly of a Victorian Oven Phil Tuck, 1 July 2012 Working for Amgueddfa Cymru as part of the conservation team at the National Collections Centre, Nantgarw, certainly has its challenges. This was definitely the case when we received a request from the Historic Buildings Unit based at St Fagans - National History Museum to help assemble an oven. I assumed this would probably involve a few screws and washers, and just a few hours’ work.I remember the lorry arriving at Nantgarw with two large pallets on board. One contained burnt, broken and whole pieces of mainly cast iron components from the old oven; the second pallet held the components of the new oven. Even at first glance, there appeared to be far more pieces of the newly cast material. With the help of photographs taken of the old oven before dismantling all the parts were laid out, matching old with new; it took me three days!The oven had been removed from Llwyn-yr-Eos farmhouse at St Fagans which dates from about 1820. The building had been closed to the public for conservation work to be carried out; this provided an opportunity to replace the late Victorian oven, which was definitely the worse for wear.After identification came assembly. I decided to start by making two new mild steel inner walls. This was done with the help of Len Howells, the fabricator at Big Pit - National Coal Museum. These would then act as a framework to which I would attach the new oven parts.The old oven components were fastened together using rivets, large and small, both dome and flat head, and machine screws. As the new oven was made of new cast iron, which is very brittle, I was naturally very apprehensive about using a hammer to carry out any riveting, especially as some of the pieces were only a few millimetres thick. I also took into consideration the fact that they were very costly to produce! I decided to address this problem by manufacturing artificial rivets. This was done by using the lathe to machine the heads of bolts. I ground the cutting tool to the exact shape of the dome required. The flat head rivet was cut using a normal cutting tool.The bolts now had threads, but with rivet heads. The pieces that needed riveting would be held together by having a clearance hole drilled into the top plate and a tapping hole drilled into the piece to be fastened to it. When a thread needs to be cut in a hole a tool called a tap is used; this process is referred to as “tapping a hole”.Every component of the new oven came without holes for the relevant fastenings, so measurements of every hole had to be taken from the old pieces, some of which were broken, and transferred to the new. Once this had been done, the dummy rivets were screwed into the tapped holes, the parts were tightened together and the excess thread then cut off.Turning to the machine screws, I managed to source sufficient examples with slotted countersunk heads and a Whitworth thread. The Whitworth thread was created by Joseph Whitworth in 1841 after standardising a number of contemporary threads and was known as the British Standard Whitworth thread, BSW for short; it was only superseded by the metric thread in the early 1970s. Modern-day machine screws would have been incongruous to the oven, with their hexagonal head slots and metric thread.Using these fastenings, the new oven was methodically assembled and fully constructed in the workshop at Nantgarw. It was then taken apart and secured onto a pallet, which the Historic Buildings unit then collected. It is now back in place in the farmhouse and has already baked a few loaves!So a task which I thought might mean a few hours’ work involved the building of an oven comprising 94 separate parts, the drilling and tapping of 132 holes and machining of 88 bolts to look like rivet heads eventually took me five weeks…..so much for a few hours work!!Phil Tuck, Conservation Officer, Dept. of Industry, Nantgarw.
