2007 will be known for the upside down year, when we had a torrential summer and a golden autumn. I pity the poor fungal foragers who are searching in vain for that elusive mushroom.

I had an interesting comment last time from pbhj, on the 'intriguing' BSL exhibition I mentioned. He asks 'Apart from being minority languages what are the comparison points (between BSL and Welsh)?' Well pbhj, the idea of the exhibition came from the BSL community, and they drew comparisons bewteen the way Welsh has been treated and the way BSL has been treated. For example, Welsh schoolchildren in the 19th century had to wear a Welsh Not and were punished for speaking Welsh. Similarly, BSL speakers were told to sit on their hands so that they couldn't sign. Another comparison was that there is only one BSL school in Wales, so BSL pupils elsewhere have their education through their second language, similar to many Welsh pupils until comparatively recently.

On a lighter note, they wished to draw comparisons between deaf comedians telling jokes about hearing people to Welsh comedians telling jokes about English people, or jokes that only work bilingually. Other aspects came up, and not all to do with the similarities between Welsh and BSL, but that gives a flavour of it.

I don't understand the second part of your comment - are you accusing someone? Firstly, I don't think you can 'over-promote' something, and secondly, Welsh translation is aimed primarily at providing non-Welsh speakers with an understanding of the language. Why is this damaging? And why is it to the detriment of other services? Yes there are BSL/Welsh translators - not many, but they do exist.

Sabrina Rochemont also commented, and asked 'Are there particular areas of interest that you would like our feedback on?' Well, I would like to hear people's opinions on what is 'Contemporary Collecting'. What objects should we target for future preservation, and why. In this world of mass produced things, should we be collecting televisions, computers, mobile phones? If every museum decided to do this, we'd explode at the seams! Another aspect is the community one - asking communities to curate what's important to them, and recording their experiences etc.

Right, to finish, a quick run-through of what I've been up to in the last month - we've had the preliminary meetings to discuss strategies for the 2009 Pop Exhibition; I attended a meeting in Welshpool where we discussed forming a Contemporary Collecting policy for all museums throughout Wales so that we work together; I attended a second Digital Story workshop which we intend to base our community workshops on; I collected the objects from Johnstown for the second community dresser (information about the first is in 'Rhagor' on this website); I visited a couple of museums in Swansea; and I started my MA Museum Studies course.

Whew! By the time I write next month, I will have been to Sweden for their SAMDOK conference, which is the leading contemporary collecting conference in the world. See ya then.

Cyfarchion o Oriel 1!

Yr wythnos hon fe ges i gyfle i arbrofi gyda sesiwn i blant ysgolion cynradd r'yn ni wedi ei galw'n 'gemau dyfalu'. Dwi ddim yn siwr os yw hyn yn beth da neu'n beth drwg ond roedd yr Oriel fel syrcas am yr awr a finne ar fy nglinie am weddill y diwrnod! Bydd rhaid cael stamina gwell na hyn o rywle! Roedd ymateb y plant yn ddiddorol a'u gallu i gyffroi dros gynnwys yr Oriel yn wych!

Mae llawer o ymwelwyr wedi dangos brwdrydedd dros gynnwys yr Oriel newydd a gyda'r sylwadau cliriaf i aros yn fy nghof yw gwraig ganol oed yn dweud wrtha i, "This really is wonderful, but mind you, the old gallery was like a museum". Dwi ddim yn siwr os mai mynegi siom oedd hi neu beidio, efallai nad oedd hi'n gwybod yn iawn. Fodd bynnag mae'n sicr yn yr achos hwn, nad oedd cynnwys yr Oriel yn cydymffurfio i'r hyn yr oedd yr ymwelydd yn disgwyl ei weld yn yr amgueddfa. Gellir dadlau mai dyma enghraifft glir o'r Oriel yn deffro'r ymwelydd i'w amgylchedd gan ei atgoffa mai nid ymweld a'r amgueddfa er mwyn cael golwg ar y gorffennol a wna.

Dyma un sylwad a nodwyd ar gerdyn sylwadau am arddangosfa gyntaf yr Oriel, 'Perthyn', 'Hmmm, not sure what this is all about - Belonging - where?' A dddylai cynnwys yr Oriel gynnig atebion? Dyma sylwad arall sy'n treiddio i'r cwestiynau sylfaenol ynglyn a beth yw oriel ac amgueddfa.

Dewch draw i rhoi eich barn, neu rhowch sylwad yma os ydych chi wedi ymweld! Rwy ar ruthur braidd yn anffodus...ond wedi cael blas ar y blogio 'ma tro 'ma...felly mi fydda i nol ma arna i ofn!

Moving the Bryn Celli Ddu stone from upper archaeology into its new home in the Origins exhibition.

Having moved most of the Early Christian Monuments to new homes already, we looked into the final stone – the Bryn Celli Ddu stone. This stone is from the Bryn Celli Ddu tomb (Anglesey) which is one of the best preserved passage tombs in Wales (for more information see

). We thought it was quite small, and shouldn't be too big a problem - we were wrong! It went right down to the floor, and was encased in a concrete block. We needed help. We called on Nigel Brake from Penybryn Engineering who had already helped us with the ECMs and has helped us many times with other specialised lifting, moving and metal work around the National Museum Cardiff.

Over the course of 10 days, we made a plan to remove the stone upwards out of its casing and onto a pallet for moving to the new gallery. In order to do that we needed to remove some ceiling tiles to create enough space above the stone. The lifting gear was brought in, curators and conservators watched anxiously as the stone was secured to the lifting gear and then removed from the concrete support. It was lifted clear and then carefully laid on a pallet. Jackie Chadwick, Archaeology Illustrator, took the opportunity to photograph and draw the stone in detail as it hadn't been seen in its entirety since 1979. Interestingly we made our own archaeological discovery: as the stone was removed we found evidence of a very different attitude to conservation – cigarette butts in the base of the stone meaning it most have been ok to smoke in the galleries then – unlike today!

Finally it was time to install the Bryn Celli Ddu stone in it's new support in the Origins Gallery. You'll be able to see it in all its glory when the exhibition opens in December.

Beech Trees, early autumn

Hello everyone! I've decided to start a blog about the newest and (in my opinion) coolest project here at St Fagans: National History Museum. I have been appointed 'woodlands facilitator' and it is my job to facilitate the woodland as much as is humanly possible.

First I think I might tell you a bit about my own background. My name is Gareth Bonello and I am 26 years old. I am originally from Cardiff and despite living in the city I developed a deep love of nature which led me to study Zoology at the University of Bristol. After graduating in 2002 I worked for the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) conducting bird surveys throughout the North West of England. I returned to Cardiff in 2003 where I worked as a Natural History Facilitator at the National Museum Cardiff for three and a half years.

I began working at St Fagans National History Museum in May 2007. I also have an interest in Photography and Film and I and am about to complete an MA in Film at the University of Wales Newport. If I ever have any spare time I like to play my guitar, eat and sleep!

The Project

Enough about me, what about the project? Well it has three main branches:

1. Education
2. Nature Path
3. The Web

Firstly, the project is an educational project aiming to teach people about the natural history of the forest, sustainability and a lot more besides. During the school term I shall be running workshops for schools inside the woodland here at St Fagans. The workshops will incorporate such activities as mini-beast identification, tree biology, PE and Art. During the school holidays I will be running activities for families based on a woodland theme.

Secondly, the project aims to put a new nature path in place. This will run through Beech woodland to the rear of the Celtic Village where a new entrance shall be in place. Along the path there will be interpretive panels with information about the natural history of the Beech Wood and uses of woodland throughout history. I’m also hoping to get a chainsaw sculptor in to make some interesting carvings and the new Celtic Village interpreter Ian Daniel is hopefully going to make some wooden carvings of figures from Celtic mythology.

Thirdly, the project will go online. Wildlife camera specialists Eco-Watch (who did BBC Springwatch) are going to help put in nest box cameras, bird table cameras and pond dipping cameras ready for the spring. In addition I shall be filming and taking photos throughout the year and posting pictures and movies on the web to keep you abreast of the latest developments.

The wildlife here is pretty impressive with Lesser Horseshoe Bats roosting in the barns, Great Crested Newts in the ponds and mind boggling varieties of Insects, Birds and Mammals; I think I’ve got my work cut out for me! The website will also feature educational games and resources for teachers as well as links to this blog and to other websites dedicated to woodland wildlife.

I’m going to aim to write on here once a month, but I’ll write extra bits when really interesting things happen! In the meantime have a look at these websites to find out more about woodlands and the animals that live there:

BBC Autumnwatch
BBC Springwatch
The Woodland Trust
Nature Detectives
RSPB

Here are some photos that I've taken recently:

The Exploring Our Woodlands project is funded by Legal & General and Cardiff Council through Cardiff Council Communities Landfill Trust;

Wow! Somebody has been reading my blogs. Not sure if that makes me feel good or not, but it's a start. As the comments were in Welsh, I'll answer their queries in the Welsh version.

Since the last instalment, we've been struggling with a few technical glitches in Oriel 1 which are constantly random. The timed system doesn't come on at the allocated time, some pictures have disappeared off one of the touch screens, some of the listening posts are tempremental. There must be a technical term for 'Gremlins', but I prefer to imagine little green creatures eating the wires.

I'm involved in setting up two exhibitions for 2009/2010 at the moment. One is an exhibition of Italians living in Wales, and the other is on British Sign Language, which will draw comparisons between BSL and Welsh - a radical, new approach to the way BSL has been viewed in the past.

We also held a very successful Hindu festival, and will be celebrating the re-opening of the temple in Grangetown, Cardiff this Saturday the 22nd. Come along to sample the sights, sounds, food and fun!

Other than that, I've been meeting with a community from Johnstown to collect the objects that they've curated for our Community Dresser. If all goes well, they will be on display well before Christmas.

Last, but not least, an exhibition by Mary Lloyd Jones, the internatinally renowned artist, called First Language, is being set up at the moment. It will open officially on October 4th.

Please feel free to comment - at the moment I feel that my blogs are very technical and rather lifeless. If people comment, maybe I could relax a bit and adopt a more conversational tone. See you soon!