Hi Bulb Buddies,

Thank you for sharing your weather data and photos! We’ve been posting ‘comment of the week’ on Twitter and I’ve shared these with you here.

I’ve enjoyed reading your comments and hearing your observations on the weather. It’s exciting to hear that some plants have started to grow! I’ve shared some of your comments below.

Remember to watch your plants closely over the coming weeks, to see how they develop. We only ask for height measurements on the website once the flowers have fully opened. But you could keep a record of your plant’s weekly growth for fun?

In the coming weeks we’ll be analysing the data entered so far to predict when our plants might flower! Please enter all the data you’ve collected so far to the website as soon as you can, to help ensure that our predictions are as accurate as possible.

If you’ve missed some days or you aren’t taking part in the project but would like to follow it with your school, the MET Office WOW website can be used to collect and share weather readings for your area.

Please share photos, drawings and information on actions you are taking around climate change with us through email and Twitter.

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies,

Professor Plant

Your Comments:

Hendredenny Park Primary: Rain gauge fell over and thermometer broke. Prof Plant: I’m sorry to hear your thermometer is broken, do you have another you can use? If not let me know and I will send you a new one.

Glyngaer Primary School: Very wet and rainy this week.

Pil Primary School: There was a lot of rain at the beginning of the week and the temperature was very cold this week.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: We have been having a lot more rain this week and has been colder.

Pil Primary School: The temperature was nearly the same all week. There wasn't much rain, only on Monday.

Darran Park Primary: It has been very cloudy this week. With a bit of misty rain.

Oaklands Primary: A wet week this week and a few more bulbs are peeping through the soil. Prof Plant: Fantastic Bulb Buddies, I’m glad to hear that your plants are growing.

Darran Park Primary: The weather has felt quite cold this week. We had more rain at the beginning of the week.

Our Lady of Peace Primary: My data entering elves are self-isolating!

Gavinburn Primary School: We have loved keeping weather records this term. It has been a mild Autumn with not a lot of rain. Merry Christmas Professor Plant.

Glyngaer Primary School: Not sure yet but we think we see a tiny bit of green in one of our pots. Looking forward to checking when we get back from Christmas holidays. Prof Plant: Fantastic Bulb Buddies, let me know if you were right!

Oaklands Primary: Quite a warm week this week. We’re hoping it’ll be colder for Christmas!!

Hi Bulb Buddies,

Thank you for sharing your weather data to the website. I’ve attached some of your comments below. It’s interesting to hear your observations on the weather and I’m excited that so many of your plants have peeked through the soil.

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies,

Professor Plant

Your Comments:

Carnbroe Primary School: We have found that 6 of our plant have green shoots.

St Michael's RC Primary: We aren't in school today so we are submitting now in case we forget later!

Ysgol Y Ddwylan: Diweddglo sych i wythnos gwlyb.

Fleet Wood Lane Primary School: Not that much rain this week. Last day of school today! see you next year. p.s merry Christmas and a happy new year!

St Mary's Primary School (Cardiff): The daffodil bulbs started to grow. We have put some leaves on top to protect them from the cold.

Ysgol Deganwy: Four more plants have started to come out of the soil.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: Temp is rising and we are getting a bit more rain. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Llanharan Primary School: Colour starting to show on some of the Crocus

Glyngaer Primary School: It was very damp and it had been a bit stormy.

Sandal Castle VA Community Primary School: We had snow on Monday 29th November! Prof P: I hope the snow was fun Bulb Buddies!

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School: This week our rain-gauge froze this week. Prof P: That’s exciting Bulb Buddies. Did you thaw the ice to take your rain measurement?

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: The rain is starting to appear, and the temp is dropping.

Pil Primary School: It rained all week and it was quite cold.

Hendredenny Park Primary: We were late on Tuesday so we did it at half past two instead.

St Michael's RC Primary: The sky looked a funny colour today, we thought it would rain or snow but it was dry all day.

Henllys CIW Primary: Some of our bulbs are trying to push through.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: It was very cold on Monday and lots of rain on Wednesday!

Ysgol Deganwy: 1 plant has started to grow by 1cm.

Moffat Academy: This week was dry and sunny but the temperature was quite cold and windy. The week went fast.

Moffat Academy: Rainy week but the rain collector was tipped over frequently. On Monday we had a snowy day.

Fleet Wood Lane Primary School: It has been cold this week!

Cilfynydd Primary: We think we have more than the mystery bulbs growing. Prof Plant: That’s exciting Bulb Buddies. I’d love to see a photo of your mystery mystery bulb!

Glyncoed Primary: Some of our bulbs have started to grow.

St Mary's Primary School (Cardiff): We are starting to see that some plants are starting to grow now. Hopefully these will grow fully soon!

St Patrick's Legamaddy: More of a wet week this week with Storm Barra.

St Joseph's Cathedral Primary (Swansea): Our plants were affected by the heavy wind. Some of the soil has been blown out of the pots and some of the bulbs are showing. We will put some soil on top again. Prof Plant: Welldone for looking after your bulbs Bulb Buddies!

Ysgol Deganwy: 1 more plant has started to grow.

Oaklands Primary: It was quite a wet week but still warmer than last week. We have noticed that some of our bulbs are starting to peep through the soil!

Glyngaer Primary School: It was much colder than the temperature we recorded. It was very windy and it made it feel very cold.

Oaklands Primary: It's been a really dry, but very cold week here. We've had frost and we are hoping for some snow on the weekend.

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School: This week has had high and low temperatures!

Oaklands Primary: We hope that our bulbs aren't getting too swollen by the rain. It's been a wet one here this week! Prof Plant: I’m sure your bulbs will be Okay. If you notice water collecting at the top of your pots the soil may be saturated and you could tip the excess out.

Ysgol Chwilog: diolch am help efo talgrynu

Gavinburn Primary School: There wasn't much rain and it was fun learning how to do the weather records. Prof Plant: I’m glad to hear that you are enjoying the project Bulb Buddies.

Glyncoed Primary: We were not in school on Thursday and Friday so didn't collect any data.

Gavinburn Primary School: It was a mild week. We enjoyed doing the weather records.

Glyncoed Primary: Our Mystery Bulb has sprouted!!

Willow Green Academy: Gradually got colder as the week went on.

St Michael's RC Primary: It’s felt much colder this week!

Willow Green Academy: Rainfall early Monday Morning. No fall after.

St Michael's RC Primary: It feels like there’s been more rain than there actually has! Prof Plant: It sounds like you’ve had a drizzly week Bulb Buds.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: It was very cold today!

Darran Park Primary: The weather has been sunny and dry for 4 days and on Friday the temperature has dropped and it has rained.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: It’s been a cold week especially on Thursday - they say we have snow forecast for next week! Prof Plant: Was the forecast right Bulb Buddies? Have you had snow?

Pil Primary School: It has been very cold and windy this week and there was no rain. We have enjoyed recording the rainfall and temperature this week.

Canon Peter Hall C of E Primary School: All done before midday.

Ysgol Tudno: Do we empty the rain gauge every day? Prof Plant: Yes please Bulb Buds, empty the rain gauge after taking your readings Mon-Fri.

St Joseph's Cathedral Primary (Swansea): Everything has been ok this week. We need to make sure that children don't move our plants.

Outwood Primary Academy Kirkhamgate: It was windy. It was cold. It snowed at the weekend. We saw the green tips of five shoots. We covered some of the bulbs with more soil as they were not covered. We are working as a team in school. Prof Plant: Fantastic Bulb Buddies, keep up the great work!

Llanharan Primary School: We have started to see daffodils and crocus begin to sprout in several of the pots.

Fleet Wood Lane Primary School: Merry Christmas PS-thank you for the card

Pil Primary School: The temperature didn't change much this week. We liked reading the thermometer this week.

Hendredenny Park Primary: On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we took the measurements late because we were practising our Christmas concert.

Outwood Primary Academy Kirkhamgate: It feels cold. It's windy. DRY. It's been damp.

Logan Primary School: It has been quite mild weather this week.

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School: It was a very wet week!

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School: We love our garden gang!
Our Lady of Peace Primary School: Sorry we're late we didn't know how to send this information at first, but we've got the hang of it now. Prof P: Well done Bulb Buddies, keep up the good work.

Gavinburn Primary School: It was a very dry starter week. We enjoyed doing the weather records

YGG Tonyrefail: It's been a dry week. Wythnos sych yr wythnos hon!

Henllys CIW Primary: Sometimes there is dew still in the pot in the afternoon and not rain.

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School: It was drier this week.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: What a dry week! The temperature seems to be dropping.

Canon Peter Hall C of E Primary: Data taken between 9 and 10 in the morning.

Glyngaer Primary School: It was grey, boring, damp, drizzly, cloudy and gloomy. Although it drizzled all week our water gauge didn't collect even half a mm of water.

Pil Primary School: The weather has been very mild this week with some rain. We liked recording our results!

Carnbroe Primary School: No shoots as yet.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: The temperature was higher on Thursday and Friday than usual!

Cilfynydd Primary: We have one plant pot with two plants growing. They are starting to grow really tall. Prof P: Fantastic news Bulb Buddies!

The Valleys Re-Told Project was initially conceived three years ago, when a local resident was overheard saying how she distinctly remembered the heavy snowfall during her pregnancy, whilst chatting with a friend over a Laurence Stephen Lowry painting.

This serendipitous moment was filled with personal nostalgia, could this chance conversation lead to unearthing many other new discussions and explanations about significant artworks that relate to the people and places of the south Wales valleys?

This is the aim of the Valleys Retold Project; a collaboration between communities and schools to generate a new collection which is derived from individual knowledge and interpretations based on existing artworks that truly reflect the heritage and identity of this extraordinary region.

This project is led by the Community Engagement and Learning Officer, Klara Sroka, at National Museum Wales. She is working in partnership with Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery and Cynon Valley Museum and Galley Trust, which will span over 3 years.

Cyfarthfa Castle & Art Gallery and Cynon Valley Museum

Klara has spent 16 years as an Art and Design educator, assisted Charlotte Church in 2019 in setting up the first democratic school in Wales, and in 2020 completed her master's in fine Art. She is a practicing artist who has a passion in engaging people with art and local Welsh heritage.

In the first year Klara will be recruiting two schools and two community groups to take part in a series of participatory and creative activities with the aim of encouraging meaningful explorations from the existing art collections from all three museums. The confirmed groups for the first year are Lee Gardens Pool Committee, Coleg y Cymoedd, Merthyr Tydfil Historical Society, Dowlais Primary School, and there are various art groups that will also be involved such as the Dowlais Art Group and Painting4Fun. This will be the first co-created project of its kind that encapsulates the voices and histories of so many people from the south Wales valleys.

Klara has been busy visiting both museums since late October 2021 and is looking forward to building a strong working partnership and methodology with Cyfarthfa Castle’s lead Chris Parry and Will Tregaskes at Cynon Valley Museum and Art Gallery. 

Over the coming months Klara will be meeting the various groups to personally introduce the project and discuss the next steps. She has also been working on collating a database which documents all known existing artworks related to the valleys from the three museums. 

This will be used to identify the most significant pieces of art by all involved which will become part of this crucial collection. 

There will be an ongoing evaluation to document the engagement and participation of all groups as well as a new understanding of what the social impact of this project may bring to all involved.

In the second year, a similar process will develop, with four new community partnerships that have links to either Merthyr Tydfil or Aberdare in the hope to further evolve and enhance and the existing findings which will become part of a rich accessible resource for future generations.

Dr Angham Abdullah (Cardiff University) is a Research Associate on the Refugee Wales project. The opinions expressed here are the author’s own. 

We all heard the news about the 27 refugees who drowned trying to cross the English Channel in an inflatable dinghy on the 24^th of November 2021. They included women, one of them pregnant, and children as well as young men. This was the biggest single loss of life in the Channel recorded since the International Organisation for Migration started collecting data in 2014.

Boris Johnson described the tragedy as “appalling”.  I was hoping to hear a more genuine response that reflected the tragic loss of peoples’ lives. Those victims had strong reasons to risk their lives in that way. To them, putting their lives at the mercy of the waves was more endurable than an endless cycle of wars, violence, poverty, and persecution back home. 

A few days after the tragedy, we heard responses from UK officials who, instead of empathising with the victims and looking at the real causes of such tragedies, pointed fingers at the smugglers and negotiated stricter asylum rules. And before the bodies of the 27 victims were transferred to their homelands for final burial, the Home Secretary produced an even more “appalling” response by issuing the Nationality and Borders Bill.  Clause 9 of the Nationality and Borders Bill gives the government the right to deprive naturalised British citizens of their citizenship without informing them. Because of this, around 6 million naturalised persons in the UK will live in fear of being stripped of their British nationalities. 

I couldn't stop thinking about the Syrian refugees I've interviewed for the Refugee Wales Project. Some of them have recently arrived in the UK, while others have been trying to make sense of their new life and rebuild their future and that of their children. When I asked them what getting British Citizenship meant to them, the overall response was “safety and a better future for the children”. I wondered how they would feel when they realised that the British Citizenship, they were working towards could be taken away “without any previous notice”.

I have spent years of waiting, uncertainty, anxiety as well as my life savings in return for the British citizenship which my children and I were recently granted. We thought that this citizenship would enable us at last to plan for our future. The thought that it could be revoked “at any moment” has left us feeling insecure and uncertain. Like the sea victims, very many of us who sought to mend our broken lives on "the safe shores of Britain" will see our faith in the UK further shattered. 

The past year and a half have certainly been a challenging time for the whole world: the Covid-19 pandemic, the social injustice highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement, a climate crisis that feels increasingly apocalyptic. At a time like this, you may well wonder whether art is just an indulgence.

For my colleagues and me at Amgueddfa Cymru, the knowledge that art is important to our well-being and a powerful way to explore and express ideas has been reinforced by our Celf ar y Cyd projects, developed to share the arts across Wales in response to the current health crisis. We have been bringing art into hospitals to support NHS staff and patients during the pandemic, and set up an online magazine Cynfas as a new platform for creative and critical responses to Amgueddfa Cymru’s art collection.

Many of the artworks we have used for these projects were acquired by Amgueddfa Cymru with the support of the charity Art Fund (artfund.org). Art Fund has been helping the Museum acquire works for Wales’s national art collection since 1928 and been a key supporter throughout the period of lockdown as we have continued to work on developing the collection. Here are just a few examples.

Magdalene Odundo, Asymmetric I, 2016, terracotta
Purchased with support from Art Fund and the Derek Williams Trust
© Magdalene Odundo

For Magdalene Odundo, her pots convey a universal human language. Asymmetric I has a strong anthropomorphic character, seemingly alluding to a pregnant female body and promising new life. Drawing on African traditions, she emphasises the power of pots to heal and to commemorate those who have died, making this vessel an eloquent object for the times we are living through.

Henri le Sidaner, The House (La Maison), not dated, oil on panel
Bequeathed by Daphne Llewellin of Usk with Art Fund support

One feature of the pandemic has been the comfort people have derived from nature and from living in the moment. Three small late-19^th-century French paintings bequeathed through Art Fund are good examples of how artists have been particularly good at this. In The House, Henri Le Sidaner creates the sense of a quiet moment of reflection. We can imagine the artist quickly dabbing paint across his small panel to capture the light reflected off the windows and door of this vine-covered house.

Paul Delance, Beach with Seated Figures (La côte déserte), 1900, oil on panel
Bequeathed by Daphne Llewellin of Usk with Art Fund support

Paul Delance, View from a Hill, Sannois, Seine-et-Oise, 1890s, oil on panel
Bequeathed by Daphne Llewellin of Usk with Art Fund support

In Paul Delance’s Beach with Seated Figures (La côte déserte), we can sense the artist working briskly on a windy beach on the French Atlantic coast to record a bracing seaside excursion with friends. His View from a Hill, Sannois, Seine-et-Oise is another very personal work, thought to have been painted after the death of his wife in 1892 and showing him turning to art and to nature as sources of comfort.

Paul Sandby, Llanberis Lake, Castle Dol Badern and the Great Mountain Snowdon, about 1771, bodycolour on paper.  Purchased with support from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund and a bequest from Mary Cashmore. Image © Sotheby’s

The landscape of Wales has long been a source of inspiration and pleasure. This is what Paul Sandby found in 1771, when he toured north Wales in the company of the young landowner and art patron Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn. His charming series of 21 views of this journey shows how the pioneering tourists delighted in discovering this dramatic land. One highlight was the outing by boat to Dolbadarn Castle, in the shadow of Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon.

Bernd and Hilla Becher, Preparation Plants, 1966-1974, gelatin silver prints
Purchased with support from Art Fund and the Henry Moore Foundation
© Estate Bernd & Hilla Becher

The industrial heritage of Wales has also provided artists with rich subject matter. German artists Bernd and Hilla Becher were best known for their typologies, photographs of a single type of industrial structure organised into grids. Preparation Plants, 1966-1974 comprises nine photographs taken by the Bechers during visits to Britain between 1966 and 1974, including the south Wales collieries of Penallta, Fern Hill, Brittanic and Tower. Now that this whole industrial ecosystem of the Valleys has disappeared, these images feel like a kind of memorial.

Anna Boghiguian, A meteor fell from the sky, 2018, mixed-media installation
Purchased with support from Art Fund and the Derek Williams Trust
Courtesy the artist.

When Cairo-based artist Anna Boghiguian was invited to participate in the Artes Mundi 8 exhibition at National Museum Cardiff, she also immersed herself in the history of Welsh industry. Her installation A meteor fell from the sky creates links between Port Talbot’s Tata Steelworks and the company’s steelworks in India, focusing on the steel workers and their struggle for their rights.

John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea, 2015, three-channel video installation
Acquired jointly with Towner Eastbourne with support from Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), the Derek Williams Trust, The Search Foundation through the Contemporary Art Society, and Towner Collection Development Fund
© Smoking Dogs Films. Courtesy Lisson Gallery

John Akomfrah’s video installation Vertigo Sea is a powerful reflection on humanity’s abuse of the sea, from the slave trade and modern migration to destruction of the marine environment. It couldn’t be a more relevant work for our times and is on show at National Museum Cardiff in the exhibition The Rules of Art?

Andrew Renton
Keeper of Art