While Wales is working hard to drive forward a positive climate agenda, with a target of 100% renewable electricity by 2035, our industrial past casts a long environmental shadow. Here Jennifer Protheroe-Jones, Principal Curator – Industry looks at our industrial history and its impact.

Wales was an early and unwitting contributor to climate change.

The 1851 Census showed that Wales was the first nation to have more people employed in industry than in agriculture, the important switch having probably occurred in the mid to late 1840s.

Wales was a notable international centre of industry in the mid 19^th century, being one of the most important iron producing nations, and the centre of both the world copper and tinplate industries. Plentiful easily worked coal underpinned all these industries – to fuel furnaces, to power steam engines that drove machinery and locomotives that hauled raw materials and finished products.

An ocean of railway wagons loaded with coal in sidings adjacent to Roath Dock, Cardiff, awaiting shipment in March 1927. The initials on the wagons identify a range of major colliery companies: Burnyeat, Brown & Co Ltd; D.Davis & Sons Ltd; Nixon’s Navigation Coal Co Ltd; United National Collieries Ltd.

Welsh steam coal is ideally suited to steam-raising. It burns with relatively little smoke, produces limited amounts of ash and produces a great deal of heat. As it burns, steam coal fissures but does not crack into small pieces. The fissures allow the coal to burn from the inside as well as from the outside, considerably increasing the heat output and so increasing the steam-raising properties of the fuel. Because steam coal does not break into small pieces as it burns, it sits on top of the fire bars and burns, rather than trickling through the bars as small fragments of unburnt coal which would go to waste amongst the ash. This property of not breaking into small pieces is specially relevant to fuel used in locomotives, because the vibration of the locomotive as it moves along the track tends to make poorer quality fuels break into small pieces which are wasted when they trickle through the fire bars into the ash pit. These properties made Welsh steam coal a premium fuel in wide demand.      

A few decades later, exports of Welsh coal would outstrip the large amounts being used by industries within Wales. By the start of the twentieth century, south Wales was the most important coal exporting coalfield in the world, supplying diverse countries with steam coal. In energy terms, the Bristol Channel was at this time the equivalent of the Persian Gulf a hundred years later. If high quality fuel capable of powering the widest range of machinery was required, then the coal-exporting ports of south Wales were key places to obtain it.

Aerial view looking south east over Cardiff (East Moors) Steel Works around 1960.

In the 19^th century the sight of smoke from works’ chimney stacks was regarded as a sign of prosperity. By the early 20^th century smoke from burning coal was increasingly recognised as a nuisance but regarded as unavoidable. It was not until after the second world war that serious efforts began to be made to reduce the volumes of smoke from industries and from coal fires in houses – and by this time oil was globally becoming a more important energy source than coal.

The burning of coal, oil and natural gas releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that cause climate change. Internationally, today the largest uses of coal are in electricity generation, cement manufacture and in steel making. Coal ceased to be used to generate electricity in Wales in March 2020; coal continues to be used in the steel and cement industries. 

Tipping a railway wagon of coal at Cardiff Docks, early 20^th century. Some coals tended to break up so, instead of tipping the wagons directly into ships’ holds from a considerable height, the coal was tipped into a Lewis Hunter patent ‘coaling box’ (just visible below the copious coal dust) which was picked up by the dockside crane on the left and lowered into the ship’s hold, minimising the height that the coal was dropped.

The Welsh coalfields were intensively mined in the 19^th century and output peaked in 1913, declining thereafter due to exhaustion of accessible reserves of coal. Output in 1913 was 60 million tons, half of which was exported; in 2018 output was down to 1.1 million tons. Welsh coal output was in steep decline by the time climate change was widely recognised as a major global issue. Each year the world now produces over a hundred times as much coal as Wales did in 1913, when the Welsh coal industry was at its peak. Even back in 1913, Wales was only producing around 5% of world coal output – its importance at the time was that half of it was exported and that it was regarded as the premium fuel of its time.   

The complex web of communications that enabled Welsh coal to be traded internationally is explained in the Coal gallery at the National Waterfront Museum at Swansea.

 

 

Fun in the GRAFT Garden

Pan agorodd Amgueddfa Werin Cymru ei drysau i’r cyhoedd am y tro cyntaf ar Orffennaf 1af 1948, dyma oedd amgueddfa awyr agored genedlaethol gyntaf y Deyrnas Unedig. Pennaeth yr Amgueddfa ar y pryd oedd Dr Iorwerth C. Peate. O’r cychwyn cyntaf, o dan ei arweinyddiaeth arloesol, bu Amgueddfa Werin Cymru ar flaen y gâd yn cofnodi, yn casglu, ac yn astudio bywydau dyddiol pobl Cymru:

“[Bydd Sain Ffagan] yn ddarlun byw o’r gorffennol, yn ddrych o elfennau ein Cymreictod presennol, ac yn ysbrydoliaeth i ddyfodol ein gwlad.”

(Iorwerth C. Peate, 1948).

 

Dechrau Casglu

Yn y 1940au, â’r wlad yn profi cyfnod o newidiadau cymdeithasol a datblygiadau nas gwelwyd eu math o’r blaen, dechreuodd yr Amgueddfa ar brosiect casglu gwybodaeth er mwyn creu darlun byw o fywydau trigolion Cymru. O’r cyfnod hwn hyd at yr 1980au, dosbarthwyd holiaduron i unigolion mewn cymunedau dros y wlad yn y gobaith o ddefnyddio’r wybodaeth leol oedd ganddynt i lywio gwaith casglu’r Amgueddfa yn y dyfodol. Mae Archif Sain Ffagan Amgueddfa Werin Cymru bellach yn gartref i’r holiaduron hyn, a’r atgofion rhwng eu cloriau yn ffenestr amhrisiadwy i’r gorffennol.

Sefydlu Archif Sain

Ers y dechrau cyntaf, bu recordio siaradwyr ar bob agwedd o fywyd gwerin yn rhan bwysig o waith yr Amgueddfa. Dechreuwyd casglu yn y maes yn niwedd y 1950au, gan roi'r pwyslais ar yr ardaloedd hynny lle'r oedd yr iaith a'r bywyd traddodiadol fwyaf mewn perygl. Sefydlwyd yr Adran Traddodiadau Llafar a Thafodieithoedd dan arweiniad yr ysgolhaig a’r tafodieithegydd Vincent H. Phillips, ac yn 1958 cafwyd apêl radio gan G. J. Williams, Athro Cymraeg Coleg y Brifysgol, Caerdydd, yn gofyn am roddion i ariannu’r gwaith hollbwysig hwn. Yn dilyn yr apêl, llwyddwyd i brynu peiriant recordio newydd sbon (yr EMI TR51) ac ymhen tipyn Land Rover ar gyfer y gwaith maes, a hyd yn oed carafan fel lloches i’r ymchwilwyr dros nos. Aeth saer yr Amgueddfa ati i wneud blychau yng nghefn y Land Rover i ddal y peiriant recordio, a rhaid hefyd oedd i’r cerbyd gario dau fatri asid, teclyn a elwid yn “vibroverter”(trawsnewidydd AC/DC) a thua 300 i 400 llath o gebl rhag ofn na fyddai trydan ar gael yn rhwydd wedi cyrraedd cartrefi’r siaradwyr. Roedd casglu tystiolaeth lafar ar y pryd yn waith hanfodol i gofnodi ffordd o fyw a oedd yn prysur ddiflannu ac wrth i amser fynd yn ei flaen, penodwyd tîm o staff, pob un â’i frwdfrydedd a’i arbenigedd dihafal ei hun, i deithio ledled Cymru yn holi ac yn recordio pobl yn trafod pob agwedd ar eu bywydau.

Pynciau

Ymysg y pynciau a drafodwyd yn y dyddiau cynnar ceid sôn am amaethyddiaeth, crefftau a geirfâu crefft, gwaith tŷ, bwydydd traddodiadol, meddyginiaethau gwerin, chwaraeon, storïau gwerin, canu gwerin, arferion tymhorol, arferion marw a chladdu a charu a phriodi, diwydiannau, tafodieithoedd y Gymraeg a diddordebau hamdden.

Siaradwyr

Recordiwyd dros bum mil a hanner o siaradwyr dros y blynyddoedd o Gaergybi i Gasnewydd, ac o Dyddewi i Dreffynnon, gan ddiogelu gwybodaeth heb ei hail ar gyfer y dyfodol. I’r ystadegwyr yn eich plith ceir 798 siaradwr â’r cyfenw Jones yn yr archif, 415 Williams, 375 Davies, 297 Evans, 246 Thomas a 224 Roberts. Yr enw cyntaf mwyaf poblogaidd ymysg y dynion yw John (272 siaradwr) ac ymysg y merched ceir 144 Mary a 138 Margaret.

Ffilm a Ffotograffau

Yn ogytal â recordiadau sain, recordiwyd cyfres o ffilmiau 16mm gan aelodau o staff curadurol yr Amgueddfa. Ffilmiau mud lliw yw’r rhan fwyaf ohonynt yn dangos hen ddulliau o amaethu, o baratoi a choginio bwydydd, ac o weithio crefftau traddodiadol.

Mae'r Archif Ffotograffiaeth yn cynnwys tua 250,000 o negyddion a phrintiau, a thua 15,000 o dafluniau. Ceir hefyd gyfoeth o luniau llawer hŷn a gaffaeliwyd yn rhoddion, neu a gopïwyd o luniau gwreiddiol a fenthyciwyd i'r Amgueddfa i'r perwyl hwn.

Apêl o’r Newydd: Casglu COVID-19

Gyda newidiadau mawr eto yn effeithio ar ein bywydau pob dydd, mae Amgueddfa Cymru yn lawnsio apêl gyhoeddus o’r newydd er mwyn casglu gwybodaeth ac atgofion trigolion Cymru am eu profiadau yn ystod cyfnod pandemig COVID-19. Gyda holiaduron papur, efallai erbyn hyn, yn perthyn i’r gorffennol a’r Land Rover a’r carafan wedi teithio eu taith olaf, rydym wedi lawnsio holiadur digidol torfol sy’n rhoi’r cyfle i unigolion, i gymunedau ac i sefydliadau ar draws Cymru i gofnodi eu profiadau am fyw o dan y cyfyngiadau presennol. Ein nod yw creu cofnod hollbwysig o’r cyfnod trawsnewidiol hwn ar gyfer cenedlaethau’r dyfodol.

Casglu Covid

The  National Waterfront Museum will be fifteen years old this autumn, so recently staff have been looking through our archive of the opening ceremony on 17th October 2005. 

Steph Mastoris Head of the Waterfront Museum, reading Gwyneth Lewis' poem at the opening of the Museum 

That day was a great moment of celebration, as the museum had taken around five years to plan, build and fill with fascinating displays on the story of Welsh industrialisation over the past four centuries. Also, because interactive displays were then still a very

Steph Mastoris Head of the Waterfront Museum, reading Gwyneth Lewis' poem at the opening of the Museum 

new thing for museums there was considerable public interest in what was soon to be described as Wales' first digital museum.​

Over 200 invited guests attended the opening ceremony that was conducted by the (then) First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, and rugby legend Sir Gareth Edwards. The first National Poet of Wales, Gwyneth Lewis, composed a bilingual poem in honour of the museum and this was read at the opening ceremony by the National Museum's Keeper of Industry, Dr David Jenkins, and myself. 

It was certainly a day to remember!

A Day in the Life of a Natural History Curator

My name is Jennifer Gallichan and I am one of the natural history curators at National Museum Cardiff. I care for the Mollusc (i.e. snails, slugs, mussels, and octopus) and Vertebrate (things with backbones) collections. Just like everybody else, museum curators are adapting to working from home. But what did we use to do on a 'normal' day, before the days of lockdown?

Caring for the National Collections

Most of our specimens are not on display. Amgueddfa Cymru holds 3.5 million natural history specimens and the majority are held behind the scenes in stores. Caring for the collections is an important part of our role as curators. We have to meticulously catalogue the specimens to ensure that all of the specimens are accounted for. As you can imagine, finding one object amongst 3.5 million could take a while.

Harriet Wood (Curator: Mollusca) in the collections

Natural history collections cover a whole range of materials including shells, dried plants, minerals, fossils, stuffed animals, bones, pinned insects and fluid preserved specimens (this includes things in jars).

Cephalopod specimens from the William Evans Hoyle collection

These collections are vital for research, education, exhibitions and display. Some have been in the museum for well over a century, and it is our role to ensure they last into the next century and beyond. We work with specially trained Conservators to monitor the collections and highlight anything that might be at risk, needs cleaning or repair.

Cleaning the skeleton of one of Cardiff famous residents, Billy the Seal

Answering your Questions

We spend a lot of time working with you, our fantastic visitors. Much of our time is spent answering the thousands of enquiries we receive every year from families, school children, amateur scientists, academics of all kinds, journalists and many more. We also host open days and national events throughout the year which are another great opportunity to share the collections. Many of us are STEM (Science, Technology Engineering & Mathematics) ambassadors, so an important part of our role inspiring and engaging the next generation of scientists.

Talking about the collections at the Eisteddfod

Working with Volunteers

Our museums are crammed full of fascinating objects and interesting projects to inspire and enjoy. We spend a lot of time with our excellent volunteers, helping them to catalogue and conserve the collections, guiding them through the often intricate and tricky jobs that it has taken us decades to perfect.

Our fantastic volunteers currently working on transcribing letters from the Tomlin archive of correspondence

Working with Other Museums

Museums across the world are connected by a huge network of curators. We oversee loans of specimens to all parts of the globe so that we can share and learn from each other’s collections. We have to be ready to deal with all manner of tricky scenarios such as organising safe transport of a scientifically valuable shell, or packing up and transporting a full sized Bison for exhibition.

A meeting of mollusc curators as part of a research project at the Natural History Museum, London

Working with Visitors

Despite the fact that a large part of the collections are behind the scenes, they are open to visitors. Researchers from across the globe come to access our fantastic collections to help with their studies. We also host tours of the collections on request.

Working with visitors in the collection, examining Sawfish rostra

Making Collections Bigger and Better

Despite having millions of specimens, museum collections are not static and continue to grow every year. Be it an old egg collection found in an attic, or a prize sawfish bill that has been in the family for generations, it’s an important part of a curator’s job to inspect and assess each and every object that we are offered. Is it a scientifically important collection or rare? Has it been collected legally? Do we know where and when it was collected? Is it in a good condition? Do we have the space?

Bryn, our Sumatran Tiger was donated to us in 2017 from Colwyn Bay Mountain Zoo

Creating New Exhibitions

A fun part of the job is working with our brilliant Exhibitions department to develop and install new exhibitions. We want museums to be exciting and inspiring places for everyone so we spend a lot of time making sure that the information and specimens we exhibit are fun, engaging, inspiring and thought provoking.

Adding specimens to a specially created exhibit called Museum in a House, for Made in Roath festival, 2015

Being Scientists

Last but definitely not least, when we aren’t doing all of the above, we are doing actual science. Museums are places of learning for visitors and staff alike. Many of us are experts in our field and undertake internationally-recognised research. This research might find us observing or collecting specimens out in the field, sorting and identifying back in the lab, describing new species or researching the millions of specimens already in the collections.

Kate Mortimer-Jones (Senior Curator: Marine Invertebrates) hard at work identifying marine worms

Museums from Home?

Despite lockdown, we are working hard to keep the collections accessible. We’re answering queries, engaging with people online, writing research papers and chipping away at collection jobs from home. And like all of you, we are very much looking forward to when the museum opens its doors once again.

If you want to find out more about the things we get up to in the museum, why not check us out on Twitter or follow our blog? You can also find out more about all of the members of the Natural Sciences department here.