The Secret Garden is a horticulture and history project funded by the WCVA’s Volunteering Wales Grant. We work with adults with Learning Disabilities and community volunteers to develop and care for a cottage garden based at St Fagans National Museum of History. We also support project participants in researching the history of the garden, Ysgubor Fawr cottage on-site, and its past inhabitants using St Fagans’ archives and Glamorgan Archives.

The Secret Garden project has two themes. It is both a gardening and historical research project. We offer the opportunity to take part in hands-on gardening sessions at our garden at Saint Fagans to learn about and trial gardening techniques from the past, such as planting for medicinal or cleaning purposes. Participants will also research the garden, the cottage and its inhabitants in partnership with St Fagans National Museum of History and Glamorgan Archives.

Participants who attend the Secret Garden Project are able to learn a variety of skills including teamwork, communication, co-ordination and much more to help assist and support them in their personal development. A safe and secure working environment ensures that participants are able to learn at their own pace whether they are learning about horticulture or history. The Secret Garden Project is able to cater for their needs and have a positive impact on their health and well-being.  

Our activities are free of charge, and we encourage anyone to join. Participants can take part in either the gardening or history element or both if they wish! 

Head to the Innovate Trust website to learn more about the Secret Garden, and how you can get involved - The Secret Garden | Innovate Trust (innovate-trust.org.uk).

It's Planting Day Bulb Buddies!

176 Schools from across the UK will be joining together to plant 11,183 bulbs for this fantastic project.

We run a Planting Day creative media competition every year that encourages schools to showcase planting day at their school. Watch this space to see the winning entries in November!

Meanwhile, we'll be following every stage of the Investigation on this Blog. We'll hear from pupils directly, as they share their comments when uploading their weekly weather data. We'll regularly check in with schools to hear about any extreme weather in their areas and any issues that might affect their weather stations or planting areas (in the past this has included hungry squirrels!) 

We'll watch with pupils for the first signs of spring and share their excitement as the first shoots and then the first flowers appear. 

We will then review the weather and flower data for the period November 2023-March 2024, and compare it to data collected since 2005 to see if we can spot any trends. 

We hope that you will join us on this fun journey as we explore the effects of weather and climate change on spring bulbs. 

Professor Plant

Over the past three years staff from History & Archaeology & Natural Sciences have been on a journey with artist and animator Sean Harris exploring the future of the Welsh landscape and our relationship with it. This entailed workshops in Loggerheads Country Park, installations in and around the Clwydian Range AONB, and has now culminated with a new exhibition in the Senedd and Pierhead Buildings in Cardiff Bay.

The exhibition combines items from Amgueddfa Cymru with animations and artworks created by Sean. The artworks give voice to two iconic birds: the Curlew – which may be gone from Wales in less than a decade – and the Great Auk – whose tragic demise, raises stark questions of our capacity to learn from past mistakes. Together they speak of the far-reaching consequences of our actions as consumers and an unsustainable relationship with the natural world.

Incorporated within the displays are the Great Auk (and replica egg) which became extinct in the 1840s, and the Thylacine or Marsupial Wolf that became extinct on mainland Australia at least 2,000 years ago. Prior to European settlement, around 5,000 thylacines remained in the wild in Tasmania. It was perceived as a threat to the livestock of farmers and bounty hunting was introduced. It became globally extinct when the last known specimen died in Hobart Zoo in 1936.

Also on display are 11,000 year old perforated and decorated deer and wild cow teeth from Kendrick’s Cave, Great Orme, that once formed a necklace worn at the end of the last Glacial period. These, along with hyaena remains from Coygan Cave, Laugharne, were chosen as a way of connecting us to other species lost from our landscape, and to the ways we as humans have commodified their remains. 

This exhibition brings important messages about habitat and species conservation into the heart of Welsh Parliament and hopefully helps shape a better future for generations to come. For the Amgueddfa Team of Jules, Jen and Elizabeth this has been an exciting journey culminating in seeing these rare and special items from our collections on public display alongside Sean’s amazing art.

Find out more about the exhibition, including Senedd open times here.

We recently welcomed Memory Jar, a support group for people affected by dementia in Cowbridge, to St Fagans National Museum of History. This visit was part of Museums Inspiring Memories, a three-year partnership project between Amgueddfa Cymru and Alzheimer’s Society Cymru that aims to use our museums, collections and resources to develop practical ways to improve the quality of life of people affected by dementia.

Now into its second year, one of the project’s aims is to develop a more comprehensive and sustainable programme of dementia-friendly activities, both at our museums and in the community. At this stage in the project, we are starting to develop and trial activities, inviting community groups to come and take part and tell us what they think. This, in turn, will help us shape and develop our offer and programme before its launch next Spring.

The visit 

On the 9th August, 29 members of Memory Jar joined us for a tour of two of the galleries at St Fagans – ‘Wales Is…’ and ‘Life Is…’. This was followed by tea, coffee, cake and conversation about the visit. We asked the group what they had enjoyed and if they had any suggestions about how we could improve future activities. 

In the ‘Wales is…’ gallery, the group took part in a tour with Gareth Rees (Dementia Voice Lead for Museums Inspiring Memories) and Loveday Williams (Senior Learning, Participation and Interpretation Officer). Gareth and Loveday introduced some of the objects in the gallery, the displays of which have been curated to reflect the different meanings and perspectives of ‘Wales’, including themes of ‘Multiculturalism’, ‘Pride’, ‘Politics’ and ‘Conflict'.

In the ‘Life is…’ gallery, the group were given a tour and description of some of the exhibits on display, led by Gareth Beech, Senior Curator of Rural Economy. In this gallery, displays of objects are organised into themes which describe different aspects of life in Wales over time, from cafes to cookery, rural life, industry, holidays and childhood. One of the popular objects here was the old, cast iron Preston & Thomas fish frying range, which generated a lot of conversation and memories in the group.

Following the gallery visits, we all came together as one group. As well as general conversation, each table was asked to give their thoughts on one question in particular using stickers: ‘How did the gallery visit make you feel today?’ For this question the team provided six options: three positive (Happy, Interested and Inspired) and three negative (Unhappy, Bored and Uncomfortable), as well as a space to contribute any other feelings they may have had. People were also able to give feedback about the day by sharing with us their favourite items in the gallery, using post-its, pens and images of some of the objects. We also asked the group what they had enjoyed about their visit and how they find visiting museums generally. 

All in all, feedback was very positive, with many reporting that they had enjoyed the visit. Many people indicated that they had felt happy, inspired by and interested in the gallery tours. Others said that it made them feel ‘nostalgic’ and ‘patriotic’. Some of the objects had sparked conversations and triggered some memories of family life, including the old hand mangle, which reminded one lady of her mother and grandmother using one of these.

“A lovely reminder of the past” 

“It made me think how close my memories are, wherever I came from (Yorkshire), or later Wales for 40+ years. Wales should be proud of its tradition and continue to keep welcoming others” 

“Displays and written information were at wheelchair level. Good.” 

“My fav object was the harp and music items. It would have been nice to have some Welsh music playing.”

“I found the experience very nostalgic”

“More chairs!” 

(Some of the participants’ feedback)

“The buzz of animated conversation continued in the bus all the way home to Cowbridge. A lovely atmosphere of people who were enjoying a great day out. Back at Memory Jar the week after the visit, we had the opportunity to look at photos of the day and to talk about things people remembered at the museum. Many very positive comments were made about how people had been inspired to reflect on aspects of their own story, with lovely memories of their own earlier days. One comment in particular made the whole thing worth doing: John, who is one of our quieter and less vocal members, was the first to respond to the whole group discussion about the visit. ‘Want to go again!’, he said, with a big smile, to be echoed with acclaim by the whole group.”

(Email from Colin, the Memory Jar group organiser, after the visit) 

Thank you 

The team wish to thank Memory Jar for their help in developing this work; we were delighted to show them around and to invite them to share their views about how we can make our museums more dementia-friendly in the future. We’d also like to thank Rotary Cowbridge for providing transport for the group, and the National Lottery Community Fund, who kindly support the Museums Inspiring Memories project. 

The visit by Memory Jar provided the team with a valued opportunity to begin exploring what our offer will be for the community. The enthusiastic response by the group, and the positive feedback, showed that heritage does have an important role in the everyday lives of people affected by dementia. As the work to pilot and develop our offer across all seven of our museums continues over the coming months, we look forward to further developing our work with Memory Jar and other groups and individuals across Wales.

Get in touch

For more information, the team can be contacted either by email on mims@museumwales.ac.uk or by phone on 029 2057 3418. If you’d like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please let us know, using the contact details shown above.

If you can believe it, we keep a copy of every museum publication we produce. Yes, every flyer and brochure and after a while it starts to pile up! While in the process of ordering and categorising this mountain of coffee table litter and ephemera into a cohesive collection, it’s been fascinating to see the way that Amgueddfa Cymru’s branding has changed and evolved over the years. The logos and designs tell us not just about how the museum represents itself but also they tell us something about the time they were written in. So, let’s take a look at the museums branding and design over the decades.
In a museum brochure from 1968, the simplicity of the design is striking with its bold text and the solid red graphic of columns and pediment, which is the globally used symbol for museums (but more on that later). Yet for a modern eye it still looks old fashioned; there are no photos or even a colour gradient and it is printed onto plain white paper. The inside contains only small black text of museum department events, in a list, with little formatting. for example:
Zoology: In the Gallery near the Restaurant: Demonstration of Taxidermy of birds and mammals. 10am -12 noon

In 1969 we get a new look for monthly Programmes. This style sticks for the next decade. A bright solid colour fills the background, and the words “Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru National Museum of Wales” are in a large clear bold text. The front of each issue has a large single black and white image that takes up the centre of the cover. This is however the only image the programmes contain, but maybe as a result the images picked usually look dramatic and intriguing. There is something reminiscent of album cover art about them. In the December 1969 issue the cover features a picture of a lunar landing module and the moon from space. Inside are details of a 3-day exhibition where the museum had genuine moon rock on display.

In the 1980’s we get a new look again, which we can see in the museum’s monthly programmes. But if it wasn’t for the date, you might assume it to be older than it is. The writing is in a traditional serif font and each issue has the same image a marble fresco of a woman holding a picture of the Welsh dragon with Ionic columns in the background. It is the Seal of the National Museum of Wales. It is an architectural feature of the Cardiff site that you can see today above the entrance of gallery 1. 

It is an image that is meant to invoke a certain ideal of “The Museum” that it is grand, historic, noble, and “cultured”. The monthly programmes certainly work hard to solidify this visual brand, having the large logo/seal prominent on every issue that leans into the imagery we already associate with museums. As with the earlier 1968 programme both are invoking the image of the Museum as a grand marble Greco-Romanesque styled structure. This seal is then used in slightly different forms on all publications for the next decade and a half.

The icon for museums as a row of pillars with a triangle pediment on top is widely used. It is the image you will see on brown road signs or tourist maps to mark the location of a museum and certainly the National Museum Cardiff and the Roman Legion Museum do have that classic museum look complete with towering columns. It is an image that may well reflect what museums used to be like, opulent buildings that looked at foreign artefacts like Greek statues. But it is an image that now many museums are working hard to move away from.  Ultimately as an icon it doesn’t really capture or express the totality of what Amgueddfa Cymru is all about, a diverse and varied family of museums that celebrate Welsh life.

Then in 1995 there is a major rebrand. We have moved away from the traditional imagery of museums and galleries and instead have a range of icons that highlight the different parts of the museum’s collections including a spinning wheel, anchor, and steam powered machinery to name a few. It excellently highlights the diversity of what we have to offer. The graphics almost look like a website banner with clickable icons displaying the range of choices. The publications go through various changes over the following years with a greater focus on full colour photos, and a variety of graphics and fonts. The publications are exciting and colourful, but is there a downside? Some might see this iteration of publications as overly crowded and busy. Furthermore, there is no signal unifying image for Amgueddfa Cymru as an integrated organisation.

Then in the 2000’s a new rebrand ditched the icons and opted for words. The words “National Museum Wales” and “Amugueddfa Cymu” were placed at an angle to each other in a modern sans serif font for all publications. This echoes the priorities and vision of the museum in this era. Balancing the English and Welsh language at angles so that neither takes priority over the other. It is effective straightforward and unambiguous. However the thirty three characters at 45 degree angles do not work well on a small scale and can become cluttered and difficult to read. As more and more we switched to phones as our primary reading devices there was a greater need to have a clean simple design.

Since last year we have had a brand-new redesign. The Amgueddfa Cymru logo is written in a bold capitalized font, created for the Museum it emulates the look of an industrial brand like that which you would find on metal or bricks to show the maker; it reflects the industrial past of some of our national museums.  For social media, where space is limited, we have a simple “AC” icon on a red background. Clean and simple bold texts work well for online platforms and this process of simplifying graphics has happened across many brands over the past decade as reading from phone screens has become the norm. Amgueddfa Cymru’s new design uses only the Welsh language title, further simplifying the design and highlighting the museum’s commitment to telling the story of Wales, from its earliest times, through its industrial transformation to the modern day. The font highlights the special characters that don’t exist in English, such as the “DD” which is has been linked together in “Amgueddfa” further showing our pride in the Welsh language.

Ultimately there will be pros and cons to any logo or icon. Often it is about what is right for the time, and what is best for the medium the icons will be on. Do you have a favourite?