The Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s highest award for gallantry is its Gold Medal, only 150 of which have been awarded since 1824. Richard Evans (1905-2001), Coxswain of the Moelfre Lifeboat, Anglesey, remarkably was presented with two RNLI Gold Medals for heroic rescues at sea.

Richard Evans won his first Gold Medal on 27 October 1959 when in hurricane force winds the M.V. Hindlea, a small cargo ship, was dragging its anchor in Moelfre Bay and being driven onto the rocky coast. The captain of the Hindlea gave the order to abandon ship when only 200 yards from the rocky shore and coxswain Evans took the Moelfre reserve lifeboat Edmund and Mary Robinson, with an incomplete crew, close to the ship ten times, enabling the eight man crew to one by one jump onto the lifeboat. During the rescue the lifeboat was once washed onto the deck of the ship and back off, and the coxswain had to manoeuvre perilously close to the ship’s propellers which were churning at full speed, at times out of the water and above the lifeboat. At one point the lifeboat heeled over until its mast was under water before righting itself. Thirty five minutes after the last of the crew were saved, the Hindlea struck the rocks and was lost.  

R.N.L.B. Watkin Williams, the Moelfre lifeboat from 1957 to 1977, on which Richard Evans won his second R.N.L.I. Gold Medal in 1966. The lifeboat was donated to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales in 1983 and displayed until 1998; it is currently in store but can be viewed by appointment.

On 2 December 1966 coxswain Evans won his second Gold Medal. The Moelfre lifeboat Watkin William had been at sea since early morning having been called out to two vessels in trouble. They were then told that the Greek cargo vessel M.V. Nafsiporos was being driven out of control by 100 mile an hour winds towards Point Lynas, five miles north of Moelfre, and the Holyhead and Moelfre lifeboats went to her assistance. The Holyhead lifeboat rescued five of the crew and sustained damage. The Moelfre lifeboat rescued ten more crew but the captain and three crew of the Nafsiporos remained on board. After landing the rescued crew members at Moelfre, coxswain Evans took the lifeboat back to the Nafsiporos and stood by all night until a tug from Liverpool arrived and managed to take the cargo vessel in tow. The lifeboat returned to Moefre after 24 hours at sea; coxswain Evans, then aged 61, had been at the wheel the entire time.

Over his 50 years as a lifeboatman Richard Evans was involved in 179 launches which rescued 281 lives. In addition to his two RNLI Gold Medals, for other rescues he was awarded the Thanks of the RNLI on Vellum and the RNLI Bronze Medal, for the 1959 rescue was awarded the Queen’s Silver Medal for gallantry at sea, and in 1969 was awarded the British Empire Medal. In 1978 he was made an Honorary Bard at the National Eisteddfod.

Red Cross apron worn by Elizabeth Radcliffe, 1916-19

Heddiw (12 Mai 2020) yw Diwrnod Rhyngwladol y Nyrsys – diwrnod sy’n cael ei nodi’n flynyddol, ond sydd ag arwyddocâd arbennig eleni wrth i ni ddiolch i ofalwyr a nyrsys ledled Cymru am eu gofal a’u gwasanaeth yn ystod y cyfnod dihafal hwn.

Ychydig dros ganrif yn ôl, yn debyg i heddiw, roedd aberth ac ymdrechion nyrsys a gofalwyr ar flaen meddwl y boblogaeth, ond o dan amgylchiadau gwahanol iawn wrth gwrs. Yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, sefydlwyd bron i 18,000 o elusennau newydd ym Mhrydain ac fe welwyd ymgyrchu gwirfoddol ar raddfa heb ei debyg o'r blaen. Ynghyd ag Urdd Sant Ioan, roedd y Groes Goch Brydeinig yn ganolog i'r ymgyrch hon. Yn 1909, daeth y ddwy elusen ynghyd i sefydlu cynllun y Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), gyda'r bwriad o roi hyfforddiant meddygol i wirfoddolwyr a'u paratoi i wasanaethu gartref a thramor mewn cyfnodau o ryfel. Yn ôl ystadegau'r Groes Goch, erbyn diwedd y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf roedd 90,000 o bobl wedi cymryd rhan yn y cynllun - yn eu plith Elizabeth Radcliffe o bentref Sain Ffagan.

Yn ferch i ofalwr capel y pentref, roedd Elizabeth a’i theulu yn denantiaid i’r Arglwydd Plymouth o Gastell Sain Ffagan. Ganwyd chwech o blant i William a Catherine Radcliffe – pedwar mab (William, Thomas, Robert a Taliesin) a dwy ferch (Elizabeth a Mary). Cyn y Rhyfel, bu Elizabeth yn gofalu am blant James Howell – un o berchnogion y siop enwog yng Nghaerdydd. Ond erbyn 1916, roedd hi nôl yn Sain Ffagan ac yn gwirfoddoli fel nyrs VAD yn yr ysbyty ategol a agorwyd ar dir y Castell ym Mawrth y flwyddyn honno. Ar y pryd, roedd hi’n 28 mlwydd oed.

Roedd y rhan fwyaf o nyrsys Ysbyty Sain Ffagan yn wirfoddolwyr lleol – menywod o’r pentref, yn anad dim, a oedd wedi derbyn hyfforddiant sylfaenol gan y Groes Goch. Dim ond 70 o wlâu a dwy ward oedd yn yr ysbyty, felly milwyr ag anafiadau ysgafn oedd yn cael eu trin yno. Roedd gofyn i’r gwirfoddolwyr wisgo iwnifform swyddogol y mudiad, sef ffrog las a ffedog wen gyda chroes goch wedi ei phwytho ar y frest. Mae llyfrau cyfrifon Ystâd Plymouth yn cynnwys sawl cyfaniad ariannol at gostau prynu gwisgoedd i staff yr ysbyty. Mae’n debyg fod siop J. Howell & Co. ymhlith y cyflenwyr.

Yn ffodus iawn, mae gwisg Elizabeth Radcliffe o’r cyfnod hwn wedi goroesi, ynghyd â llun ohoni yn ei lifrai. Rhoddwyd ei ffedog a'i llewys i gasgliad yr Amgueddfa yn 1978, ac yn ddiweddar cawsom ragor o wybodaeth amdani a’i brodyr gan aelodau’r teulu. O’r pedwar brawd aeth i’r ffrynt, dim ond un ohonynt – Taliesin – ddaeth adref i Sain Ffagan yn fyw. Mae enwau William, Thomas a Robert Radcliffe i’w canfod ar gofeb rhyfel y pentref, ynghyd ag Archer Windsor-Clive - mab ieuengaf yr Arglwydd Plymouth - a laddwyd ym Mrwydr Mons. Mae’n amhosibl i ni amgyffred â mawredd y golled i Elizabeth a’i rhieni – un teulu ymysg y miliynau a rwygwyd gan erchyllterau’r Rhyfel Mawr.

Os hoffech ddarganfod mwy am waith y Groes Goch yn ystod y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, mae adnoddau gwych ar wefan y mudiad. Mae llu o wrthrychau a delweddau perthnasol yn y casgliad yma yn Sain Ffagan hefyd. Ewch draw i'r catalog digidol i ddarganfod mwy.

Nurses and soldiers at the St Fagans Red Cross VAD Hospital, 1916

Most gardeners regard horsetails or scouring rushes (Equisetum) as one of their worst enemies – once this invasive weed is in your garden or allotment, it will spread everywhere and is almost impossible to get rid of (Fig. 1). But of course from the plant’s perspective this is a success story – they are doing what is best for them, not for us!

Today, this genus of highly invasive plants consists of only 15 species (Fig. 2), but they are found throughout the world except in Antarctica. They also have an immensely long evolutionary history spanning over 350 million years.

Fossils of horsetails are commonly found in the Carboniferous age coalfields such as in South Wales. The star-shaped leaf whorls (Annularia) are among the iconic fossils found in these rocks. We now know they were parts of tree-sized plants up to 10 metres or more tall – I have often wondered what today’s gardeners would think if they encountered a living one of these giants!

Fig. 3. Fossil horsetail (Annularia paisii) from the uppermost Carboniferous of Portugal, showing insect gall. Insert shows close-up of gall. Specimen in the Museum of Natural History and Science, Porto (UP-MHNFCP-155167).

A couple of years ago, my colleague Pedro Correia sent me a photograph of a fossil Annularia that he had found in Portugal (Fig. 3). In itself, this wouldn’t have been too unusual, but this one had a strange structure attached among the leaves. It almost looked as though it was a seed but of course that was impossible – horsetails do not have seeds, but reproduce by spores, in the same way as ferns. We shared this photograph with other European colleagues and a debate ensued as to what on Earth this could be. For a time it remained a puzzle. But then we showed it to another colleague, Conrad Labandeira from the Smithsonian Institution (Washington DC), who is one of the world’s leading palaeontological experts on insect – plant interactions. He suggested that this was probably a structure known as a gall.  Most galls today are produced when an insect injects chemicals into the plant to produce a swelling, in which it lays an egg. The resulting larva then develops within the gall.

There is evidence of Annularia leaves having been eaten by insects, such a chew-marks around the leaf edge. Conrad had also published evidence some years ago of an insect gall in a Carboniferous tree fern stem. But a gall on a Carboniferous horsetail is most unusual.  For a time we thought this example might be unique. But we then found a paper published back in 1931 by the American palaeobotanist Maxim Elias, who claimed to have found a seed attached to an Annularia. But it is now clear that Elias hadn’t in fact discovered a seed-bearing Annularia, as he had thought, but an insect gall similar to ours.

Fossil galls of this age are extremely rare. What insect produced this one is unknown. The organism was not preserved and most of today’s gall-producing insect groups do not have a fossil record extending this far back in time. All that we can say is that it was probably caused by a member of a now-extinct insect group that presumably produced larvae as part of its life cycle (Fig. 4).

Most horsetails have thick, almost leathery stems and I still find it rather strange that insects produce galls on them. But they do today on at least some horsetails, and it has clearly been of benefit to insects for millions of years. We haven’t yet found one in the Welsh coalfields but, now we know what to look out for, we will be keeping our eyes open!

Correia, P., Bashforth, A.R., Šimůnek, Z., Cleal, C.J., Sá, A.A. & Labandeira, C.C. 2020. The history of herbivory on sphenophytes: a new calamitalean with an insect gall from the Upper Pennsylvanian of Portugal and a review of arthropod herbivory on an ancient lineage. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 181(4).

VE Day Celebrations in London, 8 May 1945

8th May 2020 marks the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. Victory in Europe Day in 1945 celebrated the end of World War Two when fighting against Nazi Germany came to an end in Europe. Celebrations erupted throughout the western world, especially in the UK and North America, with more than one million people taking to the streets, village greens and town centres to celebrate across Britain.

The National Wool Museum had a VE Tea Party planned to mark this day, but as we’re all staying safe at home, our team would like to share some of their delicious VE Tea recipes with you in the hope that you can create your own celebration to mark this important occasion.

 

LEMON SPONGE

Lemmon Cake

8oz. margarine

8oz. castor sugar

4 eggs, lightly beaten

9oz. self - raising flour

1 dessert spoon lemon juice

 

TOPPING

2 Tablespoons caster sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

 

​Preheat oven at 180°C  350° F  Gas mark 4

Grease and line 11" x 7" tin.  Cream butter and sugar until pale and creamy, then beat in the eggs.  Add a tablespoon of flour with the last amount of egg to prevent curdling.  Add the lemon juice.  Fold in the rest of the flour with a metal spoon.

Place in tin and bake for about 45 mins​.

Meanwhile make topping by mixing lemon juice and castor sugar.

Remove from oven, prick all over with a skewer and spoon topping over the hot cake.  Leave to cool in tin until topping is absorbed.

 

SCONES

Scones

1 lb. self- raising flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 oz. butter

2 oz. castor sugar

½ pint milk

beaten egg to glaze

For the filling:

strawberry or raspberry jam

quarter pint double cream, whipped

 

Preheat oven 230° C  450° F  Gas mark 8

Sift flour and salt into a bowl.  Rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Add castor sugar and mix to a soft dough with the milk.

Turn onto a lightly floured table, knead quickly, then roll out to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into 20 rounds with a 2½  inch cutter. Place scones on greased baking trays and brush tops with beaten egg or milk. Bake in oven for 8 - 10 minutes.  Cool on a wire tray.

When cold, split and serve with jam and whipped cream.