Press Releases

Wales's history makes for great conversation at lunchtime

A week of Lunchtime Conversations at this year’s Hay Festival of Literature and Arts will welcome the public to join in a series of lively informed debates. Hanes Cymru-History Wales, a partnership of Wales’s leading heritage organisations, will provide a platform for expert speakers from the heritage, arts and university sectors to discuss, question and celebrate history in modern Wales. Topics will include cultural tourism, economic regeneration and science teaching in Wales.

Hanes Cymru-History Wales’s Lunchtime Conversations are free of charge, and will be held at 1pm each day, running from Sunday 29th May until Sunday 5th June. You can find us on the Hanes Cymru-History Wales stand (No: 12-14) at Hay. Visitors are invited to come and soak up the lively but informal atmosphere, and join in the conversation over a sandwich.

All manner of Welsh history and culture experts will speak at the events throughout the week including; Marilyn Lewis, Cadw’s Director, who will explore how historic character can contribute to regeneration in Wales; Jonathan (Jo) Jones, Welsh Assembly Government’s Director of Tourism and Marketing (Director of Visit Wales) will lead a discussion examining the role of heritage in boosting Wales’s tourism offer.

David Anderson, Director General Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales will discuss the exciting £20 million Creu Hanes-Making History project which sets to transform the visitor experience at St Fagans while Tom Lloyd, prolific author on historic houses in Wales, will look at the contemporary role of Britain’s historic houses.  

Marilyn Lewis, Cadw’s Director, said, “Hanes Cymru-History Wales is a great partnership between heritage organisations in Wales and one which we hope will resonate with visitors to Hay this year. The Lunchtime Conversations are an exciting development which we hope will provoke debate and inform visitors of the latest thinking on policies and actions being taken to ensure a vibrant and sustainable historic environment for Wales”.

David Anderson, Director General of Amgueddfa Cymru, said, “Amgueddfa Cymru is delighted is be part of the Hanes Cymru-History Wales partnership this year at the Hay Festival. I am very much looking forward to taking part and listening to the exciting topics being discussed in the lunchtime talks. I hope visitors to the stand will be joining in the discussions about the future of St Fagans as well as learning more about Wales’ national art collection.”

Swansea University’s Professor Huw Bowen, who is the Convener of History Research Wales, said ‘We are delighted to be taking part in the series of lunchtime conversations.  It is vitally important that the research of academic historians is communicated to public audiences in as many ways as possible.  As should be the case with all good history, we hope that our conversations at Hay will be informative, entertaining and, above all, thought-provoking.’

 

Nick Way, Director General, Historic Houses Association, said, "The HHA is delighted to join this partnership to focus on the value of Wales's world acknowledged history. Our members act as custodians of a huge swathe of the built heritage. Across the UK they have more houses open to the public than all the public bodies and the National Trust put together, so it is natural for us to explore with Hanes Cymru-History Wales and the Welsh Assembly sponsored bodies, how every aspect of the heritage can work for the benefit of the people of Wales."

 

Hanes Cymru-History Wales is a partnership between Cadw, Amgueddfa Cymru, Historic Houses Association and History Research Wales.  Through the partnership, each organisation seeks to protect and promote the historic environment of Wales, and encourage people to enjoy and learn about the stories and people that made Wales.   Hanes Cymru-History Wales aims to highlight how the past can contribute to the social, economic and environmental well-being of people in Wales today.

 

The full events programme includes (all starting at 1pm):

 

Sunday 29th May               Tom Lloyd

                                                Chair: Sir Brooke Boothby

                                                Subject: Welsh Country Houses: What do they stand for today?

 

Monday 30th May:           David Anderson, Director General, Amgueddfa Cymru

                                                Chair: Dr Keir Waddington, Head of History, Cardiff University

                                                Subject: Creu Hanes-Making History, St Fagans

 

Tuesday 31st May:            Marilyn Lewis, Director, Cadw

                                                Chair: Rhodri Ellis Owen

Subject: Regeneration and Heritage

 

Wednesday 1st June:      Oliver Fairclough, Keeper of Art, Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales

                                                Chair: Trevor Fishlock

                                                Subject: The Davies Collection and the National Museum

 

Thursday 2nd June:           Dr Robin Barlow, Aberystwyth University

                                                Chair: Prof. Huw Bowen

                                                Subject: War and its legacies in modern Wales

 

Friday 3rd June:                 Prof. Peter Stead

                                                Chair: Prof Huw Bowen

                                                Subject: Sport, history and identity in Wales

 

Saturday 4th June:            Dr Iwan Morus, Aberystwyth University

                                                Chair: Dr Adam Mosley, Swansea University

                                                Subject: History and Science in Wales

 

Sunday 5th June:               Jo Jones, Director, Visit Wales

                                                Chair: Rhodri Ellis Owen

                                                Subject: Tourism and Heritage

 

ENDS

For further information please contact Rhodri Ellis Owen at Cambrensis Communications on 029 20 257075 or rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com. Hanes Cymru-History Wales is on Facebook and @HanesCymru on Twitter.

 

Notes for Editors:

 

Cadw is the Welsh Assembly Government's historic environment service.  Its aim is to promote the conservation and appreciation of Wales' historic environment. This includes historic buildings, ancient monuments, historic parks and gardens, landscapes and underwater archaeology. For more information go to Cadw's website: www.cadw.wales.gov.uk.

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales administers seven national museums across Wales. They are National Museum Cardiff; St Fagans: National History Museum; the National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon; Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon; the National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre; the National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea. Entry to each museum is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government. 

Historic Houses Association

The HHA represents 1500 privately-owned historic houses, castles and gardens throughout the UK. These are listed buildings or designated gardens, usually Grade I or II*, and are often outstanding. Many are considered to be iconic symbols of Britain's unique heritage. Around 300 HHA houses open to the public for day visitors, attracting between them about 14 million visitors each year. Others open for special visits, weddings, corporate events or short breaks.

 

History Research Wales (HRW) is a collaborative research partnership established in 2009 between the Departments or Schools of History and/or Welsh History and Archaeology at Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, Cardiff University, the University of Glamorgan, and Swansea University.  It contains 110 academic researchers and a similar number of postgraduate research students, which makes it the largest community of historians beyond Cambridge, London, and Oxford.  HRW undertakes a broad range of activities, events, and projects, and most recently produced the ‘Heroes and Villains’ series of essays on Welsh History that appeared in the Western Mail.