Remembering the Beddgelert Meteorite strike!

Beddgelert isn't only famous for the resting place of the faithful hound - apparently 60 years ago this month a meteorite fell through the roof of the Prince Llewelyn Hotel in Beddgelert, fortunately no-one was sleeping in the room where the rock struck - but the meteorite smashed through the roof leaving a round hole. The bright light and the sound of the meteorite breaking the sound barrier as it entered earth's atmosphere were seen and heard across north Wales.

I am wondering if the meteorite was hot - and if so, why didn't it start a fire at the hotel? Perhaps someone will let me know.
Meanwhile another excellent aerial photograph for you - this time of Beddgelert.

Anglesey's Coastline Enhancement Scheme

A £5.6 million project, funded by the European Union, the local council and the Welsh Assembly Government has been announced. The project to improve accessibility, coastal infrastructure and provide more information about isalnd's coastline will enhance the visitor experience and create tourism opportunities to boost the local economy.

Anglesey has a rich cultural heritage and I've listed some sites that we recommend you visit

Bryn Celli Ddu a neolithic chambered burial tomb near the village of Llanddeniel Fab.
Din Lligwy, just outside Moelfre on the northern coast, has preserved remains of a prehistoric settlement including two roundhouses and several rectangular buildings.
St Eilian's Church, Llaneilian is a medieval church which retains many medieval features and paintings.

Penmon Priory is thought to be an early medieval foundation and has a holy well associated with it.
St Pabo's church, Llanbabo is worth a visit to see the carved stone memorial to St Pabo.

Beaumaris Castle is located close to the water's edge and was the last link in the ring of defence to the north Wales seaboard built by Edward 1st. The castle remains largely intact.

Porth Amlwch was the main port and smelthing site for the copper mines in north Wales

Filming for Hidden Histories series 2 has been completed

Filming for the second sereis of Hidden Histories has just finished and Element, the production company, are now editing the footage taken over the summer. Filming has been taking place in many locations across Wales and we'll let you know when we have a transmission date for the first episode of series 2... watch this space.
You can still see series one on the BBC iplayer on the BBC Wales History webpages or look at the Royal Commission website for information about the series.

Moelfre on Anglesey

Scrappy, the 3 year old dog was rescued by the RNLI from steep cliffs at Moelfre on Anglesey. This was the second cliff incident this week as a young girl had narrowly escaped injury on Sunday, when the car she was sitting in rolled down out of control over the cliff edge at Benllech.

Moelfre doesn't look too dangerous in this image of the harbour, taken by David Howarth!

To find more images of Wales take a look at Coflein, the online database of historic sites and buildings in Wales. You can search by map or by entering the name of the place you are interested in into the quick and advanced search features.

Dinorwic Slate Quarry 40 Years After Closure

The National Slate Museum of Wales is organising several events to mark the 40th anniversary of the closure of the Dinorwic (Dinorwg) Slate Quarry. A play - "Y Cau" (The Closing) will be staged at the museum on 20th, 21st and 22nd of August. The quarry includes the remains of the Braich levels of the Dinorwic Slate quarry which operated from around 1770 to 1969. There are substantial remains which survive at the site, helping to show how the quarry operated in its heyday. To find out more check the site entry for Dinorwic on Coflein (The Royal Commission's online site database).

Discovering a Roman Road in Newtown

The BBC Wales newspage is reporting that one of the longest sections of Roman road ever found in Wales is being unearthed at the site of a new Tesco in Newtown, Powys. The road is thought to have linked two forts , one at Forden and one at Caersws. Archaeologists from the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust are working on the site of the town's old Smithfield market. You can search for Roman Roads and sites on Coflein.

Kinmel Military Camp

The news that 302 jobs in north east Wales will be lost when Indesit close their factory at Kinmel Park, Bodelwyddan has just been announced. This is a serious blow for the area and for those who may loose their jobs. The factory was built on the site of Kinmel Military Camp which was a huge facility constructed during the First World War. The Camp is infamous for the riot of homesick Canadian troops in 1919 awaiting de-mobilisation after World War I. The Kinmel Camp entry on Coflein will tell you more.

Map image: © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Wales. Licence number: 100017916, 2009.
© Hawlfraint y Goron. Cedwir pob hawl. Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru. Rhif trwydded: 100017916, 2009.

Stephanie Holland Attended Cardiff University

Apparently Big Brother contender Stephanie Holland studied music at Cardiff University, based in Cathays Park, Cardiff. You can find information about the university buildings in Cathays by searching Coflein, our online database. Cardiff's a great city and the Cathays area is particularly grand!

Hidden Histories TV Series Screens Again

Great news that the Hidden Histories TV series is to be screened again on BBC4 starting on June 18th at 20:00hrs - make sure you see it if you haven't already - or watch it again!

The Commission hosted a very successful Open Day at the offices in Aberyswtyth on Saturday May 9th. About 150 people visited the library and had tours of the archive and listened to talks and presentations by members of the staff. We were so please to meet lots of new visitors and welcome back some old friends and hope that everyone enjoyed the day. In particular we met the members of the Aberystwyth Young Archaeologists Club - and we are hoping to arrange some more activities with them in the near future.

How Can We Improve Our Services?

What users require from web services is not always obvious to providers.
The Royal Commission is interested to know what its users think about the web services it provides and how they can be improved.
These services include Coflein and the RCAHMW website.
If you have a view why not let us know about it here on the blog? We can't promise to change things immediately - but we can promise to listen and to consider ways to meet your needs more effectively.

Hidden Histories On The Web

Recently I've been spending my time adding the major essays from the Hidden Histories book to our website. These essays are great introductions to Welsh history which follow a chronological theme. They are written by experts in each field and are illustrated with photographs and images from the National Monuments Record (the RCAHMW archive). The pages can all be seen in the Heritage of Wales pages of the Royal Commission website and we hope they are great resources for everyone who wants to discover more about the history of Wales. I'd be glad to hear what people think about them and the other pages in the Heritage of Wales section of the website.

We have so many spectacular images and we thought that this was a good way of showing a selection of them to a wider audience within a context that explains the significance of what is illustrated - but maybe we could do this in a better way?

Any ideas for new pages?

Welcome to the Heritage of Wales News Blog

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales would like to hear your news and views on current archaeological and architectural recording in Wales.

Let us know what you think of our web-services, which include Coflein and the RCAHMW website or if you have any ideas for improving our services we'd be glad to hear them.

If you have seen the latest publication from RCAHMW Hidden Histories tell us if you like it - if you haven't check it out by visiting our website www.rcahmw.gov.uk.

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