Tracing the Change at Cardiff Bay: a Britain from Above Community Project, Butetown

Cardiff Bay has seen a lot of change since Aerofilms Ltd first visited 90 years ago. Once the home of bustling docks, the bay has been redeveloped into an almost unrecognisable landscape of modern cultural importance: the Senedd (National Assembly for Wales) is now housed on the waterfront, as is the Millennium Centre, an important hub for the arts. When contemplating Cardiff Bay images from the collection hosted by Britain from Above, the extent and significance of this change begin to emerge.

General view of Cardiff showing docks

As part of its Activity Programme, Britain from Above is using Aerofilms images of Cardiff Bay and the surrounding region as a starting point for an intergenerational community project in the Butetown area of Cardiff. The project involves the residents of Red Sea House (a Taff initiative to house retired Somali seamen) and the Somali Youth Association group (SoYA).

The Butetown project ultimately aims to put together a short film capturing how everyday life in the area is experienced by different generations. The film will explore both the elders’ reminiscences of living and working in Butetown, and the children’s more recent experiences of change taking place in their neighbourhoods.

View of Cardiff showing docks and Butetown

Rather than simply interviewing the participants, the project is encouraging the children to take an active part in the filmmaking process. Film company Big Mouse Productions are lending their expertise, leading sessions that focus on the basics of professional film recording. They also teach the children how to be accomplished interviewers and ask questions that will elicit interesting answers.

The children of SoYA have had excellent fun practicing their new skills on each other ~some finding out what their friends want to be when they grow up (doctors, for the most part), others talking about places they’d lived in (as far and wide as the USA and Netherlands). One child remarked on how many more pavements there are in Wales compared to the USA! These sessions help the children develop a range of skills they can repeatedly draw on, for any projects they may like to work on in the future.

General view of Cardiff docks

During the industrial heyday of the city, Cardiff Bay was the largest port in Wales, with a constant stream of ships, sailors and dock workers pouring through. The industrial heritage of Wales is now being recognised as a key part of Welsh history, and work is being done by heritage organisations to record details of the lives of people involved in the day to day running of the bay.

View of Bute East dock, Cardiff and surrounding area

However, not as much work has been carried out exploring the experiences of visiting seamen and the lives they later made for themselves in Cardiff ~and it is precisely this gap that the Britain from Above Butetown project addresses. The Aerofilms collection is a unique and invaluable resource that can be used to help stir memories and recollections. By encouraging the younger generations to find out about the history of the place they live in and about the experiences of the older members of their community, and by asking them to share their own experiences of change, the project hopes to trace a microhistory of life in Cardiff Bay, as seen through the eyes of Butetown residents.

View of Cardiff Docks

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

The Royal Commission Delivers High-quality Services, 2012-13

Every year, Royal Commission staff set out to deliver high-quality services for our wide range of users and customers in the most economic and effective way possible. We set key performance indicators, alongside our other operational objectives for the year, to give a measure of our performance. During 2012/13, thanks to the continued hard work and commitment of all our staff, and to additional resources brought in through external funding and partnership, we achieved or exceeded all fifteen of the targets, which are set out in the table below. We are particularly pleased that we continue to attract more and more users of our resources, whether in the form of visits to our online resources; researchers requesting information from our public enquiries service; people taking advantage of the training we can provide; or the numbers attending our events. There is a continuing growth in demand from the public for the excellent resources we provide and we continue to give a high level of satisfaction. For 2013/14 we have raised many of our targets despite the huge challenge of reducing budgets.

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

Welsh drought brings Roman and Iron Age aerial discoveries across the country

Figure 1. A tip-off from a Roman expert studying coin finds in central Wales led to this stunning discovery of a previously unrecorded Roman fort complex, showing as fading cropmarks in fields of wheat near Brecon, Powys (Crown Copyright RCAHMW, 1st August 2013).

The long spell of hot summer weather across Wales has left aerial archaeologists reflecting on some of their most significant discoveries since 2006. A previously unrecorded Roman fort, a Roman marching camp and scores of Iron Age farmsteads and forts have been discovered by the Royal Commission as parched grassland and ripening fields of wheat showed the locations of long-lost monuments. Aerial surveys over Cardiff and Pembroke Castles revealed parchmarks of lost buildings inside these well-visited attractions, while discoveries were made from Wrexham to Pwllheli, and from Haverfordwest to Chepstow.

Aerial archaeologist Dr Toby Driver from the Royal Commission carefully targeted reconnaissance flights in a light aircraft to where the drought conditions were most severe across the length and breadth of Wales. When cropmarks show in drought conditions, the Royal Commission’s aerial survey programme only has a few weeks to record the sites before rain or harvest removes them.

By far the most significant discoveries for Wales have been from the Roman period with a major Roman fort complex discovered near Brecon, and a Roman marching camp discovered near Caerwent Roman town. The Roman fort near Brecon is a rare discovery for Wales and was made following a tip-off from Roman scholar Dr Jeffrey L. Davies, who has worked with Toby on the Abermagwr Roman villa excavations. Toby explained:

‘Jeffrey Davies noticed an anomaly in Roman coin finds near Brecon, reported under the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). He had a hunch that the coins, of the Emperor Claudius, could indicate a lost early Roman fort, and passed a grid reference to me the day before a flight into central Wales. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the pilot and I approached the location and saw fading cropmarks of a major Roman fort complex, lost beneath fields and a road for nearly 2,000 years.’

Other discoveries were made near Caerwent Roman town in south Wales, famously the market town of the Celtic Silures. Toby explained: ‘Close to Caerwent we discovered only the second Roman marching camp in Monmouthshire. These were overnight camps built by Roman soldiers on campaign in hostile territory. Because the campaigns against the tenacious Silures were documented by Roman historians, we expect more camps in south-east Wales than we currently know about. This new camp between Caerwent and Chepstow seems to show a small expeditionary force on manoeuvres, perhaps in the years around AD 50. West of Caerwent we found a remarkable ‘native’ Iron Age settlement. Given the decades of aerial survey in the region around Caerwent, these surprise discoveries show the continuing need for aerial archaeology in Wales.’

Figure 2. A rare discovery: only the second Roman marching camp in Monmouthshire, found between Caerwent and Chepstow, provides new evidence for the famous Roman campaigns against the Silures of south-east Wales. The characteristic ‘playing card’ shape of the camp shows as a cropmark in a ripening field of wheat, and an adjacent field of parched grass (Crown Copyright RCAHMW, 22nd July 2013).

Other discoveries made in the drought include one of the largest and most complex Iron Age defended farms in Pembrokeshire, on Conkland Hill, Wiston, as well as scores of newly recorded Iron Age farms and forts across south Pembrokeshire and in the Vale of Glamorgan, with two discovered close to the well-known Roman villa at Caermead, Llantwit Major. The archival work for the Royal Commission now begins, to catalogue and map the many discoveries and make the information more widely available to the public on its online database www.coflein.gov.uk


Learn more about aerial archaeology in Wales from the recent Royal Commission publication ‘Cymru Hanesyddol o'r Awyr / Historic Wales From the Air’ (RCAHMW 2012, £19.95) Dr Toby Driver, RCAHMW

How ‘cropmarks’  show lost archaeological sites

‘Cropmarks’ are revealed when grass and arable crops are put under drought stress, and they respond to subtle differences in moisture in the subsoil. Where crops are growing over the buried ditches of lost hillforts or prehistoric farms dark green lines form in fields; conversely buried stonework of lost buildings or old roads form yellow lines in grass and crops. These cropmarks can be seen most clearly from the air, but have to be photographed in a short time window before rain or harvest makes them disappear.
 

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

National Eisteddfod 2013

Location of the 2013 Eisteddfod.

Next week come and visit us at the National Eisteddfod in Denbigh to find out more about our nation’s rich heritage of buildings and archaeology. Both Coflein, our online database, and our in-house experts will be available to answer your queries throughout the week. Our exhibition includes panels on the historic town of Denbigh, tree-ring dating, the artwork of Falcon Hildred, and the Metal Links project work at Amlwch. We will be located in “Heritage Row”, stand number 509-10, next to Cadw and Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, so please call in and see us!

Important diary dates:
Wednesday, 7 August at 11am, Royal Commission Chairman, Dr Eurwyn Wiliam, will be talking in Pabell y Cymdeithasau 1 on “Darganfod Hanes Sir Ddinbych - darganfyddiadau diweddar gan Gomisiwn Henebion Cymru" (Discovering the history of Denbighshire: recent discoveries by the Royal Commission) and at the Denbighshire marquee (immediately facing the main entrance) on Thursday 8 August at 3:30pm.

On Friday, 9 August, military historian, Medwyn Parry, will be giving a talk on Olion Milwrol o’r Ugeinfed Ganrif yng Nghymru (Twentieth Century Military Remains in Wales) in Pabell y Cymdeithasu 2 at 10.30am.

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

Festival of Archaeology: a “Scorching Success”!

Having fun with magnifying glasses and APs at the Penparcau Fun Day

A fortnight of unbroken sunshine gave archaeological enthusiasts a memorable 2013 Festival of Archaeology in Aberystwyth. The following pictures show some of the 750+ enthusiasts who attended Royal Commission events. These included community days in Penparcau and Llanon, a lecture for the launch of the Llŷn Archaeology and History Society, a presentation on work of industrial landscape artist Falcon Hildred, and an expedition to Pen Dinas hillfort led by Dr Toby Driver. Watch out for the front cover of the next edition of the CBA Newsletter (late Summer 2013) which shows an army of enthusiasts making their way to the summit!

Enthusiasts striding to the summit of Pen Dinas hillfort despite the heat of the baking sun

Piecing together a Coflein image of Aberystwyth

The Royal Commission’s Nikki Vousden explaining the mysteries of fish-traps at the Community Excavation Open Day, Heol Non, Llanon, organised by Dyfed Archaeological Trust

Dr Peter Wakelin talking to a full room on the work of Falcon Hildred

Visitors enjoying a site tour at the Community Excavation Open Day, Heol Non, Llanon

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

‘Worktown’ at the National Slate Museum

Falcon Hildred (centre), with staff from the Royal Commission and the National Slate Museum.

An exhibition of more than 30 prints by the north-Wales based artist Falcon Hildred has recently gone on display at the National Slate Museum in Llanberis. This is the second exhibition of the artist’s work since the Royal Commission acquired his unique collection of more than 600 drawings and watercolours in 2011, and the first ‘Worktown’ exhibition to take place in Wales.

Falcon Hildred is a highly accomplished artist who has dedicated his working life to recording the buildings and landscapes of nineteenth and twentieth-century industry, producing works of high aesthetic, historic and social value. He has recorded in detail technological and engineering change and a rapidly disappearing way of life. The drawings record Blaenau Ffestiniog (the artist’s home since 1969 and a place he has recorded extensively), and a number of industrial towns in Wales and England. The exhibition was curated especially for the National Slate Museum, which sits at the heart of the industrial slate landscape of Snowdonia. Speaking at the opening, Falcon commented that seeing his drawings at the slate museum was ‘like seeing them coming home.’

The Falcon Hildred Collection was acquired in 2011 with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and in partnership with the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. The free exhibition will be on display at the National Slate Museum until the 6th January 2014. For further information about visiting the National Slate Museum, visit their website: http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/slate/

Visitors enjoying the short film about the artist, commissioned especially for the project.

Falcon Hildred signing copies of the Royal Commission’s book Worktown: The Drawings of Falcon Hildred, which accompanies the exhibition.

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

The Royal Commission’s Medwyn Parry to lead motorcycle cavalcade on visit to UK Thankful Villages

Royal Commission’s staff wish everyone taking part a safe journey.

It all began with a conversation about a year ago about the forthcoming 100th anniversary of the start of World War 1. The conversation was between Medwyn Parry from Reader Services and myself, Deanna Groom, Maritime Officer.

‘Now Medwyn, what are the really iconic World War I sites in Wales that we should start thinking about doing more survey work on or researching?’, I said.

‘Well, there are sites such as the practice trenches at Bodelwyddan and Penally. Toby Driver has taken some wonderful aerial photographs of those recently’, Medwyn replied.

‘We should do something about the shipping losses around the coast from submarine attacks… but are there any other really great stories yet to be told?’, I said

‘Well, there are the Thankful Villages…’, Medwyn said.

And so Medwyn told me the story of the 51 villages where every soldier who went to war, fought through the real horrors of trench warfare, actually came home safely.

Now Medwyn Parry with fellow motorbike enthusiast, Dougie Bancroft, are about to set off on a 9 day, 2500 miles journey, to visit to each of those villages and deliver a special commemorative plaque. Many of the villages have parties planned to welcome them to celebrate their village’s unique status and the reasons they have to be thankful within their communities today.

The charities benefiting from the fundraising include The Royal British Legion, who support former and serving military personnel, their families and dependants.

The Royal Commission’s staff would like to wish everyone taking part a safe journey and every success.

The event begins on Saturday 27 July at Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, Ceredigion, at 8am, and passes through Herbranston, Pembrokeshire, and Colwinston, Glamorgan, on the same day. The ride is due to finish back at Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, Ceredigion, at around 19.30pm on Sunday 4 August.

Search online for Thankful Villages 2013 news feeds and for more information on the schedule.

To learn more about these practice trench complexes and to see some of  Toby’s images, follow these Coflein links:

• http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/268142/images/BODELWYDDAN+PARK+ARMY+PRACTICE+TRENCHES/
• http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/268143/images/PENALLY+FIRST+WORLD+WAR+PRACTICE+TRENCHES/

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

A Grand Day Out: The Royal Welsh Show, Abergele, 1950

Fifty years ago the Royal Welsh Show moved to its permanent site at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells. Before then the show was held in a different locality each year. The Royal Commission has recently unearthed an old aerial photograph from the Aerofilms Collection of one of the first shows held after the Second World War. It was held in Abergele on Wednesday–Friday, 26–28 July 1950, the dates were carefully chosen to slot between the Royal Lancashire and the Yorkshire Shows. Figures for the show were high―with attendances of 61,311 and a profit of £3,814, and the site of the show, now occupied by the Maes Canol housing estate, overlooked the marsh towards Rhuddlan and the River Clwyd. The highlight of the show was a display by the Liverpool Mounted Police, who in 1950 regularly patrolled the docks, football matches and race meetings on horseback. In a later account of the show in 1950, Vernon Hughes wrote, “The weather during the three days was warm and sunny, the field was packed with happy, smiling faces, the caterers were busy, and the traders on their stands were obviously pleased with the public, other tents were full of exhibits and, most importantly, the farmers and their families were really enjoying themselves in the summer weather―a sure sign it was a good show.”  Then as now, the Royal Welsh Show was certainly fun for all the family―especially in glorious sunshine!

If  anyone has any memories of the Abergele show in 1950, please visit our Royal Commission stand at the show (CCA 785) and tell us about it or phone the Royal Commission, Tel:- 01970 621200.   Other unique images from the Aerofilms Collection may be viewed on Coflein, the Royal commission’s on-line database.

Notes to Editors:
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales is the investigation body and national archive for the historic environment of Wales. It has the lead role in ensuring that Wales’s archaeological, built and maritime heritage is authoritatively recorded, and seeks to promote the understanding and appreciation of this heritage nationally and internationally.
Website: www.rcahmw.gov.uk

The Aerofilms Collection
The Aerofilms Collection consists of over one million items, including negatives and photograph albums.  Dating from 1919 to 2006, these images show the changing face of Britain throughout the 20th century. It represents the largest and most significant body of air photographs of Britain taken before 1939.

This very large collection of historical air photographs was acquired by English Heritage, in partnership with the Royal Commissions on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and Scotland in 2007. The collection is jointly managed by the three partners.

For further information please contact:
Nicola Roberts, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales nicola.roberts@rcahmw.gov.uk  Tel: 01970 621248    Mobile: 07866050316

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:
Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales