Worktown Exhibition Official Opening

An artist with enthusiastic purchasers of Worktown: The Drawings of Falcon Hildred

Last Thursday evening, 11 October, saw the official opening of Worktown: The Drawings of Falcon Hildred at the Coalbrookdale Gallery, Ironbridge Gorge Museum.  The evening was very well attended and everyone greatly admired the range of drawings which covered nearly 50 years of observation of the changing industrial scene and was both celebratory and nostalgic. Speakers of the evening included the artist himself, Falcon Hildred, Steven Miller, Chief Executive Officer Ironbridge Gorge Museums, Dr Peter Wakelin, Secretary of the Royal Commission, and Harriet Delvin, committee member for West Midlands HLF. 

The free-to- enter exhibition will run until 30 April 2013 and will be open 10am-5pm, Monday-Friday. For further details, please call 01952 433424 or visit Ironbridge Gorge Museum. Future venues displaying the original artwork will include the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, and Newport Museum and Art Gallery. An exhibition of reproduction images will also be displayed at the Museum of Slate, Llanberis. Please check our website for further information on future events. The beautifully illustrated catalogue , a permanent record of Falcon’s work, and written by the Royal Commission’s Secretary, Dr Peter Wakelin, is now available to buy from the Royal Commission for £16.95 or at the special price of £15.30 for Friends.

A selection of photographs taken at last week’s successful event:

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Worktown: the Drawings of Falcon Hildred

Hollt yr Oakeley, 1974
Panorama o derasau chwareli llechi’r Oakeley o’u gweld wrth gyrraedd Blaenau Ffestiniog o’r gogledd dros Fwlch y Gerddinen. Ar y chwith mae tai teras Talwaenydd, a thu hwnt iddynt mae chwareli a melin lechi Llechwedd.
© Y Goron: Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru, Casgliad Falcon Hildred,
FHA 01/08/02, NPRN 404307

Bu tîm o guraduron, gwirfoddolwyr ac archifyddion o’r Comisiwn Brenhinol ac Ymddiriedolaeth Amgueddfa Ceunant Ironbridge yn gweithio gyda’i gilydd i baratoi arddangosfa wych newydd o waith yr arlunydd Falcon Hildred a fydd yn agor yn Oriel Coalbrookdale yng nghanol Safle Treftadaeth Byd Ceunant Ironbridge ar y 5ed o Hydref.

Mae Falcon Hildred yn arlunydd hynod ddawnus sydd wedi neilltuo oes o waith i gofnodi adeiladau a thirweddau diwydiant y bedwaredd ganrif a’r bymtheg a’r ugeinfed ganrif. Drwy gofnodi manylion newidiadau technolegol a pheirianyddol a ffordd o fyw sy’n prysur ddiflannu, mae ef wedi creu gweithiau o werth esthetig, hanesyddol a chymdeithasol mawr. Gan weithio mewn partneriaeth ag Ymddiriedolaeth Amgueddfa Ceunant Ironbridge, a chyda chymorth ariannol Cronfa Dreftadaeth y Loteri, prynodd y Comisiwn ei gasgliad unigryw o fwy na 600 o luniadau gwreiddiol o adeiladau a thirweddau diwydiannol yn gynharach eleni. Bydd yr arddangosfa yn ei gwneud hi’n bosibl i’r cyhoedd weld y casgliad eiconig hwn am y tro cyntaf.

Fel yr eglura Peter Wakelin, ein Hysgrifennydd, “Mae gwaith oes Falcon Hildred yn gofnod unigryw o ddiwylliant y dosbarth gweithiol ac o dirweddau diwydiannol. Mae’r casgliad yn adnodd gwych i’r sawl sy’n ymddiddori yn y dreftadaeth honno gan fod llawer ohoni wedi diflannu ers i Falcon ei dogfennu. Bydd yr arddangosfa gyntaf hon a’r llyfr sy’n cyd-fynd â hi yn tynnu sylw llawer o bobl at ei waith a’r hanes eithriadol o ddifyr y mae’n ei gynrychioli.”

Meddai Jennifer Stewart, Pennaeth Cronfa Dreftadaeth y Loteri yng Nghymru, “Mae Cymru’n enwog ledled y byd am ei threftadaeth ddiwydiannol ac mae caffael y casgliad hwn wedi golygu bod modd rhannu’r gorffennol hwnnw mewn ffordd unigryw. Rydyn ni’n wirioneddol falch bod cynifer o wirfoddolwyr wedi cymryd rhan yn y prosiect a bod cynifer o bobl yn awr yn mynd i gael gweld lluniadau a lluniau dyfrlliw arbennig iawn”.

Cynhelir yr arddangosfa ddi-dâl yn Oriel Coalbrookdale yn Amgueddfa Ceunant Ironbridge a bydd ar agor rhwng 10am a 5pm, Dydd Llun i Ddydd Gwener, o 5 Hydref 2012 hyd 20 Ebrill 2013. Ffoniwch 01952 433424 neu ewch i www.ironbridge.org.uk  i gael rhagor o fanylion.

Carchar Caerdydd, 1986
Comisiynwyd codi Carchar Caerdydd yn sgil barnu nad oedd y carchar cynt yn debyg o fod yn ddigon mawr i gymryd yr holl garcharorion wrth i’r dref ddiwydiannol ehangu’n gyflym. Agorwyd y carchar newydd ddiwedd 1832 ac yr oedd ynddo le i wyth deg o garcharorion ac ugain o ddyledwyr
© Y Goron: Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru, Casgliad Falcon Hildred,
FHA 02/66, NPRN 3072

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Worktown: the Drawings of Falcon Hildred

The Oakeley Gash, 1974
A panorama of the terraced working of the Oakeley slate quarries, seen as one enters Blaenau Ffestiniog from the north over the Crimea Pass. To the left are the terraced houses of Tal-y-Waenydd, and beyond them are the Llechwedd quarries and slate mill.
© Crown: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Falcon Hildred Collection,
FHA 01/08/02, NPRN 404307

A team of curators, volunteers and archivists from the Royal Commission and the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust have been working together in preparation for a remarkable new exhibition of the work of artist Falcon Hildred which will open at the Coalbrookdale Gallery in the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site on the 5th October.

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 Commission, working in partnership with the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, acquired his unique collection of over 600 original drawings of industrial buildings and landscapes earlier this year. The upcoming exhibition makes this iconic collection available for the first time.

Our Secretary, Peter Wakelin explains that “Falcon Hildred’s lifetime’s work amounts to a unique record of working-class culture and industrial landscapes. The collection is a superb resource for anyone interested in this heritage, much of which has disappeared since Falcon documented it. This first exhibition and the book accompanying it will make lots more people aware of his work and the fascinating history it stands for.”

Jennifer Stewart, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales said, “Wales is renowned worldwide for its industrial heritage and the acquisition of this collection has meant that this past can be shared in a unique way.  We are really pleased that so many volunteers have been involved in the project and that these very special drawings and watercolours are now going to be seen by so many people”.

The free to enter exhibition will be located in the Coalbrookdale Gallery at Ironbridge Gorge Museum, and will be open 10am – 5pm, Monday to Friday from 5th October 2012 to 20 April 2013. Please call 01952 433424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk for more details.

Cardiff Prison, 1986
Cardiff was commissioned after the earlier Cardiff Gaol was deemed insufficient to cope with the likely prison needs of the rapidly expanding industrial town. It was opened at the end of 1832 with room to house eighty prisoners and twenty debtors
© Crown: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Falcon Hildred Collection,
FHA 02/66, NPRN 3072

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A Return Visit to Maenofferen Slate Quarry

Members of Plas Tan y Bwlch Industrial Archaeology Group. NPRN 400427

The long established Plas Tan y Bwlch Industrial Archaeology Group has recently finished their annual field school in Snowdonia. The focus of this year’s work was MaenofferenSlate Quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog, where the Royal Commission has been undertaking survey and investigation as part of its Slate Quarries Project.  Royal Commission Investigator Louise Barker spent two days working alongside the group who spent their time enhancing the Commission’s survey with valuable additional information on specific aspects of the site such as the machinery and underground remains.

The combined work will produce a valuable record of the quarry and will also be featured in the Commission’s forthcoming publication on the Archaeology of the Slate Industry, written by the Plas Tan y Bwlch course leader Dafydd Gwyn and due out in 2014.

Aerial view of Maenofferen Slate Quarry, Blaenau Ffestiniog. NPRN 400427

Also see:

Survey at the Maenofferen Slate Quarry | Heritage of Wales News

05 Oct 2010

As part of both the Commission's new Slate Quarries project and the Atlanterra project, RCAHMW Investigators have just completed their first week of survey at Maenofferen, part of the extensive quarrying complex at Blaenau ...

A Fine Week At The Maenofferen Slate Quarry | Heritage of Wales ...

11 Oct 2010

Survey at Maenofferen is nearly completed with an overall site plan encompassing the whole quarry complex including the original workers housing, the inclines for carrying away the processed slate and the tramways for ...

Saw Mill Maenofferen Slate Quarry Complex | Heritage of Wales News

20 Oct 2010

The saw mill, which developed over four separate phases, is the largest building in the Maeofferen complex. A waterwheel in the centre of the left hand bay was fed by a launder carried on stone piers which can still be seen to ...

Maenofferen Slate Quarry Winding House Complex | Heritage of ...

13 Oct 2010

The winding house complex at the top of the underground incline. A series of three winding drums in the centre section serve the rails, with a boiler house, engine house and possible compressor house making up the rest of ...

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Fulbright Students Visit the RCAHMW & North Ceredigion’s Mining Heritage

The US-UK Fulbright Commission Summer Institute (Wales) students with the tour leaders from Metal Links/RCAHMW.

Staff from the RCAHMW’s Metal Links Project recently played host to a group of American students participating in the US-UK Fulbright Commission Summer Institute educational exchange programme. Students from across the United States have the opportunity to experience an academic programme at highly regarded UK educational institutions, whilst exploring the culture, heritage and history of the UK and developing academic skills in areas such as research and presentation. The Metal Links team led the group of eight students, who have spent six weeks at Cardiff, Bangor and Aberystwyth Universities, on a tour of sites relating to the metal-mining heritage of north Ceredigion.

The day started with an introductory session at the RCAHMW, where the students learnt about the NMRW archive and collections, which include aerial photographs, maps, drawings, notebooks and archaeological records, among many other things. Following this, the first stop on the tour was the village of Cwmsymlog. This was once home to one of the premier lead and silver mining sites in the area; it was described by Lewis Morris in the 18th century as ‘the richest in Lead and Silver of any in his Majesty’s Dominions’ (NPRN 33830). As well as learning about the metal mining history of the area, RCAHMW Investigator Louise Barker also told the students all about the archaeology of the wider landscape around Cwmsymlog, which has some fine examples of prehistoric sites and monuments, including Darren Camp hillfort (NPRN 303592). From here, the group travelled to Ysbyty Cynfyn, where the students visited the church with its interesting graveyard and heard about various community initiatives in the area from the ever-enthusiastic churchwarden, Delyth.

The RCHAMW's Louise Barker explains the process of lead mining and the history of the site at Cwmystwyth, Ceredigion.

After a break for lunch at Devil’s Bridge, the next destination was Cwmystwyth and a chance for the students to see the stunning landscape formed by centuries of metal mining activity. There was also the opportunity to discuss present day issues affecting former mining sites, such as pollution, the modification of historic mining remains for energy generation, fly-tipping and the presentation of remote historic sites. To round off the day, the group visited Eglwys Newydd (Hafod Uchtryd Church; NPRN 743) on the boundary of the famous Hafod Estate, and learnt about the estate’s most famous owner, Thomas Johnes. It was a pleasure to introduce the students to the industrial heritage of north Ceredigion, to discuss wide-ranging topics and to showcase some fascinating historic sites to them. Hopefully they will take away good memories of their brief experience of this diverse historic landscape.

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