News 2009

Upland Work

A large part of our archaeological programme of work for the past year has been taken up with fieldwork in the uplands of Mid Wales, as part of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales’ Uplands Initiative. During the spring we completed fieldwork on Banc y Celyn, on the Epynt mountain (often in the snow!). The autumn months saw us surveying a large area (63km²) of the Elenydd hills in Radnorshire. You will be able to see the results of this work in the near future on the Coflein website.

Heritage in Pembrokeshire

We were commissioned to carry out an interesting project by Planed - an Audit of Natural and Heritage Assets in the Crymych area. We created a database of details of historical and archaeological sites, as well as natural attractions and the details of tourism-related businesses for the area between the Preseli hills and the Teifi. It is hoped that this will be a useful source to assist the future development of the area, see Planed.

Spirit of the Miners

The end of 2008 and the spring of 2009 saw the launch of two community projects undertaken through the Spirit of the Miners project in Ceredigion. The Ceulanamaesmawr project produced 5 heritage panels, a leaflet, web pages and a CD of oral history to celebrate the metal mining heritage of the county. We thank Unigryw for recording the oral history. Look at Ysbryd y Mywnwyr for the project details. The second project, celebrating the history of Hafod Church, Cwmystwyth produced 3 panels, a leaflet and the installation of a touch-screen computer in the church which makes a digital burial register and churchyard plan available to visitors and genealogists

Interpreting heritage

We have been working with a community group in Lower Brynaman, in the Amman Valley to produce an additional interpretation panel for a series put up by Carmarthenshire County Council in Ynysdawela Park almost a decade ago. The new panel tells of the contribution young people have made to keeping the park neat and tidy. As we have done many times in the past, we worked alongside the designer Phillip Wait to ensure we created an attractive and informative panel.

Cwmtwrch

We are currently in the process of creating a panel to mark the starting point of the “Ffordd y Glowyr” miner’s trail in Cwmtwrch Uchaf, Powys. The trail is being developed by Ystradgynlais Town Council and links and interprets several former colliery and industrial sites in the beautiful Twrch valley, at the edge of the Brecon Beacons. New artwork for the panel was commissioned from the excellent archaeological artist Dominic Andrews.

Cwmafan

We created a leaflet for Groundworks Bridgend & Neath Port Talbot for the Kanji Wood, a Japanese Garden, at Pontrhydyfen in the Afan Valley. The wood has several impressive sculptures of “Kanji” - the characters used in Japanese writing. The Kanji Wood is the brainchild of someone with his roots in the area who is now a renowned environmentalist in Japan. The leaflet was produced in conjunction with another good friend, the designer Alan Williams.

In the community...

This year we have again had the chance to participate in a number of community heritage events. We had the opportunity to take a stand to events in Brynaman, Carmarthenshire and Ystradgynlais, Powys organised by our friends at Creu-ad. We have also given public presentations about our archaeological work to the Uplands Forum in Aberystwyth, the Council for British Archaeology in Shrewsbury and more recently to a community evening at the CARAD centre in Rhayader, the latter based on our survey of Elenydd. Another interesting experience was helping Llanfallteg History Society produce their excellent local history book by doing some initial editing work for them. The book was launched in March and you can find out more via the Llanfallteg website.

Institute for Archaeologists

Having dragged his feet for many years, Paul has at last (and successfully) applied to become a Member of the Institute for Archaeologist and is now a MIfA. Jenny has carried on as the Chair of IfA Wales/Cymru in 2009, but is due to step down from the post in 2010, having completed 6 years in the role.

Farewell to an old friend

After 5 years of loyal service, and visits to some of the most far-flung places in mid-Wales, Jenny’s little black car has ceased to be. The rough road to Claerwen was the final straw. We are looking for a Landrover or tank for our 2010 fieldwork...