May 2025 Newsletter | Abertillery And Dist

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What’s On at The Met

Lunchtime Theatre – A Mind in the Willows Thursday 8th May 1pm tickets from £6

LR Supernova’s presents Les Miserables Wed 28th to Sat 31st May, tickets from £14

For more information on these and more visit:

https://awenboxoffice.com/the-met/whats-on

or tel 01495 533195

Museum Opening Times

The Museum is open to the public, free of charge:

Thursday to Saturday 10am – 1pm

Contact us

Museum phone number 01495 211140

Email: abertillerymuseum@btconnect.com

Web: www.abertilleryanddistrictmuseum.org.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abertillerymuseum

Contact Names

Mr G Murphy Curator

Mrs P. Bearcroft Deputy Curator

Mrs E. Ewers Chair

Mrs K. Pratley Treasurer

Mrs S. Murphy Newsletter

Vice Presidents (Annual Subscription £25)

Rev Roy Watson

Mrs Carol Brooks

Mrs Margaret Cook

Mrs Margaret Herbert

Ms Michele Dack

March 100 Club

This month’s prize numbers were drawn by regular visitor Ollie and the lucky winners are:-

No. 29 Peter Rosser £20

No. 54 Gareth Murphy £10

If you would like to join our 100 club and be in with a chance of winning, it costs just £1 a month. Ask at the museum for further details.

Many thanks to everyone who visited the museum for Springfest. While not quite as busy as usual the museum enjoyed a steady flow of visitors all day and our Easter Egg hunt was well patronised. Our Easter raffle was drawn at the end of the day and all winners have received their prizes. The winning tickets are detailed below and the number of sweets in the jar was 286.

In a move that will turn the UK theme park industry on its head, Universal have just announced that their next theme park will be built right here in the UK. Universal is one of the biggest companies in the world when it comes to theme parks and, like Disney, it started life as filmmakers before expanding into theme parks and while Orlando in Florida, is the undisputed theme park capital of the world, the very first theme parks began not in Florida but in California. As for Universal Studios it all began over a hundred years ago…

A ‘theme park’ of course is basically an amusement park with themed areas and the father of the theme park is none other than Walt Disney who opened the world’s first themed park ‘Disneyland’ in California in 1955. As for Universal, it started life in 1914 when a German American immigrant, Carl Laemmie, bought the Taylor ranch in San Fernando Valley, California. A year later on March 14th 1915 in a two-day grand opening and with 10,000 invited guests, Laemmie opened his film studio which he called Universal Studios.

Later he would invite the general public into the studio to see how films were made for which he charged just 25 cents and visitors were allowed to sit on bleachers and watch the action. The tours ended in 1930 as by this time movies were no longer silent and the studios were not sound-proofed.

By 1962, MCA (Music Corporation of America) had taken over Universal Studios and their accountants, perhaps inspired by the success of nearby Disneyland, thought they too could increase profits if they were to once again offer studio tours. So on 15th July 1964 tours re-started and included dressing room walk-throughs, peeks behind stages and stunt shows. The bleachers, used until 1930, were replaced with white and pink ‘Glamor Trams’ and transported visitors in comfort around the various sets which still run today. Over the following years Universal Studios Hollywood added more and more attractions until it evolved into a theme park to rival Disneyland.

Meanwhile, on the east coast of America, Walt Disney was buying swampland in Orlando, Florida with a view to building another theme park. Disney’s Magic Kingdom opened in Orlando in 1971 though sadly Walt died before it opened. Magic Kingdom was followed by Epcot in 1982, Hollywood Studios in 1989 while Animal Kingdom would open in 1998. Not to be outdone by Disney, Universal opened Universal Studios Orlando in 1990 and almost immediately began planning a second next door. Construction began in late 1995 and Universal Islands of Adventure opened to the public on 28th May 1999. At the same time, to rival ‘Downtown Disney’ (today known as ‘Disney Springs’), Universal opened its ‘Citywalk’ just outside the two parks where visitors could shop, eat and enjoy leisure facilities into the small hours.

But they didn’t stop there. In 2001 they opened a park in Japan followed by one in Singapore in 2008. In 2021 their Beijing park opened and on 22nd May this year their latest park in Orlando, Epic Universe, will be opening while Universal Kids Resort in Texas is currently under construction and is due to open in 2026.

This Texas park will be specifically aimed at families as while Disney and Universal both offer rides and attractions to suit all ages, Disney is more focused on families while Universal has more to offer thrill seekers and this is particularly evident in their approach to Halloween with Disney offering its ‘Not-so-Scary Halloween Party’ while Universal’s ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ is not recommended for anyone under the age of thirteen!

Theme parks in the UK are currently dominated by Merlin who own Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland but the arrival of Universal on UK soil will certainly shake things up as Universal Studios operates all year round, even Christmas Day, and can open as early as 7am for hotel guests and stay open until long after dark - it closed at 2am while I was there last September for a ‘Halloween Horror Night’! In contrast our Merlin parks close for the winter and when they are open it is usually only 10am ‘til 6pm at best (unless Halloween when it usually stays open until 9pm).

Universal GB, just like in Florida, will have an equivalent to ‘Citywalk’ offering retail, leisure and dining (no park ticket required) as well as a 500 room hotel. Of course Britain can’t compete with the climate of Florida, which is why I suspect many attractions will be undercover.

If you enjoy theme parks but have never been to a Universal park, prepare to be wowed when Universal Studios Great Britain opens in Bedford in 2031. I, for one, can’t wait for our very own piece of the action!

Sally Murphy

Childhood Treasures

Do you have a possession from your childhood that you still treasure? Perhaps it’s a favourite doll or a soft toy? For me it has to be my Stylophone!

For those too young to know, a Stylophone is a miniature 6” by 4” electronic keyboard, consisting of 20 keys laid out like a piano and played with a stylus. It was invented in 1968 by a Londoner by the name of Brian Jarvis who had the idea for it after repairing a toy piano for his niece. He used a simple oscillator, a metal keyboard and a printed circuit board along with a metal-tipped stylus to create the instrument.

It was marketed in the UK in the late 60s and early 70s as a children’s’ toy with the now deceased and disgraced Rolf Harris fronting the very successful TV advertising campaign. Over three million were sold in this country, with one to yours truly! I say it was a toy however several professional musicians were known to use one including David Bowie who featured it in his 1969 hit single ‘Space Oddity’.

The keyboard, powered by a single 9v PP9 battery, sounds similar to an organ when played especially when used in ‘vibrato’ mode. The secret to playing it successfully is to slide the stylus over the keys, keeping it in contact with the keyboard at all times. The instrument was sold with a vinyl record of accompaniment music and corresponding music book for the budding musician to play along with.

My Stylophone was one of the first things I saved my pocket money to buy and, at a cost of £9 (which was a lot back in 1970), took me quite a while to save up for. I don’t remember where I bought it though suspect it was from F. W. Woolworth as they sold most things. What I do recall though is plonking a money bag full of small, mixed, loose change on the counter in front of a bemused sales assistant who very patiently counted it all out!

For such a small machine it packs a BIG sound and while it has an amplifier output socket to make it even louder, it has no volume control or headphone socket and believe me it could do with both as my long suffering family would testify to! A later model brought out in 1975 with a smart wood- effect case did have a volume control but I wasn’t inclined to save for another!

Mine is still in full working order and is complete with its record, music book and even its keyboard ‘overlay’ which replaced the keyboard letters with numbers and meant that those who could not read the supplied sheet music could follow the numbers underneath the notes instead.

My Stylophone probably belongs in a museum and maybe one day I will donate it to Abertillery Museum, but until then anyone fancy a rendition of my party piece, ‘Scotland the Brave’? Ear plugs at the ready!

Sally Murphy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylophone

https://stylophone.com/history/

Quick Quiz

(answers at end of newsletter)

1. In May 2000 who did Queen guitarist, Brian May marry?

2. According to 1732 traditional saying – what should you never cast out until May is out?

3. Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake 30 May 1431 in which French city?

4. In May 1979 who became the first female Prime Minister of a European nation?

5. In May 1931 which iconic building officially opened and became tallest in the world at that time?

6. What is the birthstone for May?

The Wimpy Bar

Once upon a time, before McDonalds, before Burger King, there was Wimpy; the very first fast food restaurant selling burger based meals and it all started in Indiana, USA in 1934…

It was founded by American Edward Gould who, inspired by the character of Wimpy in the Popeye cartoons, called the chain Wimpy Grills though only 26 ever operated in the USA. In 1954 Gould signed an agreement with J Lyons and Co (best known for their leaf tea) to allow them to operate in the UK and they were to be called Wimpy Bars (though later it changed to just Wimpy). The very first Wimpy Bar opened at Lyons Corner House in Coventry Street, London as a special fast food section of their traditional Corner House restaurant but it was so successful it soon led to many more Wimpy Bars opening as stand-alone hamburger bars. By the mid 70s there was barely a High Street anywhere in the UK that didn’t have a Wimpy Bar.

Gould died in 1977, by which time only 7 outlets remained in America though they were very popular here with over 500 UK outlets and a total of 1500 internationally with the majority being in South Africa and there are still 450 Wimpy outlets in South Africa today. Although they were not British, they had a distinct feel of ‘Britishness’ about them as their ‘Mr Wimpy’ mascot was modelled on the Queen’s Beefeater guards and they served chips not fries!

All was going well for Wimpy but on 13th November 1974 the very first McDonalds opened in London and this would start to spell the demise of the Wimpy Bar and by the end of the 1980s Wimpy was really struggling to compete. It could be said that McDonald did to Wimpy what the grey squirrel did to our native red and today there are only 61 left in the UK, 58 in England and 3 in Scotland and all are now franchises. The last one in Wales was at Porthcawl and only operated during the summer months but that closed in 2019 leaving Wales devoid of Wimpy outlets.

Growing up in the 1970s no trip to Newport was complete without a visit to the Wimpy bar for a hamburger (apparently ‘hamburger’, while made from beef, gets its name from Hamburg in Germany where it originated). And in 1981 they introduced their delicious ‘Wimpy relish’ making it even more irresistible!

Having not seen a Wimpy since the Newport one closed many years ago, I was thrilled to discover one in Caerphilly in 2011. A visit there was like stepping back in time – it was just like I remembered it and even the menu was exactly the same and my hamburger was served with fried onions which makes the burger for me (fried onions is something you never get with a McDonald’s).

Sadly by 2017 it too had closed and I never saw another until that is last month when, on a visit to Huddersfield, what should I spy while walking down the main street but a Wimpy! Naturally I had to have a hamburger (made with British beef) for old times’ sake and I’m pleased to say the menu has still barely changed with the pork ‘Bender’ still on offer (a frankfurter sausage sliced in to and bent to form a circle to fit in a bun), the ‘Wimpy Grill’ which includes a pork bender and the ‘Brown Derby’ – a warm doughnut topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce!

Mmm!

Give me a Wimpy over a McDonald’s or a Burger King any day of the week!

Sally Murphy

https://wimpy.uk.com/pages/history

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimpy_(restaurant)

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/inside-last-wimpy-wales-16340287