Monthly Newsletter
September 2024

What’s On at The Met this month

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Fri 6th Sep 8pm Cadillac Kings.. Tickets from £15

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Tue 10th Sep 7.30pm Austen’s Women – Lady Susan. Tickets from £13.

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Tue 17th Sep 2-4pm Tea Dance. Tickets from £4

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Thu 19th Sep 1-2pm (lunch-time theatre) Barrel Babes £6 inc tea/coffee & Welsh cakes.

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Fri 20th Sep 8pm Comedian Leroy Brito (adult content). Tickets from £15

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Fri 27th Sep 8pm Elvis: The Rhondda Years (musical comedy). Tickets from £15.

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For these and more visit:

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

Tel 01495 533195

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Museum Opening Times

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

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Thursday* to Saturday              10am – 1pm

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Contact us

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Museum phone number 01495 211140

Email: abertillerymuseum@btconnect.com 

Web: www.abertilleryanddistrictmuseum.org.uk

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

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Contact Names

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Mr  G Murphy Curator

Mrs P.  Bearcroft Deputy Curator

Mrs E.  Ewers Chair

Mrs J.  Price Secretary

Mrs K.  Pratley Treasurer

Mrs S.  Murphy Newsletter

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Vice Presidents (Annual Subscription £25)

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Rev Roy Watson

Mrs Carol Brooks

Mrs Margaret Cook

Mr John Cavaciuti

Mrs Margaret Herbert

Mr Ross Leadbeater

Ms Michele Dack

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August 100 Club

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This month’s prize numbers were drawn by members Carol Tippings and Val Rosser and the lucky winners are:-

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No.   35 Margaret Phillips £20

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No.   25 Carol Tippings £10

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And both winners kindly donated £10 to the museum.  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.

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Announcing New Website!

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Following criticism of our website by ‘Visit Wales.com’ it was decided we needed to take action.  Our website had been set up in 2007 by a gentleman by the name of Gary Martin.  Our late curator, Don Bearcroft, had met Gary at Abertillery library where he was working as an IT tutor and he kindly agreed to set up and run our website which he has done so, very successfully, for the last 17 years and for which we are very grateful. 

 

The way we access the internet has changed a lot over the last 17 years.  Back in 2007, Apple had only just launched their very first generation iPhone and desktop computers were the norm for accessing the internet.  Nowadays desktop PCs are mainly confined to offices with the general public using a ‘smart phone’ or tablet.  Our old website was of course designed before the era of the smart phone and was therefore not mobile friendly and Gary told us it would be easier to create a whole new website rather than try and modernise the old.  

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Enter Mark Lewis of TECH IT OUT LTD, a local to Abertillery whose business is building websites and who stepped in and created us a whole new website at an extremely generous rate.  He worked with us, calling at the museum most Thursdays, to keep us informed of progress and to make suggestions.  The result is a website which I hope you will agree is easy to navigate, pleasant on the eye and most importantly, mobile friendly!

 

The website address remains the same as always (www.abertilleryanddistrictmuseum.org.uk) and we would welcome any comments you may have on the new site; just email us at abertillerymuseum@btconnect.com.

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TO WHIFF OR NOT TO WHIFF?

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Remember Mum? No, not your mother, the deodorant Mum.  This was the first modern commercial deodorant and it was developed in 1888 by, as you might expect, an American. 

 

Let's roll back a bit.  I think it is generally accepted that centuries ago people didn't (or couldn't) wash themselves or their clothes very often and so, to our modern noses, they would have been very smelly.  Some relief was available for those in the upper classes by the use of scented oils, dried flowers and herbs but for most people, the world was a smelly place and presumably people found it much less offensive than we would simply because they were used to it. 

 

The Egyptians and the Romans were fastidious about keeping clean and smelling sweet but the Roman influence on personal hygiene seems to have departed with them and didn't really reappear until the Victorian era.

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But back to ‘Mum’.  When it first came out in 1888 it came in the form of a cream in a tin and you applied it with your fingers.  It wasn't until the late 1940s that the roll-on applicator came along, following the invention of the ball point pen.  Needless to say deodorants took off in America before they were used so widely in this country. 

 

People would use things like Lifebuoy soap (medicated to fight bacteria), talc, toilet water or underarm pads to absorb the sweat.  I can certainly remember my mother putting those pads into her clothes well into the 1950s.  It seems that deodorants started becoming widely used in the 1950s as the products themselves became more user friendly. 

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Early deodorants such as Mum used zinc oxide and early antiperspirants used aluminium salts but both could irritate the skin and stain clothes.  And if you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between a deodorant and an antiperspirant, the former is designed to mask odours while the latter blocks pores and prevents sweating.

 

Although initially favoured by women, deodorants came to be widely used by men, another trend which took off more quickly in the United States than here but you only have to look at shop shelves now to see as many deodorants on offer for men as there are for women.

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The containers have also changed over the years with the introduction of sprays, aerosols and deodorant sticks as well as the continued popularity of the roll on.  Just as an odd bit of information – Gillette's Right Guard was the first aerosol antiperspirant.

 

Now for a bit of scientific stuff – a 'natural' deodorant does not contain artificial ingredients and instead uses products such as coconut oil, baking soda, corn starch, arrowroot powder, magnesium hydroxide, kaolin clay and aloe vera. 

 

Add to that any number of ingredients that add a pleasant smell – the things we use to avoid the dreaded 'BO'! Although a deodorant doesn't prevent sweating, these days it may well contain moisture-wicking and antimicrobial properties aimed at managing sweat and the bacteria that might otherwise give rise to that certain whiff.  New products are ever being invented and often with the aim of being more environmentally friendly and 'natural'.  So, no excuses for being smelly although who hasn't had a bit of BO on occasion.  

Jen Price

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Hats Wanted!

 

While wandering around the museum, you may have noticed a large container full of hats.  We use these for visiting children to play ‘dressing up’ with and we could really do with some more so if you have any old caps or hats, be they ladies or gents, posh hats, uniform hats, modern or old fashioned that you no longer need, please don’t throw them out – drop them in to us instead!

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A GOOD READ

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I have just finished reading a book by the historian Anthony Seldon but, read on, this was not a dry history tome.  The book was called 'The Path to Peace' and was about the 620 mile walk Anthony Seldon did in 2022 along a path called the ‘Western Front Way’ or ‘Via Sacra’.  He is one of a small but growing group of people working to establish a long distance path from the Swiss border through France and Belgium to the Channel Coast, along the line of the First World War Western Front.  The path is already well established in Belgium with a route and waymarks.  Things are proceeding at a much slower pace in France where the intention is to establish a joint footpath and cycle path but where much of the route still needs to be decided and waymarked.  Anthony Seldon is not the first person to do such a walk/cycle but he is probably the most high profile one.

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The path was originally referred to in letters sent by a young soldier in the First World War, a man named Douglas Gillespie who sadly died in 1915 at the Battle of Loos and so he didn't live to see his dream fulfilled.  He wanted to create a "beautiful road...for all nations to walk together in peace .." once the conflict was over.  The journey was, for the author, not just a way to help promote the Western Front Way but an opportunity for him to think about what peace means in a world still full of conflict and whether he could himself find peace of mind.  The walk doesn't seem to have provided the answers he was seeking but I felt he ended the walk as a marginally more contented man.

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One niggle, although a well respected historian he was quite unprepared for this walk.  He was not a regular walker, had done no preparatory walking, had new boots, and walked an average of 18 miles each day for 35 days with no allowance for any rest days.  His biggest error of judgement was not to take any spare clothes.  In order to reduce the weight of his rucksack he planned to wash his clothes out each evening.  This usually meant putting on damp socks each morning and wet socks for that type of walking will almost inevitably give rise to sore and blistered feet.  And my 

goodness what blisters! They were so bad he needed medical attention but somehow carried on and still didn't buy spare socks.  I finished the book with mixed feelings of admiration and exasperation.  It’s a good read despite my niggles and the almost daily account of the state of his feet certainly adds a personal touch.

Jen Price

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PLEASE SUPPORT US

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The museum is run by volunteers and entrance is FREE, however we rely on donations and fundraising to stay open.

If you would like to help support the Museum then please:-

 

Join the Museum Society (annual fee £8 member, £25 Vice President) and receive a FREE hot drink in our café every month and for under 16s we have junior membership at just £4 per year and they can enjoy a free treasure hunt each month.

 

Join our 100 Club, just £1 per month and the chance to win cash prizes.

 

Visit our café and while you relax with a cuppa, your children or grandchildren can have fun with one of our picture or Pokemon hunts for just 50p per child.

 

Visit the museum and leave a small donation.

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Buy a souvenir of your visit from the museum gift shop. 

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We look forward to your visit!

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TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA

By Sally Murphy

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Do you suffer from ‘triskaidekaphobia’?  If so you have a fear of the number 13.    But why is the number 13 considered by many to be unlucky?   Even today new tower blocks (especially in the USA) often have no floor 13 while many housing estates will have no number 13 house as many people apparently won’t buy a house numbered 13.    I have firsthand experience of this as the estate where I am living was built with a number 12 and a number 12A but no 13 though the purchasers of 12A decided to drop the 12A and they proudly exhibit a 13 plate on their front door.   But how did this superstition around 13 begin?...

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There is one theory that it started with a Norse myth.    The myth goes that 12 gods were having a dinner party in Valhalla.    Among the guests were Hoor, who was blind, and his brother Baldr when it was gate-crashed by an uninvited 13th god by the name of Loki.    Loki was a trickster and he tricked the blind Hoor into shooting his brother Baldr with an arrow.    Baldr died and the whole Earth went dark in mourning for Baldr and thereafter 13 was deemed to by unlucky.    Another theory links it to the bible and ‘The Last Supper’ where Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot who happened to be the 13th person of 13 to be seated at the supper on the 13th day of the Jewish month of Nisan.    And when the 13th of a month falls on a Friday, it is considered to be even more of a bad omen.    This could be due to the death of Jesus on the Friday following the last supper while another theory for the origin refers to the arrest of the Knights Templar (who were subsequently tortured and killed) on the orders of King Phillip IV of France which took place on Friday 13th October 1307.

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Avoidance of the number 13 is far more common than you may realise with most hotels in New York having no floor 13.    Even the London Eye has no pod 13.    Are you one of those who avoid the number 13 or do you think it is a load of nonsense?  One thing is certain, it proved very unlucky for the astronauts of Apollo 13 when, two days into their journey to the moon, their lives hung in the balance and they had to abort their planned moon landing following an explosion onboard their rocket on 

yep…you guessed it, 13th April 1970; but at least it wasn’t a Friday!

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Drinking and Driving

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Every driver knows it is not wise to drink and drive but it wasn’t until 8th October 1967 that a roadside breathalyser was introduced.  The new law set a legal limit of 80mg of alcohol in 100ml blood (35mg per 100ml of breath) and as early as 1968 it was having the desired effect in that road traffic incidents dropped by 10% that first year alone.  But drink driving is not a new phenomenon, in fact it predates cars and one of the earliest recorded instances of drunk driving relates to a Welshman by the name of Edward Jenkins…

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On Saturday 19th December 1835, Jenkins was driving a Royal Mail horse-drawn stagecoach with five passengers along a stretch of what is now the A40 between Brecon and Llandovery.  Edwards had whipped the horses into a full gallop and as the horses approached a left-hand bend they drifted into the right-hand lane only to find they were on a collision course with a horse and cart coming towards them.  Jenkins tried to turn the horses but he lost control and the horses charged off the road and down a 121ft ravine.  The coach broke into several pieces but miraculously everyone survived (though the fate of the horses I can find no mention of).  Jenkins, who denied being drunk, appeared before a magistrate and was fined £5 which was a substantial sum in 1835, but it would be another 37 years until The Licensing Act of 1872 would make it a specific offence to be drunk while in charge of a horse and carriage. In 1841 a monument, with an inscription warning of the dangers of intoxication, was erected on the side of road where the accident happened.  It was designed to act as a reminder of the dangers of driving while intoxicated and it could be argued that this is the first example of a ‘don’t drink and drive’ campaign.  The monument, which is now Grade II listed, can be viewed using this link:

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-15480650

Sally Murphy​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​