January 2026 Newsletter | Abertillery And Dist

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What’s On at The Met

16th January 10 am-noon - Free Music Friday with Sion Russell Jones

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 10 am – 1 pm

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

Mr Ross Leadbetter

October 100 Club

This month’s prize numbers were drawn by members Wendy Adams and Ann Thomas and the lucky winners are:-

No. 25 Margaret Phillips £20

No. 60 Suzanne Maggs £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.

Happy New Year!

Our AGM will be held on 30th January 2026 at 11am. It is open to anyone to attend though only paid up members will be eligible to vote. If you have not yet received your voting papers please contact the museum ASAP.

Annual Membership Reminder

It’s that time of year again when we ask you to renew your membership if you have not yet done so. We rely on your support to stay open.

The fee is still just £8 for standard membership and £25 for Vice Presidents and if you are a taxpayer, please come in and sign a Gift Aid declaration (if you have not already done so in a previous year) so that we can claim another 25p for each pound given at no extra cost to you.

Membership will entitle you to a free hot drink in our café each month and for under 16s there is our junior membership for £4 for the year which will include a free treasure hunt each month.

The Christmas Raffle was drawn on 11th December and all winners have been notified. The winning ticket numbers are detailed below. The sweet jar contained 203 sweets and the winning Teddy Bear name was… Hugo!

Prize Ticket no. Serial No.

Hamper Green 316 AB162880

Sherry Green 47 AB162880

Cake Green 271 AB162880

Hoodie Orange 141 AD409936

Soft Toy Blue 761 AB685596

Old Spice Green 391 AB162880

Toiletries Green 191 AB162880

Chocolates Green 411 AB162880

Chocolates Green 41 AB162880

LEGOLAND WINDSOR

Continuing our look at theme parks, this month is the turn of Legoland which is one of the newest theme parks in this country having only opened in 1996. And with around 2.4 million visitors a year (as per Alton Tower’s 2.3*), it is also the most visited park in the UK…

Lego is made by a Dutch company, The Lego Group, and in 1968 they opened a theme park in Denmark called simply ‘Legoland’ and comprising Lego themed rides, models and building workshops. The park was situated next door to the original Lego factory in Billund and by 1987 they were looking for a site for a second Legoland theme park.

So, when Windsor Safari Park went into receivership in 1987, they bought it. ‘Legoland Windsor’ opened on 17th March 1996 and welcomed 1.4 million visitors that first year. One of the first attractions in 1996 was ‘Miniland’; miniature scenes from around Europe initially, built mainly from Lego bricks naturally. The very first Miniland model to be placed on site was none other than a model of ‘Big Ben’. Throughout the 90s, the park continued to grow with the introduction of the ‘Dragon Coaster’ in 1998, an attraction that is still there today.

Legoland, in contrast to most other UK theme parks, was aimed at families with children in the 3-12 age group and while initially very popular, by 2005 the Legoland park both here and the original in Denmark, were suffering losses and looking for a buyer. The parks were bought by the American Blackstone Group with control of the parks being handed to Merlin Entertainments. Under Merlin’s ownership the park became a resort with the opening of the quirky Legoland Hotel in 2012.

This was followed by the Legoland Castle Hotel in 2017 while the Legoland Woodland Village is the newest accommodation addition, and opened in 2024. All three give the appearance of being made out of Lego bricks!

With Merlin in charge, the park continued to expand, adding a few attractions to bring in older theme park enthusiasts. They had already added the shooting ride ‘Laser Raiders’ in 2009 and in 2017 added ‘Ninjago: The Ride’, another ‘shooting’ ride. This was followed by ‘Haunted House Monster Party’ in 2019 (similar to Alton Tower’s ‘Hex’ and Drayton manor’s ‘The Haunting’) and in 2021 they added a UK first; a ‘Flying Theatre’ attraction called ‘Flight of the Skylion’ (similar to ‘Soaring’ at Disney’s Florida park, Epcot).

Then in 2024 they added another UK first, a duelling, twin-track, boomerang (meaning it goes backward and forward) coaster called ‘Minifigure Speedway’. 2024 was also the year that four Lego themed 9-hole indoor mini golf courses opened.

Meanwhile, Miniland which originally only featured the UK as well as European countries such as France, Italy and Sweden also expanded to include, Sydney, Beijing, Moscow and Las Vegas. Even if you are not a theme park lover, it is well worth a visit to Legoland just to see Miniland which has been built using over 40 million Lego bricks. With so many moving parts, you can spend many hours here and still miss things. See the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, watch a shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Centre and marvel at the many moving boats, trains and vehicles which are operated by 14 computers and over 186 miles of underground cabling.

NASA at miniland

As well as the park here and the original in Denmark, there are a further 8 around the world with one in Germany, Malaysia, Dubai, Japan, South Korea and 3 in the USA.

*2023 figures.

Sally Murphy

New Year Quiz

How much notice of events were you taking in 2025? Try this quiz and find out! Answers on page 4.

1). Name the British airport that shut down in March due to a power failure

2). In 2025 a second class stamp rose to 87p, but how much is a first class stamp?

3). What was the name of the storm that saw winds of 100mph in Scotland and Northern Ireland? (Hint it’s an Irish name)

4). Which country hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2025?

5). Which country won the Eurovision song contest in 2025 and so will be hosting in 2026?

6). From July to November 2025 what was on display at Durham Cathedral?

7). Who won the men’s singles at Wimbledon in 2025?

8). In April 2025 was the funeral of which Pope?

9). Who is the new Pope?

10). 2026 is the year of what animal in the Chinese calendar?

11). What song made number one in the charts on Christmas Day 2025?

12). Which Royal turned 75 in August?

13). What was the most watched TV show in Britain of 2025?

14). Who won the UK Celebrity Big Brother 2025?

15). Who won the 2025 Booker Prize?

16). Who won ‘I’m a Celebrity, get me out of here’ 2025?

17). What is the UK Justice Secretary, David Lammy, planning to end?

18). In April, the Supreme Court in the UK ruled what?

19). In September, who won the Woman’s World Rugby Cup?

20). Which pop star went into space in April 2025 aboard a Blue Origin rocket?

21). The flight referred to in question 20 took how many minutes in total (from take-off to landing)?

22). Which horse won the Grand National in April 2025?

23). Who was the winner of Strictly Come Dancing in December 2025?

24). Burns Night is traditionally celebrated on the poets birthday, what date is this?

25). What city in the world has the name meaning ‘river of January’?

26). What event took place on January 22nd 1901?

27). The world’s first underground railway opened on January 10th 1863, in what city?

28). Which member of the Royal family celebrates their birthday on January 9th?

29). Who won the FA Cup in 2025?

ANOTHER VIEW OF TEIGNMOUTH

You can come across interesting bits of information in the most unlikely places. I was recently in Hong Kong visiting family and in the lobby of our apartment block was a small bookcase where people would leave books they no longer wanted. I was surprised one day to see a book called 'Teignmouth at War' 1939 – 1945'.

Having stayed in and visited Teignmouth over the years I took it to read and was surprised to learn just how much loss of life and devastation the town had suffered from bombs dropped on the town in the Second World War. 79 people died and of 2,957 houses in the town just 479 survived unscathed. Reading the book inevitably brought to mind the Dad's Army TV series; also set in a coastal town on the south of England, fearful of bombs and the threat of invasion. Of course, when you read a book like the one about Teignmouth you realise just how serious things really were behind the face of the comedy series.

The War Office printed millions of copies of a leaflet advising people what to do if invaded. Entitled 'If the invasion comes – what to do and how to do it', the pamphlet contained seven 'golden rules'. If you read them out in a Captain Mainwaring fashion they sound quite comical but it was no laughing matter at the time. Take, for example,

Rule IV:

Remember that if parachutists come down near your home, they will not be feeling at all brave. They will not know where they are, they will have no food, they will not know where their companions are. They will want you to give them food, means of transport and maps.

They will want you to tell them where they have landed, where their comrades are, and where our own soldiers are.

The fourth rule, therefore, is as follows:-

Do not give any German anything. Do not tell him anything. Hide your food and your bicycles. See that the enemy gets no petrol. If you have a car or motor bicycle, put it out of action when not in use. It is not enough to remove the ignition key; you must make it useless to anyone except yourself.

If you are a garage proprietor, you must work out a plan to protect your stock of petrol and your customers' cars. Remember that transport and petrol will be the invader's main difficulties. Make sure that no invader will be able to get hold of your cars, petrol, maps or bicycles.'

The pamphlet goes on to cite the seventh rule :

Think before you act. But think always of your country before you think of yourself'.

You have to wonder what advice would be given today in our digital world.

Jen Price

Quiz answers