April 2025 Newsletter | Abertillery And Dist

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What’s On at The Met

4th Apr Electrik Light Orchestra - tribute band, tickets from £22

10th April play, Murder she Didn’t Write, tickets from £12

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

Mr John Cavaciuti

Mrs Margaret Herbert

Mr Ross Leadbeater

Ms Michele Dack

March 100 Club

This month’s prize numbers were drawn by Vice President Michele Dack and the lucky winners are:-

No. 30 Joy Filer £20

No. 56 Gay Fisher £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.

Springfest

This year’s Springfest is being held on Saturday 12th April and will run from 10am until 5pm. The museum and its café and gift shop, will be open until 5pm. A (free) Face Painter will be sited within the museum and the museum will be offering its usual Easter egg hunt for 50p per child.

Closed for Easter

The museum will close at 5pm (after Springfest) on Saturday 12th April and will not re-open until 10am Thursday 24th April.

Easter Raffle

Tickets are on sale at the museum for our Easter Raffle priced at £1 per entry and the draw will take place at the end of day at Springfest on Saturday 12th April. Although the museum will be closed from 5pm on 12th April until 10am on 24th April, winners will be contacted and arrangements made for prizes to be collected before Easter.

Free Talk

The next free talk by Blaenau-gwent Heritage is at Bedwellty House on Thursday 10th April 2-3pm. The talk is entitled ‘The Development of the Pithead Baths’ and the speaker will be Mr Ben Richardson.

A JIGSAW PUZZLE

Who knows what the first jigsaw puzzle was called because it would have been made with a ‘fret saw’ rather than with the saw (the ‘jig saw’) which later gave its name to this type of puzzle. What is known is that the first jigsaw puzzle goes all the way back to 1762 when a man called John Spilsbury, a British map engraver, mounted one of his maps on wood and then cut around the different countries. The resulting puzzle was given to the local school to help children with their geography. This seems to have set a trend as the first jigsaws were all educational. Wooden jigsaws cut by hand remained popular but then in the 20th century more and more were made of cardboard (and more recently paperboard) and the pieces were cut by a machine called a press cutter and then more recently using a laser.

The Great Depression of the 1930s saw a huge leap in popularity as jigsaw puzzles were relatively cheap and could be used over and over. Maybe the pictures themselves, most often of an idyllic scene, helped to blot out if for a short time at least, the bleak reality of life in those difficult times. There was a renewed surge of interest in jigsaw puzzles more recently in Covid times, when so many of us were confined to our homes.

Jigsaws remain surprisingly popular in this digital age although you can, of course, do jigsaws on-line. We have a fine collection of jigsaws (used but in good condition) for sale in the museum and they are a bargain at just £1 each. There are also plenty to be found in charity shops if you don't want to buy a new one. The late Queen was a big jigsaw fan and subscribed to an organisation which hired them out. There are even world jigsaw championships – now that's serious jigsaw puzzling!

Basic jigsaw puzzles, whether for children or adults, remain popular but if you want more of a challenge then there are challenges to be found, whether it's a 5,000 piece jigsaw or a 3D one. You name it, and you can probably find an associated jigsaw.

Now here are a few random things you may or may not know about jigsaw puzzles:

the Alzheimer's Society of Canada recommend them to keep your brain active
the jigsaw with the most pieces had 551,232 pieces and was assembled in a stadium in Vietnam
the logo of Wikipedia is a globe made of puzzle pieces
puzzle pieces have been used for over 60 years as a symbol for autism societies
the rounded tabs on jigsaw pieces are called 'interjambs' and the indentations 'blanks'
the average time to solve a 1000 piece jigsaw is 9 hours.

Go on, I'm sure you can complete your jigsaw puzzle in less than 9 hours! Come and buy one at the museum and try your luck.

Jen Price

Mystery Painting

Our inventory of the museum’s archive continues and occasionally we come across an item that hasn’t been acquisitioned. This time it is a picture of a church. Where it came from and how long it is has been there is a mystery; we don’t even know the name or location of this church and if any reader can throw any light on the mystery, please do get in touch!

The Elan Valley Reservoirs

In 1893 construction began in the Elan Valley on a series of dams and reservoirs that would supply clean fresh water to the people of Birmingham. It total 7 were built and it would take ten years to complete. They came into operation in 1904, opened by King Edward VII. Prior to 1904, Birmingham was a city rife with dysentery and diarrhoea. It was a city going through a big industrial change and its population was growing rapidly but it didn’t have any major rivers and those it did were polluted. The mayor of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain (father of Neville Chamberlain), knew he needed a supply of clean, safe water and fast and he identified the Elan Valley in mid-Wales as the ideal site. Of course what was good for the people of Birmingham was not so good for the people of the Elan Valley. A hundred people lost their homes, most of whom were tenant farmers, and they had no say in the matter.

The four main dams and reservoirs are the Pen y Garreg, the Graig Goch, the Claerwen and the Caban Coch while the three lesser dams are the Dol y Mynach, the Garreg Ddu and the Nant y Gro and the latter was the dam where Barnes Wallis famously tested his ‘bouncing bomb’ which was used to bomb the Ruhr dams in Germany during the second world war. The dams still supply water to the people of Birmingham today and reaches them via a 72 mile downhill pipeline using a gravity feed of 1 in 2300. The water’s destination is the Frankley reservoir in Birmingham, and takes three days to get there. Even by today’s standards, a pretty impressive feat of engineering.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg5073mmlmo

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

Sally Murphy

Wales National Armed Forces Day

This year’s event will be held on Saturday 28th June at Caldicot Castle and Country Park. Highlights will include a fly-past, a parachute display and military vehicle showcases.

While it is a free event, tickets are still required and you can reserve your free tickets using the link below:

https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/national-armed-forces-day-2025/

Six Bells Pit Disaster

An event to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Six Bells pit disaster will be held on Saturday 28th June at 2pm, at Six Bells Primary School Campus & Guardian site. More details to follow nearer the date.

Quick Quiz (answers on page 4)

1. What date in April do we celebrate St. Georges day?

2. What war started April 2nd 1981?

3. The arrival of what bird mid April is said to be first sign of spring?

4. Titanic struck an iceberg April 14th in what year?

5. April 2005 brought a Royal wedding, but who got married?

6. Who made the first flight into space April 12th 1961?

The Market Hall / Metropole

Part 2 - 1914 to Present Day

During the Great War many artists appeared at the Metropole theatre with performers lodging at Mrs Wallis’ boarding house, the location of which is sadly unknown, but during this time Mrs Wallis kept a book with the signatures of many of the artists.

In December 1916 the Abertillery Operatic Society formed with the meetings held at the Church school in Abertillery where Dr Gordon Bennett was elected President with a number of prominent ladies and gentlemen as vice-presidents and the Metropole used for their performances. Their first performance in aid of St Dunstan’s Hostel was the Mikado on 14th May 1917. In March 1922 the Abertillery Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society began using the Metropole for their performances. In October 1925 the tour of Fred Karno came for 6 nights with the added attraction of a £1000 prize for best artist discovered during his campaign and this put Abertillery on the map for many other touring companies which led to high quality entertainment and packed houses.

The Depression of 1926 and the birth of the cinema ended the productions at the Metropole and it closed for five months before reopening as a cinema. Unfortunately, with four other cinemas in the town to compete with and, combined with the cost of the upkeep of the building, meant that the building began to decay and sadly, in time, to close. After the closure of the building as a cinema, for six nights in the year, the two groups of Old Tylerians Drama and Abertillery Operatic Society put on variety shows to entertain.

By 1934 Abertillery Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society had reformed and shows such as ‘The Mikado’, followed by ‘Pirates of Penzance’, ‘Yeoman of the Guard’ and ‘Merrie England’ were once again shown to packed audiences at the Metropole until, that is, World War II came along to disrupt proceedings once more. During the war years the dance hall beneath the theatre opened and many locals enjoyed a few hours away from the doom and gloom of the war with dancing. Sadly, once again after the war, the Metropole was left to decay apart from the dance hall which hosted the Saturday morning markets.

The Metropole was eventually taken over by Abertillery Council and renovated so that, on 28th January 1961, it saw the first show for many years. The show was the ‘Youth for Christ’ rally and was the first of a series of events held by Abertillery Evangelist movement. Also 1961 brought back the Abertillery Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society with ‘Pirates of Penzance’ performed once again in March 1962. Some of our museum’s members of today were part of this society, namely Mr Trevor Cook, his wife Margaret and Mrs Val Prosser.

Over the years this building saw many changes in the town with many renovations and refurbishments but it still remained steadfast as an important venue in Abertillery. Today it still remains an important part of the community with Abertillery & District Museum Society, run by volunteers, in the old Market Hall and the Metropole Theatre still upstairs hosting shows including those performed by Abertillery Amateur Dramatic & Music Society with a brilliant Youth group also putting on excellent shows.

At the moment I write this the building is once more undergoing renovation work to secure its future and to enhance the experience of all the people who come to enjoy what this building has to offer. Long may this wonderful building stand and be part of the history of Abertillery.

Many thanks to Graham Bennett for allowing the use of his brilliant information gathered on ‘Out of the Blue Archives’ on the internet for more information.

https://outoftheblueartifacts.com/the-market-hall-the-metropole-theatre/

Karen Pratley

And if you missed part one of the story it is available to read on our website:

www.abertilleryanddistrictmuseum.org.uk

Quiz Answers