Monthly Newsletter
July 2026
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What’s On at The Met
Wed 8th Jul, Thu 9th Jul, Fri 10th Jul, Sat 11th Jul
7pm – 9.30pm
LRS SUPERNOVAS presents – SIX: TEEN EDITION
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 Jen Price Secretary
Mrs S. Murphy Newsletter
Vice Presidents (Annual Subscription £25)
Rev Roy Watson
Mrs Carol Brooks
Mrs Margaret Cook
Mrs Margaret Herbert
Ms Michele Dack
Dr Graham Eyre-Morgan
June 100 Club
This month’s prize numbers were drawn by visitor Delia Holmes and the lucky winners are:-
No. 52 Linda Chaplin £20
No. 44 Sian Phillips £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.
Forthcoming Events
Saturday 18th July
BBC Antiques Roadshow at Caerphilly Castle
To apply for free tickets to this BBC production apply on their website or use the link below:
https://lostintv.com/tv-show?id=1417
Sunday 26th July 2-5pm
National Garden Scheme – Clytha Park
The garden of our President, Mr Jack Hanbury, will be taking part in the NGS Open Day scheme again this year. The garden at Clytha Park, Abergavenny (use NP7 9BW for sat nav directions) will be open on Sunday 26th July from 2pm to 5pm and the entry fee is just £6 for adults and free for children. Home-made teas will be on offer and you can buy your tickets for the event using the link below:
https://findagarden.ngs.org.uk/garden/6875/clytha-park
Dame Penelope Keith 1940-2026
It was only last month that this newsletter featured a piece on the sitcom ‘To the Manor born’ starring the one and only Penelope Keith. Sadly, we have now lost this great, classically trained, actress. ‘To the Manor Born’ was specifically written for her in order to capitalise on the success of her ‘posh-snob’ character, Margo, from the sitcom, ‘The Good Life’. If you missed the article it is available to read on our website.
https://www.abertilleryanddistrictmuseum.org.uk/newsletter
Caledonian Canal
We have all heard of the Panama, Suez and Corinth canals, maybe learning about them in school or seeing them on television but have you heard of the Caledonian canal right here in Britain?
From East to West of Scotland it runs for 60 miles from Corpach near Fort William across to Inverness, it was designed by Thomas Telford and opened in 1822 cutting through the Great glen with 22 miles of man-made channels connecting 38 miles of natural Loch including Loch Ness.
It really is an engineering marvel with 29 locks including Neptune’s Staircase, a flight of 8 locks at Banavie and 10 swing bridges and 4 aqueducts. It is a beautiful route to sail taking around 2-3 days depending on weather and vessel, it is full of wonderful scenery and attractions along the way including a cycle path and foot path, plus it is open all year round but the main boating season is March to October.
It is built along the Great Glen, a fault in the earth’s crust reaching up to 106 feet above sea level and following the Lochs of Dochfour, Oich,Lochy and of course Loch Ness...the rest is manmade. Clachnaharry at the North-eastern end has a sea lock at the end of a manmade peninsula to aid boats to reach the deep sea water of Beauly Firth. Here, you can find the old lock keeper house, a two storey plus single storey bothy at the western end, now houses the office of the Scottish canals.
It all started in 1726 when Captain Edward Burt rejected an idea to connect Loch Linhe to Moray Firth at Inverness considering it too precarious , then in 1773 the inventor and mechanical engineer James watt was commissioned to survey a route through and the report was published in 1774 stating that a canal system could be built at a cost of £164,032 to benefit the fishing industry with a shorter and safer route from east to West Scotland, it could also be used to transport corn and make the supply cheaper. No action was taken until 1785 when philanthropist John Knox pushed the benefits of a canal once again reiterating the safer route than that of the Pentland Firth.
In 1803 Thomas Telford consulted many ship owners and it was considered a much safer route, and an act of Parliament was passed 27/10/1803 as The Caledonian Act to authorise the project. It was expected to take 7 years and cost £474,000 funded by the Government. It finally opened in 1822, taking extra 12 years costing £910,000 ad by this time boats had advanced in modernisation and many were too big for the canal! By 1843 it had to be closed for repairs having many defects found in the canal banks at Cullochy and then in 1837-47 the depth was increased to 18 feet at a cost of £136,000.
It was not a commercial success but became a tourist attraction.
The arrival of the railway in Fort William an Inverness brought tourists for steam boat trips and the Queen Victoria took a trip along it in 1873 and that resulted in a big increase in visitors. The First World War brought upsurge in traffic with movement of components for the construction of ships using this route to avoid the German Navy, and 1920 brought the ownership move to ministry of Transport, moving to the newly created British Waterways in 1962.
The locks were mechanised between 1964-69 replacing manpowered capstans with hydraulics to operate the locks and bridges, and by 1990 in was in need of restoration with some sections closed in the winters between 1995-2005 so drainage and repairs could be carried out and now the Caledonian canal is used for commerce and leisure attracting visitors from all over the world – it is a wonderful sight to see.
Karen Pratley
Lost Luggage
We are fast approaching the height of the summer getaway season and many of us will be planning a trip abroad in search of sun, sea and adventure but nothing is more likely to spoil that sunshine getaway than a case (pardon the pun) of lost luggage! Every year around 5 to 7 bags per 1000 passengers go missing. That’s quite a lot of bags! Most are eventually re-united with their owner but some, alas, are never seen again. So what can you do to help make sure your suitcase isn’t one of those that is gone forever…?
Have you ever wondered what happens to your suitcase once it disappears though the flap at airport check-in? Well, once out of sight, it enters a maze of conveyor belts where automated sensors seek out the code on the luggage tag that the check-in staff have attached and directs the luggage towards the (hopefully) correct aircraft loading bay. To help it find its way check-in staff usually stick on additional bar-coded labels on the sides and even the bottom of the suitcase. These secondary labels are smaller than a postage stamp but can be vital should, as sometimes happens, the main label gets detached and lost. Missing labels or unreadable labels are the main reason why luggage sometimes ends up on the wrong flight and even the wrong country!
Travel expert, Simon Calder, says that when you check luggage in to the hold of an aircraft, there is a possibility that you might never see it again but there are things you can do to mitigate the risks:
Firstly, never pack anything in your luggage that is vital to the success of your holiday such as prescribed medication; this should stay with you at all times.
Secondly, attach your own luggage label with, at the very least, your name and mobile phone number though ideally you want to include the date, flight number and your destination airport (amend for return journey though). So should your bag end up going round and round a carousel somewhere in the world, airport staff will have your name and phone number easily to hand to contact you.
Thirdly, pop a tracking device in your suitcase so that, if it goes missing you can use your mobile phone to locate it. There are many trackers on the market, the one pictured here is an ‘Apple AirTag’ for use with iPhones though other phone manufacturers offer similar devices to use with their phones. The tags work by pinging its location from any passerby with a compatibly branded mobile.
It does it anonymously and without the passerby even realising. And yes these trackers are allowed in hold luggage because, while they run off a small lithium battery (and many lithium batteries are now banned from the aircraft’s hold due to fire concerns), these are permitted because they are very low voltage.
Indeed not only are they allowed in the hold but airlines today are actively encouraging passengers to use such devices and, should your case go missing, some airlines will even ask you to share your tags location with them so they can locate your case for you.
At the end of your holiday, make sure your suitcase makes the return flight home with you by removing the outgoing label, (as well as any little sticky labels), prior to check-in otherwise your luggage could end up going nowhere!
One last piece of advice; if you are travelling with family or friends and each have a case, mix up your belongings so that, if the worst should happen and one case goes missing, you each have some clothes to be going on with. Happy travels!
Sally Murphy
Quick Quiz
Our quick quiz is a bit different this month in that all the answers are the names of days of the week. The answers are on page 4.
1. Since 1935 all General Elections has been held on what day of the week?
2. What day of the week do we celebrate Mother’s day in UK?
3. In the film/TV show The Adams family, what is the daughter’s name?
4. In 1985 the band The bangles sang about which day of the week being manic?
5. In the 1977 John Travolta musical which Night gave him Fever?
STRANGE BUT TRUE!
Have you ever looked at older buildings built around and after 1800 and wondered why the lower walls have outer edges that slope out? I always thought it was to deflect the rain!! But no – they are urine deflectors!
In the early 1800’s there public toilets/urinals were only just becoming more common as the realisation dawned that they were needed! The average male would think nothing of relieving himself against a wall in an alley or quiet corner. People living in these buildings or alleyways got fed up of the smell and a deterrent was needed. The bottom of walls and corners had slopes draining outwards built into them so any gent relieving himself would find his deposit returned to him and end up with wet feet!
Next time you walk around older buildings in towns and cities, or even near an ‘old’ public house take a look at the lower walls, maybe around the side or in a little corner and see if you can spot the sloping urine deflector! Some are hidden away while others are in plain sight and many are well-known buildings such as the Victorian Bank of England and Clifford’s Inn passage in Fleet street pictured here.
Photos by Dcurbow - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26093491By Dcurbow
Can you find any in your area? If you do take a photo and email us a copy!
Karen Pratley
FAKE AMAZON EMAILS
Amazon have reported noticing an increase in customers reporting fake emails about Amazon Prime membership subscriptions. They want to help you stay protected by sharing important information about these scams. They have given the following advice:
What’s happening:
Scammers are sending fake emails claiming your Amazon Prime subscription will automatically renew at an unexpected price.
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The scammers might include personal information in the emails, obtained from other sources, in an attempt to appear legitimate.
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These emails may also include a "cancel subscription" button leading to a fake Amazon login page.
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Do not click on any links in these messages - scammers use fake websites to steal your Amazon login credentials and banking information.
What you should do:
Scams can typically be ignored with no action. However, these are some suggested actions that may be applicable:
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If you want to verify your Prime membership, open your Amazon mobile app or go directly to Amazon.co.uk. Select "Prime" from the main menu to view your membership status, renewal dates, and plan details.
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If you clicked on any suspicious links, monitor your credit/debit card statements for unfamiliar charges and contact your bank immediately about any unauthorised transactions.
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Report suspicious communications to amazon.co.uk/reportascam.
Quiz Answers
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