Monthly Newsletter
June 2025 

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What’s On at The Met

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Showstoppers Youth Theatre presents:-

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory – 

Weds 25th June 7pm

Thurs 26th June 7pm

Fri 27th June 7pm

Sat 28th June 4pm & 7pm  - Tickets from £14

 

For more information on these and more visit:

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

or tel 01495 533195

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Museum Opening Times

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

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

Mr  G Murphy Curator

Mrs P. Bearcroft Deputy Curator

Mrs E. Ewers Chair

Mrs K. Pratley Treasurer

Mrs S. Murphy Newsletter

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Vice Presidents (Annual Subscription £25)

Rev Roy Watson

Mrs Carol Brooks

Mrs Margaret Cook

Mrs Margaret Herbert

Ms Michele Dack

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May 100 Club

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This month’s prize numbers were drawn by Peter Rosser and Chris Staples the lucky winners are:-

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No.  99 Peggy Bearcroft £20

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No.  15 Lyn Bearcroft £10

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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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Damp Remediation Update

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In February this year the long-awaited work began on tackling the damp problem that has been plaguing the museum for years.  It involved fixing cladding to the pine-end wall and installing a powered ventilation system inside the Miners Kitchen and I’m pleased to report that phase is now complete.  It will still take some time for the building to dry out however it is now just a matter of time before we can restore the Miners Kitchen exhibit to its former glory and re-open it to the public.  In the meantime, work will now start on turning the former toilets in the office, which had become unusable due the damp issue, into a store room / sluice room.  Watch this space!

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Aberfest Saturday 5th July

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Aberfest this year will be on Saturday 5th July and the museum will be open 10am until 5pm.   The museum and its café and gift shop, will be open right through from 10am until 5pm and there will be a (free) face painter within the museum.  Outside the museum, weather permitting, there will be games as well as a skate park and for this reason the small car park by the main entrance will be closed from 7pm Friday 4th July until 7pm Saturday 5th July.  In addition to our usual ‘Treasure Hunts’ we will also be having a Pokemon Hunt (50p per child with a sweet reward).  Pika pika!

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Summer Wine Country

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Taking its name from the river Holme which runs through its heart, Holmfrith is a small town in south Yorkshire which, for over three decades, was the setting for one of the UK’s most loved sitcoms, Last of the Summer Wine. It was very successful and ran from 1973 until 2010.  Written by Roy Clarke, it centred around three retired gentlemen who had time on their hands and got into lots of mischief in their quest to enjoy their twilight years.  In all, 31 series totalling 295 episodes were made and all were filmed in and around Holmfrith though the town was never mentioned by name.  Here at Holmfrith you will find a museum even smaller than ours; the Last of the Summer Wine Exhibition.  It might be small but it’s packed full of memorabilia from the show as well as lots of interesting facts that are not common knowledge. 

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​While the ‘trio’ changed over the years, the three that most stick in the mind have to be Bill Owen, Peter Sallis and Brian Wilde (‘Compo’, ‘Cleggy’ and ‘Foggy’) and amongst the exhibits on display are the outfits worn by these three.  Brian Wilde left the cast in 1986 however he returned for his second stint four years later and remained until 1999.​​​​​​​​​​

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​Next door to the  Exhibition is a famous front door that will be instantly recognizable to fans of the show; it is the home of Nora Batty, played by Kathy Staff, who in turn, lived next door to  Compo who, even though Nora was married to husband Wally, loved to flirt with Nora in her ‘wrinkled stockings’ and she was forever chasing Compo off her doorstep with her trusty broom!  Indeed the very first episode opens with Mrs Batty hanging out her washing while having a dialogue with Compo but what fans may not realise is that in this first series Mrs Batty’s first name was not Nora but Eunice and her husband (who was referred to but not seen) was called Harold.  It wasn’t until series two that we met downtrodden ‘Mr Batty’ who by then was called Wally and was played by Joe Gladwin.​​

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While the inside scenes were filmed in a studio, the outside scenes were all filmed in and around Holmfrith and the producers paid a daily fee to the owners of certain buildings for filming rights.​​​​

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The café owned by Sid and wife Ivy is today a working café but it was originally a fish and chip shop while nearby a small church provided the outside view of ‘the library’ with its giveaway white cross carefully kept out of camera shot.  A row of cottages in Holmfrith was home to Cleggy and neighbours Howard and wife Pearl (played by Robert Fyfe and Juliette Kaplan).

 

However, halfway through the filming of series twelve the owners of one of these cottages demanded a tripling of the daily fee - which the producers refused - and consequently Cleggy, as well as Howard and Pearl, had to ‘move’ and move they did; to a row of cottages in nearby Jackson Bridge and this move featured in the episode called ‘Das Welly Boot’.  Also in Jackson Bridge is where you will find the pub ‘The White Horse’ which would now also feature regularly in the series.  The White Horse is still a working pub to this day and as for Nora Batty’s house, this is now a holiday let where I was fortunate enough to stay for a short break in April.​​​​​​

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Over the years the show has had more famous cast members than I have room to mention but one that stands out is the one and only Thora Hird who joined the cast when she was 75 and Thora holds the record for being the oldest cast member aged 91.  Thora played Edie Pegden who was a very bad driver but what fans might not realise is that Thora herself was not a driver so scenes where she is seen driving is either a mock up in front of a screen or filmed with a stand-in.  Altogether Thora appeared in 152 episodes, though the only person to appear in every one of the 295 shows was Peter Sallis.  Bill Owen would no doubt have matched this record if he had sadly not become ill and died.  As it was he appeared in 185 shows and over the years he had grown to love the town of Holmfrith and its people so much that he wanted to be buried there.  Bill died on 12th July 1999 aged 85 and is buried at St John’s Church Holmfrith and next to him lies Peter Sallis who died in 2017.

 

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

 

https://lastofthesummerwineexhibition.com/

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Sally Murphy

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Six Bells Pit Disaster

65TH Anniversary

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An event to mark the 65th anniversary of the Six Bells miners disaster will be held on Saturday 28th June.  The event will run from noon ‘til 4pm at Six Bells Primary School Campus and the Guardian Site.  The day will include a display by Abertillery Museum featuring the history of mining and the Six Bells pit disaster as well as:

 

• Service with Ebbw Fach Mixed Choir, Abertillery Town Band, soloist, poem, hymns and prayer

• Wreath laying at the Guardian

• Stalls by businesses, people and organisations of the local community, including refreshments, crafts etc

• Information trail for children to raise awareness of mining and the history of the Six Bells mining disaster.

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Your support of this event would be appreciated and anyone wanting to book a stall for a fee of £5 please contact Sian Olding whose email address is: sianolding@yahoo.com

And if you know of any surviving miners or widows etc who you think would like to attend please contact Dawn Price using dawnprice60@aol.com

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Wales National Armed Forces Day

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This year’s event will also 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.

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

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

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Quick Quiz

1. What is the birth flower for the month of June?

2. What historical event happened 6th June 1944?

3. What famous building in New York opened 9th June 1931?

4. What famous document was signed on 15th June 1215?

5. Which major tennis tournament takes place every year in June?

6. Which famous pop star idol died 25th June 2009?

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Will Registration Service

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Have you made a will?  Hopefully the answer is yes but have you told your next-of-kin that you have one and most importantly of all, where your will is kept?  The latest Martin Lewis money show had a very useful tip for anyone with a will.  Below is a link to a website where anyone can register their will and its location.  Until 14th June you can register FREE using the code FREEWILLREG25 (it will cost £30 after 14th).  Be aware though that there is a fee to search the register (currently £65) however this would be a small price to pay by your next-of-kin if it meant saving a lot of time and effort in trying to locate your will. 

 

https://www.nationalwillregister.co.uk/

 

Lost Child Trust Funds

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In February I reported that there are over 700,000 children who have now reached adulthood but have not accessed their Child Trust Fund.  One reader has been in touch to say she contacted a relative to draw their attention to my article and as a result one of these youngsters has now been paid over £800.  So if you know someone who was born between 1st September 2002 and 2nd January 2011 do check that they are aware that they were allocated a £250 voucher by the government of the day which is today worth a lot more and it’s still waiting for them, even if their parents never acted on the voucher!  Of course they can’t withdraw it until they reach 18 though they can manage it themselves from 16 and if under 16 then a parent or guardian can manage it for them.  To find out how to can claim, check out this link:

 

https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/find-a-child-trust-fund

 

And there’s more information here:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjr82gejlxno

To read my article in full use this link and click on February 2025:

https://www.abertilleryanddistrictmuseum.org.uk/newsletter

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Mystery Photo

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Our archive inventory continues and has uncovered this photo of a rugby player.  It has never been acquisitioned and therefore we have no idea who donated it, when, or who the player is.  If anyone reading this can throw any light on our mystery man, we would be glad to hear from you.

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3G Switch Off

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If you have a very old mobile it may still be using 3G and if so you will soon lose access to the internet when out and about if you haven’t already (it will still work with your home Wi-Fi or a shop or café’s Wi-Fi etc).

 

There are only four mobile operators in the UK and they are EE, Three, Vodaphone and the now merged Virgin Media/O2.  All other providers such as Sky, Tesco Mobile etc piggyback off one of these four operators.  Of these four companies, EE and Vodaphone have already switched off 3G and Three and Virgin/O2 will be completing its switch off by the end of this year.  Ironically 2G is staying until at least 2033 so even if you have lost internet access you will still be able to make and receive standard telephone calls and SMS text messages with a 3G phone.

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That said, mobile operator Three does not have a 2G network and once their 3G is turned off, any old mobiles with provider  Three on 3G will lose ALL functionality. Not sure what your phone uses?  Turn off your Wi-Fi and in the place of the Wi-Fi symbol at the top of your screen (three curved bars) you will see 3G, 4G or 5G  There is more information here:

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https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/coverage-and-speeds/3g-switch-off

 

Quiz Answers

1. Rose

2. Allied forces invaded Normandy France (D-Day)

3. Empire State building

4. Magna Carta

5. Wimbledon in London

6. Michael Jackson​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​