June 2026 Newsletter | Abertillery And Dist

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What’s On at The Met

5th Jun 7.30pm ABBA STARS UK – prices from £24

11th, 12th & 13th Jun, AADMS presents: JEKYLL & HYDE. Prices from £14

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

May 100 Club

This month’s prize numbers were drawn by visitor Wendy Adams & Anne Thomas and the lucky winners are:-

No. 97 Jen Price £20

No. 01 Nichola Hayward £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

Party In The Park Sat 13th June Noon-7pm

Abertillery & Llanhilleth Community Council are hosting a free fun-filled day at Abertillery Park to include live music, inflatables, animal encounters, craft stalls and much more. Use the link below for more information:

https://abertilleryandllanhilleth-wcc.gov.uk/party-in-the-park-2026/

BBC Antique’s Roadshow Caerphilly Castle Saturday 18th July

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

National Garden Scheme

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

Reader and long-standing museum member Mrs Audrey Osland celebrated her 90th birthday last month. We wish her all the best for the year ahead.

To the Manor Born

To the Manor Born was a sitcom starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles that ran from September 1979 to November 1981. It was created and written by Peter Spence and the story centred around an aristocrat, Audrey Fforbes-Hamilton who, after the death of her husband, is forced to sell their beloved manor house in order to pay his debts. The house, ‘Grantleigh Manor’ which had been lived in by the Fforbes-Hamiltons for over 400 years, is then bought at auction by Richard De Vere, a self-made millionaire and owner of a large supermarket chain and played by the now late actor, Peter Bowles. Audrey and her butler Brabinger, played by John Rudling, move into the old Lodge in the grounds of the house from where she can keep an eye on her beloved manor and its new owner of whom she does not approve as she considers Richard to be a ‘green-grocer’ and not worthy to be ‘lord of the manor’!

It all began when Peter Spence was approached by the BBC and asked to write a situation comedy to star Penelope Keith and, given the success of her character Margot in ‘The Good Life’, he came up with the idea of Audrey Fforbes-Hamilton. As luck had it, Spence’s brother-in-law just happened to own a manor house, Cricket House in Cricket St Thomas, Somerset, so this house became the setting for the show in the fictional village of Grantleigh. As for the title, he got the idea for this from none other than William Shakespeare himself who wrote in Hamlet Act 1 scene 4: “Though I am a native here and to the manner born….”.

The lodge where Audrey takes up residence, is a mile from the house though clever filming makes it seem a lot closer. Also in the grounds of Cricket House is the delightful Cricket St Thomas Parish Church which features regularly in the show and was built by one of the former owners of Cricket House. While some scenes were filmed in and around the house, other scenes were filmed at the BBC Television Studio at Shepherd’s Bush in London.

Above : Cricket Street Thomas Parish Churches

The show ran for three series totalling 21 episodes including one Christmas special. The final episode of series one holds the record for the highest viewing figure of any TV programme of the 1970s (excluding live events). Series three ended with Audrey buying back the Manor and accepting the hand in marriage of Richard De Vere with whom she had shared a ‘chemistry’ since day one. The series ended with their wedding photo taken on the grand staircase of ‘Grantleigh Manor’ pictured here.

But the story didn’t quite end there. In 2007 a one-off episode returned us to Grantleigh Manor for the silver wedding anniversary of Audrey and Richard. Like the original episodes, filming took place at Cricket House with some scenes filmed in front of a live studio audience at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. Since 2010, Cricket House has been owned by the hotel group Warner, and guests can stay in the historic rooms of the manor or in the purpose-built adjacent wing

PAULTONS PARK by Sally Murphy

Home to Peppa Pig World

Continuing our look at theme parks, this month is the turn of Paultons Park located in the New Forest, Hampshire. Like most theme parks it began as a stately home set in extensive grounds; the gardens of which were originally designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in the 18th century. The park takes its name from a previous owner, John de Palton, who bought the estate around 1270. The house itself was a hotel from 1945 until 1954 but it was destroyed by fire in 1963 and was never rebuilt. In 1979 John and Anne Mancey bought the 500 acre estate and set about restoring the gardens and lake with a view to opening them to the general public. It took them a number of years but on 17th May 1983, Paultons Park & Bird Gardens opened.

It started life with just four staff members and its only other attractions, apart from the birds and a small collection of animals, were an adventure playground and a Village Life Museum situated in a converted barn. By the early 90s though it had much more to offer by way of rides though all were only suitable for very young children. Our daughter was just one year old when we visited the park in 1991 making it her very first theme park adventure. We visited again in 1992 and 1993 with our last visit of the 1990s in 1994.

During the period 1999 to 2009, rides to attract older visitors were gradually built but the park remained essentially a theme park for families with young children. In 2011 it opened ‘Peppa Pig World’ and for the first time in its history, visitor numbers exceeded 1 million. In 2016 the park opened a new themed area called ‘Lost Kingdom’ which included two new Vekoma rollercoasters ‘Flight of the Pterosaur’ and ‘Velociraptor’. This would inspire yours truly into making a return visit after 22 years and I was pleasantly surprised. The park had grown to such an extent that it was unrecognisable to the park I had last visited in 1994 and included a wet play area which was proving very popular that hot August day.

The park has since added more attractions for older visitors but currently does not have any on-site accommodation though plans are afoot to build a hotel which would then grant the park a ‘resort’ status.

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

Quick Quiz (answers on next page)

What is the term used for the longest day in the northern hemisphere?
What is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in June in the UK?
What classic novel and stage production takes place during the 1832 June Rebellion?
What historical event took place Tuesday 6th June 1944?
Trooping the Colour takes place on a Saturday in June in London at which parade ground?

AGNES DAVIES 1920-2011

Agnes Davies had a long and successful career as a snooker and billiards player and has recently been honoured posthumously with a purple plaque.

Agnes, nee Morris, learned to play billiards in her father’s single-table billiard hall in Saron, Ammanford. Completely self-taught, by the mid 1930s there wasn’t a single soul in Saron who could beat her. She won the Welsh Ladies Snooker championship at her first attempt in 1937 and again in 1938 and 1939. Also in 1939 she won the first Welsh Women’s Billiards Championship as well as the Women’s Amateur Snooker championship.

In 1940 and 1948 she was the runner up in the Women’s Professional Snooker Championship; a title which she won in 1949. By this time Agnes was married to husband Dick Davies and they had a young son and she took a break from the sport, probably to concentrate on her family. But her career didn’t end there; after a break of nearly 30 years she made a return to the sport in the 1970s, winning the Pontins Ladies Bowl Championship in 1977 followed by the Women’s Amateur Snooker Championship in 1978 and the Pontins Ladies Bowl for a second time in 1982.

But Agnes didn’t just compete against other women; she also played against, and beat, men in mixed tournaments. In 1976 Agnes had signed up to play the Pontins Snooker Championship but, just before the tournament, she broke her wrist. Did it stop her? Did it heck! With her arm in plaster she saw off London hopeful Roger Brown in the first round who was not very happy to have lost to ‘a granny with her arm in a plaster’. Despite her broken wrist, Agnes got through to round 15 of the tournament before losing in the 16th.

In 1998, at the age of 77, and 60 years after winning her first tournament, she qualified to compete in the Ladies Welsh Open at Newport. She was ranked 46 in the Embassy World Rankings for 1997/8 and continued to play competitively until 2001. She died ten years later, aged 90.

London hopeful Roger Brown in the first round who was not very happy to have lost to ‘a granny with her arm in a plaster’. Despite her broken wrist, Agnes got through to round 15 of the tournament before losing in the 16th.

In 1998, at the age of 77, and 60 years after winning her first tournament, she qualified to compete in the Ladies Welsh Open at Newport. She was ranked 46 in the Embassy World Rankings for 1997/8 and continued to play competitively until 2001. She died ten years later, aged 90.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8gj37eeg7o

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

Sally Murphy

PLEASE SUPPORT US

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:-

Visit the museum and leave a small donation.
Join the Museum Society (annual fee £8 member, £25 Vice President and for under 16s we have junior membership at just £4 per year).
Join our 100 Club for just £1 per month and the chance to win cash prizes.
Visit our café for a relaxing hot or cold drink while your children or grandchildren enjoy one of our treasure hunts for just 50p per child.
Buy a souvenir of your visit from the museum gift shop.
We look forward to your visit!