It doesn't always rain in Wales

Just thought I ought to get that bit of information out there! And to prove it here is a photo I took this week when a friend in Portugal said "You must be fed up of the cold and wet, come and bask in the warm Portuguese sun, drink a little wine, read a book or two ..." *sigh* yeah right. I would if I could but anyhow here is the photo:



Sadly the castle ruins went into cloud shadow just as I snapped so here's a pic of the office from which I took the photo:



Best office view in the world? Very possibly and especially on a warm summers day.

I've just noticed a new blog! The Tithe Barn. Will be following what they have to say with interest.

Arrrrhhhh, me hearties!!

New season, new exhibition. This one is about pirates!

You might be surprised to hear that quite a lot of the most famous pirates were Welsh. Although a very small country with a small population, Welsh ports provided crews for ships that travelled all over the world. Some of the sailors, either by inclination, bad luck or force, ended up on pirate ships.



So come to the museum and read about the pirates, see the sea faring artefacts and try on the hats!

Spring has sprung

And we're getting ready for the new tourism season. New exhibitions, new events.

But first let's take some time to enjoy the new leaves on the trees, the song of the birds as they compete for nesting spots and the busyness of the castle squirrels.

The grounds smell good too at the moment mostly due to the violets that have seeded all along the base of the wall in the Victorian garden. As one walks through the gap into the inner bailey there's a great waft of sweetness.

Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Sant hapus!!

Or Happy St David's Day for other folk.



This glass and silk leek was worn by Augusta Hall - Lady Llanover - who is credited as being one of the most influential supporters of Welsh culture. In the early 19th century Welsh as a language was dying out. It was forbidden in schools and children were punished for using it. Augusta Hall and her friends were determined to preserve what they could and reintroduced the custom of the Eisteddfod and commissioned the translation and printing of ancient Welsh literature, such as the Mabinogion.

Spring exhibition

This spring we have a royal wedding to look forward to and luckily our spring exhibition reflects that.

"Old, New, Borrowed and Blue" is a display of wedding dresses from the museum collection and some loaned by members of the community with information on wedding customs.

Grafitti?

I think most people would agree that graffiti can be an eyesore and a nuisance. I've spent more hours than I care to contemplate scrubbing tags off the castle walls and the interpretation boards. But when is grafitti an offence, when is it art and when is it just a bit of fun?

For some months we have been enjoying a piece of 'grafitti' that I would class as the latter and I thought I would record it before it disappears.



Can you see it to the right of the clock tower?



I suspect someone had some free time and a petrol driven strimmer.

:)

Looking after what we've still got.

Anyone who has an old house knows that they can take a lot of maintenance. A ruined castle is no different, especially since members of the public wander round it.

Back in the winter, the frost got into the stonework and cracked the mortar and when the snow thawed several large pieces of masonry fell from the top the towers in the header to this blog. Since then we have had the tower fence off while the surveyors assessed the damage and decided what to do about it.

It's far too expensive to rebuild the castle completely - nice though that would be - so we are doing our best to ensure that the remaining parts don't deteriorate any further. This is pretty much a continual job, like painting the Forth bridge. By the time the last section of wall has been cleaned of foliage, the loose joints raked out and repointed with appropriate lime mortar, it's time to start at the beginning again. Since the tower is the part that is most damaged that's where work has finally started.

Stonemasonry is an ancient skill and the basic techniques haven't changed since the castle was built.



This Roman mason seems to be taking a bit of a chance leaning out like that and I must admit I'm glad to see that our masons are taking better care of themselves.

So thanks, lads, for making sure our castle stays tidy for another year or two.



Left to right - Tom, Olly, Fin and Harry.

Autumn Exhibition

The summer is well and truly over - wellies anyone? - and so we have a new exhibtion to carry us over to the new year - ‘Coming Home’ by documentary photographer Walter Waygood.

‘Coming Home’ is a representative exhibition of photographs taken in South Wales during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990’s. Many of the images depict community life during a time of dramatic change within the social and industrial life of a region. Many of these early black and white photographs were taken using an old fashioned large format, brass and mahogany Gandolfi camera.

The style of photography was greatly influenced by the American photographers of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and the German documentary photographer August Sander. The photographic image has been used as a record and also provides a platform for social comment.

Graduating in BA and then MA Find Art, Walter worked as a community artist in the Mid Glamorgan valley regions in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Working alongside many community and educational institutions photography was promoted as a political, educational and creative tool.

After lecturing for a period at local colleges, in 1995 Walter left South Wales and moved to the New Forest to teach photography at Brockenurst College, Hampshire.

This touring exhibition is an attempt to reproduce negatives that were lost but found again in an attic of his old home in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil. Images taken over 30 years ago are being excitingly rediscovered that reflect a harsh but often heart warming record of the community life of a bygone period.

In the Abergavenny exhibition we have focused particularly on animals and the photographs include scenes at the Abergavenny Livestock Market as well as street scenes around the town. Included are also views of the surrounding landscape. The exhibition is on until Monday 3rd January and works from the show are available for sale. An exhibition catalogue accompanies the exhibition.


In other news - now that the sun has finally made an appearance the walls of the castle are dotted with thousands of ladybirds in all combinations of colours. I guess they are looking for somewhere to hibernate.

Take a chance this weekend to see Illyria's production of Romeo and Juliet in the castle grounds. Tickets from the Borough theatre box office - 01873 850805!

Summer at the castle

It's a bit of a while since there was a post. Access to the blog from the museum has been firewalled so it's even more unofficial now! :D

One of the ways we know the summer holidays have arrived is that Gwent Young People's Theatre appear in the grounds for a week to rehearse and perform an al fresco production.

This years was The Golden Masque of Agamemnon - a retelling of the story of the blood feud that led to the downfall of Troy and the death of Agamemnon and most of his family. It's good bloody stuff and very exciting with several dashes of humour.

They intended to perform for three nights but the weather was so awful on Thursday the show had to be cancelled, but Friday evening was lovely.



The South Wales Argus are doing a series of articles on castles and Abergavenny castle is going to be one of them. Look out for the articles which will appear every Thursday.