Stories from the Collection

This year marks the centenary of the 1926 General Strike and Lock Out, in which 1.5 million workers across Britain took part in a nine-day labour stoppage. In the South Wales Coalfield, the [...]

RCT Council Heritage Service have recently been involved in a digitisation project with the Welsh Government and Art UK . Nearly 100 objects from the museum collection have been professionally [...]

Thank you to all who attended the Vanished Wales book talk with Carwyn Jones last weekend, it was a fascinating event that went off without a hitch!

This banner was made by the Cynon Valley Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (C.N.D) group. It reads ‘Cynon Valley’ above the modern peace symbol. The World changed forever on August 6th, 1945, when [...]

Now open / ar agor…   Lleisiau Cymunedol, Gweledigaethau Cyfunol / Community Voices, Collective Visions   A participatory exhibition by artist Lindsay Servian inviting you to share your [...]

The Early Eisteddfodau – by Steven Graham As excitement builds for the first Valleys National Eisteddfod in decades in Pontypridd this August, Cynon Valley Museum Trust is pleased to be [...]

Rose Davies 1882 – 1958: A Purple Plaque to Honour Local Activist The Cynon Valley Museum is pleased to announce that a Purple Plaque in memory of Welsh Labour activist, local Alderman and [...]

Coronation Celebrations: Change and Continuity On the 8th of September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died after reigning for 70 years. She came to the throne, a young woman of 27, her coronation [...]

Donate to the Cynon Valley Museum Collection The Cynon Valley Museum is a fully Accredited Museum under the Arts Council’s Accreditation Scheme; the museum has been accredited since 2006.  As of [...]

  Paul Robeson and Wales: A Proud Bond   Photo by Gordon Parks, Office of War Information, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons   Introduction ‘There is no place in the world I [...]

The old Italian cafes of Valleys’ towns and villages evoke images of cosy, friendly, and warm establishments where you could go with friends and family to relax, eat, and drink. Many of us have [...]

The museum has safety lamps on display with miners’ tags and other equipment. Only equipment to the layman, but essential and lifesaving to miners who see these artifices as symbols of the [...]

From the onset of mining history, women were involved with the mining industry in their support.  Female activists in the mining community protested alongside their husbands, fathers and brothers [...]

International Women’s Day is 8th March each year. This is the opportunity for us to consider the contribution to the public life of a woman who had an enormous influence on the Aberdare [...]

The Museum collection displays boxing gloves, robe, tickets and memorabilia relating to Abercynon born boxing legend Dai Dower M.B.E, tangible objects tunnelling you back to a seemingly black and [...]

Women in the Mines Many people today can recall what the valleys were like in the 1960s, 70s and 80s when mining and steelworks were dominant. Roads were busy with lorries, the railways were in [...]

LLYN FAWR and LLYN FACH Llyn Fawr, and the smaller Llyn Fach, are natural lakes situated below Craig Y Llyn (Rhigos Mountain) at the North-West end of the Rhondda Cynon Taff area. Humans [...]

The Work of Paul Peter Piech – a lesson for all The museum boasts a large collection of linocut prints by artist Paul Peter Piech, including a small collection of ‘Racism is a [...]

The connection between Paul Robeson, the Cwmbach Male Choir, and the South Wales NUM I first discovered the inspirational figure of Paul Robeson thanks to the Manic Street Preachers 2001 single [...]

When looking down from Penrhiwllech Trail, above the lake at the Dare Valley Park, you will see a field with a large hut, in front of a row of houses. This field was the site of the 1936 Quoits [...]

A marble bust, the face stern and uncompromising, yet of lonely countenance, looks out from the public health display case in the museum’s gallery. The bust’s true to life likeness is that of [...]

The museum collection includes interesting objects that are today as unfamiliar and unrecognisable to the younger generation as a farthingale. Some of these items include a magic lantern, a [...]

From White House, Washington to Council House, Mountain Ash With changes in the US Presidency this year, the White House has been very much in the centre of world politics. Built between 1792 and [...]

This blog post tells the story of local celebrations linked to the National Festival of Britain 1951 through objects in our collection, such as a theatre safety curtain and paper dresses. In [...]

This blog will focus on an item in our collection used for industrial action, particularly the miners’ strike of 1985/85. The Penrhiwceiber Colliery Lodge banner beholds the story of a group of [...]

The Museum’s Church and Chapel case contains one of the most striking displays in the gallery. Among its many treasures is a splendid collection of Friendly Society regalia, medals, collars and [...]

Jazz Bands in 1926 – A political and social history. In 1926, the country experienced a bitter general strike followed, in some areas, by a longer lock-out in the coal industry. The event [...]

Welcome to Part Two of the Co-operative Society blogs!   As discussed in Part One of the blog, in 1927 the Cwmbach Society merged with the previously amalgamated Aberdare and Trecynon [...]

The emergence of Co-operative Societies, 19th century The first co-operative societies in Wales were established in the South Wales valleys. They were modelled on the Rochdale Pioneers of [...]