Stories from the Collection

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 [...]

New Year’s Eve, known in Wales as Nos Galan, is usually celebrated in the traditional English way, but in a part of Cynon Valley, the night is observed with a unique event. Held at Llanwonno and [...]

Welcome back to the second part of the Bernard Baldwin blogs! This article is inspired by the objects from the Cynon Valley Museum collection, which are featured throughout. They concern the [...]

The Cynon Valley Museum tells the story of the Cynon Valley from the distant past to the present day; it is the story of our community. As we continue through time we must continue collecting, so [...]

This article is inspired by the objects from the Cynon Valley Museum collection, which will be featured throughout. They concern an event, the Nos Galan Race, founded by Bernard Baldwin in 1958. [...]

The Bronze Age The Bronze Age period stretches across the end of the Neolithic, 1750 years from 2500BC to 750BC to the start of the Iron Age. In comparison, that would be the same as seeing the [...]

This blog post explores the history behind the use of ‘chapel china’ in Welsh chapels by focusing on objects from the Cynon Valley Museum collection. The object which sparked this [...]