Stories from the Collection

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 [...]

A Different Way of Life: The Neolithic The beginning of the ‘early Neolithic’ (c.4100-3000 BCE) saw individuals in society move from Mesolithic foraging to a more domesticated, sedentary [...]

The Jewish community in Aberdare dates from the 1860s. Slater’s Directory of South Wales for 1858/59 includes the name of Harris Freedman, and Lyons and Hyman are listed as trading in Aberdare as [...]

The Cynon Valley in Prehistory The prehistory of the Cynon Valley remains a distant image, its past obscured. Through archaeological investigations, we have begun to learn more about the valley’s [...]

The Linton Brothers from the Cynon Valley took the cycling world by storm. They beat the best from across the globe and became some of the world’s first sport stars. This is their story. [...]

This blog will take you on a whistle-stop tour of the valley’s railways via photographs from the Cynon Valley Museum collection. This includes some railway ‘outposts’, an example of railways and [...]

This blog post tells the story behind the Y Côr Mawr Commemorative Medal, belonging to the museum collection, and the connected story of the choir and its conductor, Caradog. This fine silver [...]

This blog post tells the story behind the message on an earthenware plate produced during the First World War. At the beginning of the First World War, Britain was heavily reliant on imports for [...]

Many of us visit Aberdare for shopping and social purposes, but how well do we know and observe it as we walk around? This post reveals some of the histories of Aberdare Town Centre, including [...]

Hi, I am Klavdija Erzen and I am the Project Manager for the Jewish History Association of South Wales (JHASW). JHASW was established in January 2018 to preserve the cultural heritage of the [...]