IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!

Dear Member,

I would like to inform you that due to the decline in membership numbers and the increasing problems with the current facilities the Bridgend Young Archaeologists Club is closing down from 31st December 2011. As of 1st January 2012 we will be renamed as Glamorgan Young Archaeologists Club and based at Swansea Museum.

We feel this is a more appropriate base for the club and will give us better support and increase the resources available to us.

Our fist session will be on 14th January 2012 where current members will be able to see the new meeting place and we will be having a talk from Emma Williams who is the Collections and Access Officer at the museum. We will also be taking this opportunity to plan with your help the launch session scheduled for 18th February.

Also from the January session to cover costs we will be raising the subscription for each session to £3 per member. We feel this is a fair increase as we have not had to raise our prices since the club opened in 2004.

Below is the new club address:

Glamorgan Young Archaeologists Club
Swansea Museum
Victoria Road
Maritime Quarter
Swansea
SA1 1SN

Our email address is to remain the same until February which is:

Bridgendyac@yahoo.co.uk

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I hope you will continue to support the group in these exciting developments.


Yours Faithfully,

Sian Williams
Branch Leader
Bridgend Young Archaeologists Club

Aberdulais Falls - 10th September 2011

Our session in September was at Aberdulais Falls. This is a National Trust property and looks at the tinplate industry.

On arriving we had a look around the site, saw what objects are made out of tin, from toys to food cans, and also had a look at the building remains of the tinplate works. We were lucky that the rain held off for us, but during the week it had been heavy so the Aberdulais Falls waterfall was in full flow for us. We could see the power of the water and the effect it had on the water wheel. Combining the power of the water wheel and the turbine the site was completely sustainable and produced its own power to run the site and also heat it in the winter.

We watched a short film describing what it was like to work in the tinplate works and also learnt that there were a lot of children working there instead of going to school.

The friends of Aberdulais falls were kind enough to give us a talk on the tinplate works and the excavation that went on there, we were able to view some of the photographs and drawings from the dig and also handle some of the objects.

Survey - Changing Times

Please answer our survey about the Bridgend Young Archaeologists club here

Bridgend Yac Survey

Roman Sewers

You might have thought we were joking when you were given fake poo to disect. Well, you never know when you might find the real thing! Which is what they found in the Roman sewers of Herculanium.
All of 750 sack-fulls of, umm, remains, which go a long way to telling us what they ate (mostly vegetables, apparently).

New Pyramids found - from Space!

"Indiana Jones is Old School", they say. Taking photos from 700km above the earth is a great new way of finding previously undiscovered archaeology. While we can't promise to get you up into space, that's exactly what is happening over Egypt! 17 new Pyramids have been discovered, along with 1000s of tombs and settlements, using infra-reed photography to discover what lies hidden under the sand.

You can click here to read more!

Some of our members might think going to school isn't very nice, but for children in south Wales in the 1840s, unless you were very lucky, chances are you went to work for 12 hours a day, and probably down the mines!

Bryn - Y- Wrach

here is a blog to keep you up to date with the field work being carried out in Llangeinor.

Sunday April 10th 2011 was another beautiful day for those who came to Bryn y Wrach common to take part in the project. Gareth and Carl finished the topographical survey of the area around the mound, and extended it also to a second possible cairn which has been noticed a little to the northwest. Ian carried out the Magnetometry survey of the mound, and also of the possible cairn with the assistance of Lyn, Gwyn and Geraint. Paul and Jenny, along with everyone else, including Peter and Ceri, worked on clearing the layer of old dung which had been piled over the mound many years ago.



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