Monthly Newsletter
March 2025
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What’s On at The Met
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6th-8th Mar AYDMS presents Wizard of Oz. Tickets from £8
20th Mar Lunchtime Theatre presents Bag for Life, tickets from £6.
Mar 21st Comedian Robin Morgan, tickets from £15
26th-29th Mar Brynmawr Musical Theatre Co presents Betty Blue Eyes, tickets from £12.50
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For more information on these and more visit:
https://awenboxoffice.com/the-met/whats-on
or tel 01495 533195
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Museum Opening Times
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The Museum is open to the public, free of charge:
Thursday to Saturday 10am – 1pm
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Contact us
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Museum phone number 01495 211140
Email: abertillerymuseum@btconnect.com
Web: www.abertilleryanddistrictmuseum.org.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abertillerymuseum
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Contact Names
Mr G Murphy Curator
Mrs P. Bearcroft Deputy Curator
Mrs E. Ewers Chair
Mrs K. Pratley Treasurer
Mrs S. Murphy Newsletter
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Vice Presidents (Annual Subscription £25)
Rev Roy Watson
Mrs Carol Brooks
Mrs Margaret Cook
Mr John Cavaciuti
Mrs Margaret Herbert
Mr Ross Leadbeater
Ms Michele Dack
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100 Club
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This month’s prize numbers were drawn by member Wendi Adams and Ann Jones and the lucky winners are:-
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No. 20 Gaynor Tucker £20
No. 31 Hywel Roberts £10
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If you would like to join our 100 club and be in with a chance of winning, it costs just £1 a month. Ask at the museum for further details.
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NEW ACQUISITION
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This little booklet, along with a second booklet entitled ‘Sunlight Household Hints’, was recently donated to us by a Mrs Janet Britton. Both are thought to date to around the 1950s and this little Britox booklet is packed full of dozens of recipes using, of course, Britox shredded beef suet!
And you will find two of the recipes on page three of this newsletter.
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Condolences
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I am sorry to report that long-standing supporter, Mrs Val Rosser, has sadly passed away. Val was a regular visitor to the museum; indeed most Thursday mornings she could be found in our café, enjoying a coffee and a chat with her many friends. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time and especially husband Peter.
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​Many thanks to our President, Mr Jack Hanbury, for his very generous donation.
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The National Library of Wales​
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​If I say 'the National Library of Wales', what comes to mind? "It's in Aberystwyth"?. "It has a lot of books"? Both those statements are true but there is much more to it. In appearance, the building is not unlike the civic buildings in Cathays Park in Cardiff but it occupies an imposing hillside location looking out over the town of Aberystwyth. It was established by Royal Charter in 1907 after two centuries of lobbying and it opened two years later in a temporary home until the building now in place opened in 1916. The establishment of the National Library took place at the same time as the establishment of the National Museum in Cardiff. Cardiff wanted both but Aberystwyth was chosen for the Library. It has continued to grow ever since.
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It is a 'legal deposit library' which means that it has a right to a copy of every print publication in Britain and Ireland. It houses rare books, manuscripts, archives, film and video, newspapers, maps, sound material, photographs and works of art. I should also mention that a copy of our Newsletter is sent there each month. It is recognised as one of the great libraries of the world and a renowned research centre with a lot of its material now available on-line.
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It is a great place to visit as a tourist with its exhibitions, cafe, shop and convenient parking. The main exhibition on at present is a collection of 250 paintings and objects which are displayed under the (English) title of "No Welsh Art". In 1950, Dr Llewellyn Wyn Griffth said “So much for the past. No patron, no critic, therefore no painter, no sculptor, no Welsh Art. It is as simple as that”. This exhibition, curated by art historian Peter Lord and which uses his own collection of Welsh artworks, supplemented by pieces chosen from the collections held by the National Library, sets out to show that, in fact, Wales has a rich visual culture.
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I won't list all the very many items held by our National Library but I will mention that it has over 6 million books and newspapers. We think we have a lot of photos in our library in Abertillery but our collection of several thousand is rather less than the 950,000 photographs held at the National Library – and the collection is ever growing.
It's definitely a good place to visit! Look at the website to see for yourself.
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Jen Price
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Quick quiz (answers on page 3)
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What two Saints Days are celebrated in March?
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The March Hare is a character in which book?
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March is named after the Roman God Mars – what is Mars the God of?
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If you are born between March 1st and March 20th what star sign are you?
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Complete the saying – March comes in like a lion and goes out like a..... ?
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In March 1964 boxer Cassius Clay changed his name to what?
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URGENT - Last Chance Saloon!
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Have you checked your state pension forecast recently? If you are aged over 45 then it could be worthwhile checking today as the rules for buying back gaps in your National Insurance record will change from the start of the new tax year this April.
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NI contributions are usually taken from your pay automatically through PAYE if you are an employee however, unless a year is paid in full, it doesn’t count towards your state pension so if you missed just one week say in any tax year, then none of the contributions in that year will count towards your state pension and your record will show a ‘gap year’. This means that you could be looking at as little as £15.85 to buy back an entire year which could boost your pension by hundreds of pounds a year. If you have a year where no NI contributions were paid, you will be looking at around £800 to buy back that year, but as each full year will increase your pension by over £300 a year, in less than three years of receiving your pension you will have recouped this £800 outlay and be in profit.
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Currently you can buy back gaps in your national insurance record as far back as 2006 and for each year you buy back it will increase your state pension by £6.32 a week up to the maximum which currently stands at £221.20 a week. However, on 6th April 2025 this all changes; from 6th April only gaps in the last 6 years will be buyable.
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Even if you are already receiving your state pension, if you are not receiving the maximum, it is still possible to boost your pension by buying back incomplete years between 2006 and the year that you received your state pension. However, from 6th April, if you received your state pension more than 6 years ago, then this door will be permanently closed to you. To check your state pension forecast use this link:
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https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
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No internet? Then telephone the Future Pensions Centre on 0800 731 0181 and if you are already in receipt of your pension then you can call the Pensions Service on 0800 731 0469 but remember you only have until 5th April to fill those older, cheaper gaps.
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For more information check out money expert, Martin Lewis’ advice here:
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Sally Murphy
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Granny’s Pudding
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8oz stale breadcrumbs, 2oz BRITOX [beef suet]
¾lb blackberries, ¾lb apples
3oz sugar, ½ pint milk
Pour milk over breadcrumbs, leave until soaked then add BRITOX, mix up well. Place layer of mixture in a well-greased pie-dish, then layer of stewed blackberries and apples, do this alternatively until dish is filled, having a rather thick layer of mixture on top. Bake in moderate oven 50 or 60 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn out of pie-dish before serving hot. Sufficient for 6 to 8 persons.
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Marmalade Pudding (Baked)
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A second 1950s recipe using BRITOX beef suet:
5oz bread, 1 oz sugar, 1 pint milk, 1½ oz BRITOX, 1 level tablespoonful custard powder, marmalade.
Grease a pie-dish, spread thin slices of bread (without crust) with marmalade. Make a thin custard [using the milk & custard powder], pour while hot between each slice of bread and marmalade, sprinkled over with BRITOX, leaving a good supply to pour over the top layer. Bake for 40 mins in a slow oven. Turn out of dish before serving. Servers 4 to 6 persons.
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Quiz answers (from page 2)
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St David on 1st and St Patrick on 17th
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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
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War
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Pisces
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Lamb
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Muhammad Ali
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The Market Hall / Metropole
Part one – 1800s to 1913
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If you have been to the museum in recent weeks you will see the building is having some renovation work done. Seeing this and listening to my parent’s recount how they met at the dance in the Market Hall in 1956 I became curious about the history of the building in Market Street Abertillery.
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In 1840’s the population and houses of Abertillery was quite low but in just 18 years the population grew to 4,000 with neighbouring villages and towns increasing too. With the opening of collieries, it soon grew to 6,500 and the need for a market became apparent with the growing amount of competing salesmen in the streets. It was James Hoskins, proprietor of the Commercial Inn, that acted on this need by erecting a market place on ground adjacent to the Commercial Inn with a long avenue of covered stalls. On April 6th 1867 the first market opened in Abertillery and on 13th April 1867 the Hereford Times wrote about the event.
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With no history found apart from listings on early maps for the 1880’s, it is unknown when the original structure was built but in January 1885 a competition was set up to build houses and a market hall on this site but it didn’t seem to achieve much interest and no further evidence is found of an outcome. In 1891 a new Abertillery Market & Building Company was registered and this led to the demolition of the old market place by contractor AP Williams in July 1892. On 6th September 1893 an official opening of the new Market Hall took place. It was built over the old market site and was designed by architect Alfred Swash of Newport. The final cost came in at £4,000 and the main exterior walls were rendered with Portland cement.
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Information on the building tells that the ground floor inside had front and side portions made up of lock-up shops and offices while on the balconies above, poultry and dairy products were on sale. The inside back area had a committee room while the main ground floor had a spacious hall with balconies elaborately decorated and the building had ample heating appliances plus ample provisions for entry and exiting the building.
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It was said that the contractor, Mr A P Williams, performed in such a thorough manner that there was no need for any contractors from outside the area to be brought in to erect what was considered to be the largest and most important building in the Western Valley!
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A concert was held to mark the opening with the concert room fully decorated by Messrs Morgan & Francis of Pontlottyn shop Abertillery. It commenced at 8pm with a solo by Miss Llewela Davies on the pianoforte. This lady had a very high reputation with 8 medals, 3 scholarships and 2 exhibitions to her name. There followed a night full of songs and music until the National Anthem ended the wonderful evening.
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By 1900 the building had officially been named the Metropole Opera House & Theatre and on 17th September 1900 a drama performance was advertised - The Gamester of Metz. By 1909 the Metropole, along with many other public places, began catering for a new past time of roller-skating. It was reported in the South Wales Gazette that the entrance fee of 1 shilling included the use of roller skates with Richardson ball-bearings. There were 3 sessions a day being morning, afternoon and evening with a Mr Collier in charge of the rinks orchestra and a Mr Seabourne as the proprietor.
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In September 1912 the ‘Stage’ Newspaper reported on the ‘Barto Brothers’ who had appeared at the Metropole the previous week. This act was a comedy duo with Stanley Laurel Jefferson as part of the duo – he went on to become known as Stan Laurel and the rest, as they say, is history!
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In May 1913 a Kinemacolor movie documentary film was shown over 6 nights which included the Deli of Dunbar, the Investiture of Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle, the construction of the Panama canal, a visit to the Pyramids, plus flowers, animals, military scenes, the Balkan War, comedy and educational clips and would be the first of its kind at this time in the area.
And this story continues next month with a look at the years 1914 to the present day.
Karen Pratley
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https://outoftheblueartifacts.com/the-market-hall-the-metropole-theatre/​​​​​​​​​​​​​
