The Rhyd-y-Car Cottages.

Virtual Tour.Philip Edwards. N.G.f.L. Cymru.

The Rhyd-y-Car cottages were originally built around the year 1800 in Merthyr Tydfil. They were built to house workers for Richard Crawshay’s iron works. They were re-built at St. Fagans in 1987. Each house has been decorated and furnished to illustrate life in a different period. You can visit each house in turn by clicking on the dates on the bottom buttons; or simply click on any other part of the slide to move through the presentation.

Lesson Notes

1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

Doesn’t this cottage look bare? It must have been quite hard to live here. Here are some questions for you.

1) How is the house heated? 2) What are the dishes made out of? 3) What are items 1 and 2?

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It doesn’t look as though there have been many changes since 1805, but if you look closely, you can see some 1855 technology. Notice the oven at the side of the fire. It means that the family can bake their own bread and cakes or roast a piece of meat.

What do you think items 3 and 4 are for?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

Take a look at the dresser. Notice that all of the plates are made out of that grey metal again.

Notice item 5.

I wonder what that was used for?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

Here’s a very interesting doorstop featuring a famous character from history. He is also featured in a mantle piece ornament.

Can you find out who he is?

Try to find out more about the Battle of Trafalgar.

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

The date is now 1895. Queen Victoria was on the throne.It would be another 6 years before the first plane flies. Is this the first house that we've seen that has a clock? Do you also notice that cushions are being used? Did the earlier houses have soft furnishing?

There is a mystery item by the side of the fire (6). What do you think it was used for?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

Here you can see a sampler. A sampler is  a piece of cloth embroidered with various stitches and designs. It was usually used as a way to teach embroidery skills. Young girls were taught  how to do this, usually by their mothers

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

What can you find out about this man? His name was Mr. Gladstone.

Who was he? Where is he standing in this painting?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

I don't think I'll ever understand why this piece of pottery is displayed in a Welsh cottage. It shows a famous Italian man called Garibaldi.Who was Garibaldi?Is there any connection with Wales?These days, what do most people think of when you say the name Garibaldi?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

This poster tells of an Eisteddfod. If you look at the centre, you can see a large trophy that was presented at the Eisteddfod. You can see that trophy in the mainmuseum.What is an Eisteddfod?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

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This is the first house to have tap water. Notice though, there isn’t a sink. Also, there is only cold water.

Can you see the large copper plate on the wall (7) ? Also, there is a leather strap hanging from the wall (8). What do you think they were used for?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

It looks as though something sad has happened to this family. What do you think has happened? Do these pictures tell of an important event in history?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

A bowler hat hangs from the rafters.

Do you know why nearly every man living in the South Wales valleys owned a bowler hat?

Do you know what item 9 is?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

There is a small bedroom at the back. Notice the washing bowl and jug. People would fill the jug before bed so that they could wash in the morning.Notice the oil lamp?Does the main room have electricity?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

1955

Television became really popular during the 1950s and 1960s. Lots of people bought their first television in order to see the wedding of Queen Elizabeth the Second and Prince Philip.

Click on the screen.

1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

1955

Radio had been around for some time by 1955. During the early years of radio, people used it in much the same way as we use television today, with the family sitting down during the evening to enjoy a play, a comedy or a concert together.Two of the control buttons will play a small piece of 1950s radio.

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

These three flying ducks were a very popular ornament. Most people either had them or knew somebody who had them. People either loved them or hated them.

Can you find out more about these ornaments?

1955

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

If you visit the Rhyd-y-Car cottages, you will notice that they are all quite small. Here was an interesting way to extend your house. This family have built an extra room in a garden shed. It looks really well used. I wonder whether this family used this room as their main living room and kept the house as a ‘best room’. Ask your grandparents about the way that families kept a best room. Do people do this today?

1955

1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

1985

By 1985, most people had colour television. Video recorders cost about £500, but most people decided to buy one even though they were very expensive.

How much does a video recorder cost today?

Click on the screen.

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

The kitchen looks really modern. Is there anything here that would look out of place in your own kitchen?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

This can be seen just outside the main street.

What do you think it is?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

Here’s an interesting object. You can see it just at the end of the street.

I wonder what it is?

Here’s a clue. Some of the houses don’t have taps.

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

Two really interesting items from the garden. One of them looks as though it belongs in a torture chamber.

Any ideas?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

Coal was so important. Nearly every home used coal for heating. It was usually kept in a small outhouse or ‘cwts’.

What do you think item 12 was used for?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

The toilet or ty bach was usually kept at the bottom of the garden. Notice the design of the seat. Imagine using one of these on a freezing night in the middle of November. To make matters even worse, toilet paper wasn’t used by most people until about 1950. Before that people used small sheets of newspaper.

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

The gardens at Rhyd-y-Car usually have a wonderful vegetables. Vegetable growing was important to most families especially during war time.

See what you can find out about the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign.

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

It might look like a simple shed, but it has a far more serious purpose. It is an Anderson shelter. Many people had one in their garden during World War Two. They were usually half buried in the garden .

Do you know what they were used for?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

You can still see pigeon coops around South Wales. It still remains a popular sport.

What do you know about pigeon racing?

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1805 1855 1895 1925 1955 1985 Gardens

Yes…….even pigeon coops appear to have developed a more modern design.

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Credits.Opening music “Gorymdaith gwŷr yfnaint Dawns Forys” played by the Kilbride Brothers.

http://westwales.co.uk/fflach/htm e mail fflachcyf@aol.com

Ovaltine material used by kind permission of Ovaltine parent company,

Associated British Foods.

Shuttle launch by kind permission of NASA.gov

Opening of St Fagans museum by kind permission Cardiff video and cine society.

Item 1 is called a bakestone. It was made from cast iron. You would place it on top of a coal fire, then cook on it. It was usually used for cooking Welshcakes.

Item 2 is an iron. This one is hollow. You could place hot coals inside it to keep the iron hot. Remember, at this time, there was no electricity. People had to find other ways to heat their irons. Most people used a simple iron made out of cast iron which they heated on an open fire.

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Item 3 is some sort of rotary spit device. You would hang a joint of meat from it and it would slowly turn in front of the fire….a bit like the donner kebab in a kebab house.

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Item 4 is a bellows. It was used to pump air into the fire to make it burn brighter..

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It’s called a milk yoke. Young women would usually carry them around their necks and shoulders. They would hang buckets of milk or water at each end. It was an easy way to carry things.

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It tells of the death of Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

From R.N. dispatches 1805

The Commander in Chief in the Victory led the weather column, and the Royal Sovereign, which bore my flag, the lee

I have not only to lament in common with the British Navy, and the British Nation, in the fall of the Commander in Chief, the loss of a Hero, whose name will be immortal, and his memory ever dear to his country; but my heart is rent with the most poignant grief for the death of a friend, to whom, by many years intimacy, and a perfect knowledge of the virtues of his mind, which inspired ideas superior to the common race of men, I was bound by the strongest ties of affection; a grief to which even the glorious occasion in which he fell, does not bring the consolation which perhaps it ought; his Lordship received a musket ball in his left breast, about the middle of the action, and sent an officer to me immediately with his last farewell; and soon after expired.

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It’s a type of air pump, once again used for blowing air onto the fire to make it burn brighter.

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He was a famous Italian soldier from the nineteenth century. I have no idea why he is featured at the museum of Welsh Life.

There is a type of biscuit called a Garibaldi.

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An Eisteddfod is a cultural competition held in Wales. Within any eisteddfod, there will be competitions for musicians, writers, artists and poets. The most important competition in any eisteddfod would be the poetry competition. The best poet is always presented with a prize of a chair. The presentation of the chair is always held with great ceremony.

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It shows Mr. Gladstone. He was Prime Minister. Here he is standing in the House of Commons.

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Item 7 is a simple copper plate. It is probably there to stop the wallpaper getting wet from splashes.

Item 8 is a simple leather strap. Men would use it to sharpen a razor blade before they shaved.

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Many families lost a loved one during the Great War of 1914 to 1918. This probably tells the story of a young man who died during the war. Notice the rather old fashioned word Lest. These days we would use the word unless.

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Remember, working conditions in South Wales at this time were very dangerous. Many men died as a result of accidents in steel works and coal mines. As a result, men often had to attend funerals. They always wore a bowler hat to funerals.

Item 9 is a pigeon clock. It was used for timing racing pigeons.

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No, it doesn’t. My Grandparents told me that they had electricity put into their house around about 1920. In those days, you would often see houses with electricity installed in just a few rooms of the house. It was not unusual to see bedrooms without electricity. The electricity company charged for the number of rooms that had electricity.

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The Ducks across the Wall ornament first became popular in the 1930s. They remained popular until the 1950s. Some people still had them in the 1960s although by then, they had they were though of as seriously old fashioned.. If you could find a good set in an antique shop now, they would cost quite a lot of money. They are the sort of ornaments that these days people would call kitsch…an object of worthless pretentiosness.

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In the year 2003 it was easily possible to get e new video recorder for less than a hundred pounds.

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It’s an oven. People shared an oven at the end of the road until people started to fit small ovens besides their fireplaces.

You still see ovens like this, particularly in Italy where restaurants use them to cook pizza.

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It’s a water pump. You would have to walk to a pump or a well to get water.

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It is used for shovelling coal. It was designed to help colliers working underground. Sometimes there wouldn’t be enough headroom in the tunnels to use a shovel or a pick.

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Item 10 is called a mangle, although most people in South Wales called it a wringer. You passed wet clothes through it as you turned the handle. It squeezed the water out f the clothes. It meant that they dried quicker.Item 11 is called a washing dolly or a dolly peg. You filled it with warm soapy water, then put your clothes in. By moving the peg dolly up and down, you agitated the washing. It was very hard work.

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During the Second World War, families were told to grow vegetables in every spare plot of land. The country was so short of food that people depended on home grown vegetables. This became known as the Dig for Victory campaign.

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It is called an Anderson shelter.During the Second World War people placed these in their gardens, usually half buried into the ground. They were used as emergency air raid shelters.

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Pigeons are able to fly for miles, but always find their way home. Some people make use of this ability. They take them in cages to a spot miles from their home then release them. They are then timed to find out which pigeon gets home first. It is a very popular activity in South Wales and parts of Northern England.

Did you know that the Queen keeps pigeons?

Teacher’s note.

This presentation is designed to help with the following National Curriculum links:-

1) Life in Modern Wales and Britain.

The pupils should be taught about the history of Wales and Britain in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including the ways of life of people in the country and in an industrialised area of Wales.

2) Historical Enquiry

Pupils should be taught to use a range of sources including …..I.C.T. to investigate historical topics. They should ask and answer questions about the past.

3) They should use a historical framework.

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During the early years of radio, there were only two or three radio stations broadcasting in the U.K. These stations rarely broadcast pop music or music for a teenage audience. Also, the government refused to allow more stations. To get over this, radio stations were set up in foreign countries or even on board ships.These two sound clips come from Radio Luxembourg.The left hand button features the Ovaltineys radio show. This was a popular childrens’ show broadcast in the 1930s.The right hand button features a famous Radio Luxembourg advert from the 1950s and 1960s. Horace Bachellor sold a method that he claimed would help you to win the football pools.If you knew how to win the football pools, why would you want to tell other people how to do it?This advert was really well known. As a result, almost everybody who was a teenager during the 1950s and 1960s can still spell Keynsham.