Powys Archives @ the Elan Valley Archaeological Festival

At just before 9am on Saturday 29th July, my records assistant and I arrived at the Elan Valley Visitor Centre to set up our Powys Archives History Stall at the Archaeological Festival.  With us we brought some items from our collections which related to the history of the Elan Valley including a photograph album and a Women’s Institute (WI) scrapbook containing newspaper cuttings and other memorabilia, including two leaves collected when King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra officially opened the dams in 1904.  We also took a wide selection of colouring sheets portraying historic events and colouring pencils, archive leaflets, promotional flyers and 60 Storipowys branded goody bags for children (dinosaur and farm animals) and 60 Powys branded goody bags for adults. 

It was lovely to be placed next to the Radnorshire Museum stall where Lorna Steel, the curator and Bob one of their volunteers were teaching children (and their parents) about the different types of fossils, which could be found in the local area and encouraging them to make their own trilobites with coloured pipe cleaners and googly eyes!!

Although the weather outside on the day was very hit and miss, we had a fantastic day, engaging with around 80 adults and 80 children.  We even got to meet the Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Chaman Lal who had travelled from Birmingham for the event and enjoyed an amazing cup of coffee and a gorgeous slice of bara brith!!

Our next archive event will be held on Saturday 9th September, when we take part in the CADW ‘Open Doors’ scheme by holding a free coffee morning.  Further information on this event can be found here: Open Doors - Powys Archives | Cadw (gov.wales).