Digital Wales -- Local history

This section contains digital material on local history in Wales.

Wales as a whole

Gathering the Jewels is a collection of images of Welsh life, illustrating the natural and social history of Wales throughout the ages. Contents of images include historic letters, paintings, artefacts and photographs, gathered from museums, libraries, record offices and archives throughout Wales. There are a number of ways to search the Gathering the Jewels database, including a subject search, A-Z listing, and a themed search. This is a valuable source for those interested in local history.

Cardiff

Cardiff: Building of a Capital
Cardiff: A Building of a Capital is a heritage lottery funded project managed by the Glamorgan Record Office. Over 40,000 Cardiff building regulation plans were catalogued and made available on the internet. The plans document the growth of Cardiff from a relatively small town to its establishment as the largest coal exporting port in the world by the end of the 19th century. The project offers online access to a large number of plans including cinemas, dog tracks, hotels, schools, offices, churches, mosques, synagogues, factories, houses, shops, coffee bars, air raid shelters and much more.

Butetown History and Arts Centre
Butetown History and Arts Centre collects, preserves and presents the lived history of old Cardiff Bay. The exhibits, books and other materials that theu produce draw on the photographs, documents and memories of local people. The website includes sections on events, exhibitions, collections, education, publications and an online gallery of their collections.

Regimental Museum 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards
The 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards were formed in 1959 when the 1st King's Dragoon Guards and 2nd Dragoon Guards were merged. The museum, located in Cardiff Castle, details their history which goes back to 1685, and gives information on the regiment's activities today. The website provides online access to personal diaries of officers and other ranks and details of medals held at the museum.

Carmarthenshire

Ammanford
The website contains a history and photographs of Ammanford and its surrounding district. The history contents contains a number of articles on many aspects of the towns history including mining, education, Griffith Jones and the circulating schools, and the origins of the town's name. It also has sections on the chapels and churches in Ammanford, sporting heroes and occasions and places to visit (including Carreg Cennen and Dinefwr castle). The people of Ammanford section has short biographies on a number of well known people associated with the town.

Llandeilo Fawr
A large number of old photographs and memorabilia from the Parish of Llandeilo-Fawr spanning the last century are reproduced here in digital format. A brief history of the town of Llandeilo in the county of Carmarthenshire is also given.

Newport

Friends of the Newport Ship
The 'Newport Ship' is the remains of a medieval ship discovered on the banks of the River Usk in central Newport. The ship is believed to have been built circa 1465. The website explores its possible history, documents the local campaign fought in order to save the ship, and has comprehensive list of published news items recording the event and campaign to save the ship, and digitised images of many artefacts.

Powys

Powys Heritage Online
Powys Digital History Projects covers the three ancient counties of Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Brecknock. It is a record of the local history of communities in Powys from archives, documents, photographs and early maps. The site provides information about the background information of the project, and has many links that deal with particular aspects of local history including crime and punishment, education and schools, religion in Wales, and care of the poor. It also has a special section for schools focusing on Victorian Powys. The site was created by the Powys Archive Centre with the aid of local libraries, museums and local people. Communities features include those at:

• Machynlleth and the Dovey Valley
• Llanidloes and district
• Rhayader and the Elan Valley
• Presteigne and the Marches
• Hay and the Wye Valley
• Upper Swansea Valley

Powys: A Day in a Life
The Powys: A Day in the Life project explores life in Powys in 1891 and compares this with life in the year 2002. The project looks at several aspects of life during this period such as:

• Communications
• Community and civic life
• Culture and entertainment
• Education
• Health care
• Home life
• Law and order
• Powys: then & now
• Social conditions
• Transport
• Work

The site also includes timelines for 1891 and 2002 outlying events of Welsh, British and International significance in those years.

Judge's Lodging Museum
The Judge's Lodging Museum is in Presteigne, Powys. The museum provides the visitor with an opportunity to view life as it was during the Victorian Age in this particular Shire Hall. The website is an introduction to the museum, and provides an interactive tour of the building including descriptions of each room.

Rhondda Cynon Taff

Rhondda Cynon Taf Libraries Heritage Trail
The website provides a history of the rich industrial, social and cultural heritage of the Rhondda Valley, the Cynon Valley and Taff Ely. There is historical photographs, maps, illustrations and stories of the towns and villages in the area to accompany the history. Much of the history is dominated by coal mining and social conditions in the area.

Cynon Valley section has a history of Hirwaun, Llwydcoed, Trecynon, Cwmdare, Aberdare, Abernant, Cwmbach, Aberaman, Abercwmboi, Mountain Ash, Penrhiwceiber and Abercynon.

Rhondda Valley section has a history of Treherbert, Treorchy, Cwmparc, Pentre, Gelli, Ton Pentre, Ystrad, Llwynypia, Clydach Vale, Tonypandy, Penygraig, Trealaw, Dinas, Maerdy, Ferndale, Tylorstown, Wattstown, Ynys hir, Porth and Trehafod.

Taff Ely section has a history of Ynysybwl, Cilfynydd, Pontypridd, Hopkinstown, Treforest, Rhydyfelin, Upper Boat, Nantgarw, Taffs Well, Church Village, Lantwit Fardre, Beddau, Llantrisant, Miskin, Pontyclun, Miskin, Llanharan and Llanharry.

Rhondda Cynon Taff Photographic Library
The site contains digital images of the people and places of Rhondda Cynon Taf taken from the collections held by Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council Libraries. Over 14,000 images are available on the site that illustrates all aspects of life in the County Borough. There are sections on:

• Rhondda
• Cynon Valley
• Taff Ely

Swansea

Swansea Heritage Net
Swansea Heritage Net is a partnership between the City and County of Swansea, New Opportunities Fund, and the Royal Institution of South Wales. It is a digitising project designed to aid access to the material evidence held in trust by Swansea Museum Service and to enable many aspects of the museums' collections to be viewable to the wider world through the internet. The resource has themes on:

• Industry
• The Sea and Swansea's maritime history
• World War II
• People
• Archaeology
• Art and culture

Wrexham

Wrexham Heritage
This is part of Wrexham County Borough Council site and provides details of many online exhibitions that focus on the history of Wrexham and the surrounding area. Online exhibitions include:

• Archives Gallery (images providing pictures of Wrexham in the past)
• Big Town Story (explores the history of Wrexham over the last two hundred years)
• Brymbo Man (an early Bronze Age skeleton)
• Dr Drinkwater's Excellent Botanical Compendium
• Gresford Colliery Disaster - The Real Price of Coal
• Gresford Colliery Disaster - Book of Remembrance & Memorial Gallery
• Story of Minera Lead Mines