It may well be the last day of our Festival for 2023, but there remains a wealth of fantastic activities, collections and exhibitions to explore as part our brand-new Wales History Trails Passport Challenge. Visit six participating museums by 14 April 2024 to be in with a chance to win Beats Studio 3 Wireless Noise Cancelling, Over-Ear Bluetooth Headphones and National Trust family day passes.
Here we spotlight what’s on offer at some of the participating museums across West Wales and Mid Wales over the coming weeks and months – all free for children, with most also free for adults!
Carmarthenshire Museum
A special treat awaits you at Carmarthenshire Museum, where you can see Tobias and the Angel, (1470-75), an altar painting by the Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. Andrea del Verrocchio trained painters in his workshop, including Leonardo da Vinci and it has been suggested that he painted parts ofit. The painting is part of the National Gallery Masterpiece Tour and can be seen at the museum for free into 2024.
Dylan Thomas Centre
Did you know Dylan Thomas wrote a great deal about different animals and birds in his poetry? This free trail – Dylan’s Animals Trails – offers an opportunity for children to learn about his poetry. You can pick up a trail sheet for free at the front desk and spot animals and birds in and among the exhibition.
The Egypt Centre
The Egypt Centre is a small but lively museum of Egyptian antiquities. Admission is free and there are over 5000 items in the collection. Most of them were collected by the pharmacist Sir Henry Wellcome. Others are from the British Museum; the Royal Edinburgh Museum; National Museum; the Royal Albert Museum and Art Gallery, among others.
National Waterfront Museum
Up until the end of February 2024, you can discover the fascinating history behind Welsh railways in the ‘Railways United’ exhibition. Entirely free, it showcases the diversity of local railways that existed across Wales prior to 1923 and how they are being repurposed as cycle routes and foot paths.
National Wool Museum
The picturesque village of Dre-fach Felindre in the beautiful Teifi valley was once the centre of a thriving woollen industry, earning the nickname ‘The Huddersfield of Wales’. Discover the spellbinding story of the Welsh woollen industry for free!
Tenby Museum and Art Gallery
All children have free admission (when accompanied by an adult); the permanent art exhibition features work by siblings Gwen and Augustus John, who spent their childhoods in Tenby. The gallery features two very early works by Gwen, one of which depicts Tenby. By the time Augustus was 25-years-old, he had become the most famous British artist of the day. Tate Britain will hold the first major exhibition of the siblings’ work from September 2024.
CARAD Rhayader Timescape
The community museum is holding a series of ‘Crafternoons’ every Tuesday between 2-4pm. Open to people aged 11-years-old and above, and on a first come first served basis, they offer free craft activities, including embroidery, willow weaving, Christmas sugar craft, card-making and wreath-making with refreshments. No need to book!
Ceredigion Museum
Step through the doors of Ceredigion Museum, housed in the three-storey stunning Edwardian Coliseum Theatre in Aberystwyth, and marvel at the collection of over 60,000 objects illustrating the varied heritage of the county of Ceredigion.
Y Gaer
Brecon’s Y Gaer includes a restored Assize Courtroom, Victorian classroom, craft gallery, an art gallery and a temporary exhibition space. There are also two social history galleries that map out the history of Brecknockshire.
Y Lanfa Powysland
Pop along to Welshpool to visit Y Lanfa, which has a range of interesting items – from a large collection of Laura Ashley fashions from the early 1960s to the 1990s to a model of a guillotine carved from mutton bones by French prisoners in Welshpool confined around Montgomeryshire during the Napoleonic Wars
MOMA Machynlleth
From 11 November until end of January 2024, you can see the paintings of Guto Morgan in his exhibition Tir at MOMA Machynlleth. In his first solo show, Morgan presents a series of paintings that explores the evocative landscape of Ystrad Meurig.