The News and Events

The Museum has now closed for the winter.

We have had a great summer and were delighted to see so many visitors and to welcome Rachel as our weaver-in-residence and other guest crafts people who offered workshops and demonstrations.

Our summer exhibition offered an insight into the life and times of Newtown people at play towards the end of the 1800s. If you missed it, it will soon be available on the Past Exhibitions page.

Do you have an afternoon to spare - once a month, or every couple of weeks. Even when we are closed there is work to be done. We would love to hear from you and you can help us keep the Museum next year. Check the How to help page.

You can now explore our art 24/7 on ArtUK

Our very own tour

We are excited to tell you that we have completed the English version of our walk-through tour. The Welsh version will be available shortly. It helps visitors understand the building and the unique history of Newtown as well as making it more accessible for those with mobility issues. The historic nature of the building, limits access for some visitors and hopefully this tour will allow these groups of people to enjoy our great little Museum.

During the winter, you can get a good idea of the Museum and its history on this video and you will be able to come in person to see the Museum in 2025 .

Here is John, our curator, on the loom floor of the Museum filming the tour with Gwyn from Still River Films

We are also really pleased to have worked with Dragon UAV on the drone footage used in the tour. They are "Proud Supporters of Newtown Tourism - Dragon UAV ”

Weaver-in-Residence

We welcomed Rachel Thomas to the museum for the summer season as our weaver-in-residence. This position has been funded by the Ashley Family Foundation to whom we are very grateful.

Rachel was busy fielding questions from our visitors as well as undertaking her own weaving projects and she says she really enjoyed her time with us. Check her out on Instagram for more.

It is great when we can give our visitors a chance to see some weaving in action. You can also enjoy a video of the process or go to our YouTube page to watch it, and other related videos.

Weaving in action

Watch Rachel set up and weave on our loom

This video shows how much work is involved in weaving. With thanks to Still River Films.

Summer Exhibition.

Closed now

Sport and Leisure in Newtown: 1875 - 1914

Our main exhibition for the summer explored the ways that weavers and others spent their leisure . Using objects from our collection, we took a look at some of these activities, including football in Newtown, which was an important centre for the organised game in Wales. The Royal Welsh Warehouse Sport and Recreation Society ran all sorts of sporting and cultural events which drew large crowds to the town

Why do so many sporting events start at 3.00pm on a Saturday afternoon?.

What prompted 20,000 people to visit Newtown on a July afternoon in 1912?

What is the connection between bicycles and carnival floats?

These are just three questions answered in our new exhibition showing from 21 May until 28 September 2024.

Check out the short promo video of our exhibition which the media company kindly produced for us.

Check out the shop

We have some new and unusual items for sale in the shop in the museum.

French Film Company

It was a great pleasure to welcome Clara and Cedric of French TV company ARTE to the museum . They were here to make a feature on Pryce Jones and his mail order empire. They spent all day here interviewing, recording the loom in action and filming items related to PJ - for a 7 minute segment! That’s showbusiness!!

Family history

Linking families

Our own 'Who do you think you are' story connecting families with ancestors from Newtown!

Can you link your family to the cottages at our Museum? We were excited recently when we had a message from New Zealand finding a connection to the Clayton family who lived in Penygloddfa and are incorporated into our story.

In 2016 a visitor came to the Museum seeking information about her ancestors - the Claytons - who lived in Commercial Street (then South Street) in the 1840s. She was not only pleased to see where they had lived, but she gave us information on several generations of the family, some of whom emigrated to Australia. We have been happy she let us use the Clayton story in the Museum.

Our most recent message came from another person who also linked her family to the Claytons, and it seems that the two family historians share common great grandparents. We have put them in touch with each other - and as they both live now in New Zealand they may be able to share their stories in person.

Maybe you too can find a link to the Claytons in your family, or to other weavers who lived in Penygloddfa. Check out the census information for the area and do get in touch if you find your ancestors there.

Wonderwool and the Braid Society Exhibition

It is great to report that both these two events were very successful.

Victoria did a wonderful job at Wonderwool, our stand was well attended and she had the opportunity to talk to lots of people about the museum and our events. Some visitors had already been to the museum en route to Wonderwool and some were visiting on their way home at the end. Both the Braid Society and our stand promoted the Braid Society events which were held at the museum.

As a result of all their efforts, there were 10 people who came to the Try Braiding workshop at the Museum.

A great start to our season and thanks to all concerned

Braid Society Exhibition

This exhibition to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Society was on display at the Museum from 23 April until 11 May. It brought lots of visitors to the Museum for the demonstrations and a Try Braiding workshop. Thanks to all involved.

If you missed the exhibition, contact the Society if you are interested in their work.

The quiet sounds and concentration involved in Braid making

This short reel shows some participants involved in a Try Braiding workshop at the Museum

Visit to Steve Attwood-Wright's studio

Some of the volunteers and friends visited Steve's studio near Sarn recently. You can read an account of their visit here, and see some images from the day.

School visits

A couple of the local schools took advantage of the opportunity to visit the museum in March even though we were not yet open to the public. It was great to welcome them and give them a glimpse into life in the mid 1800s in Newtown.

Another school visited us in June. We welcome enquiries from schools, and are keen to work with them.

School children talking about Victorian food

Accreditation granted

We are delighted to tell you that we were awarded Full Accreditation by Arts Council England in 2023. We were congratulated on a very strong application which was the result of a lot of hard work by all those involved with the Museum, in particular the members of the committee. This status will help us going forward, in particular with applications for grants which are vital to our future.

(For those unsure what Accreditation is all about, it means that we have been assessed against agreed standards for managing our collection properly, engaging with our visitors and being governed appropriately - all important things for running a museum well).

New Loan

Laura Ashley wedding dress. Do visit us to see this dress.

The dress is vintage Laura Ashley, believed to be circa early 1980s. The sample label sewn inside shows a date of 25/7/85. It has been loaned to the Museum by Rory Evans and it is lovely to see it on display in the Amelia Ray draper's shop (even though it was made about 100 years after Amelia's shop was operating). Thanks Rory.

The dress is believed to have been a sample piece which was then put into production. As such, it was never bought by a customer or worn as a wedding dress. It was apparently displayed in the window of the Laura Ashley shop in Newtown.

Photographs

John Owen, Victorian Photographer

Recently the Museum has acquired a collection of photographs taken by John Owen of Newtown. He had a studio in Broad Street for about 40 years, and many Newtonians took advantage of his business to have their portraits taken. Pryce Jones and his wife Eleanor Morris are shown in this image.

A dressing-up area and photo booth are part of the Museum now. Imagine yourself living in one of our cottages - a family with lots of children for example.

Inspired by John Owen, visitors of all ages will be able to try on some replica Victorian clothes and photograph themselves within our atmospheric Recreated Bedroom. The fireplace setting will be styled to resemble a Victorian photography studio. We hope it will be fun and interactive, and encourage repeat visits too!

Reception and shop

The Museum has really benefitted from the new Reception and shop area that was completed in 2023. It would not have been possible without the help of the Newtown & Llanllwchaiarn Town Council and the Ashley Family Foundation so a big thank you to them. Don't forget to check out the variety of things we have for sale when you visit. The sales support both local artisans and the Museum. If you would like to know more about our suppliers, check out their details here.

Are you a bookworm?

A recent visitor told us of a novel that referred to the flannel mills in Newtown: Not one of us by Alis Hawkins. We have started to put together a list of books which we are told feature the weaving industry in Newtown or just the life of the town which we will put on display for visitors. Check out this list for the suggestions so far:

We need help on two fronts? Have you heard or read any more books featuring Newtown and or the weaving industry in Wales. And do you have any copies which you could donate or lend to the Museum for this project. If you can help please contact Christine Davies on committee02@newtowntextilemuseum.co.uk She would love to hear from you.

We are so lucky

Emily, shown here working on a dress in our collection, was a great addition to the Museum for the summer of 2021, and she was able to spend a few weeks with us again in 2022. A student at Nottingham Trent University she is studying Costume Making and Design, and she came to gain some experience of working in a Museum. Wonderful for us, and hopefully useful for her too.

This wedding dress from 1881 that Emily is checking has a matching skirt and a cape, and as you can see, was made in Newtown.

Another development. We are now featured on Twinkl's Museum Campaign - an education website of teacher-created planning and assessment materials. Twinkl also have a wide variety of museum-related resources on their site.

Check out their blog

Photography

In 2019 we had a visit from a local photographer - Polly Lovegrove. She took some great photos and a few are displayed below. Thanks Polly. ©Polly Lovegrove

Polly Lovegrove image of work with shuttle and threads