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Television star at West Wales Museum of Childhood

Visitors to the Museum here at Llangeler had an extra treat when a film crew from ITV Wales arrived at the Museum, together with TV personality John Sparkes known by many for his comedy character 'Barry Welsh' and more recently shows on travel and history 'Great Pubs of Wales' and 'The Story of Cardiff''. John was at the museum to record a new light-hearted travel show to be called "Somewhere for the Weekend" . The show will centre around an Australian back-packer - played by John - who is travelling around Britain for the first time discovering his roots. The series plans to feature unusual and interesting places and museums. John and the film crew spent several hours filming at the museum and interviewing the curators, Paul, Hilary and Vic, about their collection and the contribution that Welsh toy-manufacturers made to children everywhere. The programme is expected to be screened later in the year in both ITV Wales and ITV Central regions.

EASTER ATTRACTION AT THE MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD, LLANGELER Living History with the 69th New York Regiment, ACW Society

The museum was pleased with the success of the return visit to Pen-ffynnon of the 69th New York State Volunteers 1st Regiment Irish Brigade. Taking the field at Easter (Good Friday 21st March 2008 through to Easter Monday 24th March 2008), the Regiment welcomed museum visitors as they came to see 'living history' when the 69th set up camp at the Museum's camping and caravanning area. The 69th New York are members of the American Civil War Society, the largest American Civil War re-enactment society in the UK

LEGO - 'a new toy every day' - celebrates 50 year Anniversary

Hilary, curator at the museum, was invited by BBC Radio Wales to speak about Lego. The broadcast went out live on Monday 28th January 2008 - the actual anniversary of the Lego brick. Hilary discussed how Lego has developed over the years. Although Lego has evolved into intricate advanced model sets, the basic building brick remains the foundation of this enduring toy which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year. Even with advances in technology, the latest sets are still fully compatible with the earliest bricks. The simplicity of the engineering concept is still Lego's true strength. The Lego brick was patented in 1958 having been developed from earlier systems but it would be the 1960s before a suitable plastic - namely ABS - was found, enabling the bricks to be pushed together and pulled apart thus providing children (of all ages ! ) to re-use this wonderful toy. After fifty years of success, Lego now has generations of Lego fans who have grown up with what has now become a household name and the premier brick building system - one can only wonder how many 'Lego children' have grown up to join a profession within the building industry be it as an engineer, architect or even a hardy brick-layer. West Wales Museum of Childhood salutes you, Lego, on your 50th birthday - many happy returns, and may you continue to build on your success !

The Museum features on National television

It was fun when a film crew from S4C, the Welsh language channel, called in to record a feature about the Museum of Childhood. The museum was also pleased to welcome Vernon Evans who spoke to camera about his childhood memories and about his fruit and vegetable van that has been retired from service and which now is resident at the Museum. We are delighted that the TV company chose to broadcast the feature on Wednesday 23rd January in the program, known as 'Wedi 3', an afternoon magazine that carries topical stories and reports from all over Wales. Vic, Paul and Hilary thank everyone who helped in making the production, including pupils from Brynsaron School.

J40 comes back home to Wales

The museum has recently acquired an excellent example of the Welsh-made pedal car, the Austin J40. Returning to Wales after languishing in England for some 10 years or so, this icon of British motoring is a welcome addition to the 10,000 or so items on display. These luxurious pedal cars were made in Bargoed (South Wales) by the Austin Motor Company Limited at a factory called the Austin Junior Car Factory - this is where the 'J' comes from. The cars, 5 ft 3 in long (1.60 metre), were of high specification with opening bonnet and boot, battery-powered lights and horn, detachable wheels with Dunlop pneumatic tyres, realistic dashboard panel and leather cloth seat covering. There was a total production of 32,098 Austin J40 pedal cars, and production stopped in September 1971, the factory then moving on to other work until it closed in 1999. The J40 sold in 1950 for £27 plus £6 added purchase tax, quite a lot of money for those days when the average working man earned a weekly wage of about £12.

Film and TV Gallery opens at Museum of Childhood

Paul, Hilary & Vic are delighted to announce that the Film & TV Gallery is now open, displaying memorable character toys from the last 60 years. All our old friends are here, including the topical Dr Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, James Bond, Thunderbirds and Dan Dare. Also, we have Childrens' TV favourites from Muffin the Mule to the Magic Roundabout. So, why not call in at the Museum and see our latest gallery !

100 years of Scouting

The museum applauds the Scout movement on its 100th anniversary and we are happy to have welcomed visitors to our special exhibition held in previous months. There are more than 28 million Scouts, young people and adults, male and female, in 216 countries and territories. Some 300 million people have been Scouts, including prominent people in every field. Scouting began with 20 boys and an experimental camp in 1907. It was held during the first nine days of August in 1907 at Brownsea Island, near Poole in Dorset, England. The camp was a great success and proved to its organiser, Robert Baden-Powell, that his training and methods appealed to young people and really worked. Long live the Scouts !

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