The Rhyd-y-Car Cottages.

1. The Rhyd-y-Car Cottages. Virtual Tour. Philip Edwards. N.G.f.L. Cymru.

2. The Rhyd-y-Car cottages were originally built around the year 1800 in Merthyr Tydfil. They were built to house workers for Richard Crawshay�s iron works. They were re-built at St. Fagans in 1987. Each house has been decorated and furnished to illustrate life in a different period. You can visit each house in turn by clicking on the dates on the bottom buttons; or simply click on any other part of the slide to move through the presentation.

32. Item 1 is called a bakestone. It was made from cast iron. You would place it on top of a coal fire, then cook on it. It was usually used for cooking Welshcakes. Item 2 is an iron. This one is hollow. You could place hot coals inside it to keep the iron hot. Remember, at this time, there was no electricity. People had to find other ways to heat their irons. Most people used a simple iron made out of cast iron which they heated on an open fire.

33. Item 3 is some sort of rotary spit device. You would hang a joint of meat from it and it would slowly turn in front of the fire�.a bit like the donner kebab in a kebab house.

34. It�s called a milk yoke. Young women would usually carry them around their necks and shoulders. They would hang buckets of milk or water at each end. It was an easy way to carry things.

35. It tells of the death of Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. From R.N. dispatches 1805 The Commander in Chief in the Victory led the weather column, and the Royal Sovereign, which bore my flag, the lee I have not only to lament in common with the British Navy, and the British Nation, in the fall of the Commander in Chief, the loss of a Hero, whose name will be immortal, and his memory ever dear to his country; but my heart is rent with the most poignant grief for the death of a friend, to whom, by many years intimacy, and a perfect knowledge of the virtues of his mind, which inspired ideas superior to the common race of men, I was bound by the strongest ties of affection; a grief to which even the glorious occasion in which he fell, does not bring the consolation which perhaps it ought; his Lordship received a musket ball in his left breast, about the middle of the action, and sent an officer to me immediately with his last farewell; and soon after expired.

36. It�s a type of air pump, once again used for blowing air onto the fire to make it burn brighter.

37. He was a famous Italian soldier from the nineteenth century. I have no idea why he is featured at the museum of Welsh Life. There is a type of biscuit called a Garibaldi.

38. An Eisteddfod is a cultural competition held in Wales. Within any eisteddfod, there will be competitions for musicians, writers, artists and poets. The most important competition in any eisteddfod would be the poetry competition. The best poet is always presented with a prize of a chair. The presentation of the chair is always held with great ceremony.

39. It shows Mr. Gladstone. He was Prime Minister. Here he is standing in the House of Commons.

40. Item 7 is a simple copper plate. It is probably there to stop the wallpaper getting wet from splashes. Item 8 is a simple leather strap. Men would use it to sharpen a razor blade before they shaved.

41. Many families lost a loved one during the Great War of 1914 to 1918. This probably tells the story of a young man who died during the war. Notice the rather old fashioned word Lest. These days we would use the word unless.

42. Remember, working conditions in South Wales at this time were very dangerous. Many men died as a result of accidents in steel works and coal mines. As a result, men often had to attend funerals. They always wore a bowler hat to funerals. Item 9 is a pigeon clock. It was used for timing racing pigeons.

43. No, it doesn�t. My Grandparents told me that they had electricity put into their house around about 1920. In those days, you would often see houses with electricity installed in just a few rooms of the house. It was not unusual to see bedrooms without electricity. The electricity company charged for the number of rooms that had electricity.

44. The Ducks across the Wall ornament first became popular in the 1930s. They remained popular until the 1950s. Some people still had them in the 1960s although by then, they had they were though of as seriously old fashioned.. If you could find a good set in an antique shop now, they would cost quite a lot of money. They are the sort of ornaments that these days people would call kitsch�an object of worthless pretentiosness.

45. In the year 2003 it was easily possible to get e new video recorder for less than a hundred pounds.

46. It�s an oven. People shared an oven at the end of the road until people started to fit small ovens besides their fireplaces. You still see ovens like this, particularly in Italy where restaurants use them to cook pizza.

47. It�s a water pump. You would have to walk to a pump or a well to get water.

48. It is used for shovelling coal. It was designed to help colliers working underground. Sometimes there wouldn�t be enough headroom in the tunnels to use a shovel or a pick.

49. Item 10 is called a mangle, although most people in South Wales called it a wringer. You passed wet clothes through it as you turned the handle. It squeezed the water out f the clothes. It meant that they dried quicker. Item 11 is called a washing dolly or a dolly peg. You filled it with warm soapy water, then put your clothes in. By moving the peg dolly up and down, you agitated the washing. It was very hard work.

50. During the Second World War, families were told to grow vegetables in every spare plot of land. The country was so short of food that people depended on home grown vegetables. This became known as the Dig for Victory campaign.

51. It is called an Anderson shelter.During the Second World War people placed these in their gardens, usually half buried into the ground. They were used as emergency air raid shelters.

52. Pigeons are able to fly for miles, but always find their way home. Some people make use of this ability. They take them in cages to a spot miles from their home then release them. They are then timed to find out which pigeon gets home first. It is a very popular activity in South Wales and parts of Northern England. Did you know that the Queen keeps pigeons?

54. During the early years of radio, there were only two or three radio stations broadcasting in the U.K. These stations rarely broadcast pop music or music for a teenage audience. Also, the government refused to allow more stations. To get over this, radio stations were set up in foreign countries or even on board ships. These two sound clips come from Radio Luxembourg. The left hand button features the Ovaltineys radio show. This was a popular childrens� show broadcast in the 1930s. The right hand button features a famous Radio Luxembourg advert from the 1950s and 1960s. Horace Bachellor sold a method that he claimed would help you to win the football pools. If you knew how to win the football pools, why would you want to tell other people how to do it? This advert was really well known. As a result, almost everybody who was a teenager during the 1950s and 1960s can still spell Keynsham.