How the people of North Wales defended themselves from Barbary Pirates in the 17th century. By Zoe Cashman If you look out towards Deganwy over Maesdu Golf Course in Llandudno you may have noticed a solitary tower standing on top of the hill. The tower persists as a reminder of a serious risk to our coastline in the 17th century – the threat of Barbary pirate raids. Similar towers are located near Whitford, Abergele, and Llandrillo-yn-Rhos, with reports of other towers in Anglesey which have since been demolished. George Lloyd’s Map of the Beacon Towers in North Wales Feb 1961. The purpose of ..read more

Celebrating Reverend Jim Cotter: LGBTQ+ Advocate, Pastor, and Poet Reverend Jim Cotter (1942-2014) I was bearing a heavy load, angry but not expressing it, grief-stricken but stuck with it, hurt by those with power, and by those who appeared to have none. I broke under its weight. I was helpless, wordless, Stripped to nothing. –Rev Jim Cotter, Brainsquall, 2007 This powerful poem was written by Reverend James England Cotter known locally as Jim Cotter, an Anglican Preacher and one of the original founders of the Gay and Lesbian Christian Movement in the UK. He is referred to in many articles a ..read more

Natasha Ozcan Natasha Ozcan joined the Llandudno Museum and Gallery student placement team from September 2021 to December 2021. Interested in all aspects of heritage, she started her museum placement unsure of what she wanted to do. We decided we would help her try it all. From front desk services to collection handling, and digital conservation, Natasha moved flawlessly between tasks. Her dedication to her learning journey was inspiring because she showed up happy and ready to work despite already having a part-time job and being in full-time education. Her final project was the digital cons ..read more

Alex Bullock, Llandudno Museum and Gallery Placement Student 2020 Alex Bullock came on placement with Coleg Llandrillo in September 2020 as part of the first intake of Llandudno Museum and Gallery placement students. Under the direction of her module leader, Karen Thomas, Alex was able to develop her understanding of website content development, copyright, and project planning, which were key skills needed for her course. As a student, Alex’s can-do attitude helped her team to thrive during a difficult placement time which included 2 lockdowns. In her own words: My name is Alexandra Bullock an ..read more

Megan Griffin When looking at potential projects to do during placement, Megan and I discussed what it was like to be a new researcher. We agreed that most students, including ourselves as new researchers, were missing some of the most basic database search techniques. These include verifying sources, narrowing down search fields, and knowing what information is relevant to a research project. For instance, did you know that you can exclude a word from a search by using the hyphen or search for an exact phrase? For example searching for Kite will bring up information on both the children’s toy ..read more

Olivia at her Llandudno Museum desk begining her farm equipment identification and interpretation task. Olivia Skipsey joined us for our summer student placement program from June 2021 to the end of August 2021. Her willingness to help, no matter what was needed, allowed her to participate in not one but three different museum projects. She began by helping to design the Keep Wales Tidy and the gardening parts of the 2021 Living History: Lockdown exhibition currently on display in the museum. She then went into the Biodiversity Garden to help identify and write interpretations for our agricult ..read more

Tessa Fox When Tessa Fox joined Llandudno Museum and Gallery’s Digital Student Placement program in early 2021, she had already completed an internship with Fairhurst Gallery and Framing workshop in Norwich and was working towards her Masters Degree in Museum Studies at the University of Manchester. A discussion about her career goals after graduation indicated a clear interest in research and making marginalised histories accessible to new audiences. I invited her to work with me to create Llandudno’s Hidden History: LGBTQ+ Heritage Walk 2021 which is our second LGBTQ+ history walk. Her task ..read more

Ivan Dmitriev is a University of Manchester master’s student in Film Studies who has just completed his Digital Student Placement with Llandudno Museum and Gallery. How is botanical drawing connected to film studies? Through story boarding! By creating a step-by-step drawing guide which combines visual and text instructions, Ivan used a stroyboarding technique and his own brilliant artistic skills to introduce secondary school artists to botanical art. His art packet includes an introduction to the history of botanical art and two examples of his own botancial drawings. Selecting from native L ..read more

Castell Degannwy, Deganwy Castle, Sir Ddinbych, Wales 09 Thinking of working in Heritage but not sure where to start? Why not volunteer for one of our student placements or digital student placements? This opportunity allows you to practice your interview skills, work alongside Llandudno Museum and Gallery’s Education Officer on a project of your choice, get professional feedback, build your CV, and develop skills necessary to work in the Heritage sector. Applications are accepted: January for Spring placement June for Summer placement September for Winter placement Please contact the Edu ..read more

Our major expansion project is currently on hold due to the coronavirus lockdown But here’s the story so far … This £1.8m project represents a major step change for Llandudno Museum and Gallery and the services we can provide. Main features of the work include: improved access to all parts of the building, including a lift to upper floors extending museum space along the terrace, and into upper floors doubling our exhibition space a dedicated learning and community space improved conservation storage area employing staff recruiting more volunteers in a wider variety of roles delivering edu ..read more