Hello and welcome…
During the recent BBC Roadshow at Parc y Scarlets we offered visitors a chance to win a framed print of the painting by Mrs Havard, for those prepared to sign up to the Llanelly House Companion newsletter. We had a great response at the Roadshow and many people who visited the event filled out the printed form. Caroline Rees was the winner and the painting was presented at our office on Tuesday.
Join us on facebook
The facebook page for Llanelly House is up and running – and already we have fans as far afield as Thailand, Australia and USA. The page will be updated constantly with stories, images and comments about Llanelly House and its progress; it will also allow us to broadcast details of events and significant news to a much larger audience than is currently available to us. The page will include various links to pages on the website, Flickr and YouTube streams, Twitter and much more, encouraging traffic and maximising our communications potential.
You can help too – like us at our facebook page and ask your friends and contacts to like the page and to sign up to the newsletter.
Radio and TV Coverage
During July you may have seen a feature on ITV’s ‘Wales Tonight’ on Llanelly House, including clips from interviews with CHRT’s CEO, Claire Deacon and Project Director, Craig Hatto. Looking at the history, present works and future of the project, the programme also covered the visit of Alun Davies, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and European Programmes, to Llanelli’s ‘Big5′ community projects.
The previous week, Community Engagement Team went along to BBC Wales’ Swansea studio to record an interview with Roy Noble. They were invited to reveal how the local and wider communities could become involved with the Volunteering Programmes at Llanelly House during the daily 2pm programme. Other aspects discussed included the involvement of the whole community through items or memorabilia associated with Llanelly House, or the families that lived and worked there.
The Watch
Our archaeologist, Richard Scott Jones, recently found four panels in the House, thought to be paintings that have been covered over. A Paint Conservator, Rachel Howells, is currently researching these panels to find out whether they are of any importance.
The first phase of this investigation identified a layer under a covering of blackboard paint on one panel. This panel will be taken to the National Museum of Wales, in Cardiff, to undergo infra-red reflectography and x-radiography testing, where its secret past will be revealed.
Llanelli Star shines on the House
Following an interview with CHRT last month, the Llanelli Star featured the House with a big, positive centre page splash. The article gives a clear vision of the House’s historic past, the present restoration and its future form and function as a major heritage attraction. This is the first major article from a sustained PR campaign to raise awareness and support with the intention of forging new partnerships with both the local community and nationally. All of us involved on the project would like to repeat our thanks and appreciation, to both Carmarthenshire County Council and Llanelli Town Council, for their generous financial contributions to the restoration of Llanelly House.
Digital linking – Interesting archiving
CHRT has entered into a partnership with Carmarthenshire County Council and its libraries and archives, to work on digitally linking archives. We are particularly interested in the Parish Records as they go back further than the 1851 census. These records, we recently discovered, have already been digitised by the council. They are important as they hold valuable information on the past lives of Llanelli’s people.
Another project proposed under the partnership is ‘Heritage 6’ – this will focus on six key local historic figures that have made a significant impact to society and industry. We hope that the collaboration with Carmarthenshire County Council will help to improve the visitor experience at Llanelly House.
Meet the team – OPUS’ Darren McKenna
A conservation engineer working for Opus, Darren McKenna’s involvement with Llanelly House started during the latter part of 2008, after joining the company earlier that year. Darren has maintained a close knowledge of the building, along with sound conservation philosophies gained through experience and knowledge over the years.
According to Darren, “Llanelly House is probably the finest example of a historic house requiring complete restoration, it’s a conservation engineer’s ‘dream come true’”. He continues, “The house is certainly a challenge and tests the full integrity of the engineers involved”.
The difference between conservation and structural engineers is often misunderstood. The basic principles of engineering are the same with both disciplines and run side-by-side. Normally, however, a structural engineer would deal more with the repair and detailing associated with a historic structure, whereas a conservation engineer must possess a sound knowledge and understanding of traditional building practices – and a knowledge of the history and properties of historic building elements – to enable sympathetic repairs to be designed and detailed.
In-House exhibition is more than a pretty face
As well as showing off the best of the House in graphical terms, the new exhibition display – sited in the ground-floor meeting room at the West End offices – tells the story of Llanelly House’s past, present and future. The display was used for the first time at the BBC Roadshow event and will be housed at the Llanelly House offices.
Open to the public, the exhibition includes a number of collateral items, available for visitors to view and take, such as PR packs, information sheets, dates of workshops and much more. Please contact the Community Engagement team for more information on 01554 772857.
Latest Imagery
The latest imagery to be uploaded to our Flickr page gives a unique insight to the wine and liquor sold by Margrave Brothers of Llanelli in the late 19th century. Our archaeologist, Richard Scott Jones, has cleared out a concealed cupboard found in the House and has documented the wine labels and flyers from inside. The labels can be viewed on our site by clicking here; they include the oldest Australian wine, Tintara, and various other gin, whisky and brandy labels.
