The Welsh radio museum
Gwefr Heb Wifrau - Wireless in Wales, a charitable trust, is a small radio museum with a difference. With its emphasis on the history of broadcasting in Wales, the influence of broadcasting on our national identity and the contribution of the Welsh to the development of wireless technology it is unique. We have an interesting collection of old radio equipment and books, as well as educational and informative displays. The Museum is based around the collection of the late David Evan Jones and was opened just a few weeks after his death in 2008.
We were officially re-accredited by the Museums, Archives and Libraries Division of the Welsh Government in May 2018.
The museum is open on Mondays, 11.00 - 15.00 and the first Saturday of every month, 11:00 -1500. Group and private visits are welcome at any other time, by appointment, throughout the year.
Wireless in Wales provides a safe and secure environment for volunteers and visitors, including wheelchair access throughout the building, a hearing loop and exhibits for safe handling. Our staff are trained and experienced in looking after visitors with disabilities.
Monthly Update, March 2019
'Community Digital Broadcasting' was the title of the first Wireless in Wales Museum lecture in 2019 and an inspirational lecture was given by Selwyn Williams and Ceri Cunnington from BROcast Ffestiniog. BROcast is a community media platform in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Area which was established following a visit to Radio Beca in Felinfach, Ceredigion. It uses the Web, Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter etc for social, community purposes, to enable local voices to communicate with each other. The intention is to celebrate communities, as well as to share ideas about the challenges which exist in rural communities, and to inspire social and economic regeneration. Most of BROcast Ffestiniog's output currently includes videos on topics of local interest and which promote the area, topics about individuals and societies. Most of them are in Welsh, with subtitles. A number of these films were shown during the talk and there was a very enthusiastic response from the audience. We had a glimpse of what can be done when a community works together.
Selwyn Williams and Joan Santana
Only a small number of people succeeded in getting to our latest Quiz Night, because of the ice and snow. Even so, it was a very enjoyable evening, with a cuppa and bara brith, and everyone had a prize to enjoy at home.
This is a picture of work created in the Craft Morning.
The Museum has just bought two Osram N30 valves on Ebay. These unusual valves are part of a series of valves introduced by Osram in the 1930s. They were easy to keep cool and therefore very stable, but because they could not adapt to the changes in radio technology they came to an end.
These are the next lectures in our series on Friday evenings at the Museum at 7.00 pm.:
March 15th, Speakers from Studio MADE will present the David Edward Hughes Memorial Lecture and will talk about ‘Art, Science and Technology’.
April 5th, Christopher Lees will talk about “Heading for the City - following the story of a wireless operator and a German WW1 cruiser”.
May 17th, Sue Clark will talk about “The Editing and Manipulation of Photography”.
Our AGM will be held on March 15th, at 6.00 pm.
A warm welcome to all.
Events
The museum organises regular monthly talks in English or Bilingual. We also organise several talks in Welsh annually. The talks are usually on a Friday and start at 7pm. Upcoming Events are listed below with the talks emphasized.
Latest news
HLF Project
The 2 year project to develop our learning provision came to an end in April 2013. It was funded by the Heritage Lotetry Fund and enabled us to have 3 part time members of staff to develop learning resources, improve learning displays, organise events, visits to the museum etc. Further details available by clicking on Projects in the main menu above or by clicking here.