Welsh Journals

REVIEWS HISTORIC INDUSTRIAL SCENES WALES by D. MORGAN REES. Moor- land Publishing, Ashbourne, Derby 1979. illus., (ISBN 0-903485-74-5) £ 5.50 Who better to compile a selection of photographs depicting the industrial develop- ment of Wales than the person who for eighteen years was Keeper of the Department of Industry at the National Museum of Wales. But, alas, D. Morgan Rees did not live to see the publication of this book. Neither were we privileged to see him take up his new post as Keeper-in-Charge of the Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum. This book consists of 140 photographs with the minimum amount of text but covers the ambit of ironmaking, coal mining, iron, steel and tinplate, transport, ports, quarries, metal mines and smelting, woollen mills, pottery and most important of all, a few photographs of people in industry, for as the author puts it "whatever their assets and contributions they gave to industry its human element". As one would expect of a native of Ceredigion, Mr. Rees has not forgotten his native county which may not be rich in industrial remains, but what little we have illustrates its not insignificant contribution to the economy of a rural area. Of partic- ular interest is the pen and ink drawing made about 1790 of the "Iron Foundry near Machynlleth", namely, the charcoal blast furnace at Furnace (appropriately named) which is now being renovated by the Welsh Office. The lead mines are being represented as well as the woollen mills and we have a photograph of a three-masted boat from Aberystwyth which used to fish herring which were once plentiful in Cardigan Bay. The author, whose passing we lament, pays tribute in the book to the help received from his fellow-workers, and we are indebted to Richard Keen and Mrs. Sheila Charles, two of his colleagues, for ensuring that this book was published as a "tribute to his enthusiasm for the history of Welsh industry". From the same publishers, we have received two further publications HISTORIC WATERWAYS SCENES BRITAIN'S LOST WATERWAYS, by MICHAEL E. WARE. 1979 illus.' (ISBN 0-903485-69-9) £ 5.95 HISTORIC INDUSTRIAL SCENES THE STEAM ENGINE IN INDUSTRY, by GEORGE WATKINS. 1979 128pp. illus., (ISBN 0-903485-66-4) £ 6.95 These again make a significant contribution to our knowledge of industrial archaeology. D.M.J. ABERYSTWYTH YESTERDAY by HOWARD C. JONES. Stewart Williams, Barry. 1980 illus., (ISBN 0-900807-38-5) £ 5.25 In recent years, we have seen the publication of many books containing photographs of persons, events and scenes of various parts of the country. We wondered whether Ceredigion would be so honoured. It is known that there must be thousands of photographs which could be published, but the daunting task facing any compiler is the task of selection. At last, we have such a selection of 140 photographs entitled "Aberystwyth Yester- day", and Howard C.Jones has succeeded in portraying certain aspects of the town's life over the last 120 years.