DULAIS VALLEY PARTNERSHIP (DVP)

History & Heritage

Welcome

Welcome to the History and Heritage pages of the Dulais Valley Partnership (DVP) website. Over the past year the DVP has been working closely with local community groups in the area to secure Heritage Lottery Funding for a community heritage project.  The application has been successful with the DVP receiving a grant of £49,900.

Community Heritage Officer

A Community Heritage Officer (Katie Millien) has been appointed to facilitate the 2 year project (January 2008-January 2010) which will include the production of a bilingual Dulais Valley Heritage Trail booklet, the creation of an interactive website and a portable heritage exhibition. Katie Millien, Community Heritage Officer

Past is the Future

The project entitled ‘Past is the Future’ aims to conserve and enhance Dulais Valley’s diverse heritage by engaging communities and groups to identify, preserve and celebrate their heritage. A series of workshops and Heritage Surgeries will be held with local community groups and residents to identify significant heritage sights in the area. Katie also hopes to work with pupils at the local schools in looking at what heritage means to the younger people of the Dulais Valley. It is hoped that the project will encourage the participation of people who have not been involved in heritage before, as well as increasing volunteering opportunities in developing and supporting a legacy for future generations.

Volunteers wanted

Anybody wishing to volunteer to be involved in this project please contact Katie at the DVP on 01639 701880 or email katie@dulaisvalley.org.uk for more information.

Latest news

Schools Project In April meetings were arranged with teachers from the 4 local Primary schools to discuss possible school projects to link in with the Heritage Trail.  The initial idea was to carry out a Community Mapping project where children would plot their route to and from school noting sites, sounds and smells that were important to them.  This idea has now developed into a more high tech approach using GPS to waymark sites as well as taking digital photographs and using computer software (Memory Map) to produce a 3D interactive heritage trail.  The schools will then have their own heritage trail produced by the children and we can make the maps available on our website. A further meeting will be held with staff of Blaendulais Primary School to look in detail at how the projects will fit in with the National Curriculum.  The projects will then start in September in all four Primary Schools in the valley. Heritage Audit A Pilot Workshop was held at the DOVE Workshop on 5 March.  Members of the Cwm Dulais Historical Society were invited to attend.  The aim was to gather information on heritage sites in the Dulais Valley.  The focus was not only on industrial heritage but also on social, cultural, environmental and physical heritage.  The Workshop was a success and generated a number of ideas.  The exercise involved collating information on a series of maps.  Plotting sites of significant heritage interest using post it notes.  Noting information including grid reference, name of site, class of site and any other notes or stories attached to the site. The next step was to run Heritage Surgeries in each of the three main communities where members of the public were asked to add sites to the list. The outcome of these Workshops has been the production of a Heritage Audit. NOTE: To close the Heritage Audit document click the Back button on the browser. Click here to download the Heritage Audit To view this document you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader This document is a work in progress.  If there is a site you would like to add to the document please contact Katie at the DVP.