The Glamorgan Archives Joint Committee met to note the membership of the committee for the municipal year 2025/26, elect Councillor Gwyn John as Chair and Councillor Gareth Richards as Vice Chair, note the joint arrangement/terms of reference of the committee, and to note the work of Glamorgan Archives for the period 1st March to 31st May 2025, and to note the outturn position for 2024/25, the draft Statement of Accounts for 2024/25, and the attached draft Minor Bodies Return 2024/25, and to authorise the Committee Chair to sign the Minor Bodies Return 2024/25.

Report of the Glamorgan Archivist

Laura Cotton, Glamorgan Archivist, presented the quarterly report describing the work of Glamorgan Archives for the period 1st June to 31st August 2025.

Digital Services

Digital preservation work was continuing, and the system was being implemented with the support of Welsh government funding. The extra staffing for digitisation that was reported in June had been working well to progress some of the commissioned work that was bringing in external funds this year. Extra equipment would be procured as part of the Aberfan Disaster project and that would assist in speeding up delivery of projects. Work was underway to add the content of the old Hughesovka Research Archive web pages, which are now out of date, as an exhibition to the main Glamorgan Archives website. Glamorgan Archives joined Blue Sky) in June.

Social Media

The Glamorgan Archives are using social media channels to provide updates on activities and events at the Archives, including an appeal for help in identifying a church featured in a photograph amongst a recent deposit. Social media posts have marked National Volunteers Week, International Archives Day, VJ Day, the 200th anniversary of the Act of Parliament for building Porthcawl Docks, Pride Month, Insect Week, Day of the Seafarer, National Bingo Day, Wimbledon, the Royal Welsh Show, the Vale of Glamorgan Show, South Asian Heritage Month, International Day of Friendship, Love Parks Week, the National Eisteddfod, National Allotments Week, Afternoon Tea Week, World Photography Day, International Cat Day and International Dog Day.

Glamorgan Archives continue to contribute content to the all-Wales social media project led by People's Collection Wales.

Online Events

The events programme has continued to prove popular, with all talks oversubscribed. In June Trevor Goldbold from the Heritage and Cultural Exchange, spoke on 'Partnering with Glamorgan Archives to Preserve the Stories of Tiger Bay and Cardiff Docklands', and in July, Stephen K Jones gave a talk on 'Barry Railway: Coal's Last Burst'.

The Senior Archivist has been invited to speak at several libraries within Rhondda Cynon Taff, making use of their new digital interactive screens. She gave a talk introducing coal collections at Rhydyfelin Library and Aberdare Library, and further talks will follow.

Digital Preservation Repository

As part of the implementation of the digital preservation repository, Preservica, one of the Archivists has been spending one day a week working to establish the platform fully. Born digital material that has been previously catalogued has been uploaded. To date, 7630 assets have been uploaded to Preservica, including those of recent accessions with digital media. JPEG is the most common file format with 6801 assets uploaded. The next stage will involve improving the catalogues for digital materials – expanding on descriptions and cataloguing to file or item level.

Work has also been underway to explore the technical aspects of Preservica. Metadata forms have been added that will enable metadata to be shared from Epexio to Preservica and for Epexio to display the digital object.

Community Engagement

The fourth cohort of Invisible Cardiff trainees visited the Archives in July for an introduction to archive research in preparation for creating their own tours of the city. This cohort is comprised of refugees who are now residing in the city. The session included a tour behind the scenes, viewing a range of documents from the collection, and document handling training.

Members of Cardiff People First took over the Archives for a week in July. As part of the takeover, they gathered together records at their office suitable for deposit, with support from the Senior Archivist. They then brought them to the office and worked with the Conservator to check them for infestation and remove metal fastenings. Work then focussed on sorting the records into series, and identifying people featured in the many photographs within the collection. A final event was held where former members and staff of Cardiff People First were invited to come in to the Archives to help with this identification work.

Glamorgan Archives hosted a workshop organised by the Divergent Minds in the Archive project. Attendance was open to neurodivergent and neurotypical archive staff and researchers, with the aim of looking at ways of improving access to archive services. This was the second of three workshops, the first being held in London and the third in Liverpool. The project will produce a final report with recommendations. The Senior Archivist attended the event and has already implemented some small changes as a result.

Volunteers from the Innovate Trust's Secret Garden project visited the Archives again in June. The second stage of their project will see them create heritage trails around St Fagan's based on the people who lived and worked in the village. Several sources were consulted, including census returns and parish records, as part of research into families from the area. The Senior Archivist was invited to join the volunteers at the Secret Garden in July to try out the trail which has been produced, and to locate graves in the churchyard which had been identified within parish records.

A group from Vale Stepping Stones visited the Archives in June to discover more about the history of women in South Wales and, in particular, in the Vale of Glamorgan. Vale Stepping Stones is an organisation which supports people with a learning disability to connect, make friends, and feel a sense of belonging.

Fourteen members of Rhiwbina Civic Society visited the office in August for a tour and introduction to our services. The display of documents included some basic family and local history sources as well as records and photographs relating to Rhiwbina Garden Village.

A further cohort of new volunteers from the Heritage and Cultural Exchange attended for two sessions with archives staff ahead of beginning to volunteer with HCE. The first session including archive research and listing training, and the second focussed on document handling and repackaging.

The Senior Archivist attended the unveiling of a blue plaque to Annie Powell, former Mayor of the Rhondda, at Soar, Penygraig. Documents relating to Annie Powell's life and career have been deposited at the Archives by her family.

Members of the Bridgend Branch of the Glamorgan Family History Society visited in July for a tour in the morning, followed by an afternoon of research in the searchroom. Glamorgan Archives continue to welcome members of the Cardiff and Vale Branch of Glamorgan Family History Society to the Archives for their bi-monthly meetings. In July, the subject was archive research and using our catalogue.

A group of women interested in the history of activism in South Wales attended for an evening visit in August. They had a short tour behind the scenes, and then spent time viewing a selection of items from the collection relating to the women's movement and women's history.

Grangetown Local History Society continue to hold their monthly meetings at the Archives, on the first Friday of each month.

The Senior Archivist met with heritage colleagues from South Wales Police to discuss ongoing partnership work. She attended a meeting of Kiran Cymru's South Asian Heritage Steering Group, and the steering group of the Sub-Saharan Advisory Panel's Kumbukumbu project.

The Glamorgan Archivist attended at event at UWC Atlantic College celebrating 100 years since William Randolph Hearst purchased St Donat's Castle. The Archives have recently been taking records from Atlantic College on deposit.

Communications

The quarterly newsletter continues to be shared with registered users by email, along with the general public through the blog, website and social media. The mailing list of registered users is used to publicise events at the Archives.

Skills Development

A successful application was made to Welsh Government's Anti-Racist Wales Culture Fund to support the creation of a new education resource. The resource will develop the existing Coal and the Docks workshop, drawing on material identified within the Research Guide to Sources for the Study of Minority Ethnic History, and will meet the requirements of the new Curriculum for Wales. Two antiracist educational consultants have been commissioned to undertake the work in conjunction with Archives staff.

Year 5 pupils from Ysgol Mynydd Bychan in Cardiff visited the Archives to learn more about their school building. They will be moving to a new site in September, and were undertaking a project to create a film about their building prior to the move. They worked in small groups, consulting documents including maps, building plans and trade directories, visiting the strongrooms, and digitising documents for inclusion in their film. They alternated time at the Archives with sport sessions at the neighbouring House of Sport.

The Senior Archivist delivered an online session to the heritage group at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern in Cardiff. The group are looking at the impact of the Second World War on areas in the east of Cardiff. Various sources were introduced during the hour long session, and questions fielded from the students.

Postgraduate history students from Cardiff University were welcomed to the archives for an introduction to archive research, and a discussion around potential topics and collections of interest. Staff from Gwent Archives also joined the session. All those attending found it useful, and it's hoped to make it a regular event.

Fourteen students studying the history of Cardiff through the Cardiff University Centre for Continuing and Professional Education attended for an evening visit. They were given a tour behind the scenes, followed by a display of documents relating to the history of the city.

A student from West Dean College studying books and library material conservation undertook a summer placement in the Conservation Studio from mid-July to the end of August. During her time with the Archives, she was able to work on some of the Cardiff Castle plans and a Quarter Sessions roll.

The Archives have hosted two summer work placements of five days each for school students, providing experience of work across all areas of the office.

The Resources Archivist met with a student currently undertaking the Archives and Records Management MLitt to discuss searchroom procedure. Glamorgan Archives continue to support a Masters student from Cardiff University undertaking a module on heritage research and engagement.

A tour was given to a student interested in pursuing a career in the archive profession.

Legal and evidential value of archives

Discussions have continued with the Democratic Services Team at Vale of Glamorgan Council regarding the transfer of their records. The paper records are expected in during September, and then the transfers will turn to the born-digital material.

The Glamorgan Archivist and the Archives Conservator visited Aber Valley Museum in Senghenydd to advise on conservation work and digitisation of several large framed plans of the Disaster in 1913. The Museum is planning an application to the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust that will pay for work to be completed.

The joint application with the National Library of Wales for funding to digitise records relating to the Aberfan Disaster was successful, and work on that will start shortly. This also includes some funding for digitisation and 3D photography of records and objects held by Merthyr Tydfil CBC, as well as cataloguing and conservation.

Work on cataloguing the records received from HM Courts and Tribunals Service will start in September using some of the New Burdens funding that was transferred from The National Archives for the receipt of these records.

Collections

Another successful collections week was held in June. Work on cataloguing the records of current local authorities was progressed, with a focus on the committee agenda and reports of Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council. A significant deposit of records of WI branches in Glamorgan was also catalogued and the stock check of the strongrooms was continued.

Initial receipts for accessions received during this quarter were issued within the target time. Full receipts were issued within 15 working days for 83% of the accessions; the target is 60%. 85% of the accessions received between December 2024 and February 2025 had receipts issued within the 6 months target for more complicated deposits; the target is 90%.

Phase 2 of the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust-funded project conserving the Cardiff Castle plans and drawings was completed in July. The final report has been submitted detailing the work that was done on 1255 items treated during this phase. A further phase of work is planned to start in January 2026, if funding is obtained.

The application to the Archives Revealed grant stream for funding to catalogue records of the Principality Building Society was not successful, but Glamorgan Archives received very positive feedback from the panel and will look to resubmit to the next round.

The small grant from Lloyds Register Foundation for conservation work on the Associated British Ports collection was also unsuccessful.

Two funding applications were submitted to the Welsh Government Priorities for Culture Capital Grant scheme in August. The first was a joint bid (led by Glamorgan Archives) for disaster preparedness equipment for each of the four local authority archive conservation services in Wales. This equipment is intended for use by the archives, but also to loan to museums, libraries and archives across Wales when required. The second is a smaller joint bid (again led by Glamorgan Archives) for equipment for digital preservation equipment for archive services.

An additional application was submitted to Welsh Government Culture Division for further funding for the implementation of the digital preservation software system.

Staff have been working to identify accessions that have been processed but have documents to return to the depositor or to be disposed of confidentially. This has the dual benefit of clearing space in the strongrooms for future deposits and ensuring the accession process is complete. 13 accessions have had duplicates and ephemera confidentially disposed of; 2 accessions have been returned to the depositor; 1 item has been transferred to Porthcawl Museum and 13 depositors have been contacted but have not yet responded.

Work has progressed on populating place name authority files in the Epexio database which can then be used to index place names in the catalogue.

Resources

The budget is being closely monitored this year due to the large number of externally-funded projects that are underway. This is particularly important due to the large amounts of expenditure that will accompany the projects.

Funding has been secured for the all-Wales project, 'A Century of Struggle', led by the National Archives, which will look at making poor law records across the country more accessible to researchers. Each participating service will receive funding over 3 and a half years to support work on their poor law collections.

Filming took place in the office during the final week in August, with the building being used as a set for a forthcoming S4C children's drama. The filming will continue into September.

The Archives has been commissioned to undertake a large scale digitisation project on local records on behalf of Find My Past, and work is underway.

The Archives Conservator returned to the National Trust's Dunham Massey property in Cheshire in July to complete further work on their large-scale maps.

Some of the funding that has been secured this year has meant that the office has been able to extend the contract of the Corporate Trainee, who has been in post since January, until the end of the year. The casual Relief Records Assistant post that was working for 10 hours per week has been enhanced to 30 hours per week. An additional Relief Records Assistant post has also been recruited through Cardiff Works (Cardiff Council's casual agency) to support the existing staff during this busy period and Imogen Mountjoy joined the Archives in August to fill this post. These extensions and additional post are all being paid for by the externally-funded projects.

Laura Cotton and the Senior Archivist attended the ARCW Forum in Aberystwyth in June. The day featured a programme of presentations on work currently underway within the archive sector in Wales and beyond, and provided an excellent opportunity to meet with colleagues from across the country.

The Senior Archivist attended Carbon Literacy training provided by Cardiff Council.

Two of the Archivists attended different day sessions of the Archives and Records Association conference, as this was held in Bristol this year which meant it was local enough to send delegates for one day. They heard sessions on digital preservation, artificial intelligence in archives and outreach.

An additional 'Do Something Different' visit was accommodated for a librarian from Cardiff University who was unable to attend on the original date in April. She spent half a day with staff learning about our work across the office. Do Something Different is a programme which arranges skill sharing opportunities for staff in archives and libraries in South Wales and the south west of England.

Louise Hunt, Archivist, met with colleagues from North East Wales Archive Service to discuss the Epexio collection management system which Glamorgan Archives started using in 2023.

The Archives Conservator conducted two separate training days for colleagues from Cardiff University Special Collections and Archives and the Historic Houses Archivists' Group in handling, materials identification, pest and mould identification, cleaning and packaging.

During the quarter 41 volunteers and students have contributed 960 hours to the work of the Archives.

National Volunteers Week was celebrated across the Archives' social media platforms, a great opportunity to thank the volunteers for all they contribute to the success of the service. It was also used as an opportunity to showcase some of the latest volunteer projects.

The annual review of volunteering has been held. There were 20 responses from the pool of 32 volunteers. The majority of responses were positive, comments included:

The most rewarding thing about volunteering is knowing I have done something that could be useful to both the staff and members of the public in future.

Everyone at the Archives is always so helpful and appreciative, it makes for a very pleasant and happy working atmosphere. Thank you.

Bod yn rhan o'r tim sy'n cynnwys staff a gwirfoddolwyr. [Being part of the team which includes staff and volunteers.]

Helps me get out and about and socialise.

I love helping to ensure these archives are saved and accessible. The staff are wonderful and helpful and help create a very positive working environment.

I like being useful, there is no ageism. Everyone is very helpful and friendly, it gives me a sense of purpose.

It's nice to be part of an organisation that treats everyone the same, with respect and kindness but I think that's down to the people that work at the archives.

I think the present system seems to be working. I think you should all give yourselves a pat on the back.

Only one volunteer wanted to change their project; all were happy with the date and time that they attend, and no one could suggest anything that could be offered to improve the experience of volunteering.

A number of volunteers stated that they would prefer to have a weekly session, rather than fortnightly. Due to improved capacity, it will be possible to start providing the option of weekly volunteering during the autumn.

One of the volunteers has completed the recataloguing of deeds within the Fonmon Estate Collection.

Another volunteer completed a project to transcribe letters written home to the Davies family in the Rhondda by relatives who had moved to live in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and London (1865-1938). The letters are written in both Welsh and English, sometimes both languages are used in one letter for sections intended for different members of the family.

A further volunteer has completed a calendar of correspondence received by the general committee during the organisation of the Cardiff Fine Art and Maritime Exhibition which took place in 1896.

Following requests from several volunteers this year's annual trip was to the new Carmarthenshire Archives. Nine volunteers and four members of staff appreciated a tour of the new facilities provided by Hayden Burns, County Archivist, together with an introduction to their collections.

The searchroom has remained busy throughout the summer period, and the target for responding to remote enquiries is met. Feedback includes:

That is wonderful news. Thank you so much for responding so quickly - and for giving me hope! … many thanks again for the work you do.

The plan looks perfect—thank you! The detail in these images is incredible, and I really appreciate you sorting them out.

I would like to thank the staff at the archives for helping me on Thursday July 31st. What a wonderful place it is, the young ladies helping me were so kind and found the family information I was searching for.

Ask the Experts family history sessions continue to be offered each month, helping those who are new to family history or have hit brick walls in their research. Glamorgan Archives are very grateful to volunteers from Glamorgan Family History Society for their support in providing these sessions.

The Senior Archivist continues to attend meetings of Cardiff Council's Welsh Language Co-ordinators Group, ensuring Glamorgan Archives provide a high standard bilingual service to customers.

Work has been slow to start on the Environmental Sustainability project to improve the building. The first element of work is due to be a full lighting replacement across the whole building but due to delays within Cardiff Council's Design, Construction and Maintenance Team, this work has yet to get off the ground. This may lead to some issues in keeping to the timescales of the project, and this is being monitored. The other three elements of the project are due to start over the next few months.

The current West Glamorgan Archive Service Archive Trainee was welcomed on a visit to the Archives. She was given a tour of the office, and introduced to key areas of work, in preparation for undertaking a Masters in Archive Administration from the autumn.

Work on the Crowd Cymru project has continued, with scrapbooks from Rhydfelen School being the latest of the Glamorgan collections to be added to the crowdsourcing platform for the volunteers to work on.

Several of the remaining electrical safety tasks were completed in this quarter, with only a few now remaining to be completed (due to be done in September).

The replacement external doors were fitted in July and will be maintained.

Issues with blockages of drains on the roof were identified during heavy rain and these were cleaned immediately and the issues have been rectified. A regular cleaning regime has been instituted.

A new system of weeding and clearing at the front of the building was started in July. This will be followed by pressure-washing of the pavement and building frontage and painting of lines in the car park, entryway and exit to try to stop problematic parking.

The intruder alarm for the building is due to be replaced due to the impending analogue line switch-off so this work is planned for the next quarter.

Temperature and Humidity readings for the quarter were:

Temperature and Humidity Variations over the last Quarter

Temperatures in strongrooms 2, 3 & 4 are a little higher than ideal due to the warmer weather over the quarter. Relative Humidity stayed well within acceptable levels on average although there has been up to ten percent variation over the Quarter. Packaging, especially boxing, has created microclimates that have shielded the documents from much of the change going on within the strongrooms. This is very positive considering that the Chiller has been out of action for the last two summers, but does show why that equipment needs to be replaced.

Summary

This quarter has continued to be busy, both in terms of visitors to the service but also in terms of projects and work being undertaken. The amount of external funding that is coming into the service this year is unprecedented and this brings a lot of pressure for the team to ensure that the projects are completed on time. Staff have worked hard over the summer months to cover leave and planning is now underway for the rest of the year and beyond.

2024/25 Final Outturn Position & Draft Audit Wales Minor Bodies Return

Members were provided with an overview of the financial position for the year, together with the unaudited draft Audit Wales Minor Bodies Return for the year ended 31st March 2025. Page 3 of the Return, 'Committee Approval and Certification,' required completion but the unaudited draft financial statements were presented to the Committee for information only.

Jessie Atkinson, Accountant, noted that the report was in two parts: the outturn position and statement of accounts, both appended to the report, and the abridged minor bodies return to Audit Wales.

The outturn position followed on from monitoring reports through the year, with £910k in local authority contributions in total shared between the six authorities. The balance of reserves was £173k at the start of the financial year, with an expenditure of £1,189k and £313k contributions leaving a net underspend of £33k, transferred to the general reserve for use in future projects.

The Accountant highlighted a number of key points in Appendix 1, which broke down the budget and its performance throughout the year line by line. The employee budget had seen a relatively small underspend of £14k due to brief periods of unfilled vacancies, though they had mostly operated with a full complement of staff. On premises, there had been an underspend of £18k despite continuous repair work throughout the year (though some of it fell within the previous financial year), thanks to an underspend on utility charges of about £36k. They continually reviewed charges with energy services to ensure accuracy.

The biggest single charge was the NNDR (non-domestic rates charge) at £200k, which was just over £9k over budget. Some further over- and underspends led to an £18k total underspend. On transport, she noted that there had been a cost of about £3.5k to hire transport to move magistrates' documents to the archive, which was worth overspending on in the long run. On supplies and services, she noted that the £41k budget had been overspent by £200k, but this was largely due to the grantfunded spend on the Preservica software.

Similarly, the £20k overspend on conservation work was covered by the Welsh government's Crown Cymru grant, and the £123k overspend on software licences was due to the Preservica software costing £125k, which was covered by a grant. Grant income was not normally given significant budget lines due to the prudence principle, as they didn't have that level of certainty that it was coming in. However, £166,969 had been received from the Welsh government in-year, mostly for Preservica. They had also received a grant for a new cleaning table for conservation items, and another towards the cost of the archive's corporate apprentice.

Other points of interest included the replacement of outdated office equipment like telephones and computer hardware, and support services where the council charged the service for use of professional staff such as accountants. Most areas were broadly in line with the budget, with a few overspends in areas like ICT and HR, and the council recovered costs based on a number of factors. She noted that they had underspent on Internal Audit because the audit for this year would come in 2025/26.

In terms of operating income, there had been some variety in over- and underspends. Royalty income was under target, partly due to some late invoices going to Ancestry which had now been received. The hire of specialist rooms was a key income generator, and this was above target at £59k. The service had received a higher amount of interest from the council than expected on the cash balances held within their bank accounts due to timely invoicing and higher interest rates.

The overall underspend of £33k had gone into the reserve, which was now at £207k as of 31st March. This was available for draw-down in current or future years should it be needed. £51.5k had been identified for draw-down to cover works, but might not now be necessary due to the higher than expected new burdens funding.

On the Audit Wales minor bodies return, she noted that it had already been reviewed and signed off by the council's Internal Audit office, and signed by Chris Lee in his role as senior financial officer.

Councillor Gareth Richards thanked the Archivist for the work done in bringing income and grants into the service, which had helped to put it in a stable financial position. He noted the growing costs faced by the archive and the need to keep that income coming in.

The committee resolved to note the outturn position for 2024/25 as detailed in the report and the draft Statement of Accounts for 2024/25, to note the attached draft Minor Bodies Return 2024/25, and to authorise the Committee Chair to sign the Minor Bodies Return 2024/25.