![\"Fred](\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/wales\/sites\/www.open.ac.uk.wales\/files\/images\/Fred%20news%20story.png\")
<\/p>\n
Fred Pettican and team mate, 1960<\/p>\n
Image: Fred Pettican<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Digital stories: remembering\u00a0the past<\/h3>\n
The digital stories<\/a> feature residents of Llys Glyncoed extra care scheme, near Ebbw Vale, who were interviewed by year nine pupils from Ebbw Fawr Learning Community. One of the Llys Glyncoed residents, Fred Pettican<\/a> tells of his memory of playing football for Newport side Victoria against Bridgend in 1960. His corner was headed in by a player who coincidentally came to live in Llys Glyncoed at the same time as Fred. He also still has the match ball from the game!<\/p>\n Many of BG REACH\u2019s participants have produced poems and prose<\/a> to capture the history of the area and their feelings of growing up there. In Remembering Cwmtillery<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>61 year-old Stephen Davies recalls visiting his grandmother as a child. He has also produced sketches of some of the landmarks mentioned in his work.<\/p>\n Sketch of Cwmtilley Pithead<\/p>\n Image: Stephen Davies<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We would then return to my nan’s house in West Bank. And have tea. She made nice apple tart + custard. She also made her own bread pudding. And rice puddings. They were the days people made and cooked their own food. Very different from today.<\/em><\/p>\n After tea. I would meet up with a few friends I knew. We would have lots of fun. Sliding down the bank. From Top Rows to West Bank. On bits of cardboard. This banking is now covered in large trees. And my nans old house is gone. Sadly. Both mam and dad. Have now passed away.<\/em><\/p>\n Extract from\u00a0Remembering Cwmtillery\u00a0<\/em>by Stephen Davies<\/p>\n In her poem Bathed in Birdsong<\/em><\/a>, Susan Davies describes the peaceful surroundings of the valleys, made all the more quieter as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.<\/p>\n Bathed in Birdsong A little further on the lambs are baaing Extract from Bathed in Birdsong\u00a0<\/em>by Susan Davies<\/p>\n Modron<\/p>\n Image: Barbara Candish<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Visual artwork<\/a> also forms part of the exhibition, including The Guardian<\/em><\/a> by Mark Burns, based on the Six Bells Guardian; Modron<\/em><\/a> by Barbara Candish, which is a painting and accompanying poem celebrating a mythic Welsh warrior Queen of the Silures tribe which once occupied the area; and photography by Linda Stemp<\/a> which captures some of the area\u2019s historic buildings.<\/p>\n Dr Richard Marsden, academic lead on the BG REACH project said:<\/p>\n \u201cThe key to unlocking the hidden history of Blaenau Gwent was to support participants to design the project themselves \u2013 to decide what they wanted to focus on and how best to achieve that. The artworks, poems, stories and songs in the online exhibition are a celebration of Blaenau Gwent\u2019s heritage expressed through the talents of the people who live there. The Gwent valleys are part of Wales\u2019 forgotten heritage. They\u2019re often associated with industrial fervour followed by economic decline, but \u2013 as people will see from taking a look at the exhibition \u2013 there\u2019s so much more to them than that.\u201d<\/p>\n The coronavirus had an impact on much of the project. A musical piece, Cynefin<\/em>, was written by some of the group members with a view to performing it live. The pandemic put a halt to their plans, but the group continued to meet online, and recorded Cynefin 2<\/em><\/a> over video. Cynefin<\/em> is a Welsh work referring to a person\u2019s connection to an area and its people. The tune draws on Welsh folk music, including lullaby Suo G\u00e2n<\/em> and love song Ar Lan y M\u00f4r<\/em>.<\/p>\n Member of the Senedd for Blaenau Gwent Alun Davies addressed attendees of the launch.<\/p>\n Blaenau Gwent MS Alun Davies said:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Blaenau Gwent REACH project, coordinated by The Open University in Wales in partnership with Linc Cymru Housing Association and Aberbeeg Community Centre, is a fantastic example of bringing people together and of the power of using creative arts to explore identity and heritage.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BG REACH (Blaenau Gwent Residents Engaging in Arts, Culture and Heritage) is a collection of art, music, creative writing and film that tells the history of the area. Since 2020, the project has been led by local people, supported by academics from The Open University\u2019s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Linc Cymru Housing Association … <\/p>\nPoems and prose<\/h3>\n
![\"Fred](\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/wales\/sites\/www.open.ac.uk.wales\/files\/images\/Cwmtillery%20pithead%20news%20story.png\")
<\/p>\n
\nBathed in birdsong, I love this place of peace
\nEnjoyed the spring here
\nWhich was almost stolen from me, but was in fact, enriched<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAnother treasure uncovered
\nUnseen by me for years<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Fred](\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/wales\/sites\/www.open.ac.uk.wales\/files\/images\/Modron%20news%20story.png\")
<\/p>\nPaintings and photography<\/h3>\n
The impact of the pandemic<\/h3>\n