We visit the National Library of Wales

On Tuesday some us made the long drive to Aberystwyth to visit our National Library.  We were given a tour of the Library and it was so  interesting to go beyond the areas of public access and glimpse the sheer vastness of the material stored there: 118 miles of shelving! While it is predominantly a library, it is actually much, much more housing a family history collection, manuscripts, maps, photographs, paintings of people and places in Wales. It is also home to the National Screen and sound Archive of Wales and I made prior arrangement with the Library to visit this as Vicki wished to see the Haggar collection, William Haggar being her great grandfather.   Pride is taken in the Haggar connection, Wales’ own contribution to cinema history, and it is not everyday that a visit is made by a direct descendant!  There is a Haggar Room and we were shown a 1905, 35mm silent film projector which was believed to have been named and used by William Haggar himself.

After the tour, we had lunch at the Library’s restaurant and then went our own ways to delve into the collections and visit the exhibitions, which are marvellous.  But time passed all too quickly and with so much to see all of us felt we must come again  … and again. All agreed that it was a fascinating experience.