Coleg Sir Gâr students have been working with the National Botanic Garden and the Llanarthne community to capture memories of a bygone era as part of the Garden’s £6.7m Heritage Lottery-funded Regency Restoration project.
As part of their Welsh Baccalaureate studies, computing and A-level photography students were invited to document the history brought in by local people to Llanarthne community centre to support the National Botanic Garden’s history archive. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, generations of farming families lived and worked on the land which is now home to some of the world’s rarest plants on the garden’s 568 acre estate and the project is reaching out to those who were involved to capture memories from the 1950s onwards.
Elliot Muldoon, a Coleg Sir Gâr computing student, originally from Alabama, was tasked to document spoken memories by interviewing local residents.
“It’s great to be here and to be able to capture the past,” he said.
Local resident Mair Morgan, said:
“It’s nice that people are interested in local history as it can get lost over time. It’s the kind of thing you wish you’d have asked your mam and dad but often it’s too late.”
Rebecca Davies, Coleg Sir Gâr Welsh Baccalaureate and skills quality advisor, said:
“Supporting the community to capture memories of their lives in Llanarthne provided a fantastic opportunity for students allowing them to develop a wide range of skills. The experience has also supported them with their Welsh Baccalaureate study programme.”
Project manager at the Garden, Helen John said:
“We’ve had an amazing response, giving us a unique insight into the lives of the local community and those who live and grew up here and developed such an affection for the place.”
Visit: www.colegsirgar.ac.uk
Feature image: Coleg Sir Gâr Welsh Bac computing and A-level students working with the local community in Llanarthne, documenting historic memories to support National Botanic Garden’s new restoration project.
