Simon Hart MP Visits The Archives

18/01/12

Mezzanine transformed into gallery cataloguing village past
Wednesday, January 18, 2012Carmarthen JournalFollow
MP Simon Hart was a recent special guest at a multimedia presentation in St Clears of the newly catalogued Stanley Phillips photographic archives.

A team of volunteers have been involved in processing thousands of envelopes containing the negatives and names of people and events throughout Carmarthenshire.

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The archives have been a three-year long labour of love for retired midwife Stella Griffiths — the daughter of former photographer Stanley Phillips — and local photographer Alan Evans, backed by their team of volunteers.

The old Atlas Forge in Lower St Clears, known as The Mezzanine, has been completely renovated and now houses an art gallery, the archives, a photography studio and an embroidery company.

Stella said: "It has been very hard work and at times we could have just given up as there was no sign of financial support. We persevered and we have created something very beautiful. My parents would have been very proud of what we have achieved and it is a homecoming for my father's work.

"I have learned many new skills during the process and I can say that I am now up to speed with all things technological on my laptop."

Mr Hart said: "I can't praise Alan and his team highly enough for what they have achieved with no public money or lottery grants, just a lot of enthusiasm, hard work and initiative. The challenge now remains to make the archive pay its way and become more financially viable and I shall be exploring the possibility of finding funding for them.

"I found it fascinating and could have spent hours trawling through the photographs; there's something very immediate and vital about them.

"It's not just the big news events like the Pendine land speed records and Jimmy Carter's visit to Laugharne that are thrilling to see pictures of, but also the small details of village life and everyday folk.

"I think it would be wonderful for every primary school to visit, they could look up the photographs from their village and bring local history to life. I can also see why the archive team are in such demand from clubs such as the WI as their presentation was highly informative as well as entertaining."

The exhibition and archives is open from 10-4 every day.