Project Timeline

Newport Rock Collecting started in 2018 with the project eventually ending in June 2023; lots of planning, lots of changes and enforced delays due to the pandemic meant the team had to be on their toes.

Here you can read about how the project was conceived and developed, how it was funded and see a rundown of the activities that took place in the community.

2013/14

• The Winding Snake Productions team were volunteering on Voices from the Factory Floor, a social history project by the Women’s Archive of Wales highlighting the contribution of women in manufacturing between 1945 and 1975. The project archive was built around audio interviews and transcripts with the women who worked in the factories.

2014

• Meanwhile Winding Snake were finishing off a National Lottery Heritage Fund project A Bird in a Cage, an animated documentary about Margaret Haig Thomas, Lady Rhondda.

• In this time, while developing new project ideas a social history music project in Newport was suggested and added to development work.

2015

• Work on a new Newport heritage project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund begins. Newport Gun Girls, a project about Ruby Loftus and the female munitions workers in the factory just off Corporation Road, Newport.

• During research at Newport Museum a conversation with the collections officer turns to contemporary music collections.

2016	• On completion of Newport Gun Girls, Newport Rock Collecting is starting to take shape – an audio archive of gig memories between 1970 and 2010 accompanied by an exhibition at Newport Museum.

2017/18

• The application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund is written and submitted and match funding discussed with First Camus, University of South Wales for further education provision.

2018

• In August Winding Snake made a visit to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh to view the Rip It Up: The Story of Scottish Pop exhibition.

• A few weeks later Winding Snake find out their application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund has been successful and the project will start in September 2018.

• The project is launched on 05/09/2018 with an interview BBC Radio Wales Good Morning Wales.

2019

• In the Spring of 2019 ITV Wales Mike Griffiths covers the story for ITV Wales News.

• A bit of research digs up an original SEX PISTOLS poster for their gig at the Stowaway in 1976, in Australia. The owner, Donald Robertson was happy to talk to the project and donate the poster to Newport Museum.

• Some more outreach work sees the team pitch up in the foyer of the Intellectual Property Office.

• The first interview for the audio archive takes place in May in Caerleon with Sue Jenkins.

• A year after seeing the Rip It Up exhibition in Edinburgh, the Winding Snake team meet with its curator Stephen Allen for advice and inspiration.

• More outreach work through August and September, this time at Cardiff Central Library, Cardiff City Hall and two days at Newport Library.

• The first of the workshops with First Campus begin at University of South Wales City Campus, 2 days of activity for girls during the October half term with Rufus Mufasa, Tic Ashfield, Heledd Hardy and Amy Morris. At the same time more music workshops were being done with Beechwood Brownies and Girl Guides.

2020

• The year starts with the first of our monthly activity in the build-up to the Exhibition in June, with a screening of the Future is Unwritten at the Riverfront in January.

• February was a Pub Quiz at the Murenger, won by a team from Diverse Vinyl - the prize? £50 in Diverse Vinyl vouchers.

• Pre-production for a series of animated sequences from the archive interviews begins.

• With lectures, workshops and other activities planned and scheduled for the run up to the exhibition, the pandemic hits. The project has to pause.

• Through May the team develop a method to record remote archive interviews. Delivering audio equipment to people or asking anyone with equipment to make a recording.

• Animation of the archive starts through the summer and Zoom archive interviews continue.

• The Museum reopens in July 2020, opening on alternate days with the Library and on a booking only system for visitors. It is agreed that the exhibition will not happen until the Museum if fully open.

• By November the narrative for the exhibition is being written by Jon Gower with the final draft ready by January 2021.

2021

• With things opening up and movement becoming easier in early 2021, Newport Library, Museum and Art Gallery announces essential refit work to the build will be taking place. The project partners decide to wait for the reopening.

• Work on animations is increased to include at least two more.

• Feature length round table interviews led by Richard Parfitt with special guests are recorded for the archive.

2022	• After more delays work at the Museum begins in July 2022.

2023

• Winding Snake Productions and Newport Rock Collecting team up with Coleg Gwent to create a live brief for a second year Illustration student. The brief is based on the exhibition animation work. Cerys Taylor is the student illustrating David Mayer's memories of Billy Bragg.

• Throughout early February, project management at Winding Snake and the collections team at Newport Museum install the exhibits.

• The Museum reopens on 28th February 2023 with Newport Rock Collecting featuring in the 3rd Floor Gallery.

• March 10th a private viewing for contributors.

• April 18th Winding Snake and Newport Rock Collecting project manager Glen takes part in a talk and panel discussion with Sam Dab of Le Pub and Paul Hawkins of Diverse Vinyl for the Friends of Newport Museum and Art Gallery (FoNMaG).

• April 1st Frantastic plays the first three live acoustic sets at the museum, in partnership with Le Pub

• April 22nd Eleri Angharad plays an acoustic set at Newport Museum, in partnership with Le Pub.

• May 17th the last major event of the project is an evening of storytelling and music with Jon Langford in the Museum, in partnership with Le Pub.

• June 10th 2023 the exhibition closes.