In this blog we want to tell you about St Fagan’s, a Welsh folk museum based in Cardiff. It’s open daily from 10am-5pm with plenty of parking. The museum is huge and within its grounds are cafes and a museum shop with loads of amazing Welsh inspired gifts – it’s a perfect place for a day out with a picnic. There is even a bakery, chip shop and sweet shop – all in keeping with the theme of the museum of course, more on that later.
At Babi Bw we are passionate about Wales – it’s history and culture. All our products are inspired by Wales, made supporting Welsh local businesses and people and our lush prints have Wales running through their designs. As you can imagine, St Fagans is a museum close to our hearts for this very reason. It first opened in 1948 and was built to show the daily lives of ordinary Welsh people in an open-air setting. When you first walk into the large building you are greeted by staff who let you know about the site before you get going. Within this building is the shop, café and some exhibits. After walking through the foyer, you pass the outdoor cafe seating area before stumbling across a huge adventure playground with everything a child could want including a giant sandpit, swings and climbing equipment. A bit further on is a tree tops activity centre which you can pay to take part on and another adventure playground assault course which is free, ideal for smaller children as well as those who are older and more capable of using the equipment on their own.
Welsh Museum
Then there is the rest of the museum and its fascinating collection of villages and houses. So much attention to detail has been given and each house has been lovingly restored to give visitors a good insight into what life was like in the past. Not only can you enter and explore the houses, but you can also see day to day things such as bedrooms, kitchens and dining rooms all set up as they would have been in their day. Even the gardens have been considered with pigs, vegetable patches and outbuildings. A favourite of ours was the post war house, it was fascinating to see what these houses were like and there was a guide to answer questions. There is a working bakery and to the delight of many children (and grown ups) there is a village with a traditional sweet shop and fairground. It is worth bringing some money for this as it’s hard to resist a go on the carousel and coconut shy. The grounds are vast with plenty of places for a picnic but if this isn’t your thing, there is another café in the village and even a fish and chip shop!
Welsh Traditions
Through the museum there are animals to see as well as a pond with ducks on the working farm. There is a large woodland area and another café which also houses an indoor museum of traditional Welsh artefacts. Demonstrations take place here and at the time of visiting, a man was making wooden Welsh love spoons. It’s worth checking out what events are taking place when you arrive so that you don’t miss out.
It is a wonderful day out for adults and children alike, there really is something for everyone. It’s a great opportunity to learn about and celebrate our wonderful Welsh heritage. For more information, visit https://museum.wales/stfagans/