The Snows of Yesteryear – narrating extreme weather

Do you, your friends or family remember a period of extreme weather in Wales? A harsh or mild winter? A warm, wet or dry summer? A disappointing or plentiful harvest? Unforgettable thunder and lightning? A flood, drought, storm or hurricane?a wet or scorching Royal Welsh Show? If so, a new project wants to hear from you!

The Snows of Yesteryear is a new research project that will provide a Forum for Extreme Weather in Wales which aims to discover & share memories of extreme events.

This project, funded by the AHRC Landscape and Environment Programme, investigates how to reveal and relate past experiences, both historical and more recent, as ways of understanding and coping with phenomena that are increasingly regarded as markers of climate change. It explores the ways that extreme weather events are remembered and mythologised by the people of Wales, in order to interpret what is ultimately learned from them as both warning and opportunity.

Amongst the project partners are, The National Library of Wales, University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth University and he international Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE) initiative based at the Met Office Hadley Centre.

Cerys Jones, project researcher said:

‘This exciting project researches accounts of extreme weather events, specifically regional and national experiences of harsh winters, as they are recorded in historic sources such as journals, diaries and art works from the National Library of Wales collection’

‘Community engagement is a key part of this project; therefore, the Royal Welsh Show is the perfect opportunity to hear visitor memories’

The Snows of Yesteryear project has led to the digitisation of over 3,500 pages of manuscript and printed sources from the archival collections of the National Library of Wales.

Further Information

The Snows of Yesteryear
Cerys Jones, University of Wales, cerys.jones@cymru.ac.uk
01970 631028

Elin Hâf, NLW Press Office 01970 632534 post@llgc.org.uk