Torfaen museum will display an exhibition celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of Cwmbran.

The exhibition, which is called: Cwmbran New Town: 75 Years and Counting, will be on display between November 6, 2024 and January 4, 2025.

"This brand new exhibition will feature never-before-seen objects from the Museum collection," said Rob Lewis, Torfaen Museum's services manager.

The museum will display objects, maps and photographs from Cwmbran's 75 year history, including catalogues from the Girlings factory, a car components manufacturer which was opened in 1938 on Grange Road. 

(Image: Amgueddfa Torfaen Museum) Girling factory catalogues, which will be on display at Amgueddfa Torfaen Museum between November 2024 and January 2025 to mark Cwmbran's 75th anniversary

The museum curator, Sarah Parsons said: "This is an opportunity to get out some of the objects we have from Cwmbran."

Ms Parsons said up until recently the museum was called Pontypool museum and focused more on Pontypool's history. However, now she said they want to be the "county museum" for Torfaen. 

"This exhibition is part of that. It's really important that we reach out to the wider community in the Torfaen area," said Ms Parsons.

The museum has been running workshops in the Cwmbran Library, which is something they want to do more of to reach with the community and to be able to tell a wider range of stories through the exhibitions they display.

In 2023, the museum got a £25,000 cash injection from Torfaen Council to help it make changes intended to ensure its future including attracting more visitors. 

(Image: Torfaen Museum Trust) Torfaen museum's exhibition of the 75th anniversary of Cwmbran will feature never-before-seen objects from the Museum collection, like this master plan map of the town.

The exhibition celebrating Cwmbran's history will be officially opened on Wednesday, November 6, at 6.30pm with a talk by Rhiannon Phillips of Gwent Archives.

The talk will take place at the museum, which is in Pontypool. 

Ms Philips's talk is titled 'Creating a happy community: the Cwmbran Development Corporation'.

After the Second World War, the UK passed the 'New Towns Act 1946' which aimed to build more housing and redesigning towns to best suit the needs of the people there.

Cwmbran was designated a new town on November 4, 1949.

Designated new towns were placed under the supervision of a development corporation. 

Ms Philips's talk will highlight the development of Cwmbran as a new town and will delve into the Cwmbran Development Corporation collection held at Gwent Archives.

Cwmbran is one of two designated new towns in Wales. The other is Newtown in Powys.