"Newtown Textile Museum is a typical example of an early 19th century weaving shop; consisting of six back-to-back cottages on the ground and first floors and two rooms on the second and third floors running the full length of the building.

Each cottage would have housed one family; whose members would have worked on the weaving floors above either as handloom weavers or with associated work.

In 1962 the late Major Peter Lewis of Newtown formed a committee to purchase and preserve this building and to create a record of the history of the woollen industry in Newtown. The museum was opened in 1967.

In 1990 responsibility for the museum was transferred to Powys County Council with the running of the museum assigned to the Senior Museum Curator for Montgomeryshire.

At the time of transfer the building itself was unsound, while neither the conditions of the collection, the displays nor the galleries were meeting the professional standards of a modern museum.

Since 1995 Powys County Council has carried out a renovation and restoration programme both to the exterior of the building and to the collections and exhibitions.

This work has been generously part-funded by the Museums and Galleries Commission, The Council of Museums of Wales, Cadw and The Heritage Lottery Fund.

The museum now interprets the building itself and places it in both a local and a national context.

The main entrance is on Commercial Street and once inside the visitor is invited on a journey through the history of the woollen industry in Newtown from the handloom era during the early 19th century, through the stagnation and social unrest of the 1830's and 40's to the regeneration of the industry in the 1850's due to some extent to the business enterprises of Pryce Jones.

The displays include a recreated weaver's cottage and working area from the 1830's. The exhibition finishes with the final decline of the woollen industry in the 20th century and displays on related industries in the town.

The museum regrets that physical access for visitors in wheelchairs or otherwise physically impaired is limited to the ground floor, however there is an interactive audio-visual tour of the museum in the reception area as well as two films, one of which tells the story of a Newtown family caught up in the mid-19th century depression and therefore moving to Dre-fach Felindre in Carmathenshire, while the other film depicts the era and workings of the power-looms in Dre-fach Felindre and later in Newtown.

A grant from The Heritage Lottery Fund has enabled the museum to form a more prominent and welcoming entrance to the venue directly off Commercial Street and to fully interpret both the building and the collections.

The museum now gives a comprehensive picture of the living and working conditions for woollen factory workers in the first half of the 19th century, it describes in details the development of the manufacture of flannel and other related industries in Newtown and places this history of the town in a broader Welsh context.

The displays consist of photographs, documents and artefacts kindly lent to the museum by the Laura Ashley Archives as well as by private collectors."

2009's summer exhibition at Newtown Textile Museum focuses on the train accident, which happened at Abermule on 26 January 1921. Shortly before 12 o'clock on that Wednesday two trains were approaching Abermule Station. One was the west-bound train from Whitchurch and the other the east-bound express from Aberystwyth; the line was single-track and the two trains were due to cross at Abermule.

Due to human errors originating in the lay-out of Abermule station and the slack working practices carried out by staff, the two trains were allowed to enter the same section from each end and at 12.06pm the two trains collided. Seventeen people died and seventeen people were injured. In the following inquest the two people mostly responsible for the accident narrowly escaped a verdict of manslaughter and were sentenced to very severe censure.

The artefacts on display consist mainly of contemporary photographs and documents from the collections at Newtown Textile Museum and Powysland Museum in Welshpool. Due to limited space this material is normally in store, but this exhibition offers an opportunity to put it on display.

We hope that visitors will find the exhibition of interest.

The museum is open from 2 May 2009 to 29 September 2009, on weekdays except Wednesdays, and on Saturdays from 2-5pm.

For further information please contact the curator at powysland@powys.gov.uk

Article by Eva Bredsdorff Senior Museum Curator