It was good to see so many people turn out for our first meeting of 2025 on Saturday - a very cold, January morning but nice and warm in the Town Hall!!
Chairman of Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society, Linda Asman, welcomed all present and spoke about the Society's aims and projects for the forthcoming year. The talk for the morning was 'Sir Rhys ap Thomas and the Great Tournament'. Following a short presentation about Sir Rhys - the man who is accredited with the killing of Richard III - a film was shown of the 2007 re-enactment of that great event which was made by John and Maxine Rolls of Video Magic.
It was a major undertaking for a small community but the people of Carew were concerned that the National Park, which runs Carew Castle, had no real plans in place to mark the 500th anniversary of the Great Tournament of 1507 - the last great tournament to be held in Britain and a hugely important event in the history of the village. So a meeting was held in the village hall and the community took on responsibility for organising a full scale re-enactment of the tournament. It was a huge event taking place over three days of the early May bank holiday, involving re-enactment companies, professional jousting teams and medieval musicians from all over the country. And it also involved local performers, including La Volta and Pembroke's own East End Flyover Company. The local school got involved, Carew WI made costumes, the Pony Club took part, there was a special church service - it was a real community effort.
The first day featured a re-enactment of the cavalcade from Carew Castle to Lamphey Palace for a blessing from the Bishop of St Davids. Then there were two days of jousting and other activities in a field overlooking Carew Castle, attended by thousands of people.
