April Events

Quiz Night

Winners of the Quiz - Pam, Irene and Tom with Pauline our Quizmaster

The winners of the booby prize! Good sports all. 

Always a good buffet at Quiz Night!

Due to popular demand our Quiz Nights continue bi-monthly with a good crowd attending - we only charge £4 - very good value as this includes a lovely buffet.  £170 was raised for Society funds. Our next Quiz Night will be held in July and proceeds from this one will go to the Henry VII statue appeal.

St Davids event Monkton Church Hall

Richard with a photo of Edwin Cynrig Roberts

Richard sporting a Patagonian cowboy hat

Lunchtime!

 Our annual St David's Lunch gets more and more popular each year and that numbers were up this year was helped by a very interesting talk by Richard Blacklaw-Jones on 'Patagonia:the Welsh Colony'.  Richard is a direct descendant of Edwin Cynrig Roberts and talked about the achievements of his great,great great grandfather who, aged 9, emigrated with his family to Wisconsin in 1847.  A Welsh Colonial Movement began around 1856 in the United States, where some of the Welsh settlers saw that their fellow countrymen were losing their language and culture and becoming Americans. Roberts became prominent within the movement there, and in 1861 travelled to Wales to gain support for a Welsh colony in Patagonia.  He travelled throughout  Wales giving talks and became a part of the Liverpool Emigration Society to organize the venture.  He formed part of the vanguard  of settlers who in 1865, arrived in Madryn Bay.  A few weeks later the rest of the settlers arrived on the ship Mimosa.  Despite initial hardship, the little colony survived thanks to the support of the Argentinian government and the friendship of the Mapoochi Indians.  Edwin married Ann Jones, a passenger on the Mimosa - some of Richard's family still live in Patagonia.  

There was much interest in the audience and many questions. Following the raffle, lunch was served and around 50 people stayed to enjoy a lovely meal of soup, crusty bread, desserts and coffee etc.  In all £340 was raised and all proceeds of the morning were given to Monkton Priory Church.

Next Event - St Davids Talk and Lunch

Our AGM

We had a very good attendance at our AGM and welcomed 2 new Trustees - Mary Willington and Ron Rees.  Pauline Waters has been elected vice Chair and no contenders for the other positions which remain the same with yours truly, Linda, as Chairman.  I live in hopes of a successor!!
After business, we had a fascinating talk by Ted Goddard on 'Nelson in Pembrokeshire'.  An excellent speaker.

AGM - Friday 19th

Saturday February 6th Museums' Morning at Pembroke Town Hall

Peter Hancock is presented with a model of Isabella, the first ship built by the Hancock Shipbuilders in  1896

The Isabella - made by David James

The Fastnet Rock - the last ship built at Hancock's Yard in 1979

Despite the inclement weather, over 90 people came to the Museum’s Morning at Pembroke Town Hall on Saturday February 6th, an event organised jointly between Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society and West Wales Maritime Heritage Society.  

David James (Secretary of WWMHS) led the proceedings with a talk about Hancock’s Shipyard, where the Society is based and where they restore vintage boats.  Often called the Cinderella Yard, overshadowed as it was by the Royal Dockyard, it survived a lot longer and continued shipbuilding until 1979.  Peter Hancock & Sons took over the yard in 1921 from former owners J & W Francis and among the many ships built there were the Hobb’s Point ferries – the Cleddau Queen in 1956 and the Cleddau King in 1962.  The last ship to be built there was the Fastnet Rock in 1979. The yard is still popularly known as Hancock’s Yard. Many local people served apprenticeships there, some of whom were among the audience, and enthusiastically joined in with their own memories.  

The WWMHS last summer opened a maritime museum in the Yard and this was very successful.  They will now reopen it on 16th March – 9th April, then 25th May – 10th September on Wednesdays to Saturdays from 12 to 4pm.  Anyone interested in volunteering, please contact Brian King on 01646 680554.  

Linda Asman gave an updated on Pembroke Museum which was open for the morning and will open from Half Term during weekday mornings.