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.

Quiz NIght on Friday!

Our next event Saturday January 11th Pembroke Town Hall

Join us for our first meeting of 2025 on Saturday morning, January 11th in Pembroke Town Hall. Doors open at 10am for coffee and an opportunity to visit the Museum and Council Chamber, which are situated on the first floor of the Town Hall – a lift is available for disabled access. Then, at 11am assemble in the George Lewis Hall for our talk which, this month, will focus on Carew Castle, once the home of a very important character in our Tudor history. This was Sir Rhys ap Thomas, who is famously credited with killing King Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth when the victorious Henry Tudor was crowned King Henry VII. Rhys was knighted for his services and was appointed Governor of South Wales.  Rhys remained a close ally and trusted friend to Henry and, in recognition for his loyalty, he was made a Knight of the Garter in 1505. To celebrate this honour Sir Rhys held a great tournament at Carew Castle in April 1507, the last tournament to be held in this country and on a scale never before seen in Wales. To mark the 500th anniversary of this great tournament, in 2007 Pembrokeshire Coast National Park staged a re-enactment event at Carew with an array of medieval entertainments, attracting thousands to enjoy the colourful spectacle. There will be an opportunity to watch a film made of the event.

Pembroke Castle Christmas Market

Great weekend at Pembroke Castle's Christmas Market! As always thousands descended on Pembroke for the event and lovely to meet so many at our stall. We were able to raise funds for our museum with the sale of books and merchandise - the star attraction was our magnificent Christmas hamper for which we sold many tickets. The raffle took place in Pembroke Town Hall on the Monday morning and was drawn by our Town Crier, Cllr Gareth Jones. The winning ticket was 251 on the green and the lucky winner was Mrs Elizabeth Hurley of East Williamston. Congratulations!

Saturday November 2nd - Nathen Amin talk on his latest book 'Son of Prophecy: the Rise of Henry Tudor'

Saturday’s talk by Tudor author Nathen Amin attracted a very large audience of around 120 people. Nathen gave an impressive talk in which he introduced his latest book: ‘Son of Prophecy: the Rise of Henry Tudor’ and many queued up afterwards for the book signing. Nathen has been a friend of our Society since meeting him all that time ago in October 2015 when we, as part of Pembroke Town Council’s Regeneration Committee, launched the Henry VII statue campaign – I have included the photo below. It was the time when the late Pauline Waters was our Mayor and George Lewis our President: both sadly missed by us all. Also in the picture with Nathen (right hand side of the photo) are authors Tony Riches and Terry Breverton who, on that occasion gave the talk and introduced his own latest book ‘Jasper Tudor’ together with Society Trustees Linda Asman and Rose Blackburn. Nathen had campaigned for many years for a statue of Henry VII and had petitioned the Welsh government in vain, but with a start up grant of £20,000 from PCC we raised the necessary funding with exceedingly generous donations from the community and Valero. Our sculptor Harriet Addyman was also responsible for our stunning William Marshal statue.

So, a really successful and enjoyable event but the last one this year. We meet again on Saturday January 11th (we usually meet on the first Saturday of the month but in January that is always booked for the panto) when Stephen Scale will be joining us to talk on ‘Carew Castle; its Owners and Builders’.

Saturday October 5th - we begin our 2024/25 Programme of Talks

On Saturday 5th October, we welcomed back Gareth Mills to open the first meeting of our 2024/25 programme of talks. And what a great response! Gareth is a popular speaker but I think this was the largest gathering yet with well over 100 attending. The title of Gareth’s talk was 'A History of the Stackpole Estate'- a place of great local interest, much loved by us all. In brief - The estate centred on Stackpole Court, a stately home which stood just outside Stackpole village. The Court was owned by the Lort family, but in 1698 passed by marriage to the Campbells, Thanes of Cawdor in Scotland. In the 18th century the original Court was rebuilt in Georgian style, surrounded by a walled garden and greenhouses. The Campbell- Cawdors became one of the most important and wealthiest families in Great Britain during the 19th Century. After the family's decline in the early 20th Century the estate was used during WWII as a military training area. After the war the Campbell's returned to their Scottish estates, and the mansion was tragically torn down in 1963, leaving the estate's beaches, parkland, and outbuildings, however, to be administered by the National Trust for public enjoyment.

LANDSKER LEGENDS: Pembrokeshire Museums' Festival

We are participating in a week of Museum activities beginning Monday September 30th and ending Saturday October 5th when we will be meeting in Pembroke Town Hall for our monthly Talk and Coffee Morning. We open at 10am for coffee and an opportunity to visit the Museum and Council Chamber; then assemble in the George Lewis Room for the talk at 11am. We welcome back popular speaker Gareth Mills for this, our first meeting of our 2024/25 programme, and the title of his talk is 'A History of the Stackpole Estate'.