April Events

St David's Day in Pembroke Town Hall

Our St David's Day celebration was very well supported. We were not able to open up the Museum as usual as the Town Hall is undergoing repair works. Instead, for entertainment, we showed a silent movie from the Museum's Haggar collection - the Maid of Cefn Ydfa, based on a Welsh tale of tragic love. This was followed by a talk by Society Chairman, Linda Asman, on the Welsh Princes and the Evolution of Wales and the day ended with our national anthem 'Mae Hen Wlad Fy nhadau. It was a rousing finish to an enjoyable morning. We have also assembled a St David's display in the window next to Brown's Cafe in Main Street with artefacts from Pembroke Museum's Welsh Collection.

St David's Day event

Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society will be celebrating St David’s Day with a Welsh themed coffee morning and talk on Saturday March 1st. The title of the talk, by Society Chairman Linda Asman, is ‘The Welsh Princes and the Evolution of Wales’. We will be taken back to a time when Wales as a geographical expression did not exist: the Iron Age tribes of Britain shared the same laws and customs and spoke a common language. Tribal groupings survived the Roman occupation, emerging as independent kingdoms led by native rulers following the fall of Rome. Despite invasions from Europe in the East and Ireland from the west, the rulers of this part of Britain we now call Wales held firm, although divided into several kingdoms. Powerful leaders emerged who sought to extend their rule over the entire country until Edward I finally defeated Llewellyn ap Gruffudd, Llewellyn the Last, bringing an end to the line of the truly independent Princes of Wales. This was not the end of the story, however. Hope never died and, despite conquest and oppression, Wales always retained its strong, national identity.

Saturday February 1st

Saturday’s meeting proved very popular. As usual the morning began with a Coffee Morning and an opportunity to look at the museum. Then we all assembled in the main hall to listen to this month’s Talk, which drew a large audience. Our speaker was Maggie Goodall and she is Volunteer Coordinator of the Friends of Friendless Churches, an organisation dedicated to the work of saving redundant (closed) historic places of worship in England and Wales from demolition, decay and unsympathetic conversion. Maggie introduced us to the work of the Friends of Friendless Churches, which cares for more than 60 buildings of architectural and historic importance across Wales and England. Examples of restoration work were shown and a look at Pembrokeshire churches which the Friends care for including nearby Castlemartin, Rhoscrowther and St Lawrence’s Gumfreston, which is currently under restoration. Our next meeting is on Saturday March 1st when we will be celebrating St David’s Day with a Talk on ‘the Welsh Princes and the Evolution of Wales’.

Our next talk - February 1st

On Saturday February 1st we have a Talk by Maggie Goodall, who is Volunteer Coordinator of the Friends of Friendless Churches, an organisation she describes as a tiny charity with a big task! Founded in 1957 by Welshman Ivor Bulmer-Thomas, it works to save beautiful churches that are no longer used for regular worship from demolition, decay and unsympathetic conversion. Today it cares for more than 60 buildings of architectural and historical importance across Wales and England, which are open year-round to visit. In this talk, Maggie Goodall will explore the charity’s history and take a whistlestop tour around its Pembrokeshire churches and current rescue and repair projects, including the fascinating St Lawrence’s, Gumfreston near Tenby.

Quiz Night January 17th

Good to see so many brave the cold January night to come to our Quiz Night and buffet in Pembroke Town Hall. An enjoyable evening with lots of lovely food as usual! 😊

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.