Quiz Night on Friday April 25th

Saturday April 3rd - Your Family Tree

On Saturday we welcomed Colin Potter of the Dyfed Family History Society as our speaker of the month. It was a most interesting talk giving tips on how to go about researching your family tree with examples based on his own family history research in Pembrokeshire. As usual we began the morning with a Coffee Morning but, again, we were unable to open up the museum because of ongoing building works. We do hope that normal service will be resumed in time for our next talk on May 3rd, when Andi Jones will talk to us about St Catherine's Island, Tenby: its History, Restoration and Future. I will post when the museum will open again - hopefully after Easter. In the photograph: Colin & Cate Potter with History Society Trustees Ron Rees, Linda Asman and Roy Smith

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.