Happy Christmas

Christmas 2010 is one for the record books - a white Christmas is a rarity here. But with weeks of freezing weather behind us (the coldest December since records began) the novelty has worn off somewhat! Christmas Day however was so lovely with brilliant sunshine - a real winter wonderland.

Next Event - January 8th

Our 2011 Programme

We have now prepared our 2011 programme in the form of an A4 double sided leaflet. August apart, we have events running every month. We continue to run our Saturday coffee mornings on the first Saturday of the month at Monkton Church Hall, each having a different theme with accompanying exhibition. Our first however will be on the 8th of Jan as the 1st Saturday is New Year's Day. The topic is family history which features a short introductory talk at 11 am. by Roslie Lilwall of the Dyfed Family histoy Society. To those wishing to get started , help will be given. Then we have a programme of talks and also fundraising Quiz Nights with Pauline Waters. Our Summer Exhibition this year will take place in July and the theme is Pembroke's Maritime Past. Any contributions of material towards this and any of the other displays will be greatly appreciated.

Pembroke Winter Festival

The enterprising traders in Pembroke organised a Winter Festival this year on December 4th to 5th and invited us to take part. We had already arranged our usual coffee morning in Monkton Church Hall but decided that we could actually manage to stage an exhibition in Pembroke as well. A big thank you to Mr and Mrs St John Stimpson for loaning us some of their collection of old toys which made a lovely exhibition. The second exhibition in town took place in Paddles, formerly Haggers cinema and pictured here is Vikki (Hagger) back in her old haunt. Part of the exhibition was an audio visual presentation of old photos and memories which went down well in the old cinema!

The Ice Age returns!

We are in the grip of some really cold weather - not usual at all for the time of year and worthy of note!! The Castle Pond is frozen over - at this rate the Winer Festival Committee will not need to hire an ice rink! Weather really bad in parts of the country - it may be bitterly cold but we have not yet had snow.

December 4th Events

Hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner! We find we have to be in two places at once on Saturday, December 4th. It so happens that the traders in Pembroke have organised a Wiinter Festival and this clashes with our prearranged Saturday Coffee morning in Monkton Church Hall. As we have been asked to participate in the Festival and not wanting to let anyone down we have decided to do both.

The coffee morning in December will feature, as a Christmas theme, an exhibition of old toys which have been kindly loaned from Mr and Mrs St John Stimpson of the former Museum of the Home. The Festival exhibition which will be in Paddles, Main Streeet (former Haggars Cinema)
will feature old photographs and reminiscences of Pembroke and Monkton.
Hope to see you at one - or both!

Another successful fundraise!

Despite colds & flu and foul weather a good crowd gathered in the Church Hall for our second quiz night. People have been so generous with the food and we once again produced a magnificent buffet, far more than we could eat - everyone went home with a party bag!! Pauline is an amazing and entertaining quizmaster and it is thanks to her that we were all able to have such a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Had a good fundraise too!

Saturday 6th November Coffee Morning

Another very successful event with over 50 people popping in over the course of the morning! We were able to show some home movie clips from the early 50s which are now of course amazing items of social history - we were able to see Long Mains before the destruction, Pembroke Main Street with 2 way traffic, Angle without the oil refineries and even some traditional farming scenes (amongst others!). Alongside we put up an exhibtion of pictures from the 50s and also an exhibition showing the history of Monkton which we are assembling as part of our Sense of Place project.

As usual our fund raising was in full swing with a busy coffee morning headed by Jacky with assistance from Jill and Dorcas, raffle organised by Rachel and bric a brac organised by the stalwart James and Vikki. And of course many thanks to Liz, Pauline and Dot for making it all possible!

Talking to the Darby and Joan Club

I am pictured here with Marion Reynold, Chair of the Darby and Joan Club in Pembroke Town Hall on Thursday 4th after giving a talk about our Society and the work we are doing. Assisted by Stuart of course! WeIt is very much a team effort.

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Drawing Monkton

We enjoyed a very entertaining afternoon with George Lewis who has agreed to illustrate our Sense of Place leaflet. It is amazing how much there is in Monkton and how incredible that noone has published a leaflet before. This however is to be a beginning. The story must be told!! Discussing ideas and pictured with George are Dot, Pauline, Stuart, Rachel, Linda and Thalia.

Winter cometh and we meet to write some history

I've just downloaded these pics taken on Monday (25th) - the first frost so guess winter is here. But what a beautiful day - brilliant early morning sunshine, icey grass and mist rising off the water.

Yesterday we met to discuss the content of the Monkton heritage leaflet we are preparing with PLANED funding. We have all been allocated a part and discussed the illustrations we need. So much history but so little space to write it in!

In Search of our Maritime past

To someone not familiar with our history, it comes as a surprise to learn that Pembroke was once the most important and richest port in south west Wales. Instead of celebrating this, the powers that be have destroyed the Pembroke Quays - only recently giving planning to build an intensive development of flats on the North Quay and, only thanks to the recession, has the South Quay escaped the same fate - so far. Even so it hardly looks like a quay with most of the old buildings demolished.

Stuart and I are planning a talk next February on the subject of some of the boats that once sailed up the Pembroke River (for the West Wales Maritime Heritage Society) and whilst on holiday in Devon last week we decided to track down two that are still around.

The top photos are of the Kathleen and May moored in Bideford - exciting to see her at last. She has a special place in the affections of us here being the last ship to sail up to Pembroke in around 1960. Sadly, although renovated and in good sailing order, she has to remain moored here as funding has not been forthcoming to keep her afloat! It seems scandalous that such a ship, a real national treasure is not funded and in danger of being lost to us.

Down to Morwellan Quay next to see the Garlandstone. Morwellan Quay too has been in danger having lost its funding and the fate of the Garlandstone looked bleak. However, things are looking brighter now as the Quay has been taken over by a Company who are looking to develop it as a tourist attraction. It is well worth a visit and we spent a super day there - with the added bonus of a warm Autumn day of brilliant sunshine!

Reg talks to a packed Church Hall!

Across a crowded room Reg Williams gave his slide show of old Pembroke and Monkton photographs. We were amazed and delighted that so many of you joined us on this our first anniversary and we could not have invited a better speaker than Reg whose witty delivery had us all in stitches! At the end Reg was presented with a CDRom of his slides which Stuart had digitalised and also a DVD so that he can view them on his television!

Stuart and I would like to thank the Committee too for the kind presentation at the end of the talk. A lovely surprise! Although we have worked hard to set up the Society, it has been a pleasure to work with with such a friendly, community minded group of people who all do so much for our Community completely voluntarily.

All present were then invited to stay for a cup of coffee and home made Welsh cakes. A really enjoyable evening!

November Events

Celebrating our first birthday - Friday October 15th

Friday October 15th marks the first anniversary of the Pembroke and Monkton Local History Society and we can look forward to an entertaining evening with Reg Williams who will be giving us an illustrated talk about his memories of Monkton and Pembroke. Reg, a well known local character, was a postman here for many years and he is a fount of knowledge on past times in Monkton and Pembroke and the people who live here. He has also a large collection of old photographs which will accompany his talk. The event will take place in Monkton Church Hall at 7.30 pm.

Visiting Monkton Dovecote

On Saturday October 2nd our coffee morning and exhibition was very well attended with a large group making the walk over Priory Farm fields to see the Mediaeval Dovecote. The dovecote, which has been recently restored by Pembrokeshire County Council, is contemporary with the Priory. While it was interesting to learn about the history of the dovecote, what was so fascinating were the affectionate memories it evoked, many people participating by relating their stories including the horse races which took place here. It was a wonderful morning and we were overwhelmed that so many did join us, many travelling from across South Pembrokeshire. I must add that the Dovecote is situated on private land and that we are indebted to Mr and Mrs Wyn Jenkins for allowing us to view it.

Our next event on Saturday, October 2nd

Murder on Castle Pond

Oh, and while we were away Pembroke hit the national news - so that's a bit of history!! On Castle Pond we have a family of swans, daddy, mummy and baby. Now daddy is extremely protective and fiercely territorial. Woe betide any swan who lands on his patch! So far he has killed 15 and so it goes on. Hannibal Pecter exclaimed the Sun and he was even in the Times. There are moves afoot to evict this antisocial family but at the end of the day they are only doing what swans do - guard their territory. I don't agree with this. If this goes ahead, another pair will take over and they will behave in the same way.

Visiting Gloucester

Haven't downloaded my pics yet. We were away on holiday last week and went to the historic docks of Gloucester - visited the Waterfront Museum which was impressive. Main museum was closed though and undergoing refurbishment - come back next year we were told!

Our next Event

We have now established the first Saturday of the month as a regular meeting at Monkton Church Hall. Coffee morning plus exhibition and in addition something extra like a filmshow or talk.

Stackpole Revisited

We took part in the Stackpole Revisited event held in the Stackpole Centre today. After yesterday's storm the weather turned out brilliant and the event was very well attended.

Quiz Night

Friday's torrential rain and floods (see pic of flooded East End at the top) did not augur well for a successful Quiz Night yesterday evening. But we need not have worried - many braved the elements and we had a super night. Pauline as always proved a brilliant Quizmaster and the buffet was superb - far more than we could eat! Good Raffle prizes too (organised by Rachel).

Quiz Night at Monkton Priory Church Hall on Friday 10th

Pauline has arranged a Quiz Night on Friday - there is to be a buffet and it promises to be an enjoyable night out with Pauline calling the shots!
Proceeds are to be shared with Monkton Priory Church.

September 4th Meeting

After a break for the summer we started our Coffee Mornings again on Saturday and will be holding them on the first Saturday of the Month at Monkton Church Hall from now on. We will try to do something new each time. This time,as a special feature, we were able to screen "Pembrokeshire My County", the film made by ESSO in 1959 as a tribute to Pembrokeshire after they plonked their oil refinery on our previously unspoilt shores. Of special interest to us, there is a clip of the Pageant of Pembroke with Roy Haggar magnificent as Henry VII - wouldn't it be wonderful if we could get more footage of this? And also a clip of the Kathleen and May at the North Quay being unloaded by Annie the Mill. Great stuff!! Thanks to Vikki (Haggar)Dyer and Mr Len Mullins of PCC for obtaining it for us to show,

Had a good attendance again raising enough money to carpet our office! Jacky and her coffee team were worked very hard - their efforts are very much appreciated. Our events are free so it is important that we raise money with our coffee sales and raffle: venue hire and preparing exhibitions cost money. We are extremely grateful to WCVA Communities Trust Fund for funding our equipment and PAVS for funding our Display Boards. Now we no longer have to rush around borrowing other people's equipment!

Great Deals at Pembroke Castle

Did you know that you can buy an annual OAP season ticket for Pembroke Castle for only £5? Bargain price and I'm making the most of mine. Apart from the Shakespeare the season ticket includes the events too and this summer we have seen the Sealed Knot, Black Mountains Falconry, Company of Chivalry and the Mediaeval Heritage Society. There's a good cafe too - worth popping in for!

Prehistoric Excursion

On Friday we met up in Newport for a walk up Carn Ingli (phew!!), once a hillfort and extinct volcano. Hard going but the views were amazing. Also visited the cromlech down below in Newport.