Our stall at the Christmas Market

Very successful Christmas Market - even more successful than last year I think.  We again had a stall to advertise ourselves and raise funds by selling books and merchandising.  Our newly launched book 'Pembroke Remembers..' is selling well.  Even the weather was good - bright and frosty - just right! 

Great Quiz Night on Friday

We held a Quiz Night and Buffet on Friday November 22nd in Monkton Church Hall, which proved very popular despite the inclement weather.  The winning team was 'The Golden Girls' Mel Phillips, Pam Evans, Meg Burrell and Pru Pattison, pictured here with Quiz master, Rose Blackburn.

A lovely buffet was provided by the ladies of the Committee and the event raised £226, which will go towards funding the Society’s projects:  at the moment these include the William Marshal Statue and the Dragon fountain project.

Quiz Night and Buffet on Friday November 22nd

Great Book Launch on Saturday!

Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society’s Commemoration Event on Saturday November 9th proved very popular with the launch of the Society’s latest book ‘Pembroke Remembers: a Memorial publication recalling the part played by Pembroke and District in The Great War and recording some of the local events marking the Centenary of the War'.

Proceedings were introduced by Society President Frank Harries BEM who welcomed all present and gave a warm welcome to Lynne Edwards and volunteers of the VC Gallery, Pembroke Dock who had been invited to bring along an exhibition of their art. Also welcomed were guest speaker, Dr Simon Hancock, and special guest, D-Day Veteran Ted Owens, whose memoirs were published by the Society earlier this year.

Linda Asman then introduced the book, which was written as a result of the Society’s Heritage Lottery funded project ‘Pembroke Commemorates the Centenary of the end of WW1: in words, pictures, art and film’. She stated that her aim in writing the book was to look at the effect of WW1 specifically on Pembroke, Pembroke Dock and district and its people. It was a book that needed to be written for, while many books have been written about WW1 especially during the years of Centenary 2014 –18, little has been published about this area of south Pembrokeshire, scene of such great activity then due to the strategic importance of Milford Haven and the Royal Dockyard.

Many people participated in the project and Linda thanked her fellow historians for their invaluable input, the many people who had come forward with information, photographs and personal stories and above all her editor Keith Johnson whose superb page layouts have resulted in a lovely book with great popular appeal. And, of course, the hard working History Society volunteers who have done so much to promote the history of Pembroke and organise events such as this.

Book Launch on November 9th

Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society is pleased to announce the launch of their latest publication : ‘Pembroke Remembers:  a Memorial publication recalling the part played by Pembroke and District in The Great War and recording some of the local events marking the Centenary of the War'.  

The book launch will take place in Pembroke Town Hall on Saturday morning, November 9th at 10am.  There will be a talk by Dr Simon Hancock on ‘The Great Peace’ as well as an exhibition of work by the VC Gallery. All are welcome and there will be an accompanying Coffee Morning.

The Princes of Wales - talk on October 18th

Linda Asman (speaker) with Frank Harries, Society President

In this 50th anniversary of the Investiture of the Prince of Wales, it seemed to be fitting to look back at the history of Wales and discover the origins and evolution of the title.  It is a story which takes us back to the beginning of the first century AD and the break up of the Roman Empire; a time when Wales was to emerge as a collection of independent kingdoms managing to hold on to their culture and language in the face of invasion from the Anglo Saxons from the East and Irish from the West. Great leaders emerged with the dream of a united Wales but the failure to achieve this left Wales fragmented in the face of the Norman conquest which ultimately conquered all Welsh resistance with the defeat of the Llewellyn the Last by Edward I.  Edward had his own son, Edward of Caernarfon (later Edward II) declared Prince of Wales and, despite the heroic but ill fated rising of Owain Glyndwr who briefly claimed the title, the title has been passed on to the heirs to the English throne.

The talk also took a look at Pembroke's royal connections and visits through the years ending with a series of photographs from the Society archive, shown to the rousing accompaniment of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No 1.

October 5th - Talk by Dr Robert Davies MBE

Dr Robert Davies

We began our Autumn Programme of events with a talk by Dr Robert Davies MBE. A fascinating journey around Pembrokeshire in the footsteps of Richard Fenton, who published his famous 'Historical Tour Through Pembrokeshire' in 1810. Not only is Robert an interesting speaker, but also a very talented photographer. His presentation was illustrated with superb photographs of Pembrokeshire.

Richard Fenton

October Events

Our next event will be an illustrated talk by Dr Robert Davies 'An Historical Tour through Pembrokeshire in the footsteps of Richard Fenton’ on Saturday morning, October 5th in Monkton Hall.  There will be an accompanying Coffee Morning beginning 10am and the talk will commence at 10.30am.  

Also in October, Linda Asman will be giving a presentation on Friday evening, October 18th at 7.30pm in Monkton Church Hall. 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Investiture of the Prince of Wales and she looks back at the origins of the title and on Pembroke's royal connections and visits through the years.

Winners of the Quiz

Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society’s Quiz Night on September 20th was well attended and, amid fierce competition, the winners were (left to right in the photograph) Cathy Griffiths, Gilly Jones, Quizmaster Rose Blackburn and Brian Jones.  An enjoyable evening was had by all with a lovely buffet prepared by the P&M Committee. Many thanks to all who supported and contributed prizes for the raffle: altogether £172 was raised for the William Marshal statue fund.

Our next Quiz Night & buffet will be held on Friday November 22nd in Monkton Priory Church Hall at 7.30pm

60th Anniversary of Pembroke Castle Trust - September 7th

2019 marked the 60th Anniversary of the formation Pembroke Castle Trust and to celebrate the Castle was open for free during the afternoon 12 -6.  We were invited along to promote our work, which we did by exhibiting the maquette of the projected William Marshal statue - we also took the opportunity to fundraise by selling the raffle tickets provided for us by Pembroke Rotary.  Another  £101.50 towards the statue campaign!

Stuart taking a break - busy selling raffle tickets all afternoon.

The sun shone. It was a lovely afternoon and a good crowd attended. There was  entertainment,  music, circus skills, abeiling from the Great Keep (for the brave) and a variety of food stalls. 

Carmarthen's Bosworth Festival - August 10th

Carmarthen held its own Bosworth Festival - celebrating the fact the Sir Rhys ap Thomas is buried in St Peter's Church.  For in this church is the tomb of Sir Rhys ap Thomas,the man credited as being the man who killed Richard III.  

 At the festival was Dr Susan Fern who has written the book - she wrote it as she feels passionately that Rhys' contribution to the success of the Tudor Dynasty has been overlooked by history. I can recommend the book and, as I had already read it a while back in researching Henry VII, asked her to sign it for me. Which she did!

Dr Susan Ferns signing my copy of her book 'The Man Who Killed Richard III'

The tomb of Rhys ap Thomas in St Peter's Church

At Pembroke Show

Meanwhile - in contrast to the Stackpole exhibition we were at Pembroke Show promoting the William Marshal statue and selling raffle tickets to raise funds.  Lots of interest in the statue and we raised £195! very pleased with that.  

We are participating in the Pembroke Rotary Community Raffle which is a brilliant scheme to provide voluntary groups with the tickets and money prizes.  The raffle continues throughout the summer and autumn and will be drawn on November 1st. 

At Stackple Church this week for the annual exhibition

We again have a display in Stackpole's annual Exhibition which combines history and flowers.  This year the subject was 'From Battles to Beatles' so our display had to cover 3 decades - from the wartime 40s to the swinging 60s.  .  

A great night for a great Knight!

It was a great night for a Great Knight on Friday when Pembroke Male Voice Choir gave a concert in aid of our William Marshal statue appeal. The Town Hall was packed!! It really was a lovely concert and we all joined in with the singing! Our President (who is also a stalwart member of the Choir) gave thanks to the choir for a truly memorable concert, to the audience for their participation and generosity and to all who donated raffle prizes. In all £706 was raised!

A new book for the Museum

Edward Morris launched his book 'The 200 year History and Heritage of the Pembroke Farmers' Club' at Pembroke Town Hall today and he very kindly donated a copy to me for Pembroke Museum..Edward is Chairman of the Club and has spent 3 years gathering an immense amount of information and photographs which depict the history of the Club over the past 200 years. This is particularly valuable for the Museum as we have no other record of the Clubs' past. The book will be on sale at the Pembroke Town & Country Show on August 7th but we also have copies here at the Pembroke Town Hall Museum.

Raising money for the William Marshal Appeal

John Hyam raised £277 sponsorship money for abseiling down the Pembroke Castle Keep.  Here he is (centre) presenting the cheque to Pembroke Mayor Gareth Jones for the William Marshal statue appeal.  Also in the photo are our Society President Frank Harries, Chairman Linda Asman and Vice Chair Rose Blackburn.

River Rally July 13

Good turnout at the River Rally - around 30 boats I think. Weather gloomy but didn't deter anyone. Cold on the water though! A lovely event - Phil and Marcia took care of our stall to raise money for the William Marshal statue appeal.

June 29th Armed Forces Day

Armed Forces Day was held at Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre this year - and proved a very successful event with lots of stalls and activities.  Was there with Ted Owens selling his book 'Ted the Welsh Goat Hero' which was recently published by the History Society.
Anyone wishing to purchase a book can do so at the Heritage Centre, VC Gallery PDock, Pembroke Museum, Pembroke Town Hall and the Victoria Bookshop Haverfordwest.  Go to our website www.pembrokeandmonktonhistory@live.co.uk for details.