Our Coffee Morning and Talk this month will be held on Saturday morning, March 2nd in Pembroke Town Hall from 10am.
This month’s talk, by Society Chairman Linda Asman, will have a Welsh theme and is titled ‘In the Footsteps of Gerald of Wales’. Gerald de Barri, also known as Geraldus Cambrensis or Gerald the Welshman, died some 800 years ago. He was born and raised in Manorbier, a grandson of Princess Nest and Gerald de Windsor and, through them, a descendant of both the Welsh Princes and Marcher Lords. A remarkable man of his day, Gerald was a churchman, scholar, reformer, royal diplomat and a tireless traveller but it is his writings that distinguished him above all. In 1188, he accompanied Archbishop Bishop Baldwin of Canterbury on a mission to recruit men for the 3rd Crusade, a mission which took him all around Wales and which Gerald recorded for posterity in his books ‘Journey around Wales and Description of Wales, books which shine a light into that far off world of 12th Century Wales
Linda and Stuart Asman decided to follow this earliest of Welsh travel guides, visiting and photographing the sites which Gerald described in his journal along with accounts of local miracles, fantastic tales and descriptions of Welsh life which make it so entertaining. The talk is richly illustrated with photographs, which can be viewed to advantage on Pembroke Town Hall’s new, large television screen.
Doors will open from 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. Following this, at 11am, we assemble in the George Lewis Room for the talk. Everyone is welcome to attend – you do not have to be a member - and entry is free.
