Monkton Village Fayre

Vikki, Jim, Rachel, Jacky and Thalia represented us at Monkton Village Fayre on Saturday - Jim and Vikki's van provided an awning although Jim tells me that it was so windy that he had to batten down the display boards!! Still it wasn't raining which was a blessing. Also pictured is Jess - Jacky took the picture.

Our next meeting and future events

We have done a lot and achieved a lot this year so next month (August) will have a break and begin again in september. We are then going to put our meetings on a regular basis holding coffee mornings (which give you the opportunity to bring in photos, share memories and view our growing collection of material) on the first Saturday of the month at Monkton Church Hall 10.30-1.00.
We will also hold Society meetings on the second Wednesday of the month and anyone who wishes to get involved in the work of information gathering, making displays, record etc can join in. We are a friendly lot and welcome anyone interested in finding out about the history of our community.
There will also be other events and we are preparing some treats for the Autumn.

River Rally

Boats sailing up the Pembroke River are a rare sight sadly so the River Rally always brings in the crowds - the Pembroke Festival has been arranged to coincide with it. We had a stall in the marquee on the Quay on Saturday 3rd July and helped look after the West Wales Maritime Heritage Stall as well - they were off in their boats!

Festival Exhibition - a big success!

Our summer exhibition was held in Monkton Church Hall on July 2nd to coincide with the Pembroke Festival. The exhibition was based on the memories and photographs of local people and comprised an audio visual presentation with displays depicting changing times in our community – taking in a tour around the Quays, The Green, The Main Street, Commons, Orange Gardens and Monkton.

The exhibition was received enthusiastically by the community who attended in large numbers, reward enough for all our hard work. We are especially grateful to Jacky and her team of tea ladies who were rushed off their feet supplying refreshments and to all who baked the cakes – which were sold out by the end of the day! We thank also Monkton Voice for sponsoring the event, the WCVA Trust Fund for funding our equipment and, of course all the people who contributed their photographs and allowed us to record their memories.

Our Next Event - July 2nd

June 5th Event

Another good attendance - date clashing with other events fortunately did not affect us. The highlight was a film show taken in Monkton in the early 1950s by Mr Penfold. He came along to see it as did his daughter Sue Jones who originally contacted us about the film and permitted it to be copied. Sue did a commentary and everyone joined in with their recollections.

Update

I have been away for 3 weeks so have not updated this for a while - Stuart and I have been off in the camper visiting London and stopped at Portsmouth on the way back. Lived there as a child for a couple of years so was curious to see the old place - and Portsmouth has a special place in the history of Pembroke and Pembroke Dock as so many people left to find work there after the closing of the Dockyard in 1926. But my main reason was to see the Warrior, also a former Pembroke resident - and WOW!!! what a transformation! Last time I saw her was as a hulk on the side of the Cleddau, hardly worth a second glance and now! WOW - have to say it again, she is magnificent. Proudly floating in Portsmouth Dockyard, a multi million pound tourist attraction. Why can't the authorities here realise that regeneration is to be had in projects like this? What a difference she would have made to Pembroke Dock - all they can think of here is ruining the whole aspect of historic Front Street with blocks of flats and a marina. No vision at all.