Following the William Marshal story in Pembroke Castle

Gareth Mills showing us the extent of William Marshal's original, stone castle

In the Henry VII Tower where a tableau depicts the birth of Henry Tudor

On Friday, Museum volunteers gathered in Pembroke Castle where they were met by Gareth Mills who continued the William Marshal story which he had begun in his previous talk at Monkton Church Hall on April 7th.  Here Gareth was able to demonstrate Marshal's building of the castle, transforming the original wooden fortress into an unassailable stone castle with its distinctive circular donjon or keep.  No visit to Pembroke Castle would be complete without a mention of Henry Tudor and the tour ended with a visit to the Henry VII Tower where Gareth gave his own take on the Tudor story.  An archaeological investigation has been carried out in Pembroke Castle recently to actually ascertain the actual birthplace of Henry Tudor.  It is now believed that he was born in a Tudor mansion within the castle, not in the tower - results of the survey have not yet been finalised.

Friday 7th April - William Marshal draws a large audience

On Friday evening in Monkton Church Hall, Gareth Mills drew a large audience to his talk on 'William Marshal: the Greatest Knight'.
William Marshal is one of the great heroes of British history - a man whose life would make an amazing epic.  Yet many have not heard of him!  A younger son of a minor noble, he rose to become champion of the tournament and mentor to 4 kings: Henry II, Henry the Young King, King Richard I (Lionheart) and King John. He was an architect of Magna Carta 1215. Finally he became Regent following the death of John who left a young heir Henry III.  William epitomized knightly virtues and was unswervingly loyal. He was also Earl of Pembroke and was responsible for building the castle in stone.  

Winners of the Quiz Night - March 17th

Joint winning teams of our Quiz Night last Friday were 1. Graham & Wendy George and Michael Howlett and 2. Pam Evans, Alison Johns and Jill Gowing.  
Thanks go to Linda Brown who stepped in at the last minute as Quiz Master to cover for Rose Blackburn who was indisposed.
Next quiz will be on May 19th - tickets at the door are just £4 which includes a buffet.

A piece of Pembroke's past comes home

On Thursday March 9th Pembroke Museum welcomed a very special artifact, a real echo from Pembroke's past.   This was the old Kalee 12 projector from Haggar's cinema which, since 1986, has been looked after by the owners of Tenby's Fourcroft Hotel, Cath and Chris Osbourne who can be seen in the photograph presenting the projector to Vicki Haggar.
 The projector had been on display in the Fourcroft Hotel's Hollywood bar but when Vicki heard that the Fourcroft Hotel was to be sold, she arranged that the projector be returned to Pembroke. It now forms an important addition to Pembroke Museum's Haggar collection which includes the complete archive of William Haggar's remaining silent movies which can actually be viewed there.
Last November, Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society published 'From Mummer's Booth to Silver Screen: the Life and Times of the Haggar Family' written by Vicki Haggar. Her great grandfather, William Haggar, was a pioneer of the early cinema in Wales and achieved international success with his groundbreaking moving pictures which were shown first in travelling cinemas or bioscopes.  The Haggar family later established a chain of cinemas, including Pembroke which was opened in 1931 by Will Haggar Junior. On his demise it was carried on by Vicki's grandfather Walter Haggar, then father Len and finally brother John until it closed finally in 1984.  
Vicki presented a copy of her book to Cath and Chris and the Museum Committee join her in thanking them for caring for this most important piece of Pembroke history.  It will be much appreciated by Pembroke people who still regard Haggars with great affection as is   demonstrated by the popularity of the History Society's Haggars' Nights.
Pembroke Museum is situated in the upstairs courtroom of Pembroke Town Hall and is open weekday mornings from 10am to 12.30pm, extending to 3pm from April 18th. Entry to the museum is free and there is a lift for disabled access.    

March 1st St David's Day Talk and Lunch

Statue of Llewlyn the Great at Conway

Statue of Llewelyn the Last in Cardiff City Hall

 As a theme for St David's Day, we chose the Princes of Wales.  Linda Asman gave a talk which traced the evolution of Wales into a country of separate kingdoms, the greatest of which was Gwynedd.  Unity was almost achieved in the reign of Llewellyn the Great and, after him, during the reign of his grandson Llewellyn the Last who was in fact recognized as Prince of Wales in 1267 by Henry III, King of England.  His power was greatly reduced by Henry's successor Edward I and he was killed in a skirmish at Cilmeri,near Builth Wells in 1286.  The title of Prince of Wales was  adopted by Edward who declared his own son Edward Prince of Wales at Caernarfon in 1301. The title has since been bestowed on the heir to the throne.  
After the talk, a St David's Day lunch was provided jointly with Monkton Priory Church. The event proved even more popular than last year and a total of £419 was raised.  

OUR AGM 2017

 We had a great attendance to our AGM last Friday - I am posting our Annual Report on our website. Dr Simon Hancock gave a really interesting talk on 'Witchcraft in 17th Century Pembrokeshire'.  He is certainly one of the best speakers we have had - everyone enjoyed it.  

The P&M Committee with Simon Hancock (Centre)

OUR AGM - FEBRUARY 17TH

Our AGM will take place in Monkton Church Hall on Friday, February 17th at 7.30pm.

Following business, there will be a talk by Simon Hancock on 'Witchcraft in 17th Century Pembrokeshire'.  All invited, non members welcome.  Free entry.

Looking ahead to March, on Saturday March 4th we will be holding our annual St David's Lunch at Monkton Church Hall, which is always a popular event.  Really good value at £5 as it includes soup, crusty bread, a sweet and coffee!  To start off the morning there will be a talk with a suitably Welsh content 'The Princes of Wales' at 11am.  Lunch will then be served between 12 and 1.30.  We will open at 10.30 for those wishing to have a coffee and chat before we begin.