'The History Beneath our Feet' - Talk by Jack Tree on January 7th

Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society will begin the New Year with a Talk and Coffee Morning in Pembroke Town Hall on Saturday, January 7th 10am – 12pm. 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. There will be an opportunity to purchase our latest publication ‘Monkton: a Hidden History’ and an accompanying display can be viewed in the Council Chamber. Following this, at 11am, Jack Tree will give his talk ‘History Beneath our Feet' in the George Lewis Room. Jack Tree is well known for his work with the Pembrokeshire Prospector’s Society, of which he was a former Chairman, and he will be bringing along a display of artefacts discovered during his many years with the Society.

Christmas display in St Mary's Church

With Christmas upon us, time to change our display in St Mary's Church with something more seasonal. I chose the theme of Christmas traditions. First, a nostalgic look back to the time when St Michael's Hall was the scene of amateur dramatics, most memorably the Christmas panto. Sadly, the Hall fell into disuse and was sold. It has now been converted into a private dwelling. Second, the Pembroke Christmas card. George Lewis, sadly missed by us all, began another tradition - designing Pembroke's official Christmas card. Each year he painted a Pembroke snow scene for the Mayor's Christmas card, copies of which are on display. Dudley Jones is now carrying on this tradition - his 2022 card depicts the new William Marshal statue.

Icy weather

'It's getting to look a lot like Christmas ...' so the song goes. And it was certainly exceptionally cold yesterday when I took this photo. The Castle Pond was frozen over and I haven't seen that for many years!

Pembroke Castle Christmas Market

We had a great time at Pembroke Castle's Christmas Market. We launched our latest publication 'Monkton: A Hidden history' which proved a big success and a big thank you to Heritage Lottery Wales for awarding us the grant to make it possible. Despite being closed on Saturday because of the high winds, Sunday made up for it - absolutely packed out! After an absence of 2 years, it was so good to see the return of this lovely event.

Getting ready for Christmas

Christmas is coming and we have changed the shop window next to Brown's Cafe (courtesy of Mrs Genys Brown). This time the theme is Toys from Christmas Past - featuring some of the Museum's vintage toy collection.

New publication - Monkton: A Hidden History

We are pleased to announce the publication of its latest book ‘Monkton – a Hidden History’. Written by Linda Asman and Keith Johnson with contributions from many local people, the book brings to light the rich heritage of Monkton, much neglected by historians. We are very thankful to the Heritage Lottery for funding its publication and the book will be launched at Pembroke Castle’s Christmas Market where the History Society will have a stall. The Market runs from Friday 25th to Sunday 27th November. Overshadowed somewhat by historic Pembroke, Monkton too can boast an impressive history, a history which dates back to the Old Stone Age. It encompasses the rise and fall of Pembroke Priory, the Civil War when Cromwell located his cannons here, the building of the Victorian terraces of Priory Mains to house Dockyard workers and the restoration of the Priory Church. In the course of researching the book, lesser-known information emerged such as the surprising fact that Monkton was a centre of the Mormon religion in the 1850s, with one of only three Mormon chapels in Wales. And research into the village's maritime past has revealed that it once had a thriving shipbuilding yard and that timber from Canada was imported to Monkton quay. Proudly independent of its larger neighbour, Pembroke, Monkton was virtually a self-contained community for over a century with shops and tradesmen of every kind, farms and quarries, schools and pubs and regular livestock fairs in the village street. Sadly, much of the character of the village was lost in the early 1960s when the local council decided to bulldoze most of the old terraces and replace them with a modern housing estate. The late Pauline Waters was a leading member of our Society and we have dedicated the book to her memory and to all who shared her love of old Monkton.

Remembrance Sunday, November 13th

It was good to see so many, including large numbers of children, at the Remembrance Sunday service at Pembroke Cenotaph. A Church Service was held at St Mary's afterwards where the History Society had put up a display for Remembrance.