NEWYDDION DINAS TYDDEWI NEWYDDION DINAS TYDDEWI ST DAVIDS CITY NEWS ST DAVIDS CITY NEWS

Gaeaf 2015 Winter

Eglwys Annibynnol Ebeneser, Tyddewi 1815 - 2015.

A well attended morning service took place at Ebeneser Chapel on Saturday 20th September as part of the celebrations to mark the chapel’s 200th anniversary. Afterwards the congregation and guests assembled outside the chapel for this special photograph by Philip Clarke – see our inside page 3 for the full story.

Helping to rebalance the demogra-phy of our local community

Two of our elected city councillors and our employed city clerk have been very busy adding to our popu-lation by having three beautiful ba-bies. In our picture are (left to right) Councillor Emma Evans and Eliza-Mary Gwenllian Evans, City Clerk Heidi Gray and Ashton Gray-Thomas and Councillor Keeley Rose and Tyler Watson-Rose. Our congratulations to them, and to the dads also, Mark, Gary and Fraser.

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Letter from the Mayor, Cllr Frank John It has been a busy sum-mer for the City Coun-cil with several special meetings to discuss is-sues confronting the community.

While good progress has been achieved in assuring a long term future for Ysgol Dewi Sant instead of the to-tal closure which we were offered at one stage, it is be-coming increasingly clear that there are going to be more and more cutbacks in other services provided by the county council. One of these involves the upkeep of our Memorial Garden and the flower troughs which decorate the Cross Square. The county council has al-ready announced that from next spring it will no longer be able to provide bedding flowers for us, or any ongo-ing care of the garden.

The City Council has therefore as a matter of urgency taken steps to ensure that there will be daffodils on the square by next St David’s Day, but beyond this immedi-ate need we will have to consider how best to manage these facilities in the future. It maybe that there could be groups of volunteers willing to take on some of these responsibilities, or alternatively the council could put the service out to tender. If anybody has constructive ideas they are asked to contact the clerk at the City Hall.

With respect to the City Hall our contractors are already making good progress with the construction of the new toilets, including facilities for the disabled, and we are hoping it will not be too long before these new facilities

are available for use by groups at the hall, possibly even before Christmas.

The City Council is also pleased to have made the Me-morial Hall available as a new home for the Day Centre, which, as reported in our last issue, is leaving its previ-ous premises at the former Red Cross Centre in Nun Street.

Another area in which the county council has had to make further cutbacks involves the provision of library services. As reported in an earlier edition of this publi-cation, the City Council had already agreed to make a substantial contribution to the costs of St Davids Li-brary. We have now had to increase this commitment, but we do not now envisage any further changes to the management of the library, and we are confident that what we have agreed will ensure the future of the ser-vice in St Davids indefinitely.

Also, now that this agreement has been concluded, the county council has said that it will hope to organise vol-unteer groups in the city to help with the running of the library, and, hopefully with this extra assistance, to ex-tend the hours in which it is open.

As your Mayor I have been happy to recently attend a fundraising event for the charity ‘Hope’ in Neyland, and also to take part in the 200th anniversary celebrations at Ebenezer Chapel. I would also like to extend our con-gratulations to Cllr Keeley Rose and Fraser on the birth of their son.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

St Davids City Council Cyngor Dinas Tyddewi

COMMUNITY AWARD

2015 The Council asks for your nominations for any

member of the community whose work or service you feel is due for recognition.

Forms are available from the Clerk and Siop y Bobol and need to be returned to the Clerk by

3pm on Monday 7th December 2015. Clerk to the Council, City Hall, High Street,

St Davids, Pembrokeshire, SA62 6SD tel. 01437 721137 clerk@stdavids.gov.uk

St Davids City Council Cyngor Dinas Tyddewi

SENIOR CITIZENS

CHRISTMAS LUNCH Wednesday 9th December 2015 at 11.45am

in the City Hall. Residents wishing to book a place at the lunch

MUST obtain a ticket from Siop Y Bobol. Book now to avoid disappointment.

Only senior citizens resident in St Davids may apply.

Clerk to the Council, City Hall, High Street, Pembrokeshire, SA62 6SD

tel. 01437 721137 clerk@stdavids.gov.uk

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Ebenezer Congregational Chapel celebrated its 200th birthday with two well attended special services on the morning and evening of Sunday 20th September, with both of them being presided over by the Revd Geoffrey Eynon of Wolfscastle, together with Deacons Islwyn Phillips, Eluned Phillips Terry Phillips and Secretary and Deacon John Davies. They were also supported by the Dean of St Davids Cathedral, the Very Revd Jonathan Lean. Unable to be present was Mr Hugh Salmon who together with Mr Islwyn Phillips and Mr John Davies is one of the chapel’s trustees. At the morning service, which was attended by the deputy mayor and members of the city council, together with a large and representative congregation, the readings and prayers were led by Mr Philip Clarke, the organist was Mrs Eluned Phillips, and the sermon was preached by the Revd Geoffrey Eynon. During the service, messages of congratulation were conveyed by representatives from Trefgarn Owen Chapel, Capel Uchaf Solva, Berea and other churches in the area. Before the sermon, retired headmaster and local historian Mr Martin Roberts gave a talk on the history of the chapel, and previous chapels in the locality, including the foundation of the first Congregationalist Chapel at Trefgarn Owen in 1684, and how, exactly two hundred years ago, in 1815 the Revd James Griffiths first gave the land on which Ebenezer Chapel now stands, and also how the present building was started in 1871 under the guidance of the Revd John Foulkes. To conclude the service, the Blessing was given by the Dean. The well supported evening service took the form of a Singing Festival, presided over by the Revd Eynon, with conductor Mrs Marian Davies, and artistes Mrs Davies and Bois y Wlad, accompanied by Mrs Margaret Evans. The festival was attended by the Mayor of St Davids, Cllr Frank John, the Mayoress, Mrs Carmel Bolger and other members of the City Council, together with Canon Residentiary the Revd Dorrien Davies representing the Cathedral, and the Revd Wiliam Owen representing Tabernacle Chapel. The Blessing was given by Canon Dor-rien Davies. Throughout the day guests were able to enjoy not only light refreshments served by a team of enthusiastic vol-unteers, but also a fascinating exhibition of photographs and other memorabilia which had been arranged in the chapel vestry.

Included in our second photo by Philip Clarke are (left to right): Mr Terry Phillips, the Revd Geoffrey Eynon, Mr Islwyn Phil-lips, Mrs Eluned Phillips, Mr John Davies and Mr Martin Roberts.

Ebenezer Chapel celebrates its Bicentenary

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** EISTEDDFOD 50+ ** Eisteddfod 50+ Tyddewi 2016 St Davids 50+ Eisteddfod 2016 Thema “Cylchoedd” Theme “Circles” Dydd Llun, Chwefror 29, 2016 Monday, February 29, 2016 (Edrychwn ymlaen i’ch gweld chi i gyd) (We look forward to seeing you) Nawr yw’r amser i feddwl am Now is the time to start thinking gystadlu y flwyddyn nesaf! about competing next year!

Llanrhian Cricket Club finished the 2015 season on a high note as the first XI ce-mented their place in the Pembrokeshire Division One, and the second XI gained pro-motion from Division Five.

The first XI, led by Paul Lewis, endured a very difficult start to the season, failing to register a win in any of their first ten games, but form picked up, and a vital win at Llangwm was soon followed by winning draws at home to Carew at St Ishmaels.

An innings of 101 not out from Gareth ‘Cadfael’ Davies inspired another win on the final day against Law-renny, meaning the club finished ninth in Division One. There was then a nervous wait to see if Cresselly 2nds could finish in the top two of Division Two, meaning only one team would be relegated from the top league – and they duly did to ensure we will play in the top flight in 2016 for the fourth successive season.

The second XI, led by Tony Kitchell, played with their usual blend of youth and experience, and started the season in scintillating form to open up a large gap on the rest at the top of the league. However, a strong Fishguard side clawed down the deficit and eventually won the title, but Kitchell’s team held their nerve to finish second, meaning a higher level of cricket in Division Four for the youngsters coming through in 2016.

The summer was topped off by another hugely successful Porthgain World Cup event, which again proved a major fund raiser for the club. The club would like to issue thanks to the Cambrian, our main sponsor, and all other businesses, groups, and individuals who have sponsored us throughout the season.

Llanrhian Cricket Club finishes on a high

Three of the youngsters who helped the second XI get promoted!

Luke Jones on his way to making a half century in the Division One win over Llangwm.

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AlthoughApril startedquietly itended inaflurryofactivity.On the16th “Desert IslandDiscs” was back by popular demand. ThistimethemysteryguestwasnoneotherthanPembrokeshire Federation Chair, Mrs AnnNewbery.The May meeting was at the cathedral belltower where members were shown round bytowercaptain,MrJohnDavies.Allmembershadagoatringingahandbellandanymemberwhowas sufficientlymobilewent up the bell towerand walked round the bells. Most membersagreeditwasaloteasiergoingupthancomingdown!DrSarahBeynon’sBugFarmwasthelocationoftheJulymeeting.DrSarahshowedthemembersaround explaining what exhibitions and activi‐ties theyplanned and the research alreadyun‐derway. Andy Holcroft showed membersaround the planned restaurant and then pro‐vided afternoon teawith a difference – cricketcookiesandscones!The annual outing also took place in July, toScoltonManorvisiting thehouseandgardens.The WI Centenary Arts and Crafts exhibitionwasondisplayinthehouseduringJulyandAu‐gustandincludedmanyitemsmadebyMeneviamembers.TheyreturnedtoStDavidsbywayofLetterston with a very good lunch at Some‐thing'sCooking.The gardening grouphas also been very activethissummer.Theystartedtheirsummeractivi‐tieswith a visit to Honeyborough Garden Cen‐tre. Early June saw the group visiting FfynoneMansion.Theystoppedfor lunchatTafarnSincbeforeascenicdrivebacktoStDavids.Thesum‐mergardenvisitsendedwithavisittoa“YellowBook”gardeninMathry.The walking group has again covered largestretches on the coastal path including DinasHeadandAberMawr.AsusualtheDramaGrouptookpartinThePem‐brokeshire Federation production “AnythingGoes” by performing their sketch “GranniesSleepover”

MeneviaWI–OutandAboutMembershavealsohadagoatNewAgeKurling.Thisprovedtobeaverypopularactivitysothecommitteeislookingatthepossibilityofmakingthisaregularevent.Andrew Tuddenham, North PembrokeshiremanagerfortheNationalTrustgaveapresenta‐tion on the work being done at SouthwoodFarm.JulieEvansgaveademonstrationofsand(well coloured salt) art. Each member of thegroupthenhadagoatproducingtheirownde‐sign.Meneviaenteredafloatinthecarnival“NotjustJamandJerusalem”andwonthebestadultfloat.In September twenty twomembers took after‐noonteaatCrugGlasaspartof theWIcenten‐ary celebrations. In September Malcolm Graygave a talk with slides on the wildlife on andaroundRamsey.TheOctobermeetingwasthefirstintheMemo‐rialHallfollowingthesaleoftheRedCrossCen‐tre.Maxine Ford gave a talk on Dementia, andthe Memory Café. She bought with her somecomfort cushions and quilts, mostly made bySolvaWIsothatMeneviacouldstartplanningtomakesomefortheCafé.Menevia WI meets at 7.30pm on the secondThursday in themonth. Newmembers are al‐ways welcome, so if you are interested call inand see us (see the posters around St Davidspriortothemeeting)orringtheSecretaryJulieKirby‐01437729375.

MembersoutsideTafarnSincafterlunch.

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A Christmas message from the editors

Welcome to our pre Christmas 2015 edition. St Davids, as we all know, is a very lively com-munity, and once again there will be lots of things going on over the Christmas and New Year holiday. We have attempted to include nearly all of them and apologise if anybody has been left out. We also have some interesting reports and we would like to take this opportu-nity of thanking all of our contributors over the past year for helping to make this news sheet as representative as possible of our community. A big thank you too to all our readers for your support over the past year. Your comments are always valued as we try to improve our publi-cation. Thank you also to all our hard working volunteers who do such a fantastic job in dis-tributing the City News. We shall be looking for more contributions in the New Year, and anybody who has a good story is asked to con-tact our clerk, Jessica Foster, at the Council Chamber at the City Hall or by email on clerk@stdavids.gov.uk

Jessica Foster, Christopher Taylor.

Torth y Tir Further to the story featured in our last edition, contact details for Torth y Tir are as follows: Telephone: 07955387614

Email: Rupert@torthytir.co.uk

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/torthytir

Following the county council’s announcement that it is pulling out of providing gardening services for towns and villages throughout Pembrokeshire, the responsibility now falls on the City Council to en-sure that our Memorial Garden and flower troughs continue to be maintained into the future. As a short term measure Miss Audrey James has kindly stepped into the breach to ensure that we will have flowers in the city next spring, but beyond this the council is looking for suggestions and ideas from individuals and local organisations that might be able to help with running our gardens in the future. Anybody who has ideas and proposals, or who might be willing to take on responsibility for look-ing after some of our flower troughs, is asked to contact the clerk of the council. It is hoped that it may be possible to call a meeting of interested par-ties early in the New Year.

Volunteers for flowers needed

Ysgol Dewi Sant Autumn Lecture 2015 Thursday 3rd December 2015 David Lewis, Founder of ‘Youth Voices’, the largest school choir concerts in the world ‘More Luck than Judgement’ 7.00pm in the School Hall

The deadline for our next issue will be 12 noon Monday 1st February 2016!

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The whole school were involved in a Spon-sored Bounce to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis. The children had a lot of fun bouncing and raised £800.

News from Ysgol Bro Dewi

The Bike It crew arranged a “Be Bright Be Seen” campaign to coincide with the darker winter nights. We feel that no-one should fail to spot the staff and children of class one in our picture!

Two year 6 pupils were selected to be Bronze Ambas-sadors for the school and at-tended a Young Ambassador Con-ference in Pem-brokeshire. The aim is to increase

participation in PE and school sport through the promotion of the values of the Olympic and Paralympic movement.

The start of the new academic year at Ysgol Bro Dewi has been very exciting and ex-tremely busy. The year began with the election of the new school councillors. Bro Dewi has a very strong pupil voice. The elected councillors had to per-suade their peers that they would take ideas to the school council and be very active in their role of improving many aspects of school life.

Bro Dewi Eco Group have also had a very active start to the year. Through a concerted campaign to reduce food waste, the ‘Munch your Lunch’ campaign has reduced the daily lunchtime waste from an average 3kg of waste per day to under a pound a day! Pupils were awarded raffle tickets for clean plates and empty lunch-boxes, a draw was then made on a weekly basis. The group also have a whole school Eco Day planned and a second

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Frampton Prize Winner Congratulations to Shona McEvoy, who has recently gone on to study English at Cam-bridge University, on winning the Frampton Prize for the best perform-ance at A Level His-tory in the United Kingdom, 2015.

News from Ysgol Dewi Sant

Scarlets Congratulations to Morgan Davies, Charlie Young and Tommy Reynolds who have re-cently been selected for the Scarlets West Training Squad for the 2015-2016 season.

Netball Ysgol Dewi Sant welcomed Ysgol Plas-mawr from Cardiff to the St Davids Sports Hall to play netball. The Year 9 team won by 19 goals to 5. It was a special occasion as the girls played their last game with Poppy Helm (captain) before she moved to England. Playing out of position in the last two quarters Poppy rounded off her farewell in style by scoring her first goal as goal at-tack. During her time at YDS Poppy has represented the school, Pembs and West Wales at netball and school and Pembs at athletics. The girls presented Poppy with a signed ball.

National Urdd Eisteddfod Champion Year seven student Cerys Rees-Harries, was recently placed 1st for recitation in the televised final round of the Na-tional Urdd Eistedd-fod.

Prize Evening Our annual prize evening was held this year on the

25th March. The guest speaker was ex student

Kieran Evans who has recently won a BAFTA for

his movie directing. The students were given a

taste of some of his work with the Manic Street

Preachers and Dexys.

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Golden Wedding

Vox Angelica has just returned to St Davids fol-lowing a very successful London tour.

The mixed upper voice choir comprises former head choristers from the cathedral choir and is di-rected by Arwel Davies, with Simon Pearce as pi-anist and organist.

At a Sunday evening concert at Chelsea Old Church the choir were delighted to meet up with, and in some cases be reunited with, former St Davids Cathedral Organist and Master of the Cho-risters Sir Nicholas Jackson Bt and his wife Lady Nadia Jackson. Sir Nicholas, who was in post from 1977 – 1984, was also the founder of the Bach Fes-tival in 1979, which later became the St Davids Ca-thedral Festival which we all know and love today.

Vox Angelica are now preparing for their very popular Christmas musical evening which this year will be held in the Refectory on Saturday Decem-ber 19th at 7.30 pm.

There will be a competition on the evening for the most imaginatively dressed table, so guests are re-quested to don their posh gowns, bring along can-delabra and table decorations, fill hampers with Christmas goodies and join Vox for an evening of Christmas conviviality. Follow us on Facebook - Vox Angelica.

Vox Angelica makes successful London tour

Vox Angelica, with Sir Nicholas and Lady Jackson, fol-lowing the third concert of their tour which was held at Chelsea Old Church.

John and Glenys James recently celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary, and the Mayor, Cllr Frank John presented them with a bouquet of flowers on behalf of the City Council.

Please contact the Clerk if you know of any couple that may be celebrating their

Golden Wedding Anniversary.

clerk@stdavids.gov.uk 01437 721 137

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Members of the society met in the City Hall on 14th September to hear the Patron of the Society, the Rt Revd Wyn Evans, talk about the life and times of the Revd Delamere Pritchett, a former clergyman of the Cathedral. The Bishop gave a very detailed account of his research into the family and the life of the Delamere Pritch-ett. A picture emerged of a man who was committed to his family and they to him. After his death a me-morial was placed in the Cathedral by his grandson which described, in Latin, what a good father and per-son the Revd Pritchett had been. The talk also showed a little of the cathedral and the clergy of Delamere Pritchett's time through the books which the clergy read and the “commonplace” books in which they wrote and which recorded their daily activities. In October, we had expected the County Archivist, David Llewelyn to talk to us but unfortunately he was ill. Dr. Richard Hellon, stepped in at the last minute and gave an extremely interesting illustrated talk on the ceiling of the Nave in the Cathedral which dates from the latter half of the 16th century. He spoke of the construction and decoration of this magnificent ceiling and, of the 22 elaborate structures which depend from the ceiling in two rows, matched by the half pendants on each side of the ceiling and which are in a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance style. The friezes on the majority of these feature dolphins. There are 132 pairs of dolphins on the ceiling and this is a style of decoration which dates back to Roman times. Members met on Monday 9th November in the City Hall to see yet more pictures of old St Davids shown and commentated on by Paul Edey in what is becoming a much-anticipated annual event. The meeting was also attended by many who were not members of the society. Paul used the new larger screen and the pointer recently purchased by the society and these items greatly enhanced the presentation. The photographs showed St Davids over the last hundred years and included pictures of buildings, land-scapes and groups of people. These last excited a lot of comment as the audience joined in with their remi-niscences and several, hitherto unknown, people were identified. Paul had also placed made copies of group photos available and members of the audience wrote the names of those they recognised on the back of the pictures. On November 16th the Society hosted a meeting led by PLANED where the concept of an “ecomuseum” was explained and the audience spent time in groups identifying important places and stories in the penin-sula. Suggestions were made for enhancing community identity and promoting tourism. The Society looks forward to its Christmas Dinner and talks in the New Year. Anyone is invited to join the Society and the AGM will be held on Monday 8th February at 7pm.

St David's and Dewisland Historical Society

Oriel Y Parc Talks December Tuesday 1st: Tom Halliwell ‐ "Ludwig Koch: Master of Nature's Music ‐ The Most Happiest Man" Saturday 12th: Paul Edey ‐ Toy Story 2. Is it just a Game?

January Tuesday 5th: Lyndon Lomax ‐ three trips and the most Northerly ‐ a light‐hearted wildlife adventure Tuesday 19th: Edward Perkins ‐ Milford Haven In‐heritance‐the story of Milford

20th Anniversary for St Non’s bench

2015 marks 20 years since the Welsh American Soci-ety donated the commemorative bench at St Nons

(pictured) and also were in-volved in the enhancement of the City Hall entrance, involving the installation of the canopy and ramps for the disabled.

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A class from Ysgol Bro Dewi with team members Richie and Steve during a recent visit to the unit.

Since taking responsibility for the co‐responder unit here at the Fire station we have been called to assist

with medical emergencies on over 40 occasions with a wide range of patient situations. The calls we re‐

ceive cover a large area, with knowledge of local topography an important aspect of our work. We regu‐

larly train in lifesaving skills and are periodically assessed by a Welsh Ambulance Service Trust instructor.

As we are self funded we depend on the generosity of members of the public in donating much needed

funds in order for us to purchase a suitable vehicle and lifesaving equipment. I would like to thank every‐

one who has so kindly donated. The appeal is ongoing which will allow us to purchase the very best life‐

saving equipment and suitable "Fit For Purpose" vehicle.

The vehicle you see at present has been kindly loaned to us by the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue

Service and the lifesaving equipment by the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust. These items must be re‐

turned at some point. We will continue to raise funds through events such as car washes, open days and

coffee mornings and would appreciate any fund raising ideas from members of the public. We open our

doors to any persons interested in knowing a little more about what we do. Indeed we are visited by pri‐

mary school pupils who are keen to learn about our work.

We strongly believe that the residents of St Davids and surrounding area and indeed the many tourists

who visit here every year deserve the very best medical assistance when needed, and we will strive to as‐

sist the Ambulance paramedics in providing the much needed initial response until their arrival.

For more information please contact Les Owen on l.owen@mawwfire.gov.uk 07531468913

St Davids Fire and Rescue Station Ambulance Co‐Responder Unit

Citizens Advice Bureau The Citizens Advice Bureau will be running a monthly outreach in St Davids Memorial Hall on the first Tuesday of each month, from 10am to 1pm. All welcome, no appointments necessary.

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Calendar of events for December and Christmas in St Davids

Sunday 29th November

Thursday 3rd – Saturday 5th December

Saturday 5th December

Monday 7th December

Wednesday 9th December

Friday 11th December

Saturday 12th December

Sunday 13th December

Tuesday 15th December

Wednesday 16th December

Friday 18th December

Saturday 19th December

Sunday 20th December

Tuesday 22nd December

6.00 pm - Procession and Advent Carols

at Cathedral

Festival of Trees at City Hall

10.00 am - Christmas Fayre at Oriel Y Parc

5.15 pm - Christmas Tree Lighting

at Cross Square and City Hall

7.30 pm - Goodwick Brass Band

and Morriston Orpheus Choir at Cathedral

6.30 pm - Light up a Life at Shalom House

7.00 pm -Turkey Bingo at Ysgol Bro Dewi

11.45 am - Senior Citizens Lunch at City Hall

6.00 pm -Ysgol Bro Dewi Carol Service

and Nativity at Cathedral

7.00 pm - Civic Reception at City Hall

7.30 pm - Dyfed Choir Concert at Cathedral

5.00 pm - Carol Service at Seion Chapel

6.00 pm - Ceremony of Carols at Cathedral

1.15 pm - Pantomime for Ysgol Bro Dewi

at City Hall

2.00 pm & 7.30 pm - Ysgol Dewi Sant

Carol Services at Cathedral

Judging of Christmas Lights Competitions

5.00 pm - Children’s Crib Service at Cathedral

7.00 pm - Vox Angelica Concert

at Cathedral Refectory

10.30 am - Carol Service at Tabernacle Chapel.

7.00 pm - Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

at Cathedral

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11.00 pm - First Eucharist of Christmas

at Cathedral

6.00 am - Plygain at Tabernacle Chapel

8.00 am - Holy Eucharist at Cathedral

9.00 am - Holy Mass at St Michael’s Church

9.30 am - Bilingual Family Eucharist

at Cathedral

9.30 am - United Communion Service

at Ebenezer Chapel

11.15 am - Choral Mattins at Cathedral

8.00 am - Holy Eucharist at Cathedral

9.30 am - Parish Eucharist with Carols

at Cathedral

11.00 am - Society of Friends (Quakers)

meet at Curtis House

6.00 pm - Carols and Readings

at the Crib at Cathedral

12.00 noon - New Year’s Day Swim

at Whitesands

2.15 pm - New Year’s Day concert

with John S Davies Singers at Cathedral

10.30 am - United Communion Service

at Seion Chapel

6.00 pm - Epiphany Procession with Carols

at Cathedral.

7.30 pm - Organ Recital by Simon Pearce,

for Christmas and Epiphany, at Cathedral.

6.00 pm - Vespers and Candlemas Procession

at Cathedral

Thursday 24th December

Friday 25th December

Sunday 27th December

Friday 1st January

Sunday 3rd January

Sunday 10th January

Sunday 17th January

Sunday 7th February

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St Davids Library opening hours

Tuesday and Thursday 10‐5 (closed for lunch 1‐2)

Tel: 01437 721170

E‐Mail: stdavids@pembrokeshire.gov.uk

Mayor cuts ribbon at rebranded pharmacy

Seen in our picture are staff member Helen Cuesta, the Mayor, and St Davids Care in the Community resident Christine Parfitt.

St Davids Pharmacy has a new name - no longer a Co-operative pharmacy, it is now known as the Well Pharmacy. The change over took place at the end of September, and the Mayor of St Davids, Cllr Frank John was there to cut an opening ribbon on the change-over day.

To mark the occasion the staff, all of whom are retained in their posts, organised a ‘Great Well Bake-off Compe-tition with entries from the branch manager Simon Mor-gan, branch colleagues, Solva and St Davids surgeries and St Davids Care in the Community.

Unable to be present personally because of a family be-reavement, Simon welcomed the assembled guests with a written and read out message in which he said ‘The name over the door may have changed, but we truly hope that you will continue to appreciate and benefit from the services we provide. We hope to continue serving you efficiently and professionally with a smile, courtesy, respect and compassion.’

Cutting a special ribbon to mark the occasion, the Mayor thanked all concerned, and said that he was de-lighted to declare the branch re-opened. Susan Hayward from Care in the Community expressed the thanks of everybody in St Davids for the excellent care and ser-vice that they always received from the pharmacy team.

In the competion it was Simon’s chocolate butterfly cakes which were voted as the most popular by those who took part in the tasting, although later he was quick to reassure all concerned that the result had not been fixed!

Amy Barwick has recently been appointed head chorister in the cathedral choir, and Alice Silver-stone has been appointed deputy head chorister. They are seen here with the Dean, the Very Revd Jonathan Lean.

New head choristers

It has been another successful year for the shop. The sum of £13,300 has been donated to thirty or-ganisations in St Davids including £1,000 to the Co-Responder Unit and £3,000 towards the re-placement of the community bus. The success of the shop is due to the dedication of the excellent group of volunteers. Also we are grateful for all donations of goods from the com-munity and beyond.

Successful year for Siop Y Bobol

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This year’s Remembrance Parade on the Cross Square had to be cancelled because of bad weather. Instead the wreaths were laid at the altar of the County War Memorial in the Cathedral prior to the Annual Service of Remembrance. The wreath laying was led by the Mayor of St Davids, Cllr Frank John, followed by Col. Mark Stoker from 14th Signals Regiment, Cawdor Barracks, and by representatives of other local organisations.

There was a large and representative congregation at the service, including detachments from the 14th Signals Regiment. The service was led by the Dean, the Very Revd Jonathan Lean and the sermon was preached by the Canon Residentiary, Canon Dorrien Davies. The annual commemoration on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month was held as usual at Porth y Twr. Pictured are the Mayor and Mayoress, City Councillors, British Legion Standard Bearers, the cathedral clergy, members of the St Davids Branch of the British Legion, bugler Scott Phillips, the cathedral bell ringers who rang before the cere-mony and members of the public.

St Davids remembers

APPEAL FOR NEW MEMBERS The Royal British Legion is the UK's leading Armed Forces charity and through the network of branches and clubs all over the country and overseas, participates in social, fundraising and welfare activities.

We provide financial, social and emotional care and support to all members of the British Armed Forces - past and present and their families. Founded in 1921, the Legion is not just about those who fought in the two World Wars of the last century, but also about those involved in the many conflicts since 1945 and those still fighting for the freedom we enjoy today. The St Davids Branch has been in existence since 1927 and has a current membership of 16. Regrettably the num-ber of active members is much lower and we are in need of new members to ensure an effective committee can be maintained and that we can continue to organise and fully support the Remembrance Sunday Parade and Poppy Ap-peal. We are also looking for the right person to take on the role of branch Standard Bearer. Men and women of all ages are welcome to join the Legion regardless of whether they have prior military service or not. Please find more information about the Legion at www.britishlegion.org.uk and to find out more about your local branch please contact Andy Iceton on 07967 719185.

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The Play Group meet on Mondays 12:30-2:30, Thursdays 9:30-11:30 at St Davids scout hut.

£1:00 to play, 20 pence for tea/coffee

Many congratulations to Lewys James who gradu-ated at Bristol Cathedral 21st July 2015 as Master of Aerospace Design Engineering with Merit from the University of West of England. Lewys was educated at Mathry VC School and Ysgol Dewi Sant. Lewys is the son of Ieuan & Susie James (Carregwen, Granston), grandson of Jeffery and Jackie Davies (St Davids) and Idris James (Hendrewen, Manorowen).

Master of Aerospace

The annual Bring and Buy Sale and coffee morning organised by the St Davids Matsieng Lesotho Group will take place on Saturday 9th January at the City Hall, from 10.00- 12.00.

Former Ysgol Dewi Sant student Jasmine Joyce from St Davids, together with Laurie Harries, has been selected by the WRU to join Team GB Rugby Sevens for an intense three month training full time training session in Guildford. The two will join England’s squad of 19 full-time professionals, training four days a week while also competing in three training tournaments, including one in Spain and one in Dubai before the end of the year. Joyce first burst on the sevens scene last year when mak-ing her debut in Dubai on the wing.

Jasmine Joyce joins Team GB Rugby Sevens

Jasmine (right) with Laurie Harries.

After school Christmas dove craft session in St Davids library

Thursday December 3rd at 3.30pm

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Members from Farms for City Children, the St Davids Penknife Club and the Friends of Treginnis all came to-gether on a beautiful September morning to present two cheques that will give hundreds of children the opportu-nity to live and work at Lower Treginnis Farm, St Davids.

Every year, for 25 years, the Friends of Treginnis organise a summer open day to raise awareness of what is happen-

ing at Lower Treginnis and to raise money to support schools in funding their visits. Over the years the open day has

become bigger and so has the level of support from the local community. The St Davids Penknife Club has been a

key part of the open day for a number of years and organises the refreshments and the hog roast. This year they

raised a staggering £1,196 for the Friends of Treginnis, approximately 25% of all the money raised on the day.

The Penknife Club was established in 1995 when the president, and founding member, Andrew Chalmers, along with

others, decided to form a charitable organisation to raise money for local projects in St Davids. Since then the Pen-

knife Club has raised over £140,000 with the most recent event being the RNLI fundraiser in Celtic Camping at the

end of September.

This cheque presented to the Friends of Treginnis will be used to help schools fund their visit to Lower Treginnis.

Children’s author Michael Morpurgo and his wife Clare founded Farms for City Children at Nethercott House in

Devon in 1976. The charity offers urban children from all over the country a unique opportunity to live and work

together for a week at a time on a real farm. It is an intense, ‘learning through doing’ experience of a different life

for children who may not know where their food comes from and have limited opportunities to explore the outside

world. There are now three working farms, which welcome around 3,000 children and 400 teachers a year. At Lower

Treginnis, Farms for City Children works in partnership with organic farmer Rob Davies, who keeps 900 sheep on

the surrounding land. In addition the children help look after poultry, horses, donkeys, milking goats and a breeding

herd of pigs.

The second cheque for £1,500 was presented to the children in the picture from Fulham Primary school who have been coming to the farm for over 10 years. The Friends of Treginnis presented the School with the cheque which was crucial in enabling them to visit the farm. There are hundreds more children that are given these same opportunities because of the work of these three charities and it really is something St Davids should feel very proud of.

Three St Davids charities working together!

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Superfast internet plans for St Davids Work to bring faster internet speeds to homes and businesses across Pembrokeshire is already well under-way thanks to the Superfast Cymru programme. Many thousands of properties in Pembrokeshire can al-ready get fibre broadband as a result of the multi-million pound programme, jointly funded by the Welsh Government, UK Government, European Union and BT. St Davids is the latest community to benefit with cabinets 3,5 and 6 serving over 800 premises live and accepting orders. You can check if fibre is available to you here http://www.superfast-cymru.com/where-and-when Over the next few years Superfast Cymru will make Pembrokeshire one of the most digitally connected places on Earth. The speeds obtained by the majority of those that will access Superfast broadband thanks to Superfast Cymru will be a minimum of 30mbps – a huge improvement for people having to make do with much slower internet speeds. It should be remembered that premises aren't automatically connected to Superfast broadband once a com-munity becomes 'enabled'. Households and businesses wanting to take advantage of the benefits of fast fibre broadband should contact an internet service provider (ISP) of their choice and place an order. Peo-ple can register an interest in the programme at www.superfast-cymru.com and they will then get an e-shot as and when fibre is available in their area.

The Penknife Club would like to thank everybody who supported our Big Evening of Entertainment in September at Celtic Camping in aid of the St David’s Lifeboat Crew Fund and the wonderful Project Zulu. It was an amazing evening that happened through a lot of hard work from members, friends, sup‐porters and local businesses, so thanks to everyone who contrib‐uted. Your generosity has meant we were able to donate £2,000 to

Project Zulu (including £600 they raised themselves) and nearly £2,500 to our local Lifeboat Crew. New Years Day Swim Our family favourite, the New Year’s Day Swim at Whitesands will be at 12noon on New Year’s Day and is the perfect way to welcome in the New Year and to wash away those New Year’s Eve cobwebs. The sponsorship forms will be available from our website www.penknifclub.co.uk with all monies raised going to the Porthmawr Surf Lifesavers Association and local charitable causes. We look forward to seeing you there. PS: Remind you kids to look out for the annual Santa Run in the week before Christmas on the Cross Square and Solva…unless they don’t like Santa or sweets!

Penknife Club, Zulus, Santa and Swimming

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Our contractors are continuing to make good progress with the new toilet block at the City Hall. The facility is being built as an extension on the east side of the main hall, and will provide on the same floor level, two new toilets, including facilities for the disabled, together with some much needed new storage space for city hall users. The project was put out to public tender in the early autumn, and the successful bidders were Tony Morris and Sons of Fishguard. It is anticipated that the project will be essentially completed by the end of December.

Good progress with new loos

Seen at an earlier stage working on the roof of the new extension are (left to right) Mike Davies, company di-rector Meurig Morris, and Matthew Lewis.

Solva Community Cinema: Film Showings, December 2015 - January 2016

Thursday, 3 December 2015 at 7.30 pm; doors open at 7.00 pm

‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ (2015). Cert 12A

"Spectacular - a ravishing adaptation of the classic Thomas Hardy romance". "A mini break in cinema form".

Saturday, 2 January 2016 at 3.00 pm; doors open at 2.30 pm

‘Annie’ (2014). Cert PG

Musical comedy-drama; a contemporary adaptation of the much loved 1982 film classic and 70's Broadway musical.

Tickets £5.00 for adults / £3.50 for under 18’s Refreshments available

Solva Community Cinema is a non-profit community project. Income from ticket sales aims to cover the cost of the film licence, hall hire and other related costs as well as invest-ment in technical equipment.

Pembrokeshire Care Society

Pembrokeshire Care Society (PCS) is a registered charity and was founded in 1979. The initial aim was primarily concerned with the resettlement of offenders and PCS successfully managed an em-ployment project and a victim support scheme. The aims and objectives have since altered as PCS now strives to assist all homeless persons with ad-vice, assistance and advocacy to enable them to secure safe and affordable accommodation.

Today PCS assists all those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Our services include, hous-ing crisis intervention, mediation with landlords, benefit checks and maximising income, bond pro-vision to access private rentals, debt advice, ten-ancy support, travel warrant schemes and Pathway Lettings Pembrokeshire’s only Social Lettings Agency. We work closely with PCC Housing De-partment, Social Services, Probation Service and high street lettings agents and independent land-lords.

If you feel you could benefit from any of our ser-vices or just want to chat someone about your situation please phone us on 01437 765335 and we can make an appointment for you to speak to one of our experts.

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The St David’s Day Eisteddfod has now been held on six successive years and has gained a strong follow‐ing over the years. The Eisteddfod committee was of the opinion that a follow up activity was needed in the autumn to celebrate the high standard of literary work produced by the event.

Thus a Literary Celebration was held on Saturday November 7th at Tabernacle Chapel Vestry in which the winners of the literary competitions were invited to read their works before an attentive and interested audience of about fifty people. The works of readers who were unable to attend were also read with their permission by Margaret Mills and Gwenan Mair Owen.

The event was compered by the Revd Cllr Huw George and the Ei‐steddfod literary adjudicator Dewi Huw Owen explained on what grounds he had chosen the winners. Limericks, acrostic sentences, poems and essays or short stories in Welsh and English were all read and enjoyed by the gathering.

During an interval light refreshments were served, and an opportu‐nity was gained to examine a series of folders containing the liter‐ary works of the six previous years. A few copies of a compilation of the literary entries for the 2011 Eisteddfod were also on sale.

Councillor Glenys James, the Eisteddfod Co‐ordinator concluded the afternoon by launching the programme for the 2016 Eistedd‐fod. This event will be held at the City Hall on Monday 29th Febru‐ary. Pictured to the right is Margaret Mills reading.

Mayor and Mayoress support Peter Carter Jones at Medal Ceremony in Brecon

The mayor of St Davids, Cllr Frank John and the Mayoress Mrs Carmel Bol-ger attended the investiture of their friend Peter Carter Jones with the Brit-ish Empire Medal in Brecon recently. The ceremony took place at Brecon Guildhall conducted by the Lord Lieu-tenant of Powys Dame Shan Legge Bourne on Monday 26th October 2015. Guests included the broadcaster Roy Noble and Mrs Noble, Sir Paul Silk, and Brigadier Martin Gamble Head of the army in Wales. Peter, who has been in-volved in St Davids for many years, and who was until recently harbour master at Porthclais harbour, received the BEM for leading the campaign to create a new

Welsh National Memorial for the Welsh participants of the First World War out in Belgium. The City of St Davids helped the campaign by paying for the dedication slate plaque made by Cllr Malcolm Gray of St Davids which was transported to the site of the monument which is near Langemark, Flanders.

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SaintsJuniorrugbytourGeraldMilesreports

At the end of October the Junior Saints from St DavidsRugby Club departed for their annualweekend tour toourtwinnedcommunityinNaas,CountyKildare.Thisyear’ssquadconsistedof27players,includingMaryRay‐mondouronlyfemaleplayer,U/14’sandU/13’spluscoachesNickDavies,NeilThomasandRobertGriffiths,supportedbyastrongcontingentof20parents.OntheFriday,afterarrivingatouraccommodationatKerdiffstownHouse,all theparentswereinvitedtoaGuinnessandbuffetreceptionattheJohns‐townInnwherewehadawarmwelcomefromtheNaaspar‐ents led byMarkMcNelis and Josephine Bolger, coordinatorforNaas.OntheSaturday,followingaquickvisittoDublininthemorning,wewerewelcomedtoNaasRugbyClubby FranMahon,clubpresident;PaulO’Brein,vicepresident,ArtMcCoy,chairmanand JamesLawlessMayorofNaas.Thematchwasplayedingoodspiritswhereourteamplayedagreatgame,withbrilliantdefence,andgritanddeterminationbutinwhichthefinalscoredidnotreflectthecom‐mitmentandskillofourplayers,withthetrophystayinginNaas.

Followingthematch,presentationsbetweenbothclubsweremadetothecaptainsandBestMatchPlayers.CllrBethanPricepresentedauniqueslateplaque, createdby fellowcouncillorMalcolmGray,toNaasMayorJamesLawlessonbehalfofStDavidsCityCouncilincommemorationofourvisitandcelebratingourtwinning.MaryRaymondrepresentingStDavidsRFC,presentedatrophyasappreciationof the friendshipwhichwehavecelebrated forovertwentyyearsbetweenbothclubs.PaulO’Brein,onbehalfofNaasrugbyclubpresentedapictureofStDavidsCastle,NaastoGeraldMilesinacknowledgementofhiscommitmentinsustainingtheex‐changingtoursbetweenbothrugbyclubs.

Naasrevisited!Celebrating20yearsofrugbyrivalryandfriendship

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On Sunday, our final day,wewere guests atNaas GAA club where our team were givenpractice drill, by JohnHolmes in hurling fol‐lowedbyashortgame.Thistheyenjoyedim‐mensely and were all given a ‘hurley’ and‘sliotar’ (hurling stick and ball). ChairmanAndy Doyle presented St Davids clubwith amagnificent trophy depicting two hurlingplayersinconflict.

Whilesomeofourladiesdepartedonsomeshoppingtherapy,therestofwent toTrebaddenWood for theZip‐ItForestExperiencewherethesquad,parentsandcoachestookpartinanexhilaratingexperience, climbing trees, supported by a safety harness, facingchallenges of walking from tree to tree via tight rope, swings,bridgessuspendedthirtyfoothighandtunnels.Thiswasanexhila‐ratingexperiencefullyenjoyedforfourhours,thefinalitemofthetour.

SaintsJuniorRugbyIrishTour2015toNaaswasoneofthebestoverthetwodecadesofourfriend‐shipbetweenbothclubs.Iwouldliketoexpressmyappreciationforthesupportthatparentsgaveoftheirtimeinhelpingtoorganiseandraisefundstowardsmakingthistoursosuccessful,andSaraDa‐viesfororganisingthetourkit.Specialthankstoalloursponsorsfor making this tour financiallypossible, to Richard Cotton fortaking on the task of editing andcreating the tour booklet, and toMargo Evans, junior treasurerand fundraiser. To all of you,thanks for making it a “mega”tour.Lookingforwardtonextyear.Gerald

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Hogwarts came to Pembrokeshire this October as the 1st St Davids Brownies recently discovered. The 1st St Davids Brownies were joined by the St Davids Guides and Senior Section for their annual pack holiday at Sealyham.

Arriving through the brick wall at platform 9 ¾, the girls discovered that the theme for the weekend was “Harry Pot-ter” and from there on in there were magical surprises at every turn.

The Sorting ceremony took place on the first evening with the magical talking hat cleverly sorting the girls into their houses for the weekend, followed by the presentation of their school hats, Potter spectacles and the making of their wands.

Saturday was filled with adventurous activities - archery, low ropes and the world’s muddiest assault course for the younger girls. The older girls braved the high rope course and coasteering at Abereiddy.

Sunday was a day of wizardy lessons, which the girls completed with great enthusiasm. The conclusion to the week-end was the awarding of the house cup, this time won by Slytherin!

1st St.Davids Rainbows have enjoyed working towards their Autumn Challenge badge this term.

The girls found an abundance of blackberries on an autumn walk, and used these to make individual crumbles. How-ever not all the blackberries made it into the crumbles and were eaten before we arrived back at base.

The girls have made sunshine drinks, decorated pumpkins, made their own broomsticks and bobbed apples as well as enjoying a Halloween evening.

If you would like to find out more about Rainbows please contact Rhian on 07989 431 742 Compiled and edited by Jessica Foster and Chris Taylor. Published by St Davids City Council and printed by Right Price Print. Our thanks to all our contributors. For inclusion in future editions, please e-mail articles to clerk@stdavids.gov.uk