Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 2nd of September 2026.
There were 11 members present and 6 apologies for absence.
The chairman introduced Alan Bowring as today’s speaker. His talk was entitled “The Gavenny River – a geological portrait”.
Alan is a geologist and is responsible for promoting tourism in the Western half of the Brecon Beacons National Park. He had previously presented to us on the geography and geology of the Usk and Clydach rivers.
The River Gavenny is a short but charming river located entirely in Monmouthshire. It’s roughly 5 miles long—about 8 kilometres—and serves as a tributary to the River Usk, joining at Abergavenny. Alan had lead walks and given talks on the Gavenny and illustrated this talk with photos of the river and its geology showing examples of limestone, sandstone and mudstone.
Around 3/5 of the Gavenny lies in the National Park and the 6,500 acre – 0r 27 square kilometres – catchment area is bounded by Bryn Arw, the Sugar Loaf, the Rholben, the Little Skirrid and the Big Skirrid.
Alan showed photographs of 2024 Storm Bert and 2026 Storm Chandra flooding in Swan Meadows where the children’s playground and the Bardic stone collection were engulfed.
Also, of interest were:
- photos of half ton sandstone boulders which had been washed downstream during those storms, close to the former Pen-y-Fal hospital
- the source of the Gavenny – a spring on the east slopes of Bryn Arw
- the confluence with the Usk
Tributaries of the Gavenny include the Cibi which is mainly covered by concrete along its southeast journey through Abergavenny, joining the Gavenny before the Usk.
Following discussion and questions and a Vote of Thanks from Peter Watkins, the meeting closed at 12.06.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 19th of August 2026.
There were 17 members present and no apologies for absence.
The treasurer reported by email that finances remained satisfactory.
Ray Morris reported that the Christmas Lunch at the Bear will be on December 16th.
The chairman then introduced Eliane Wigzell as today’s speaker. Her talk was entitled “The Crickhowell Poor Law Union – the Institution and its people”.
Poor Law Unions were 19th‑century administrative units in England and Wales.
Parishes were grouped to manage poor relief, and each union operated a workhouse for impoverished people.as part of broader Poor Law reforms.
Originally, in the early 1800s, various parishes around Crickhowell had their own small poorhouses. But after the formation of the Crickhowell Poor Law Union in 1836, these were consolidated. Eventually, a dedicated workhouse was built in Llangattock in the 1870s. It included facilities like an infirmary, a chapel, and a mortuary.
Over time, the workhouse buildings were repurposed. For example, the former infirmary is now a guesthouse called Tŷ Croeso, and other parts of the workhouse have been turned into private residences.
Eliane showed a 1907 picture of the Llangattock Workhouse and frequently referred to the life story of one of the inhabitants, 40 years old Mary Parfitt, who married William Parfitt in 1854 in industrial Beaufort. She entered the Workhouse when her husband lost his job in 1870 and abandoned Mary and their 4 children, ages 11 to 1. Mary would be left to look after the baby but would be separated from the older children who would be put to work in this harsh regime.
There were around 200 inhabitants in a noisy atmosphere – passing vagrants would be given a bed for the night as they journeyed on foot to find work.
Eliane described the lives of many other inhabitants that she had researched from workhouse records, newspaper articles and marriage/death certificates. For example, Irving Blennerhasset, Clerk to Board of Guardians who was convicted of 31 charges of fraud of around £300 for which he was sentenced to 3 years in Parkhurst.
Following discussion and questions and a Vote of Thanks from Wally Elliott, the meeting closed at 12.10.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 5th of August 2026.
There were 10 members present and 5 apologies for absence.
The treasurer reported by email that finances remained satisfactory
The chairman then introduced Roger James as today’s speaker. His talk was entitled “The History and Culture of Viet Nam”.
Roger visited Vietnam in 2019 and based his presentation on a superb collection of photos that he took showing aspects of life in this communist country.
Vietnam has a rich history that spans thousands of years. It began with ancient kingdoms like Văn Lang and Âu Lạc, followed by a millennium under Chinese rule. After gaining independence, it was colonized by the French in 1888 and occupied by Japan from 1941 to 1945 when 3 million died of starvation. The fight for independence from France succeeded in 1954, the Vietnam War killed 55,000 Americans, and reunification between the North and the South took place in 1976. Today, Vietnam is a rapidly developing nation with a vibrant culture and economy.
It has a coastline of about 2000 miles so fishing and marine trade is important to its economy. It is warm, wet and fertile and welcomes tourists, including Americans despite the war with the US in the 1960s and 70s.
Roger’s collection of photos included street food, terraced rice fields designed to maximize the crop, manic traffic jams with widespread ownership of cars and motorbikes, a fascinating puppet show and examples of French, Chinese and Japanese shrines and churches in a country where religion is discouraged but tolerated provided there is no dissent with the one-party communist regime.
Following discussion and questions and a Vote of Thanks from Les Bevan, the meeting closed at 11.48.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 15th of July 2026.
There were 12 members present and 4 apologies for absence.
The treasurer reported that finances remained satisfactory
The chairman then introduced Elizabeth Siberry as today’s speaker. Her talk was entitled “Julia Stretton”.
Elizabeth had previously presented to us on the local estates and country houses. As a historian she specialises in local history and the Crusades.
Julia Cecilia Stretton (née Collinson) was born on November 25, 1812, in Gateshead, and passed away on July 17, 1878. She was the second daughter of ten daughters and five sons of the Reverend John Collinson, rector of Gateshead. Her siblings included Admiral Richard Collinson and Major General Thomas Bernard Collinson.
In 1831, she married Walter Wilkins, and together they later adopted the surname de Winton. Walter made much of his wealth through the East India Company. After Walter’s death, Julia remarried in 1857 to William Richard Stretton. They lived in a fine house in Brynderwyn, near Usk.
As a writer, Julia published several novels during the mid‑19th century. Notable works include Three Wives, the autobiographical Queen of the Country and The Valley of a Hundred Fires. She also contributed stories to one of Charles Dickens’ periodicals, which helped bring her writing to a wider audience.
Her novels explored themes of domestic life, relationships, and the social fabric of Victorian England and industrial South Wales. She died in 1878 and is buried in the Collinson family plot in Perivale, Middlesex.
Following discussion and questions and a Vote of Thanks from Sandy Waring, the meeting closed at 11.45.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 1st of July 2026.
There were 12 members present and 4 apologies for absence.
Wally reported that Mel Layshon would welcome a call from anyone in the Club on 01873 810860.
The chairman then introduced Ray Morris as today’s speaker. His talk was entitled “The hidden power of the internet”.
Ray’s talk was essentially about the development of the global fibre optic network that makes the internet possible by providing global communication. Ray described earlier technology based on undersea cables for communication by telegraph in the 1830s and subsequent achievements in the 1950s on coaxial cables. The first satellites appeared in 1957 with the Russian Sputnik, and this meant another transmission network but lacking the capacity and security of modern fibre optic.
1839 saw the first needle telegraph followed shortly by morse code. By 1853 the UK was linked to Ireland and Belgium and across the Atlantic by 1855 – and able to communicate with the British Expeditionary Force in the Crimea. By 1892 Britain controlled 66% of the global network of cables and the Pacific was crossed by 1903. Ray described some of the problems arising such as coping with the ups and downs of the seabed, the need to insert electrical amplifiers at intervals to boost the signal and the care/attention to detail required to store and then lay the cables.
The first coaxial cable was laid in 1955 from Oban to Newfoundland and was designed to last 25 years. In the late 1960s Ray worked in the Bahamas on the commissioning of a 760-mile cable from Cape Kennedy to the Bahamas consisting of 270 circuits and 22 repeaters. Ray described problems arising from the cable crossing an earlier American one that was spying on the Russians. He also showed photos of a London bus, a local policeman and a Triumph Herald convertible for the use of the project when staying at a local US Airforce base.
Fibre optic technology was first demonstrated in 1965 but wasn’t commercially available until the 1980s due to glass impurities affecting performance. The first transatlantic cable was commissioned in 1988, and its 40,000 channels were sold-out in 18 months. There are now around 300 undersea fibre optic cables stretching 50,000 miles. Problems include natural and deliberate damage by trawlers and Russian attempts at cutting, espionage and hacking.
Following discussion and questions and a Vote of Thanks from David Gooding, the meeting closed at 12.08.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 17th of June 2026.
There were 11 members present, 2 guests and 4 apologies for absence.
The Treasurer described the club finances as healthy enough.
The chairman, Roger, then introduced Malcolm Meadows as today’s speaker. His talk was entitled “Gaudi”.
Antoni Gaudí (born June 25, 1852, at Reus, Spain—died June 10, 1926, Barcelona, following a collision with a tram) was a Catalan architect, whose distinctive style was freedom of form and voluptuous colour and texture. Gaudí worked almost entirely in or near Barcelona. Much of his career was occupied with the design and construction of the Sagrada Familia Basilica which was unfinished at his death in 1926.
Malcolm took us on an intriguing journey through the city of Barcelona and used the photos he has taken on his travels to produce a beautifully crafted presentation incorporating descriptive videos and appropriate music selected from YouTube. The first item was a video of flamenco dancing.
This year 2026 is a Year of Gaudi celebrating his architecture and culture – and is the 100th anniversary of his passing. Malcolm showed us slides of Dadi’s early work, including
- Park Guel – originally conceived as a Garden City but now a beautiful park with decorous steps and walkways and a meeting place also used for dances
- Casa Batilo and Casa Milo – private residences, now World Heritage sites
Malcolm has clearly worked hard at mastering the inclusion of sound and video into his PowerPoint talks.
The presentation moved on to the design and building of Sagrada Familia which started in 1882 as a neo-gothic design but was redesigned by Gaudi when he took over as architect in 1885 in his distinctive style – for example no straight lines or corners. The video showed the final 18 spires.
Since his death, work has been carried on by numerous architects. The required stone is now unavailable locally and is sourced from a quarry in Chorley in Lancashire – and a modern railway tunnel has been built under the basilica with special features to minimise vibration damage to the structure.
The talk concluded with a video of the visit by Pope Leo this month to bless the completion of the Tower of Jesus Christ which was sourced as a kit of parts from Germany. The final highlight was a light show and fireworks, captured in the video.
Following discussion and questions and a Vote of Thanks from John Matty, the meeting closed at 12.00.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 3rd of June 2026.
There were 12 members present, 4 apologies for absence and one guest.
The chairman introduced Emily Tilling, today’s speaker. Her talk was entitled “TFSR – Tools for Self-Reliance”.
Tools for Self-Reliance Cymru collects old and unwanted hand tools from all over the UK. Volunteers clean, repair and sharpen them and send tool kits to a community group in Tanzania. TFSR concentrates efforts on one small community in Mwanga in the North of Tanzania near Lake Victoria, for maximum impact. TFSR is a totally independent charity based in Standard Street in Crickhowell and has existed for around 40 years. Tanzania has around.68m inhabitants and is about four times as big as the UK.
Emily is the Chairman of trustees and has volunteered with the charity for around one year.
The objective of TFSR is to reduce poverty by supplying tools and sewing machines and the teaching of how to use these tools to build the livelihoods of the people to enable their skills in carpentry, blacksmithing, tailoring, electrical – and bicycles to produce turning and grinding as well as transport. However, cheap Chinese motorcycles have resulted in many accidents on the poor roads.
In Crickhowell over 50 volunteers work on collecting/repairing tools and sewing machines, running a shop, maintaining a website and fund raising. The volunteers benefit from learning new skills and a source of companionship. Each year, two shipping containers packed with 17 tons of tools, sewing machines and bikes are sent to Mwanga costing £10k each and taking around two months to get to Dar es Salaam before taking the poor roads to their destination.
In 2023-2025, 26,316 tools were delivered and 310 artisans were trained and awarded certificates. Annual costs are around £70 – 90k raised from donations, grants, shop sales of garden tools from eBay and the website.
Following questions and a vote of thanks from Eric Godding, the meeting closed at 11.48
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 20th of May 2026.
There were 12 members present and 4 apologies for absence.
The Treasurer reported that finances remained satisfactory.
The chairman then introduced John Flood-Page as today’s speaker. His presentation was entitled “Interesting Items”.
John brought a selection of artefacts that he circulated to the members, inviting them to guess their function, followed by his own views of their purpose/origin. John had mainly acquired today’s items from the Pontrilas Auction House.
These included:
- A miner’s lamp from Eccles, Lancashire. It had no access to the innards thus reducing its value to £30 from £50
- A globe of the world, consisting of two hemispheres. Probably made between 1899 and 1922
- A tool resembling a pair of pliers, probably for sharpening the individual teeth of a saw
- An eyepiece – possibly part of a WW1 periscope
- A metal detector by John Logie Baird, 1927 vintage
- A piece of broken tile possibly from a 15th century monastery
- A wrought iron trivet that might support a kettle. Possibly an assuaging mandril – or squeezing anvil for making rods such as axles
- Piece of stained-glass window from Ypres Cathedral dated 1917 – value around £10 if genuine
- A metal badge with the inscription “Evacuation Nursery” and “Ministry of Health”. Almost certainly WW2
- A wooden piece of art featuring a cat and a chair. The solid structure suggests an apprentice’s project to demonstrate skills in carving, drilling and turning of wood
- A slate box like a cigarette box. Possibly a coffer for human ashes, it is dated September 4th, 1899, after1885 when cremation was allowed by law.
- A collection of hair samples each dated with the subject’s age!
- A brass tube around one metre possibly for horticultural use in watering plant roots
David Gooding gave a Vote of Thanks and the meeting closed at 11.53.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 6th of May 2026.
There were 14 members present with 2 apologies.
1/ Chairman’s remarks.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2/ Minutes of the 2025 AGM.
The Chairman then asked the secretary to read the minutes of last years AGM.
These were approved unanimously.
3/ The Secretary’s Annual Report.
The Secretary’s Report was read out and tabled, a copy of which is attached to the minutes.
4/ Annual Financial Statement.
Ray Morris read out a report from Anthony – attached to these minutes. In summary, we ended the year £1,486 in credit or £405 worse off compared to the previous year The reasons for this difference are outlined in the attached financial report.
5/ Election of officers and Committee.
The Chairman then proposed the following list of officers for the following year, all of which were unanimously approved.
Chairman Norman Hicks.
Vice Chairman Roger White
Hon Secretary Mike Coulson
Treasurer Anthony Seys Llewellyn
Programme Secretary David Harris
Webmaster Mike Coulson
Outings & Lunches Ray Morris
Almoner & Members Representative Wally Elliot & Ray Morris
6/ Election of Auditors.
Les Bevan and Eric Godding were proposed and elected as Honorary Auditors for the coming year.
7/ Any Other Business.
Mike will send out a copy of the Members contact details to the members.
There being no further business the Chairman introduced “Living History”.
The format was a short presentation by each of three of our senior Club members on their earliest recollections.
Wally Elliott described his experiences with a home-made metal detector and how it led to an interest in local history after he moved to Crickhowell from the Valleys in 1967. His first significant find was around 12 French coins dated around 1809. After later sharing his discoveries with a local historian they concluded that the coins were connected to French prisoners of war who may have been working on the stone bridge which replaced a wooden structure around that time. Another discovery made near Bwlch was some German coins dated 1930 which may have been connected to WW2 prisoners of war detained in the area.
The next talk was by Sandy Waring who described his early recollections in a village without electricity in Weardale where his father was a village policeman. The family next moved to Boldon Colliery, a village about 5 miles south of the River Tyne where Sandy experienced German WW2 air-raids targeted at warship building on the Tyne and outbreaks of diphtheria and polio. Fortunately, he had been immunised against the former. Sandy showed us his ration book (rationing continued until 1953), his id card and described air-raid and gas attack rehearsals. One air-raid caused the family kitchen to be covered in soot!
Roger White’s talk was again largely about WW2 recollections. His family lived in Mill Hill where his father worked for the Ministry of Food which was relocated to Colwyn Bay to carry out its critical work on organising food rationing. Roger recalls watching and cheering dogfights over the Irish sea when German bombers attacking Liverpool were themselves attacked by fighters. He remembers gathering as a family around the radio to hear the news – and coded messages probably for secret agents in occupied countries! He recalls just enough food – no waste and no obesity those days – but witnessing a cargo of rotting oranges washed up on the beach! He developed. a love of the hills during a bike ride to Capel Curig. Roger attended the Coronation in London in 1953 and remembers how news of Hilary’s ascent of Everest filtered through the crowd.
The meeting closed at 11.59.
PROBUS CLUB OF CRICKHOWELL & DISTRICT
Secretary’s Annual Report
for the AGM for 2025 – 2026 held at the Bear Hotel on Wednesday 6th May 2026.
Membership. We currently have 17 members on the active list. This is 2 more than at the time of the last AGM.
Meetings. All meetings have been held at the Bear with an average attendance of around 14 members. Christmas lunch at the Bear on 17th December was well attended and was a happy affair.
Talks. During the year we have welcomed outside speakers to the club for all but 4 meetings. In one instance Mike Coulson substituted for a no-show. One was a discussion by the members on selected current affairs and the other was by the members on their favourite books. Another was by John Flood-Page on selected artifacts and their likely function
Talks have been of a consistently high standard and have covered a wide range of topics including science, philosophy, history, biography, social issues, and travel. It would be good to have more presentations from the Club members.
Publicity. Mike Coulson has kept the club website up to date.
Mike Coulson,
Secretary
Accounting Year 2025 – 2026 Treasurer report.
PROBUS CRICKHOWELL Report of Treasurer to Annual Meeting of 6 May 2026
1. I have furnished to Eric Godding and Leslie Bevan for scrutiny and audit. my
draft accounts for the year to 31 March 2026. At the date of writing this report
I will presume that they have been approved! (They have – MC)
2. The big point is that we are solvent with £1,486.93 in the bank as at
31.03.2026.
3. In my report to the AGM in 2025 for the year to 31 March 2025 I noted how
many members we had lost in that time, either because they had died or they
were no longer able to continue. That is reflected in our accounts for
2025/2026: in the year to 31.12.2025, subscriptions (which came in of course
mostly early in the year namely April/May 2024) amounted to £700. In this last
year, they amounted to significantly less, namely £490 odd.
4. We have however had 2 new members join us quite recently and so the
subscription income for this year should grow especially if other new members
are recruited.
5. As to expenditure, this increased because we spent a little more on speakers,
we caught up on CRIC subscription we had missed before, we had a one-off
signwriting cost of £90 because it had to be re-done, we now had bank
charges (£66.23), and we tried placing an advertisement for 2 issues of Focus
Magazine (2 pence less than £100 for the two advertisements). It was
reasonable to give advertisement a try, but it did not in fact bring in any new
member.
6. What has been critical in our favour has been success in getting talks which
are given by our own members, or by individuals willing to speak without
asking a fee.
7. I am sorry not to be there for 6 th May but we are away on holiday abroad. If
you have any questions, I am happy to answer them either individually or at
the next opportunity at one of our meetings.
Anthony Seys Llewellyn
28 April 2026.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 15th of April 2026.
There were 14 members present and 4 apologies for absence. The treasurer reported that the Club’s bank balance was around a satisfactory £1500 but reminded members to pay their subs if still unpaid.
The chairman introduced Bob Burson, today’s speaker. Bob’s talk was entitled “The walk to Santiago De Compostela”.
Bob lives in a converted Victorian school building in Longtown. He was a teacher in the 1970s but loving the outdoor life he became a mountain activity instructor. He worked in the Himalayas, Spain, Scandinavia, the Alps, Pyrenees, and Uganda. Moved by the poverty of many of the children and the unaffordability of going to school in Uganda, Bob decided to act. He got a team together and eventually built three schools in Uganda and one in Nepal – all to the same single-story design with three classrooms and a corrugated tin roof. He was even able to supervise work on the building during the Covid days using WhatsApp pictures showing progress. He reported that he was financing one of the Ugandan girls to attend boarding school in a nearby city as she had passed the entrance exam with flying colours.
There are several caminos to Santiago De Compostela and Bob, and his wife have undertaken 7 expeditions including the most popular Primitive route, the Portuguese route, the English way and the final section west to Finisterre.
The main theme of Bob’s talk was a wonderful collection of photos of the popular Primitive route showing the contrasting scenery, overnight accommodation and characters met on the way – such as a trio of Rumanian musicians who joined Bob on his harmonica, a Frenchman called Hubert doing the walk barefoot and a group of trainee firemen on their passing out ceremony. Food and accommodation – such as repurposed shops – are generally cheap, and the route is well marked with a distinctive shell, so a map is unnecessary. Some nights they slept in a tent.
The impressive Cathedral of St Iago marks the final objective of the pilgrimage and is celebrated with music/concerts, dancing, street entertainment and local food such as cakes called churros with hot chocolate and orange juice. A mass for travellers is celebrated daily at noon.
Bob plans to do the Primitive route again as a 2.5 week walk in May and plans to walk/climb in the French Alps, Pyrenees and Iceland in the rest of 2026.
Following questions, John Flood-Page gave a Vote of Thanks and the meeting closed at 11.56.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 1st of April 2026.
There were 13 members present and 1 apology for absence.
The treasurer reported that finances remained satisfactory, and that the committee had agreed to keep the membership fees at £35, the same as last year. Payment online is preferred as the bank now charges a 50p fee on each cheque paid in.
Ray Morris advised that a possible visit site was the Usk Rural Museum.
The chairman introduced today’s speaker, Mark Davis. His talk was titled “Welsh Drovers”.
Mark worked as a lecturer in Bristol University, and retired to ran a holiday site in Bwlch, where he eventually became a Brecon Beacons National Park ambassador, which is aimed at improving visitor experience in the area. He now lives in Crickhowell.
Mark’s talk covered 4 areas of droving: the history, the practices, the legacy and the routes to market. He pointed out that droving is not moving livestock between pastures but getting them to market. Droving originated in Roman times, when drovers followed armies on the move to ensure soldiers were fed. This continued through the middle ages, and in the 1800s some 15M sheep and 200K cattle would be driven to Smithfield Market in one year. Droving ultimately ceased due to the introduction of refrigeration and cattle trucks. The last known drive in this area was 47 miles from Tregaron to Brecon in 1953 and it took 3 days.
There were 2 main droving seasons. February to May, and September to November each year. Cattle, sheep, pigs and geese were driven (although not always together) and each drive could be up to ½ mile long, move at 2mph and cover 15-20 miles/day. It was always very noisy, both from the animals and the drovers! There were generally 6-8 drovers, with the leader on a pony, and with several dogs, inc. corgis, sheep dogs and other larger guard dogs. Welsh black cattle were highly prized and each drove inn they stayed at needed an enclosure for the animals, called a ha’penny field. Each drive typically had 100-500 cattle & up to 1000 sheep. At the end of the drive, the dogs would be sent home alone on their own.
Drovers were originally regarded as rogues, but later when licencing was introduced, this attitude changed. They often acted as couriers, and carried documents and cash, which made them targets for robbers. Welsh banks were later set up to help prevent robbery.
Drove routes were carefully planned to ensure grazing & water for the animals, food and shelter for the drovers. They tried to avoid going through villages and also avoid toll roads. Drove routes went to many places, including the Midlands, London and East Anglia.
They used navigation markers to follow routes, and these markers were often groups of 3 Scots pines, many of which can still be seen today. The routes often used ridgeways and ancient Roman roads, some of which have now become sunken lanes.
Many buildings & street names (e.g. Smithfield Rd, Sheep Lane, Drover St) bear witness to the droving heritage in places like Llandovery, Ludlow, Rhayader & Builth, and many main roads in Wales and England follow the old drove roads.
After a good Q&A session, Roger White gave a vote of thanks and the meeting closed at 11:55.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 18th of March 2026.
There were 15 members present and 3 apologies for absence.
The treasurer reported that finances remained satisfactory.
Ray Morris asked the members:
- if there was any interest in an informal lunch after the AGM on May 6th – a show of hands suggested there is
- for suggestions for possible Club visits
- if there was any support for a Club lunch e.g. the Brewers Fare at Llanfoist
The chairman introduced today’s speaker, Tony Beardsell. His talk was titled *Llanymynech (Land of the Monks) Limeworks”.
Tony worked as an industrial photographer with scientists and engineers in Government locations like Royal Aircraft Establishment Bedford and Royal Radar Establishment in Pershore. He hails from Holmfirth in Yorkshire and lives in Crickhowell.
Llanymynech Heritage Area is an historic former lime kiln and industrial site near the village of Llanymynech, Shropshire in the Welsh Marches. The site is adjacent to the A483 road and close to the Montgomery Canal – near Oswestry.
This is a nationally significant industrial heritage area, containing one of only three remaining Hoffman kilns in the country – a kiln originally designed for making bricks but subsequently adapted for smelting lime. It provides key insights into industrial archaeology, as it was a major centre of the lime industry from around 1795 until 1914. Tony got involved with the site when he retired in 1994 and his presentation covered the restoration of structures such as the Lime Kiln itself, the many tramways on the site, a tall chimney and a Weigh house, well-illustrated with lots of photographs. The Lime Kiln needed a roof made of a steel frame and plastic cover to keep it weather-proof.
As well as working hands-on on clearing the trees and foliage which had taken over the site, Tony has attracted grants totalling nearly £950,000 from local authorities and the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage. Other PR activities include TV programmes such as an S4C series on Industrial Archaeology, appearances by Timothy West and Prunella Scales on the project’s canal boat, light shows and weddings – and a televised visit by Gareth Edwards.
Sadly, some of the hard work has been spoiled by vandalism – and protected species such as bats, newts and badgers have constrained progress on the project.
After a vote of thanks by Ray, the meeting closed at noon.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 4th of March 2026.
There were 17 members present and 1 apology for absence.
The treasurer reported that finances remained entirely satisfactory.
The chairman welcomed John Matty as a Club member. John gave a short talk about his career as a provider of home-based hospice services in Southend until retiring to Crickhowell – because he liked the area. He plays and teaches classical guitar.
The chairman introduced today’s speaker, Roger James. His talk was titled *The Golden Triangle of India”.
Roger worked for Rolls Royce in Bristol until retirement 12 years ago when he became a National Trust volunteer at Tredegar House. He lives in Newport.
Roger has toured India 4 times in the last 25 years. The country has a population of around 1.2 billion compared to 400 million at partition in 1947. Around 70% are Hindus, 20% are Muslims and the rest are Sikhs, Jains, Zoroastrians and Buddhists. Roger presented some excellent photos such as the Golden Temple of Amritsar which attracts a staggering100,000 visitors daily, serves 10,000 free meals within its solid gold walls. There is much poverty and pollution and the infrastructure has not kept up with the rapidly increasing population.
The Golden Triangle is a popular tourist circuit in India connecting Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur, offering a rich blend of history, culture, and architecture. Roger had successfully captured much of this splendid architecture in his slides. It forms a roughly equilateral triangle on the map, linking New Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. The distances between the cities are approximately 230– 270 km, making it a compact and accessible route for travellers best seen in January when not too hot. The 3 cities roughly correspond to Edinburgh, London and Pembroke on a map of the UK.
Delhi is the capitol in the north. Moghul rulers took charge until 1707. The East India company governed India from there until the Indian mutiny in 1857after which it was governed by Britain.
Jaipur is known as the pink city. The highlight is the Amber Fort which is famous for its 24-carat gold ceiling. Other sites of interest include an observatory which is an enormous sundial.
Agra’s most famous structure is the Taj Mahal mausoleum. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself.
After questions and a vote of thanks by Sandy, the meeting closed at 11.55.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 18th of February 2026.
There were 15 members present, one guest and 2 apologies for absence.
The treasurer reported that finances remained satisfactory.
The chairman welcomed David Cameron as a Club member and David gave a short talk about his career as a mechanical engineer at Coopers Abergavenny where he was Engineering Manager until retiring in 2012.
The chairman introduced today’s speaker, Linda Swanson. Her talk was titled Living Stones”.
Linda was a teacher of business studies and IT applications. She retired from Hill College in Abergavenny in 2009 as Director of the college and lives in Gilwern.
Linda oversaw a Gilwern U3A project about individual histories of WW1 soldiers from Gilwern resulting in a U3A book. Her next project involved interviewing older residents of Gilwern to gather stories of past life in the area.
Next, the Living Stones project aims to document the history of the people whose 1000 gravestones are in the graveyard of Saint Elli’s church on Llanelly Hill. So far, around 400 individual stones have been researched.
The process is:
- Take a photograph of each gravestone
- Research the names on them
- Publish the findings on the Gilwern U3A website
This research involved clearing overgrown foliage – where it was safe to do so – helped by a local group called Churchyard Chums to restore the plots.
Existing information available included an index of graves from the 1970s, hand-drawn diagrams of plots and parish records. The main sources of data included family history websites like Ancestry, a website of mining accidents, press cuttings websites and parish records.
Linda highlighted the many different styles of memorials through lots of slides and was struck by the large numbers of infants and the range of people from humble labourers to prominent citizens.
Occupations include coal and iron workers, cordwainers, ostlers, inn keepers – and a blind harpist!
After questions and a vote of thanks by Anthony, the meeting closed at 11.42.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 4th of February 2026.
There were 15 members present, two guests and 2 apologies for absence.
The treasurer reported that finances remained satisfactory.
The chairman introduced today’s speaker, Katie Blackburn. Her talk was titled “Llias – your voice in Social Care and Health”.
Katie grew up in Llanbedr, is Graham Blackburn’s daughter and currently lives in Llangynidir. She has a degree in law & economics and has held directorships in various charities. She is now a director of Llias with responsibility for the Powys region and has a team of 10 paid staff.
Llais- Welsh for voice – is an independent statutory body, set up and funded by the Welsh Government in 2023 to give the people of Wales much more say in the planning and delivery of their health and social care services – locally, regionally and nationally.
They have around 100 staff and a growing team of volunteers who work all over Wales.
The’re here to make sure our views and experiences are used by decision-makers to plan and deliver better health and social care services.
The local Llais team gathers our experiences – good and bad – of health and social care services and provide support to make complaints.
Then they work with local NHS and social care services providers to respond to the things that matter most to people in the communities they serve.
Because Llais is a statutory body, NHS organisations, local authorities and third sector care providers must listen. Katie sits on the Powys Health board which meets every two weeks.
Powys has an area of 2000 square mile sand has a population of 133,000 of which 27% are over 65, 6% are under 15, 33% live alone. Rural isolation means long journeys for patients to access healthcare – there are only 16 GP practices, 4 minor injury units, 24 dental services and 39 care homes. Key issues include workforce shortages, cross border NHS use and poor record sharing because of incompatible IT systems.
Recent achievements include the establishment of a mobile dental unit and improved access to services for the hard of hearing – but improvements to maternity services remains a work in progress after numerous reports calling for action.
After lots of questions and a vote of thanks by Ray Morris, the meeting closed at 11.59.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 21st of January 2026.
There were 14 members present, two guests and 1 apology for absence.
The treasurer reported that finances remained satisfactory.
The chairman introduced today’s speaker, Anne Hayward. Her talk was titled “On Pilgrimages in Wales and beyond”.
Anne is a retired schoolteacher and lives in Gilwern with her husband, Martin. She has undertaken 11 long- distance pilgrimages on foot in the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Brittany, averaging 10 to 12 miles daily. She stays in youth hostels and campsites, and Martin meets her at planned places to top up supplies/clothes and exchange maps and phones.
Today’s talk was about her most recent pilgrimage from Gilwern to Kildare which she did during the fine weather in late April/May 2025.
Her route took her through the Glanusk estate, near Talgarth, the Wye Valley path, Llandrindod Wells, Rhaedr, over the Cambrian Mountains then on to Devils Bridge.
Day 8 took her along the coast near Aberystwyth, on to the Harlech area and then Bangor Cathedral and on to Anglesey.
On the way Anne visited many religious sites such as small chapels of historic interest and her talk was illustrated with some excellent photos that she took. Wildlife of interest included lapwing chicks and the booming sound of a bittern.
Anne took the ferry to Dublin and then reached Kildare in two days by means of the Grand Canal Way, Ireland does not have the same quantity and variety of walking trails and rights of way that we enjoy in Wales and England, so the canal route was useful
Anne spent most of her time around Kildare studying and photographing memorials, churches and street art dedicated to the memory of Saint Brigid who live in the 6th century AD and who had been mistakenly consecrated as a bishop because of the wrong text being read out!
Anne returned home by ferry and train to Abergavenny on the 22nd of May.
She plans to make a 12th pilgrimage to Lichfield and Beverley in 2026.
After questions and a vote of thanks by David Harris, the meeting closed at 12.00.
Minutes of the meeting held at the Bear Hotel on the 7th of January 2026.
There were 6 members present, one guest and 7 apologies for absence.
The treasurer reported that finances remained satisfactory.
Instead of the usual speaker, members had been asked to describe a book, film, video or play that they had experienced.
Mike Coulson presented he book “Precipice” by Robert Harris which describes a clandestine love affair between Herbert Asquith, the British Prime Minister, and Venetia Stanley and the consequent threats to national security during WW1. The story is a mix of fact and fiction – left to the reader to decide where the boundary lies.
Ray Morris presented the book “1984” by George Orwell on the evils of propaganda, totalitarianism and unchecked power. The meeting discussed how uncomfortably relevant this feels today.
Norman Hicks presented the book “A vision of the way the Celtic Church grew from 600BC to 600AD”. Norman highlighted how the contents reminded him of his experiences of working on construction projects on the Isle of Skye in the 1970s.
Wally Elliott described how today’s news presenters are obsessed with streams of bad news and the pessimistic view of the world when this so often conflicts with the many good events we experience in our daily lives. A plea for good news.
Eric Godding lightened the mood by presenting the book “The Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill” and read out some particularly appealing quotes.
Anthony Seys-Llewellyn presented the book “Wild Swan” by Jung Chang describing the harshness of life in China, particularly for women, as experienced by her mother and grandmother.
The meeting closed at 12.05.