Rotary club

LAST week, following its weekly lunchtime meeting, Aberystwyth Rotary Club visited the National Library of Wales. A tour of various parts of the library led by Cyril Evans, the library’s communications officer, gave Rotarians an excellent insight to the institution’s history and collections as well as to the building itself. Holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals and an enormous collection of Welsh archives, portraits, maps and photographs, it is the largest library in Wales. Amongst its collections are the Peniarth manuscripts, including the Black Book of Carmarthen (c.1250), which are recognised by UNESCO to be of global significance. The library was established at Aberystwyth in 1907, despite strong opposition from Cardiff which at that time was a large industrial town. One of its principal founders, Sir John Williams, a physician and collector of books, committed to donate his own extensive collection to the library provided it was established in Aberystwyth. Later, he also gave £20,000 to help build and establish the library. In its early days, Welsh workers in the coal mines in the south and the slate quarries in the north donated funds to support the National Library. During the Second World War some of Britain’s most valuable works of art were stored for safekeeping in a specially con-structed tunnel close to the National Library of Wales building.As well as providing an essential resource for academic study and research, the sub-stantial records of the library makes it an unrivalled facility for members of the public to research family history or to discover more about places in Wales. The library houses an impressive collection of pictures and photographs which portray Welsh places and people, including a large collection of work by Kyffin Williams. Rotarians were shown some of this art in a fascinating exhibition commemorating the First World War in the Library’s magnificent Gregynog gallery. Given that it is the national legal deposit library of Wales, providing sufficient storage space is an ongoing challenge for the institu-tion despite the fact that many important items have been digitised and are now available to view on the library’s extensive website. In thanking Mr Evans for his excellent overview of the library and its activities, Ro-tary club president, John Harries, said it had provided a reminder of the unique facility and resource which Aberystwyth has on its doorstep.

Choral society

ANYONE walking or driving down Penglais Hill recently cannot fail to have seen the very dramatic poster which is at the entrance to the university advertising the forthcoming performance by the Aberystwyth Choral Society of the Verdi Requiem in the Great Hall on Saturday, 23 April.The Tuesday evening rehearsals for the performance have continued without a break over Easter in the St Paul’s Methodist Centre.This week sees a return to the Old Hall in Old College and next week will be a particularly demanding one for choristers, with rehearsals in Old Hall on the Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and the staging rehearsal in the Great Hall on the Friday evening. Saturday 23, sees the final re-hearsal in the afternoon when the choir will be joined by the four soloists - the soprano Deborah Norman; mezzo soprano Louise Crane; tenor Justin Lavender and bass/baritone Michael Pearce - and the orchestra before the performance at 8pm under the baton of David Russell Hulme.Music lovers will have the very rare opportunity of hearing on the stage of the Great Hall in Aberystwyth Verdi’s Choral and Orchestral masterpiece, which demands a big choir, a big symphony orchestra, four good professional soloists and an excellent conductor.

Bridge club

RESULTS ON 29 March were: 1, Margaret James and Pamela Woodhouse 2, Mair Jenkins and Jacqui Roberts.On 1 April: 1, Mike Jones and Keith Bellamy 2, Magda Corser and Martin Page 3, Andrew Loat and Stephen Loat 4, Yuan Shen and Tianhua Chan 5, Dai Hayes and John Valentine.On 3 April: 1 Mike Jones and Kim Marsh 2, Roger Boyle and Jeff Thomas 3, Jacqui Roberts and Gill Joel 4, Margaret James and Pat Roe.On 5 April: 1, Gwynant Edwards and Jeff Thomas 2, Anne Edwards and Sue Sherman 3, Pam Ellis and Mike Jones 4, Alun Richards and Mike Yeo.And on 8 April N/S: 1, Pat Roe and Keith Bellamy 2, Mike Yeo and Ian Finlay 3, Yuan Shen and Tianhua Chan. E/W: 1, Dai Hayes and John Valentine 2, Andrew and Stephen Loat 3, Pamela Woodhouse and Jo Davies.