THE latest community news from Aberystwyth

50+ Forum

AT the end of June, Aberystwyth 50+ Forum went on a trip to Powys Castle, outside Welshpool.

The group was lucky to go while the House of Portraits exhibition was being staged and, as well as works by prominent artists such as Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, they were shown a variety of other portraits of the Herbert family, who lived at the castle for over four centuries – all with a detailed audio description.

Many members of the group also toured the beautiful gardens, which cover many acres.

They looked stunning in the lovely weather.

Members with limited mobility, who could not manage the steps in the Castle, enjoyed a virtual tour of the Castle and its grounds via an iPad.

The 50+ Forum meets on the last Wednesday of alternate months with an activity or trip in the intervening months.

The next meeting will be at 2pm on Wednesday, 25 July, in the Morlan Centre, Queen’s Road, when Ben Lake, MP, will talk about his political life and his involvement with issues affecting older people.

If you are over 50 and would like to join the forum, come along to the meeting on the 25th or contact the chairperson Mair Benjamin on 01970 615854.

Bridge Club

KEITH Bellamy and Dai Hayes were the winners on 29 June. Herbie Rowley and Doreen Anthony were second. Martin Page and Magda Corser were joint third with Roger Boyle and Jeff Thomas.

Three pairs bid and made the 6NT slam on Board 24. One pair made a similar slam on Board 23 but despite having 33 points between the two hand, the contract should fail as there is nowhere to dispose of two losing spades.

Winners on 1 July were Pat Roe and Margaret James. Pamela Woodhouse and Elenid Thomas were second and Yuan Shen and John Holmes third.

Aberystwyth Bridge Club normally plays twice a week in Waunfawr Community Hall, starting at 6.45pm with Friday being the main evening. For further information, please ring the club secretary on 01970 639229.

For beginners’ lessons, contact Elenid Thomas on 01970 828765.

University conference

EDUCATIONALISTS from 89 countries will convene at Aberystwyth University on 11-13 July to discuss the latest developments in children’s education.

Hosted by the University’s School of Education, A Child’s World – New Shoes, New Direction builds on the success of Aberystwyth’s ‘A Child’s World: Next Steps’ conference in 2014.

With 118 papers due to be presented over the three days, the focus this year will be on new concepts in Health and Wellbeing, Pedagogy and Working with Children.

The conference will be opened by Prof Elizabeth Treasure, Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University, on Monday, 11 July. U3A

On Thursday, 12 June, the visiting speaker was Rhiannon Evans who delighted the members with her visual talk on the subject of (Chwedlau mewn Gemwaith / Legends in Jewellery). The talk was a bilingual event with translation provided by Rhys.

Rhiannon who has been designing and making unique and beautiful jewellery in the heart of Wales for over 30 years.

The base is in Tregaron in the foothills of the Cambrian mountains. From early beginnings in the 1970’s, it has developed into a family business supplying Welsh and Celtic design jewellery Worldwide.

Both her new designs and old favourites are inspired by living and working as closely as possible to the old language and traditions of the Celts.

The next meeting at the Morlan centre will be on 19 July at 2.30pm when the visiting speaker will be Jennifer Carns and the subject will be ‘Stories and Stones, History and mystery in West Ceredigion’.

Jennifer was born at the beginning of World War II in Llanidloes of Welsh-speaking parents and did her degree in Lampeter. Jennifer now fills her retirement with local history research. Her speciality subjects are Welsh herbal medicines, Cardiganshire ghosts, her home area Ceredigion, local history topics and the parish of Pencarrog.

Horticultural Society

THE third of the Cardiganshire Horticultural Society’s 50th Anniversary year’s summer outings, took place last Tuesday, 3 July, when a party travelled to Shropshire to visit the renowned David Austin Roses centre near Albrighton.

The visit to David Austin Roses started with a very welcome coffee and Danish pastries on arrival where the two guides assigned to take the party round the huge enterprise introduced themselves. The party then split into two for a truly amazing tour which incorporated a visit behind the scenes to the glass houses to see where and how the roses of tomorrow are selected. The visit ended with the party enjoying an excellent two course buffet lunch before returning to Shrewsbury to visit the award winning Bowbrook Community Allotments. On arrival Peter Haycox welcomed the party and after a brief introduction to the site and its history took us round the 93 plots on a five-acre site which have deservedly featured on BBC TV and local radio and several magazines. Many interesting wildlife friendly initiatives were seen and half way round the site, tea and a wonderful selection of home-made cakes produced by plot-holders, was hugely enjoyed.

The day was very warm and sunny throughout and all enjoyed a wonderful contrasting day where the impacts of the current long dry spell of very warm weather were starkly visible throughout.

The fourth trip of the season is on Tuesday, 31 July, and is a contrasting summers day in rural Powys visiting David Austin’s daughters hardy plant nursery near Sarn and Cwm-Weeg, a nearby garden which has been making a big name for itself in recent years. Places are still available and a warm welcome is extended to anyone interested in gardening and horticulture, to join it and the remaining summer outing at the end of August.

More information can be obtained from the chairman, Jan Eldridge on 01970 828949, and from the society’s website.

If you’re a member of a club, society or group, send your news to [email protected]