THE latest community news from Aberystywth

Cylch Cinio

GWESTY’R Richmond oedd lleoliad cyfarfod mis Ionawr a daeth criw da o aelodau ynghyd i fwynhau noson gymdeithasol wych.

Gwnaeth y cadeirydd, Dr Richard Edwards, groesawu’r siaradwraig wadd, sef Yr Athro Elan Closs Stephens, Aberystwyth, sy’n berson amlwg iawn ym mywyd Cymru ac felly yn adnabyddus i bawb.

Mae Elan yn Athro Emeritws yn Adran Astudiaethau Theatr, Ffilm a Theledu, Prifysgol Aberystwyth.

Graddiodd o Goleg Somerville, Rhydychen. Trwy gydol ei gyrfa, bu’n arloeswraig a rhoddodd oes o wasanaeth i’r byd cyfryngol a pholisi cyhoeddus yng Nghymru a thu hwnt.

Ar hyn o bryd mae yn un o ymddiriedolwyr y BBC, yn cadeirio Pwyllgor Cynulleidfa Cymru, yn aelod o Awdurdod S4C, ac yn gyfarwyddwr ar Fwrdd Perfformiad a Strategaeth Llywodraeth Cymru.

Roedd ei sgwrs yn hynod o diddorol ac yn llawn ffeithiau a ystadegau difyr, am y BBC yn bennaf.

Dywedodd bod yna lawer iawn o heriau yn wynebu’r Gorfforaeth.

Rhoddodd i ni ddarlun o’r newid sylweddol sy’n digwydd mewn arferion gwylio teledu a dywedodd bod y BBC erbyn hyn yn wynebu cystadleuaeth ffyrnig gan gwmniau rhyngwladol enfawr.

Mae’n amlwg bod y byd cyfryngol yn allweddol i’r economi a chyfeiriodd at ganolfan newydd S4C yng Nghaerfyrddin, Yr Egin a chanolfan newydd y BBC yng Nghaerdydd fel tyst o hynny.

Mae’r newid yn natur a chynnwys rhaglenni teledu yn ogystal a’r ffordd mae pobol yn gwylio rhaglenni yn mynd i fod yn sialens i’r BBC.

Un or ystadegau oedd bod bobl ifanc dan 35 oed yn gwylio rhaglenni ar wahanol blatform ac yn dewis pryd i wneud hynny yn hytrach na gwylio pan fydd rhaglenni yn cael eu darlledu.

O diddordeb i ambell aelod dros 75 sy’n cael trwydded deledu am ddim ond mae’r gost am hyn tua £745 milliwn.

Gall hyn newid ar ôl 2020 pan fydd y gost yn cael ei throsglwyddo o’r Llywodraeth i’r BBC.

Cafwyd tipyn o drafod am hyn ymhlith yr aelodau ac mae ymgynghoriad cyhoeddus yn bodoli a cyfle i gymryd rhan ar www.bbc.com/yoursay

Talwyd y diolchiadau gan Dai Harris ac enillydd y raffl oedd Malcolm Davies.

Noder newid dyddiad ein cyfarfod nesaf a fydd yn cymryd lle ar nos Wener, 15 Chwefror.

Byddwn yn ymweld ag Amgueddfa Ceredigion yng nghwmni Alice Briggs, curadur yr amgueddfa. Cewn gyfle hefyd i fwynhau pryd o fwyd yno.

Probus Club

THE club has enjoyed an eclectic series of talks so far in the 2018/19 session.

In September, John Bradshaw entertained members with tales from his most recent long-distance motorcycle ride from New York to Los Angeles.

At the end of October, Dr Peter Dennis from the British Cave Rescue Council provided an insightful talk from behind the scenes at the international cave rescue in Thailand.

In November, Colin Laker, curator of the Robert Owen Museum in Newtown, gave a fascinating account of the life and times of the great Welsh social reformer.

The club ended 2018 with a convivial Christmas lunch for members and their guests at Plas Antaron.

The first talk of 2019 will be at 11am on Wednesday, 30 January, in Waunfawr Community Hall, when Dr Chris Fletcher will tell us of his travels in the sacred mountains of Tibet.

Plascrug Bridge Club

RESULTS from 8 January: 1, Alan stein and John Holmes; 2, Sue Sherman and Linda Crawford; 3, Agnes McKenzie and Mary Jones.

Results from 15 January: Joint 1, Margaret James and Pamela Woodhouse, and Sue Sherman and Linda Crawford; joint 3, Mary Jones and Dylan Raw-Rees, and John Holmes and Alan Stein.

Postcard Club

AT the 35th annual general meeting of the Aberystwyth Postcard Club, held on 8 January, Susan Whitehouse of Tywyn was elected as this year’s chairperson.

Peter Henley of Bow Street was appointed as secretary and Gillian Hopkins of Clarach as treasurer and vice chairman.

The lottery organisers will be Janet Preece of Furnace and Lorely Lansley of Penparcau.

The next meeting will be the annual competition on Tuesday, 5 February, at 2pm at St. David’s Church Hall, Bath Street.

Holy Trinity Church

ON a cold, dreary afternoon, the children’s choir restarted after the Christmas break, with 10 children ready and eager to restart the practices.

The practice was a great success and with leader David Cooper having the longer term view very much in mind, started a look at the Royal School of Church Music’s Voice for Life Training Course.

This provides a framework for the children to develop their vocal skills, musical understanding and knowledge of music.

In the shorter term, however, David is focusing on the choir playing a prominent role in the Mothering Sunday service on 31 March.

Later on in the year, there are already two potentially very exciting days in prospect for the children.

Parents with children interested in joining the children’s choir are welcome to go to Holy Trinity on Friday afternoons at 4pm to see the children learning to sing in a choir while enjoying themselves and having fun.

They are also welcome to contact David on 07890 027413 or via email at [email protected] for further information.

Sunday, 27 January, is the annual RNLI service at 11am.

The service will be lead by the vicar, Rev Mark Ansell, and the guest preacher will be former Holy Trinity vicar Rev Ian Girling, who was also, prior to his retirement, the chaplain to the Aberystwyth branch of the RNLI.

A warm welcome is extended to all. Tea and coffee is always served in church after the 11am services and will offer a chance to meet and chat to Ian after the service.

Cymdeithas yr Aelwyd

NOS Wener, 18 Ionawr, Lionel Madden oedd ein cadeirydd ac fe groesawodd Kate O’Sullivan.

Milfeddyg yw Kate, sy’n gweithio yng nghanolfan Milfeddygfa Ystwyth Vets yn Llanbadarn Fawr lle ffilmiwyd y gyfres Y Fets a ymddangosodd ar S4C llynedd.

Siaradodd Kate am ei gwaith o ddydd i ddydd, yn bennaf gyda ch?n a chathod, a gwelsom luniau o rai o’r anafiadau erchyll y mae Kate yn gorfod eu hwynebu.

Mae Kate yn arbenigo mewn llawdriniaethau i drwsio esgyrn a chlywsom am y problemau wrth ddeilio â choesau a chymalau bach.

Diddorol oedd clywed fod ymddygiad c?n yn y sefyllaoedd hyn yn gallu amrywio o frid i frid, a bod ffisiotherapi i g?n ar gael yn Aberystwyth.

Bydd y camerau nôl yng nghanolfan Ystwyth cyn bo hir ac edrychwn ymlaen i weld Kate a’i chydweithwyr ar y sgrin fach unwaith eto.

Choral Society

REHEARSALS of Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation, for the society’s spring concert on Saturday, 27 April in the Great Hall, got under way last Tuesday evening in the Old Hall, Old College.

On a dull, dreary January evening, over 60 choristers were in the rehearsal and conductor David Russell Hulme was delighted to welcome new singers in the altos and tenors.

There are some thrilling choruses in the works and David set to work on two of them for this first rehearsal – Despairing Cursing Rage and Awake the Harp.

A very enjoyable practice ensued and with rehearsals just starting to get underway, new choristers in all four voices, both experienced singers and those wishing to try a new musical genre, will be more than welcome.

Anyone interested should go to the Old Hall on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm. The society has a no auditions policy.

Further information is available from the chairman, June Wilson, on 07852 188184.

Rotary Club

THE guest speaker at last week’s meeting was Tony Moyes, lecturer in human geography at Aberystwyth University until 2000.

The theme of his talk was travel and he began with the observation that some would contend that an ability to travel more and more is both a requirement for economic growth and a yardstick of it.

He illustrated how our perception of travel, and the growth of travel, has increased over recent decades; this has had a visible impact on the local landscape, our working, and domestic and leisure practices.

Closure of the Aberystwyth–Carmarthen railway in the 1960s was a major episode in the history of the local community and Mr Moyes gave a thought-provoking overview of issues that would have to be considered with regard to the project to reopen the line.

There was an interesting comparison between this proposal and the recently reopened Edinburgh –Tweedbank railway.

There, the existence of the line had attracted new commuter travel and passenger numbers in the first year of reopening had been double the predicted demand.

However, the population levels and distribution along the Scottish Borders line were very different to the Aberystwyth-Carmarthen line.

Among the major considerations in pursuing the goal of reopening the rail connection were the current physical circumstances along the route, ecological issues, sustainability and efficiency in terms of passenger preferences, and comparative costs of rail and other modes of travel.

Stroke Club

FOR the first outing of the new year, 50 members travelled to Poppies at Capel Dewi on 16 January.

After Judith and Jean did the rounds with the raffle tickets, the 750 club numbers were drawn while waiting for the meal.

Then the staff served a splendid feast that was enjoyed by all.

Once tea and coffee were handed out, the raffle started, with many good gifts to be had.

The chairlady informed the group that on Saturday, 26 January, a collection for the club is being held at Tesco, starting at 9am, and asked for members to spread the word to ensure as many people as possible will turn out to support them during the day.

The social secretary then told members that the next luncheon will be at the town’s football club on Wednesday, 20 February.

After thanking the staff at Poppies for a lovely meal and good service, the group set off home.

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