THE latest community news from Aberystwyth

The outgoing president of Aberystwyth Lions Club has said “nothing is impossible” after the club was given the highest award possible for the first time. Benjamin Manluctao, who has stepped down after his year as president of the club, will now take up chairmanship of District 105W, which covers Fishguard, Goodwick, Haverfordwest, Pembroke and Pembroke Dock, Tenby, and Aberystwyth Lions Clubs. Mr Manluctao has reason to be proud after the club was given the Club Excellence Award, the highest which can be conferred on a club, by the Lions Club International in Oakbrook, USA, for his 2015-16 term as president. Mr Manluctao was also given the four-diamond banner patch of excellence for the Centennial Service Challenge Campaign, and an award form carrying out Legacy Projects 2015-16. Mr Manluctao said: “The Lion Year 2015-2016 was a vision that came true. About two years before, I discussed with the body my conviction that the club could be given a Club Excellence Award. I was so convinced by all the passion and dedication that we would achieve that dream for the club, and it was achieved. With the right attitude, nothing is impossible.” Benjamin Manluctao is pictured with the Centennial Club President Excellence Award for the Lion Year 2015-2016, and the Centennial Club Excellence Award.

Ramblers

IT WAS quite a long drive for the Ramblers for a six-mile walk, on Saturday, 5 November, just south of Goodwick, but walk leader Wyck had promised good views from the coast path and a fair chance of still spotting some seal pups on the beaches below the cliffs. The walk was based on a New Quay walkers walk which Wyck had joined mid September when there were lots of seals about, and he had spotted even more on his recce on the 26 October. Starting from Harbour Village in a fierce wind, the group soon encountered a sweeping hailstorm, but no one was put off by a touch of bad weather, Aberystwyth Ramblers are a hardy lot. The plan was to have a coffee stop at Pen Anglas, low down and close to the sea, but the sea was simply too rough and the wind too strong, so the walkers climbed back up to the coast path and had their break in a reasonably sheltered spot. Soon the sun came out and there were good views of the wild waves hitting the rocks below, but this also meant that most of the small beaches where the seals might otherwise be seen, were swallowed up by the waves. One beach, however, was still above sea level and this was indeed where a good number of rather large pups could be seen. As it was bound to be stormy at Carregwastad Point, where the French landed in 1797 in their last attempt to invade Britain, it was decided to have lunch in the Cwm Felin woods. If it wasn’t for the women of Fishguard who, led by 47-year-old Jemima Nicholas, or “Jemima Fawr”, dressed up in scarlet tunics, pitchfork in hand, we might all be speaking French here today! By the time Carregwastad Point was reached, the sun had come out and the wind had died down a little. The return route led past Llanwda to Ciliau Farm and from there along a path nicely sheltered by hedges on either side. From the top of Carn Coed, high up above Goodwick’s North Break-water there was a good view of the harbour and the hills beyond. Just then a magnificent rainbow appeared in the sky. Next, the ferry to Ireland came into view, making its way to the foot of the rainbow which vanished the moment the boat sailed into it.

Rotary

THIS week’s speaker was Rotarian Howard Jones who stepped in at the last moment to present a talk on his recent visit to India.The highlight of the tour was a trip on the Kolka-Shimla narrow gauge railway to the foothills of the Himalayas and the summer capital of the British Raj in India.The railway is recognised by a UNESCO as World Heritage Site in its own right and is an amazing piece of Victorian engineering, rising to 9,000 feet over some 55 miles. The line goes through 102 tunnels and over 869 bridges in that short journey, which takes some five hours to complete.Shimla itself has developed from the small town in Victorian times to a bustling city of 330,000 people spread over seven hills, with many houses clinging to precipitous mountainsides. The centre of the city is the five-kilometre Mall which contains many reminders of its British past, including its magnificent Anglican church and the Vice-Regal lodge, now home to the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, renowned for its high quality research. The Mall is the thriving commercial centre of the city standing as it does on a ridge connecting two of the main hills.Howard’s trip was a memorable experience, extending from the overwhelming crowds of Delhi’s 22 million people to the Maharajah’s hunting lodge in Rajastan, where all was peace and quiet.

Cymdeithas yr Aelwyd

NOS Wener, 11 Tachwedd, ein cadeirydd oedd Delyth Fletcher a chroesawodd Dr Geraint H Jenkins, Blaenplwyf.Yn ogystal â bod yn hanesydd o fri ac yn awdur o nifer o lyfrau, mae Geraint yn gefnogwr brwd o dimau pêl-droed Abertawe a Chymru. Testun ei sgwrs oedd ´Y daith gofiadwy´, sef yr wythnosau dreuliodd Geraint a’i wraig Ann yn Ffrainc yn dilyn y tîm cenedlaethol yn Ewro 2016.Cawsom noson ddifyr iawn wrth i Geraint sôn am eu trefniadau, y llefydd lle buont yn aros, a’r holl Gymry eraill oedd ar yr un daith epig a barodd yn llawer hirach na’r disgwyl. Hefyd gwnaeth Geraint ac Ann yn fawr o’r cyfle i ymweld â Normandy, Coedwig Mametz a Chofeb Thiepval – hanes, daearyddiaeth, pêl-droed, a chân neu ddwy, campwaith o noson gan y meistr ei hun.