THE latest community news from Aberystwyth

Brass Extravaganza Day

A BRASS Extravaganza Day at Ysgol Penglais school has been hailed a huge success.

The event, jointly organised by Aberystwyth Silver Band and Ceredigion Music Service, started with soloists up to 11 years old, continuing right up to 21 years old.

A total of 20 young people played to a very high standard. Almost 70 youngsters took part in the ensemble competitions from local junior and senior schools.

They were honoured to have Cllr Steve Davies, mayor of Aberystwyth, at the event to present the winners with their certificates.

The adjudicator for the day was John Doyle, Flugel Horn player with Leyland Band who also holds the title of ‘Champion Educator’ with Lancashire Music Service.

Principal members of Leyland Band held workshops for the different sections in the band.

A total of 41 instrumentalists attended the workshops.

The evening culminated in a grand concert given by Leyland Band who is currently ranked in the top 20 brass bands in the world.

To close the first half, all the workshop participants were invited to join in the band to play two pieces, Dafydd y Garreg Wen (David of the White Rock) and James Bond Collection.

A total of 62 musicians were performing in this concert.

The second half started with a rousing march, Ron Goodwin’s ‘633 Squadron’ and continued with music from the movies.

The audience was excited to hear John Doyle’s solo for the evening, especially after he had been such a hit with the youngsters in the competitions and the workshops.

The audience had been well entertained throughout the day and plans are already underway for this increasingly popular event to take place in January 2019.

Geraint Evans, Ceredigion Music Service manager, did an excellent job as Master of Ceremonies for the day and gave thanks to all who had taken part in the day.

Grant money from Aberystwyth Town Council helped fund the event and Aberystwyth Silver Band bagged itself £4,000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme after a vote by shoppers.

“Without this grant, the event could not have taken place,” a spokesperson said. “We are very grateful to Tesco and to the public for their continued support. To be awarded £4,000 from Tesco Bags of Help means that we are able to invite world class brass bands to come to perform in Aberystwyth.

“Without this funding, the event would not be able to take place. To be able to have these world class players here to give workshops and inspire and encourage young musicians is this area is priceless.”

Cymdeithas yr Aelwyd

NOS Wener, 26 Ionawr, aeth ein llywydd Menna Evans â ni ar ’Odyssey’, o wlybaniaeth Cymru yn mis Ionawr i wres Majorca a Groeg yn yr haf.

Trwy gyfrwng ffotograffau Menna, cawsom gipolwg ar dref Soller ym mynyddoedd Majorca, cyn glanio ar Creta, ynys fwyaf Groeg. Ymlaen wedyn i Rhodes a Delos, man geni Apollo ac Artemis, cyn cyrraedd Athen a’i safleoedd hanesyddol niferus, megis yr Acropolis ac Olympia, cartref cyntaf y Gemau Olympaidd ac yna aros yn Gibraltar ar y ffordd nôl.

Un ychwanegiad eleni gan Menna oedd clipiau fideo, a gwelsom grochenydd wrth ei waith, Patros y pelican, a’r gwarchodwyr Groegaidd unigryw yn denu’r ymwelwyr chwilfrydig.

Stroke Club

FOR the first outing of the New Year, 52 members travelled to Poppies in Capel Dewi for lunch.

The chairman greeted all and introduced two new members from Borth and wished them a happy time.

Judith and Jean did the rounds with the raffle tickets, handing out many as there were lots of lovely prizes to be seen on the tables, waiting to be claimed after the meal.

Chairman Ann then said grace, before the staff served lunch.

All were delighted with the splendid food, served on piping hot plates which made it better.

After the scrumptious desserts and tea and coffee were taken, the raffle took place.

Due to the large amount to get through, it was decided to hold over the draw for the 765 club till the next committee meeting.

The next venue for members is the Football Club in Penrhyncoch on 21 February.

The chairman then thanked all the staff at Poppies for a really lovely day with them and time to board the coach and cars to take us all home.

Rotary Club

A WARM welcome was extended this week to Rotarian John Owen and his wife, Pauline.

John, who is currently president of the Cardiff Bay Rotary Club, had been invited in his capacity as District Compliance and Safeguarding Officer to talk to members about important issues within his sphere of responsibility.

Insurance costs for RIBI are significant (£250,000 per year) and are met out of members’ contributions.

It is essential to keep these costs at a minimum by a strategic and considered approach to all organised activities to minimise the danger of unplanned incidents.

Health and Safety issues are paramount as things can go wrong despite the best intentions of all concerned.

Rotary’s Equality and Diversity policy encourages the widest possible membership, regardless of gender, sexuality, race or disability.

The Data Protection Act requires all clubs to keep their personal data within strictly controlled limits.

Members of Rotary undertake many voluntary activities in support of children and vulnerable people.

John explained the requirements of registering with DBS when members engage in contact on a regular basis on a regular, unsupervised basis.

Although this is not normally a feature of Rotary activity, members may well find themselves being asked by local authorities and care providers to undergo DBS checks.

Some members may encounter difficulties transferring DBS clearance between providers and making sure they are kept up to date but full advice is given on the Rotary website.

President Martin Davies thanked John for his lively presentation and on behalf of members asked that the club’s greetings and best wishes be passed on John and Pauline’s respective clubs in Cardiff.

Parkinson UK

AT the first meeting of the year at the Rugby Club, the Parkinson group welcomed two new members.

They said that it hadn’t been a good start to the New Year as they also lost two members.

One was Dave Humphreys from Penparcau.

The chairman and June Smith had attended his funeral at the Crematorium, where a large crowd attended, Meirion Appleton and Tommy Morgan gave him a wonderful tribute when he played football for Aberystwyth and the Welsh Amateur Team.

The other one was Lewis George of Ystumtuen, who had passed away and his funeral would be held at the Crematorium on Tuesday.

The group stood for a minutes silence, the chairman welcomed Dave’s wife Ann to the meeting and sympathised with her.

As the day was arranged as a games day, the first 20 minutes was taken over by Lorna Lowe who introduced chair exercise, which everybody participated and enjoyed.

At the end it was proposed that Lorna would come every month to the Rugby Club and they would have a quarter of an hour exercise before the meeting.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing Bocha under the new guidance of Zena Evans, who had been up the week before to Porthmadog for training on how Bocha should be played, as there is a competition in April in Bala.

It was reported that the Christmas dinner at Plas Antaron had gone well, also everybody had a wonderful afternoon at the pantomime, Cinderella, which had been performed at the Art Centre.

The raffle was won by Zena Evans.

Last Wednesday, 20 members went for afternoon tea to Rhydypennau Crafts, a week later than originally planned because they had suffered floods a week earlier.

Hefin Jones thanked Alison and Martin, owners of the craft centre, for a wonderful meal.

He also thanked Carron Martin for knitting the clothes that had supplied the cost of the tea.

Beekeepers Association

EARLY February and although the weather remains cold and damp, Snowdrops, Crocuses and other Spring flowers are starting to appear everywhere and the days are lengthening.

All in all sure signs that there will be increasing activity in beehives as colonies begin to rear brood and expand for the forthcoming season of plenty.

On any sunny warmer days honeybees will be seen out collecting pollen from the spring flowers.

Thus the Aberystwyth Beekeepers Association Spring Newsletter has come out at an opportune time.

Packed full with lots of good information and photographs, the Newsletter includes a very timely article on Spring Feeding.

The February meeting of the Association will be on Tuesday, 20 February in the Waunfawr Community Hall, and again looks forward to the busy times ahead.

The speaker will be the Association’s own Master Beekeeper, Lynfa Davies, who will be talking on Queen Rearing.

Places are still available for the beginners’ taster weekend over the weekend of 5 and 6 May.

A warm welcome is extended to Beekeepers to the winter meetings, and further information on the Taster Weekend and the Association’s programme for 2018, is available from Ann Ovens, the secretary, on 01970 832359.

Aberystwyth and District Floral Society

THE first meeting of 2018 bought a different feel as five members were the demonstrators.

A good crowd for a cold evening were welcomed warmly by Pat Jones, chairwoman.

Condolences were expressed to president Donald Morgan on the death of his godson at a young age and to Lynn Lewis on the death of her husband recently.

Happy Birthday to treasurer Christine Gilbert on her big birthday.

First to demonstrate was Pat Edwards who had chosen in her words ”an easy theme”.. in a basket.

Pat may have chosen an “easy” theme, however she created a lovely low and wide table arrangement with an abundance of flowers, roses, alstromera and tulips with very little foliage in hues of orange and cream. A great start.

Second was Beti Wyn with a modern contemporary arrangement using a posy pad. By leaving only a small circle of oasis on the foam base on vertical sticks she used phormium and laurel leaves cleverly to depict an oriental circle and to this added beautiful burgundy lilies and pink carnations. With the oasis that she had cut off she then went on to create a lovely coffee table arrangement, lined all around with laurel and ivy leaves and to the centre added a platted palm leaf, pussy willow, pink carnations and as the centrepiece a beautiful light purple orchid. Two arrangements cleverly and beautifully put together.

Third was Jayne Solomon who using a collar of sisal on a round of cardboard in the Pantone colour of 2018 Ultra Violet created a low arrangement on a tray with oasis. To the centre of this she placed beautiful Amnesia roses in light purple, short lilac roses, burgundy carnations and purple statice, all these grouped skillfully to create a beautiful coffee table arrangement. She then added another almost identical arrangement, however this time in contrasting vivid green.

Fourth was Glenys Morgan with her theme of Cocktails using a large tall glass with lilies, carnations, lisianthus and gerberas in green, white and yellow.

She then added sliced lemons, limes and straws as accents to the arrangement.

Secondly she arranged purple lisanthus, burgundy alstomera and pink roses in a lovely copper coloured ice bucket with purple baubles and blueberries on sticks for her cocktail.

Another vibrant design with bright colours. Two fairly traditional designs but with lovely added twists to go with the theme.

To end the enjoyable evening Donald Morgan stepped in at the last minute in the absence of Lynne Lloyd due to the weather.

Using Lynne’s choice of flowers Donald, using a previously constructed vertical wired leaf shape, added never before seen green gypsopilia, tall Molusela, green chrysanthemums, carnations and Bells of Ireland to create a fantastic arrangement.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed and all agreed that we have some very talented ladies as members.

The next meeting is on 20 February at Llanfarian Hall when they will have a workshop with one of their own members, Glenys Morgan.

A warm welcome is extended to all, members and non-members to have a go at flower arranging.

A list is available on their facebook page or contact Donald Morgan at Blodau’r Bedol.

Cymdeithas yr Aelwyd

OHERWYDD newid anorfod i’n rhaglen ar gyfer nos Wener, 2 Chwefror, bu’n rhaid inni ddibynnu unwaith eto ar ein llywydd, Menna Evans, i sefyll yn y bwlch.

Cyflwynodd Menna gwis anffurfiol oedd yn rhoi prawf ar ein gwybodaeth gyffredinol a’n gallu i adnabod adeiladau, neu rhannau o adeiladau, yn nhref Aberystwyth.

Roedd cyfle i bawb ateb, ac i ehengu eu gwybodaeth, petae yn ddim ond gwybod mai rhif tractor y bad achub yw TW1 9H!

Church services

ST ANNE’S, Penparcau: Morning service at 9.45am.

Llanychaearn: All-age service held at Figure Four Hall, Llanfarian, at 11.15am.

Evolution exhibition

AN exhibition featuring the ground-breaking work of a remarkable Welshman who discovered the process of evolution by natural selection alongside Charles Darwin will be opened by leading Welsh naturalist Iolo Williams at Aberystwyth University’s Old College on Thursday, 8 February.

Wallace: The Forgotten Evolutionist? tells the story of Alfred Russel Wallace, one of the most prominent evolutionary figures of the 1800s.

On loan from Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales, the exhibition will showcase a striking selection of the natural history specimens collected by Wallace as part of his research, including bugs, butterflies and birds.

During his lifetime, Wallace collected over 125,000 animal specimens, published more than 800 articles and wrote 22 books.

Most famously, he had the revolutionary idea of evolution by natural selection entirely independently of Charles Darwin.

Iolo will speak about how Wallace’s research and explorations continues to inform and inspire today. 

“Wallace was an intrepid explorer, a pioneering naturalist and a remarkable intellectual,” said Iolo. “This fascinating exhibition – featuring specimens of creatures from far-flung corners – will give people a real understanding of the breadth and depth of his work, and his contribution to our understanding of natural evolution.”

Members of the public are invited to attend the evening which starts at 6pm.

Horticultural Society

THE growing of flowers in gardens and greenhouses is always something which is very special to gardeners everywhere and Cardiganshire Horticultural Society members are certainly no exception.

Flowers in a rather different context will be the subject at the society’s February evening lecture at Waunfawr Community Hall on Tuesday, 13 February, at 7.30pm.

The evening’s topic will be the national campaign, led by the National Trust and Plantlife International, to save Britain’s dwindling Magnificent Flower Meadows which can be a joy to behold in mid summer.

The speaker will be Victoria Squire of the National Trust who has been running the campaign in Ceredigion for safeguarding the counties meadows and returning areas to wildlife, and in so doing providing habitat for flowers, bees and butterflies for future generations to enjoy.

This year is the 50th anniversary year of the Cardiganshire Horticultural Society and at the meeting, the summer trip organisers, John and Sue Wildig, will be revealing details of the five eagerly awaited day trips which will take place over the summer.

A very warm welcome is extended to anyone interested in gardening.

Bridge Club

RESULTS from Friday, 5 January: 1, Pamela Woodhouse and Margaret James; 2, Margaret Hathaway and Pat Roe; 3, Herbie Rowley and Doreen Anthony.

Sunday, 7 January: 1, Gabor Gelleri and John Holmes, and Roger Boyle and Jeff Thomas; 3, Kim Marsh and Mike Jones.

Friday, 12 January: 1, Sue Sherman and Pamela Woodhouse; 2, John Holmes and Alan Stein; 3, Doreen Anthony and Dai Hayes.

Sunday, 14 January: 1, Gabor Gelleri and John Holmes; 2, Elenid Thomas and Pam Woodhouse; 3, Margaret Ellis and Con Connolly.

Friday, 19 January: 1, Sue Sherman and Pamela Woodhouse; 2, Margaret James and Pat Roe; 3, Dai Hayes and John Valentine.

Friday, 26 January: 1, Keith Bellamy and Dai Hayes; 2, John Holmes and Alan Stein, and Margaret James and Mike Jones.

Sunday, 28 January: 1, Jeff Thomas and Roger Boyle; 2, John Holmes and Gabor Gelleri; 3, Kim Marsh and Mike Jones.

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