THE latest community news from Llanfair Clydogau

Armistice centenary

THE community – which lacks a war memorial – is planning something special to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armistice in November.

With support from the Heritage Lottery, a group of people have been working for the last 12 months on a project to name all those from the village who served in the war and then list their names on a plaque which will be incorporated into a memorial.

The names of those from Llanfair who served in the Second World War will be added to a second plaque.

Accompanying the creation of the memorial, a book will be published, naming and giving biographical detail of all the village’s armed forces personnel, along with their family history, home location and photographs.

The research work has seen individuals coming together in the village hall, where broadband has been installed, in order to develop their computer skills in terms of searching for information from databases on the Internet.

On behalf of the Llanfair group, Sally Leech has been busy collating information from a wide range of sources and researching local publications, along with church and school records, in order to gather as much information as possible.

So far, 44 people associated with Llanfair in some way are known to have served in the First World War and 45 in the Second World War.

A number of relatives of those who served have been providing information and, most importantly, photographs.

This project has necessitated many visits by Alan Leech to the National Archives, the National Library of Wales and the archives at the University of Wales, Trinity St David in Lampeter.

He has also carried out research work with the senior year groups at Ysgol y Dderi in Llangybi.

Bishop’s visit

THE village hall was the venue for a visit by the Bishop Joanna Penberthy, the bishop of St Davids Diocese, who came to Llanfair to meet with clergy from the Lampeter area.

Defibrillators

THE WI held an open evening on the subject of defibrillators.

More than 50 people attended to listen to a presentation by Michael Morgans of Felinfach, who is very knowledgeable on the subject of their deployment and operation.

He explained how defibrillators worked and showed a short film, before pointing out possible locations and how access could be gained in the event of need.

There were a wide range of questions about ease of operation, cost, purchase and how its use fitted into involvement of the ambulance service.

Walking group

SOME 30 members of the group assembled at the village hall to walk to the abandoned smallholding building of Tan y Bryn and visit the Lovers’ Graves located there.

The two graves on the sloping land behind the ruined building are the last resting place of two English people, of a gentry background, who lived together for many years at the mansion of Glandenys in Silian.

The woman, Annie Isabella Jones, was the widow of local private banker William Jones.

The man buried there was Edward Hesketh Formby, an Oxford sporting “blue” and graduate of that university, who moved to the area from Essex in the 1890s.

They chose a very unconventional funeral, consisting of a service in St Mary’s Church followed by interment in the unconsecrated land about a mile outside the centre of the village, on what the newspapers of the time described as a “wild and isolated spot”.

Members travelled to the graves, walking first along the road running north towards Llanddewi, before heading along a rough track leading to higher ground.

At the burial site, Alan Leech spoke, recounting the historical research he had undertaken about the two people buried there, their family background, what was known of their life style and reasons for choosing this unusual site.

Upon returning to the hall the walkers were able to enjoy refreshments.

All the participants enjoyed the trip, which was organised by Eleri Davies.

Soldier George talk

AN open evening was held in the village hall at which Dylan Lewis showed the film he made with Bethan Phillips 29 years ago.

It consists of the Lampeter historian interviewing George Pocock, a Lampeter resident who joined the army in 1915, when he was just 15, seeing action in France.

He is believed to be one of the youngest soldiers in the First World War, having claimed to be 18 on his enlistment form.

In the film he described signing up in the drill hall in Lampeter and going off for training by rail.

His four brothers also signed up and were deployed to the Western Front. One of his brothers, James, was killed in action.

He answered questions about conditions in the trenches, gas warfare and the main physical conflict with German forces in which he took part.

The evening was the latest in a series of events as part ofthe Heritage Lottery research project being undertaken within the village.

Show

THE committee overseeing the next Llanfair Show have begun to meet, and have agreed the programme with its various classes.

The pattern will be the same as previous years, with the event being held on August Bank Holiday, in the village hall.

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