Following officers' reports at the Tywyn & District History society's AGM on 20 April, tributes were paid to retiring chairperson Hilary Harrison who has served in that capacity since the society's inception in 2018.

Happily, she has agreed to continue as a committee member.

Vice Chair Liz Deakin was elected to the Chair. Quentin Deakin (Secretary) and David Harrison (Treasurer) were re-elected.

Di Drummond has taken on Vice Chair and William Aucht has joined the committee alongside continuing members Anne Batham and Freddie Collier.

Membership fees remain at £10 and subscriptions are now due.

Other members who have taken on important responsibilities were thanked.

Quentin looked forward to the programme for the 2026-27 season.

The AGM was followed by two excellent contrasting talks by members Anne Batham and Freddie Collier.

Anne's talk was entitled 'Fanny Talbot and the National Trust's first land donation'. Fanny Talbot (1824-1917) moved to Barmouth in 1873 after the death of her husband and purchased 13 cottages and four-and-a-half acres of unspoiled cliff land overlooking Barmouth harbour called Dinas Oleu ('Cliff of Light').

Fanny was an ardent environmentalist and philanthropist. Her only son died without issue and Fanny offered the cottages, through the agency of life-long friend John Ruskin, to the Guild of St George. Through her generosity to the National Trust, Dinas Oleu was preserved for the benefit of future generations.

Freddie's talk, entitled 'Welsh disasters', was a wide-ranging account of some of the worst disasters in Wales from the time of the Black Death to Aberfan and beyond. He concentrated on three areas: trains, ships and mines. In hindsight, many could be seen as preventable and due to human error and/or lack of foresight by owners who thought only of profit. For the victims, there was little justice and scant compensation for their families. His final example, that of Aberfan, the landslip where so many children and teachers were lost, was a case in point.

Both talks were very well illustrated and researched and led to an interesting discussion. The speakers were warmly thanked.

The subject of the next meeting by Dr Tony Lyons, on Monday, 18 May at 7pm, will be a talk entitled 'A history of caravans and holiday making in Cardigan Bay'.

All welcome.