Beer Festival

FOR the 10th year in a row there was a village beer festival held in the hall.Spread over parts of a Thursday, Friday and Saturday in June, the event attracted a high number of people.There was a fine array of beers and ciders available. All the beers came from the south of Wales and included brands from Tenby Harbwr Brewery, Pembrokeshire Brewery, Tenby Brewery, Grey Trees, Brady Twt Lol, Boss and the Glamorganshire Brewery.Those attending were able to purchase a commemorative anniversary drinking glass.

Superfast broadband

TUESDAY, 28 June, saw a village hall meeting attended by over 40 people devoted to issues surrounding the non-availability of superfast broadband in the village.In attendance to address the meeting was Graham Jones, BT programme manager for Wales. Llanfair residents have been concerned at delays in being able to receive the new service.At the meeting, people spoke of their surprise and puzzlement at seeing the erection of many new telephone poles and the installation of a great deal of fibre optic wire between the poles without, in some cases, the material being joined together.Much of the infrastructure work referred to has been in place for many months, and yet no-one has been able to access or subscribe to the new service, residents said.Mr Jones was able to explain that the work undertaken was all part of the overall plan for the village. A plan which, he said, would bring superfast broadband by March 2017.He pointed out that BT were currently working in many areas of the country and had to achieve a target of bringing the new technology to 95 per cent of the country by June 2017, otherwise the government would apply financial penalties to the company.In Llanfair there is still work to be done, including arranging way leaves with some householders, the erection of more posts and the joining of sections of fibre, he added.He said the Swansea area, which has oversight of the plan, has recently increased its number of planners by an additional 10, taking the total to 14 and that this will undoubtedly help deliver the building programme quicker.The meeting was told that the delivery of the new broadband would be by an approach known as FTTP or Fibre to the Premises.Apart from dealing with matters concerning the superfast broadband roll-out, Mr Jones also answered questions about difficulties some people have or have had with their existing BT services.The meeting also learnt that commercially, because of the low number of premises and small demand for broadband, no private company would be prepared to build and deliver the new service because it would not be economically beneficial.The cost to build was about £1,000 per house serviced.

WI

IN RECENT weeks members of the WI have been very active.Members visited Llanfair’s Nantyfelin Pottery where they viewed the range of pottery available for sale and had an opportunity to create their own items using the pottery’s equipment.A second meeting took place in the village hall when volunteers from Blood Bikes Wales gave a talk about the importance of their work, which comprises the use of motorbikes to carry items such as blood and breast milk between locations depending on need.This service, which is centred around Aberystwyth, is available day and night, seven days a week, and is run in its entirety by volunteers, from those actually carrying materials to those involved behind the scenes in co-ordinating roles and the servicing of motorbikes. During the meeting the sum of £164 was raised to assist them with their work.