This year we held our St David’s Day Dinner on 27th February as the rest of the weekend was already booked. We chose Gerrards Cross Golf Club again, as the food was so good and it has good acoustics.
We all met for a pre-meal glass of fizz (or orange juice) at 6:30 and caught up with old friends. It was very encouraging to see so many new members there too, including our local MP, Sarah Green. Sarah was our speaker last year, and we were delighted that she agreed to come again this year along with her partner Daniel Paterson .
One of our newest members, Rhiannon Bruce, discovered that she had been to the same school as Sarah, though not at the same time.
David Hancox made it in time, which was a surprise as he had to drop his children off, then get changed and rush all the way from Kingston Bagpuize, which is the other side of Abingdon, and a good hour away.
Gwyndaf had prepared a table plan so that we knew where we were sitting. We had 62 in total spread across 7 tables, so it was a good turn-out.
Ann Evans had arranged for the golf club to be decorated with lots of Welsh flags and, with the help of the ladies and wives of the committee, there were bouquets of daffodils on each table.
At just after 7 we all took our places in the dining room and were welcomed by Gwyndaf John, as chairman and Ann Evans, as President, said grace.
Our dinners were lovely. Kay Day had chosen a delicious selection of food, with starters of prawn cocktail, cawl or chicken liver pate, followed by lamb shank, confit duck or trout for mains and lemon tart, chocolate fondant, fruit cocktail or Welsh cheeses for dessert.
After the dinner, Gwyndaf introduced two of our members, Gwion Thomas and his wife, Chloe Willson-Thomas who would sing for us, accompanied by John Breese on the piano.
Gwion Thomas met Chloe whilst studying at Music College, and their duet has continued ever since.
A baritone, Gwion was born in Gorseinon, South Wales. He gave up a career in banking to study singing at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, where he graduated with Distinction, winning many prizes. He has been a wide-ranging opera and concert soloist, taking leading solo operatic roles with the Welsh National Opera, the Scottish Opera, and many other companies.
Chloe is a Soprano, and has been the Rector of Farnham Royal with Hedgerley since March 2020. She too was a freelance professional singer and singing teacher after a first degree in Music and a post-graduate diploma in advanced musical performance from the Royal Northern College of Music. After ordination in 2009 she went on to complete a theology degree at Oxford University.
Gwion and Chloe sang a variety of solos and duets starting with a piece from Handel and covering Mozart, Welsh songs and pieces by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
A Victorian song – ‘The Spider and the Fly’ was very funny as Chloe tried to lure an innocent fly (Gwion) into her parlour.
John Breese was excellent as accompanist, especially considering the wide range of music and how little time he had to prepare.
We are truly very lucky to have three such excellent musicians within our membership.
Gwyndaf thanked our entertainers and we then concluded with the National anthem, followed by communal singing of some old favourites.
A big thank you to Mike Owen for the photographs – there are even more on this page
We gathered at 6:30 to be greeted with a glass of fizz or a soft drink, and this gave us the chance to catch up with old friends and to talk of anything except rugby.
This year we were particularly pleased to be joined by Bob Ford (who was chairman when I first joined in 2010) and Jayne Pegler as well as Peter & Pat Chapman, who had travelled from their home in Brecon to be with us. It was also good to see Ernest Morris back with us after his accident.
As usual with Gerrards Cross Golf Club, the food was very good, with the most popular choices being Beetroot and Orange Gravadlax and Lamb Tagine followed by Merlot poached Pears with Blackcurrant Sorbet.
After the meal, Gwyndaf introduced our speaker for the evening, Sarah Green, the MP for Chesham and Amersham.
Sarah was born and grew up in Corwen, Clwyd and speaks Welsh fluently.
John Breese then took to the piano and played the National Anthem, followed by a number of old favourites and everyone joined in using the song sheets provided.
The evening finished about 10:30pm, another successful St David’s Day celebration.
All 50 guests were greeted with a glass of bubbly or soft drink – as appropriate. The lounge provided an excellent space to catch up with old friends and indeed some guests from the principality – Whitland to be precise. I was delighted to meet with the brother of one of my classmates at Narberth Grammar School. Our mutual aquaintances were numerous; a joyful start to the evening.
As usual Gerrards Cross Club did us proud with a very good 3 course meal; the leek and potato soup was so good I thought my mum must have had a hand in it. There were also many compliments directed at the sewin ( sea trout) – main course as well as the suitable lamb dish. The staff looked after us well and added to the friendly ambience of the evening.
This year our St David’s Day Dinner was a bit different. There was no dinner!
welcome from our Chairman, followed by two 10-minute breakout sessions where we were able to chat to about half a dozen other members and catch up on local news.
Dr. Williams told us about the early church in Wales and how there was a surprising amount of movement of people and ideas between Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany. The Christians of the time (500 to 700 AD) thought themselves the successors of the Roman tradition, as opposed to the largely pagan influx of Angles and Saxons. Gravestones of the time frequently contain complex Latin verses and Hebrew Christian names.
There were very many Saints in Wales, and one of the reasons for this was that at the time, there was no central control from Rome and sainthood was determined locally in Celtic churches and was often given to the founder of an ecclesiastical settlement (llan). It wasn’t until the middles ages that there was a central role in determining sainthood.
We finished off the evening with Jonathan Pegler playing the National Anthem and a selection of hymns.
This year we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the Society’s inaugural event, at which the founding members had sat down for a special St David’s Day dinner. After we’d taken our seats Ann Evans recalled that first meal she’d arranged for a small group of friends who shared a Welsh heritage. Ralph Broomby reminisced that at the time he was doubtful the idea of a Welsh Society would take root. But it had grown and thrived. He congratulated our Life President and founder, and also the members of the Society on its continuing vitality.
Originally from Bangor, Glain’s resume showed that she had studied in Paris and won various international awards, as well as graduating with distinction from her postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music. Unsurprisingly therefore her repertoire for the evening was varied, and every piece beautifully played. The music she played on the evening was:
Of course, the evening would not be complete without our traditional sing-song, so John Breese took his place at the piano. Despite his very topical concern that an assemblage giving full voice might risk spreading viruses, Barrie Reece could not resist once John started to play Calon Lan and he was soon joining in with gusto.
