St David’s Day Dinner 2024

St David’s Day Black Tie Dinner – held on 1st March at Gerrards Cross Golf Club

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.

 

The after-dinner entertainment was provided by a harpist – Lucy Hewitt.  A local artiste who attended Dr. Challoner’s High School in Little Chalfont. In 2021 she was the Bucks Young Musician of the Year. She concluded her Harp pieces with the Welsh National Anthem – which was accompanied by all guests singing with gusto.

 

 

The evening concluded with “community singing” around the Electronic Keyboard – superbly played by John Breeze. Six hymns ( 3 in Welsh and 3 in English) ensured that we all departed with ‘a song in our heart’.

Well done to the Committee for a very successful evening and fluent compering from Gwyndaf John – with both amusing and informative potted history of St. David.

Da iawn.

Gwyn Owen  5/03/24

 

You can see more photographs of the evening here.

Quiz Night 2024

19th January 2024

We all gathered at Coleshill Village Hall at 7pm for our first engagement of the year.

30 of us formed into 5 teams to do battle in Colin Picton’s Quiz Evening.

We were pleased to welcome some new (and newish) members and their guests –

Lorraine Boyd and her partner, Ian,  also Heather Roberts with her son Mark Roberts and daughter Susan Paul.

Chairman Gwyndaf John opened proceedings and handed over to Kate Picton to give an update on Jonathan Pegler’s progress in hospital. We all wished him a speedy recovery

Colin set us the first task of coming up with team names.

 

Team names were:

Lloydia (reflecting Gwyndaf and Janet John’s adventure finding a rare lily on Snowdon)
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (thanks to Bill Jones)
Wyddfa (Snowdon)
Old Speckled Hen (reflecting the team’s tipple of choice)
The Magnificent 7 (the team having a numerical advantage)

Colin’s quiz had a definite Welsh theme with rounds on…… Welsh Celebs, Welsh Geography and Welsh History.

There were 8 rounds of questions plus a picture round. However, the questions were not as difficult as some that we have had in previous years and even the English players were able to answer most of the questions.

At 8pm the Fish and Chips were delivered, and we paused to enjoy them. The Village Chippy at Three Households really does a fine job.

After our meal, the quiz continued, and in the end, Lloydia won by a comfortable margin.

The final scores were:

Lloydia                                              172
Llanfair pg                                        164
Wyddfa                                             130
Speckled Hen                                   123
The Magnificent 7                             150

 

There were no prizes, just the honour and bragging rights for winning (I have to say that Mr John did look rather smug).

Gwyndaf then thanked Colin on behalf of all the participants for all the work that he had put in to devising and running the quiz and we cleared up and went home just after 10pm.

Thanks again to Colin for all his hard work.

Christmas Drinks 2023

Christmas Drinks 2023 – Sunday 3rd December 12:30

This year Ann Evans  hosted the event at her house, The Tuft, in Chesham Bois. This was the original location for Christmas Drinks in the earlier years, until the Society became too large.

About 40 members attended as a few had called in sick at the last moment. We were lucky with the weather as it was quite clear and dry, without the snowdrifts that we have had in previous years!

As we entered, Ann and Kay Day greeted us with name badges – a great help if you can’t quite remember someone’s name.

Moving into the dining room we met Lloyd Jones at the drinks table, helping everyone to wines, beers and soft drinks.

As soon as everyone had arrived, Ann Tennant appeared from the kitchen, carrying canapes and soon various members were acting as waiters and waitresses.

There was lots of food to go round and it was great to see old friends and to meet new ones.

One encounter had everyone smiling. Heather Roberts, a new member from Chorleywood arrived with her daughter Susan. Heather was originally from Pontypridd and it was pointed out that two of our longest standing members, Chris and Hazel Thomas were also from Pontypridd.

Well, it was quite a re-union, as it turned out that Heather and Hazel were in the same class at school – and even more interesting that Heather and Chris once went out together.

Although pressed neither Heather nor Chris would reveal what happened all those years ago when they went for a walk to the top of the nearby mountain (hill?).

Janet John circulated handing out copies of the 2023 Winter Newsletter (and saving postal costs).

At about 3pm everyone was handed a song-sheet and we all gathered around the piano as Ann played many of our favourite carols.

We all said our goodbyes at around 3:30, before it got dark, and made our way home again.

 

 

 

It was a very joyful occasion, and our thanks go to Ann for hosting the event again, Ann Tennant for the lovely canapes and to Kay for organising the event.

 

More photographs of the day can be found here.

 

Golf Day 2023

25th August – Oakland Park Golf Course

As always for this event the sun shone down on the hardy golfers who were keenly competing for this annual Major event.
This year Gwyndaf had organised a Texas Scramble. A very enjoyable format that involves all the players in every golf shot regardless of ability.
The results were very close apart from the winning team who achieved an impressive score worthy of winning the golf club Championship had it been achieved by a single player !
Well done Pat and the two Robs.

Detailed scores are listed below ….

Teams & scores:
75 strokes – Pat Whitworth, Rob Brett & Rob Britton
80 – Margaret Broomby, John Whitworth & Gwyndaf John
81 – Pam Britton, Ralph Broomby & Eryl Morris
84 – Jane Morris, Colin Thomas & Alun McCarthy

Ladies nearest the pin: Jane Morris
Gents nearest the pin: Gwyndaf John

Gwyndaf presented the winning team with a number of much needed golf aids – a “shot saver” for more accurately lining up putts and other strokes; A “golf ball grabber” that fits on the putter handle so that the player doesn’t need to bend down to lift the ball from the hole; some clip-on pencils; and a pack of ball position markers.
Rob Britton presented a bottle of wine to each of the nearest the pin winners.

20 members sat down for a lunch of Seared Salmon with Beurre Blanc Sauce & veg followed by lemon tart with mixed berry compote and whipped cream
Bill Jones brought along the Society’s new banner, the first time it has appeared at one of our events, though it has been promoting the Society at external events
An excellent day was enjoyed by all.

Colin Thomas

More photographs here.

2023 AGM

CDWS AGM 12th May 2023

This year we chose a new venue for the AGM – the Jubilee Hall in Amersham. This is a new building on Rectory Hill, near the railway bridge, and just down the hill from Dr Challoner’s and is the home of the 2nd Amersham-on-the-Hill Scout Group.

The building has several meeting rooms, and we had booked the Ernest Shackleton room. When we arrived to put out the tables and chairs, the first thing we noticed was the faint smell of fresh paint. Soon afterwards we also noticed that the fire alarm had gone off! Thankfully one of the leaders from the Beavers managed to turn it off.

There were about 33 members in attendance, and chairman, Colin Picton, kicked off the meeting at 7:30. Colin went through the formal part of the evening with approval of last year’s minutes and a run through of all the events we had enjoyed over the past year. Membership remains at about 110, and Colin welcomed several new members to the Society.

2Ann Lawrence asked a question about older members. Some members are no longer able to attend any of our meetings but still wish to keep in touch with the society. Ann asked whether it would be possible to let these members become ‘honorary members’ with no fee, but still included in emails and sent copies of the newsletter. David Powell said that, as treasurer he should point out that newsletters and postage would cost £4 per annum. The chairman proposed a vote on the issue and it was carried unanimously. The society will now offer an honorary membership to those who can no longer attend meetings.

David Powell then gave the Treasurer’s report, showing that the Society’s funds were in good order.

Next was the election of the Committee members. Colin thanked the committee for their work, without which the Society would not be able to function. Barrie Reece is unable to take up the role of our next chairman, but Gwyndaf John has volunteered to take over, as Colin will be stepping down from the position after 2 years in the role. Merle Davies is stepping down from the committee and her role as Minutes Secretary, Colin offered to 2take over this role. David Powell has been acting as Treasurer for the last year, and Lloyd Jones has volunteered to join the committee to take up this position.

After the committee had been elected, Gwyndaf addressed the room as the new35 Chairman. Of course, many will remember that Gwyndaf has held this post before, in 2010. The new chairman thanked Colin for his work over the past two years, and our President, Ann Evans presented Colin with a present of Welsh whiskey.

Gwyndaf again thanked the committee and asked for members to consider volunteering for committee membership.

Ann Tennant then served us all with dinner with three choices of main and several alternate desserts. We are all very thankful to have Ann, and are constantly surprised at how she prepares such good food on her own at such reasonable prices.

After the meal, Gwyndaf gave us a very interesting talk on the subject of ‘The Search for the Snowdon Lily’. This flower can only be found in two locations in the UK, both in Snowdonia. The flower is the only Alpine bulb in the UK and is probably a remnant from the ice-age.

Gwyndaf described the history of the original discovery of the flower by Edward Lhwyd (Lloyd) around 1690 and the flower was named after him (Lloydia serotina). Gwyndaf described his search (with Janet) which involved climbing Snowdon to find it at one of only 5 sites in the UK.

Gwyndaf then answered questions and the evening finished just before 10:00 pm.

St David’s Day Dinner 2023

On Friday 3rd March the society held its annual St David’s Day Dinner at Gerrards Cross Golf Club. Kay Day had organised the event with the help of the golf club’s catering manager, Martin Hillary and Gwyndaf John.
We all gathered for a welcome drink at 6:30 and met up with new members and old friends. The club house at Gerrards Cross looks very smart after being redecorated last year, and the décor was made even better by the addition of several Welsh Flags around the room.
We were very pleased to have Geraint and Glenys Lewis from the Slough Welsh Society join us, and several new members and guests. In total there must have been about 65 of us present arranged across eight tables.


At around 7:15 President, Ann Evans said grace in both English and Welsh, and we sat down to eat. The food was of a very high standard and we must thank the staff of the golf club for the quality of both the food and the service.

For starters, there was a choice of leek & potato soup, halloumi salad or mackerel, with sea bass, pan roasted lamb or stuffed peppers for the main (no-one went for the vegetarian option), and with chocolate mousse, crème brulé, poached pears or an enormous plate of cheese and biscuits for dessert.
After our meal, Colin Picton introduced our speaker, Margaret Knight. Maggie is an art and cultural historian, has designed courses at the Victoria & Albert Museum and was historical advisor for the Channel 4 series ‘Mrs Brown’.

We had expected her talk to be about Wales and the Welsh in art, but she entertained us with a talk on The Keltoi – a history of the Celtic peoples through their artifacts.
There was a lot to learn, starting with the earliest known examples of Celts in Hallstatt in modern Austria around 1200BC. These people were originally salt miners and many artifacts have been found preserved by the salt including leather backpacks and textiles. From there, these early Celts came to mine and refine metal ores into first bronze then iron, which were highly prized by other cultures.
Their metalwork was distinctive with scrolls and a symbol of three circles within a circle. This form of decoration gradually spread across Europe as the Celts grew in numbers and became more successful. Maggie showed us examples of beautiful ornate torcs worn by high-ranking individuals.
The earliest references to the ‘Keltoi’ were by the Greeks. These people seem to have used little written language (except to keep accounts) and so there is very little history to follow, but it seems that the culture gradually spread across much of Europe, to France and Spain, where they were known as Gauls, and to have reached the British Isles by about 500BC.

Their language and culture were common and even today there are great similarities between the languages of Wales, Brittany and Galicia.
One of the strengths of the Celtic culture was its decentralised nature, tribes ruled locally with no central government structure. But this was also its weakness, for, faced with the expansion of Rome, they were not able to withstand the Roman invasion for long. Maggie described the Claudian pursuit of Celtic druids to Anglesey where most were put to the sword.


Maggie then answered many questions from the floor, before Colin Picton thanked her for a fascinating talk.

John Breese then took to the piano and, after the National Anthem, many favourite songs finished off the evening.

A big thank you to all those who made the evening such a success.

There are many more photos of the evening here.

Christmas Drinks 2022

Well, someone forgot to take the photos! (sorry)

Alan & Di Longshaw

Anyway, we had a lovely time at Alan & Di Longshaw’s home in Austenwood (Chalfont St Peter). They are wonderful hosts and have held our Christmas Drinks and the Summer Lunch at their home many times before. There is lots of room to circulate and try to get round to seeing everyone.

 

Kay DayKay Day had made the arrangements and asked Ann Tennant to do the catering. Ann worked on her own and was like a dervish – she was preparing the canapes and serving them and seemed to be everywhere at the same time offering a wide selection of different goodies, and even remembering people’s food requirements.

As Ann wasAnn Tennant working on her own, we were able to reduce the price of the event from £18 in 2021 to £14 this year.

Guests started arriving at around 12:30 and we had a very good turnout this year with 50 members in total, including many new faces, which is really nice, although illness prevented one or two from attending at the last moment.

Kay and Ann handed guests a drink as they arrived, but after that people served themselves from the well-stocked dining table.

The World Cup was a frequent topic of conversation, with most deciding that Wales had played bravely and that this was the best result for decades, but as they were no longer in the competition, then, under the circumstances, many felt that it was now permissible to support England.

Another topic was the sadness that a number of our most stalwart members had passed away this year. They will all be missed.

We had no piano or keyboard this year, but that did not deter us. Towards the end of the afternoon, Kay, Barrie Reece, Colin Thomas and Jean Owen formed the core of our cerddoriaeth and soon got everyone joining in in a succession of carol songs and Welsh favourites, culminating, of course, with the National Anthem.

Colin Picton thanked Alan and Di for their hospitality, and we all thought that Kay and Ann Tennant had done a splendid job in planning and delivering the food.

Our thanks go to all those who contributed to making this such a success.

 

London Walk

We had our delayed London Walk on Wednesday 26th October. It was originally scheduled for September, but was postponed as so many people were unwell.

Meeting our guideWe met our guide, Caroline James outside St Paul’s Cathedral at 11am. I’m afraid that our numbers were down – there were only 5 of us in total, but luckily the weather held mostly fine – a drizzle threatened a couple of times, but never came to anything.

Caroline was a fantastic guide with incredible knowledge of the Welsh population in the late 18th century, when the early Welsh Societies were first formed. She showed us the sites of the first meeting places (mostly in pubs and coffee houses).

The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion was founded in 1751 by the two Morris brothers from Anglesey, to promote the language, literature and arts of Wales. This was a bit too high minded and serious for some, who, led by Owen Jones (Owain Myfyr), formed the Gwyneddigion Society in 1771. Many Welshmen were members of both societies and meetings were held on different evenings so not to clash with each other.

Bengal AlleyWe were taken on a walk through some of the older parts of the City of London, down tiny little alleys and narrow roads with names like Old Fish Street Hill, Bread Street, Seething Lane and Crutched Friars. As we went Caroline pointed out where the pubs and coffee houses stood or still stand, with stories about the Welsh people that were involved in them.

We passed the London Mithraeum with its remains of a Roman temple and briefly entered St Stephen Walbrook, a church designed by Jonathan's Coffee HouseChristopher Wren with a beautiful circular ceiling. It is also the place where the Samaritans was founded. We were very lucky in that when we entered the choir was practicing and the overall effect was enchanting.

Walbrook was also the site of the Bull’s Head Tavern, where the Gwyneddigion Society used to meet, the source of the following rhyme:

 

In Walbrook stands a famous Inn
Near ancient Watling Street
Well stored with brandy, beer and gin,
Where Cambrians nightly meet.

Another of the pubs that used to be used by the societies was the George and Vulture, which still exists and was later used by the Pickwick Club and now houses Dickensian memorabilia.

 

Outside the George and Vulture

 

 

 

 

 

Iolo Morganwg was one of the main founders of the Gwyneddigion Society,  but he was also a member of the Cymmrodorion and he organised an assembly of bards on Primrose Hill in 1792.  We also heard about prominent Welsh leaders who campaigned against slavery, and saw a recent art installation commemorating the abolition of slavery.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries many of the prime movers behind the creation of the University College of Wales, the National Library of Wales and the National Museum of Wales were London Welsh. The National Eisteddfod was twice held in Westminster, at the Albert Hall in 1887 and in 1909.

Navy OfficeWe were wandering in Pepy’s territory now, with St Olave’s Church, where he worshipped and was buried opposite the Navy Office where he used to work. (Richard Morris, one of the main founders of the Cymmrodorion Society, worked as a clerk in the Navy Office in Seething Lane’)

 

We ended our tour at a pub called’ The Hung Drawn and Quartered’ which is not that old, but was named after a quote from Pepys (see photo).

We enjoyed mini pies and mash, but had to follow in the old Societies’ habits with glasses of beer and wine!

Thanks to Caroline for an exceptionally enjoyable walk.

 

More photographs can be seen here.