The summer holidays are here and so is our newsletter. Our new season will start in September and you can find the details about all our talks, proposed trips and dining club dates below. Also featured is our developing relationship with the National Trust at Llanerchaeron House.

Out with the old, in with the new. Our email address is changing!! What's happening? Old Father Time has finally caught up with Cymdeithas Aberaeron's old email address so we're sad to announce that post@cymdeithasaberaeron.org  will no longer be supported beyond the end of 2025 . In advance of this deadline we have already migrated to a new email address casaberaeron@gmail.com so the good news is that we have our audience covered, so to speak. Why are we changing? There's some techie stuff ... feel free to skip! Our old email address is hosted on a less feature-rich webmail-only platform with a paid subscription fee to retain the email address. As a charity we endeavour to make the most efficient use of our members' subscriptions; we also need to make it as easy as possible for our trustees to manage email traffic across both mobile and laptop/desktop devices. Hence the decision to move to a Gmail (AKA Googlemail) platform. It's free, installation is a breeze, it's integrated with Windows/Macs and Android/Apple tablets & phones. My mum uses it and she loves it; it just works. What's the timeline? The new email address casaberaeron@gmail.com is live and can be used immediately. The old email address post@cymdeithasaberaeron.org  will remain functional until the end of 2025 so we will still have visibility of email traffic in the interim. Throughout 2025 any emails sent will receive an auto-reply advising the sender to switch to the new email address casaberaeron@gmail.com  as soon as possible. Beyond 2025 the service will expire and any emails sent to this address will not be visible. What do people need to do? It's quite simple. Regardless of whether you are a member, in order to receive a swift response to your emails please use the new address casaberaeron@gmail.com   moving forward. If you don't send emails to Cymdeithas Aberaeron you can just sit back and relax :) What else will change? In order to reflect the email address change our website, membership forms, posters, etc will be updated. We will also communicate this change via social media, our newsletter and emails to members. Thanks in advance for your understanding. Please email us on casaberaeron@gmail.com  if you have any queries or concerns. Best regards, Steve Davies Website Manager

Thankfully not; and it's all thanks to Llanerchaeron . With the Library moving to Penmorfa in the coming months, we have been looking for a new home for our Display Cabinet and for our historic photographs. Llanerchaeron have kindly come to the rescue giving us space in their Billiard Room. This will allow both visitors and locals alike to view our changing displays. At the moment we have recreated the exhibit about Tanyfron surgery and now also our memorial to Dr Helen Herbert who sadly died earlier this year. Many of you have asked us to keep it over the summer so your families can see it when they visit and the medical theme ties in with materials currently displayed in the library of the main house too. Cymdeithas members will be able to visit the Billiard Room (only) for free through the back entrance of the house - a rope stops vehicular access but can be lifted for CAS members. It ’s such a pleasure to report that this is just one of many ways in which CAS and Llanerchaeron are working together to develop and strengthen the ties between the town and the National Trust property. Watch this space!

Mewn seremoni arbennig yn Amgueddfa’r Glannau Abertawe derbyniodd Ysgol Gynradd Aberaeron dlws a gwobr ariannol o £600 yn dilyn ei Sioe Nadolig 2024 ‘y Wal’ a oedd yn olrhain hanes yr harbwr yn Aberaeron o’i adeiladu yn 1807 hyd y gwaith diweddar gan gwmni BAM. Dyfarnwyd y wobr gan ‘Fenter Ysgolion y Dreftadaeth Gymreig’ gan roi clod arbennig i allu’r disgyblion i drafod hanes yr harbwr a’r broses o greu sioe a oedd yn cynnwys holl ddisgyblion yr ysgol. Uchafbwynt arall i Hari a Moc a aeth i gynrychioli’r ysgol yn y seremoni oedd gweld ‘Y Morthwyl Mawr’ enwog o Aberaeron sydd bellach i’w weld yn yr amgueddfa. Mair Jones

In a special ceremony at The Waterfront Museum in Swansea Ysgol Gynradd Aberaeron received a trophy and a financial award of £600 for their 2024 Christmas Show ‘Y Wal’ which followed the history of the harbour in Aberaeron from its building in 1807 to the recent work being undertaken by BAM. The prize was awarded by the ‘Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative’ who praised the ability of the pupils to highlight the history of the harbour as well as the process of creating a performance that included every pupil in the school. Another highlight for Hari and Moc who represented the school at the ceremony was to see the famous ‘Morthwyl Mawr’ from Aberaeron, which can now be seen at the museum. Mair Jones

A date for your diaries: Saturday 31st May 2025. We tend to look at the past in Cymdeithas but lets also look to our future. We have recently featured the success of local boy Josh Tarling in a  blog. Here we have more potential stars in the making.  Soap performing at the Valentine's Ball Members of the Art group outside their mini exhibition at Pengloyn, Tabernacle Street   Aeron Arts provide FREE music and arts sessions to local children and young people. When we were young these were provided at no charge through our schools but are now available only to those whose families can pay for them.    On 31st May we will be running a fund raising event kindly hosted by Aberaeron Yacht Club. This  will provide the opportunity to showcase our work through a live performance by our young band,  Soap , and a mini exhibition of work by our art group.    There will be an auction of works generously donated by prominent local artists, photographers and ceramicists; a line up of live-music from local bands who are performing for free, and a raffle with great prizes and vouchers donated by local businesses. There will be a £2 entrance fee for adults and all proceeds will go to Aeron Arts. Providing opportunities for local youngsters is an important part of all our futures.

As we commemorate V.E. Day we will remember those from Aberaeron who defended their country by joining the Armed Forces as well as those who died serving their country. Information of the men of Aberaeron and district who gave their lives during the 2nd World War is an article on our website named Memorial Hall Roll of Honour. We should also remember those who volunteered to help at home. We know of the Home Guard but here were also had Women Volunteers. I attach images of these special women who also served their country in their different ways. Mrs Winifred Jones: Bron-y-Gaer, Lampeter Road , Aberaeron. She is pictured after a busy day scything in the countryside and looking immaculate in her Land Army Uniform. Left to right: 1) Beryl Hubbard and friend Anna taking Air Raid Precautions, 2) Beryl and Glenys with 2 evacuees (the young girl and lady in check dress). My Grandmother Rachel Ellen Davies of Albion House and my Aunt Glenys Mary Davies. I have attached next to the photo their WVS Civil Defence Badge. Aberaeron members of the WVS busy preparing and cooking soup at their soup kitchen behind the old Hospital in Prince’s St. I recognise Miss Menevia Jones of Alban Square 1st left in first image. If anyone knows of others I would be glad if you could message me at elinhaf52@yahoo.co.uk Elinor Gwilym 2025

These are the words with which we are introduced to The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman. It 's a heady combination for any lover of gothic fiction and to top it all it is set in Wales. I loved this book and I am sure any of you are historic fiction readers will do too. You can hear all about it, and get a copy too, at this forthcoming event organised by Gwisgo Bookworm. Wednesday 7th May 7pm Susan Stokes-Chapman in Conversation Venue: Royal British Legion Hall, Victoria St, Aberaeron, SA46 0JB Susan Stokes-Chapman , best selling author of the historical novel  Pandora , will be joining us to discuss her second novel  The Shadow Key  that is now available in paperback. The Shadow Key  is an intriguing gothic mystery that connects beautifully with the Welsh landscape, language and mythology – this is the heart of the novel, described by the author as her love letter to Wales. Set in Meirionydd in 1783, Dr Henry Talbot has been dismissed from his post in London. The only job he can find is in Wales where he can’t speak the language, belief in myth and magic is rife, and the villagers treat him with suspicion. When Henry discovers his predecessor died under mysterious circumstances, he is determined to find answers.  Guaranteed to be a fascinating evening as Susan talks about writing historical fiction and what inspired her to write this ‘love letter’ to Wales. £12 ticket to include a signed copy of one of Susan’s books £5 ticket, entry only Tickets are available to buy here  or pop in the shop.

Hopefully only temporarily but, if you want a final visit to this gem of a museum you better go soon. Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth will be closing on 19 May for an estimated 12 months to allow for repair and maintenance work on the Grade II listed building. This will include a new roof, and work on the water damaged ceilings and walls. If you can’t get there in person, the link below will give you a 3-D tour.    https://discover.matterport.com/space/FD9TwVCvsGu

April 2025 marks the centenary of the opening of the Memorial Hall. This building on South Road is so important to the town. It provides a poignant reminder of those who lost their lives in the two world wars and is a much-loved community resource for those of us living here today.    The Memorial Hall Committee is marking the centenary with a range of events throughout the year. We at Cymdeithas want to commemorate this landmark in the town’s history too. There are, of course, pictures of the Hall in our picture gallery. Here is one showing the programme for the opening ceremony held on April 1st 1925 and you can see the attendees at the event itself at the bottom of this article. In October, our own President, Elinor, will be giving a joint talk on the history of the hall with Robert Thomas, the Hall president. She will be posting an article on this shortly after her talk.   Last year, she gave a talk about the memorials in the town to those who lost their lives fighting for their country. There is an earlier blog about this. She has an article on this on the heritage page of this site:    Memorial Hall Roll of Honour  giving details of the lives of the 41  servicemen from Aberaeron who were killed in the 2 world wars; a stark reminder that this year is a commemoration, rather than a celebration.    We also have a blog  ‘D-Day Memories: By Gwilym Morgan, Almor, Bellevue Gardens’. Gwilym was a telegraphist  on the HMS Kingsmill and this is a moving account of his recollections of his experience of those events. This was uploaded to coincide with last year’s anniversary.

The 18th March was the last talk of the 2024/2025 season and the speaker was me! This was the second of my talks about the people who have lived in Portland House. Last season I spoke of Bensha and his daughters:  The first owner Benjamin Evans, who was thrown off his farm tenancy for following his political beliefs The scandal surrounding the move of the post office from Aberaeron House His daughter, Margaret’s fascinating career as a University Matron and house keeper for Lady Llanover The mysterious circumstances surrounding the ‘death’ of her sea captain husband and that of her sister Jane’s. This time, I introduced more of Bensha's descendants, the Howells: Anne, the runaway bride John, JM Howell, a man who did so much in every walk of Aberaeron’s life Fred, a multiple bigamist with wives in Llangrannog, London and Australia.     You can read more about them and other remarkable residents of Portland House in articles on the Heritage page of this website :  -Portland People -Portland House Captains -The barque Glenara -The Aberaeron Post Office Scandal of 1874.

The Oscar nominated film  Hedd Wyn  will be showing at the Memorial Hall on 7th March. The cawl and cinema evening is one of a series of events this year to commemorate the centenary of the opening of the Hall. It therefore seems timely for Cymdeithas to remember Wales’ most famous pacifist too.   Ellis Humphreys Evans is better known more by his bardic name of Hedd Wyn. An award-winning poet from a young age, he posthumously won the bardic chair at the National Eisteddfod held in Birkenhead in 1917 for his poem  ‘Yr Arwr ’ (The hero). It was just 6 weeks after his death on the battle field in Passchendale.    The Eisteddfod chair was covered in black cloth during the ceremony and has been known as  Y Gadair Ddu  (the Black Chair) ever since.     You can read and indeed hear more in the link below; a blog by historical fiction writer, S E Morgan. This includes the performance of a song,  Fleur-de-lys , played on the harp and inspired by the poet.   https://wordpress.com/post/semorganhistoricalfiction.wordpress.com/1300