REHOBOTH CHAPEL GRAVEYARD

2022 marks the bicentenary of the founding of Capel Clement, the first non-conformist chapel in this locality. Subsequently demolished and resurrected at Rehoboth Chapel, part of its commemoration is to survey the graveyard.

Undertaking this work is our esteemed former Secretary, Tim Day. After many, many months of meticulous, painstaking and indeed emotive labour, this project is nearing completion.

There is much more work to be done, but in the meantime here is a brief taster of the findings of this important aspect of our heritage:

• 25 rows of graves, 302 graves & 674 names commemorated;
• 174 burials in the 19th century, 323 in the 20th and the remainder since 2000;
• 91 are children under the age of ten:
• grave of the police informer that led to the arrest of Dai'r Cantwr at the Plough and Harrow Inn.
• Graves of the men killed in mining accidents at  Trimsaran Colliery.

Each headstone contains the stories of so many people from our community over a two hundred year period giving a hint to tragedies, epidemics and heart-breaking deaths of young children.

This comprehensive survey, to include photographic images of the graves will be uploaded to the 'Heritage Files' on our website and will be invaluable to residents, former residents, near and far  and those wishing to enquire into their families' history.

'ASPECTS OF WORLD WAR ONE' 18 February 2020

Debra John paid us the compliment of a third visit to our Society. From the banality of everyday life to the major events of the Great War, Debra dramatised expertly the period 1914-1918.

She is a gifted actor and historian who provided us with cameos of life during that traumatic time, outlining the lives, wartime experiences and work of, among others, Welsh poet Ellis Evans ('Hedd Wyn') and George Butterworth, composer of 'A Shropshire Lad'.

Entertaining, challenging and evocative, Debra's presentation was another highlight of our varied programme of events.

'MAGIC LANTERNS' 21 January 2020

This is John and Rosemary Blythe's third visit to our society, giving us a talk and demonstration of the magic lantern.

This was an early type of image projector consisting of one or more lenses and a light source that projected pictures - paintings, prints or photographs - on transparent plates usually made of glass. Prominent Dutch scientist, Christiaan Huygens is nowadays widely accepted as the true inventor of the magic lantern. His earliest picture consisted of ten small sketches of a skeleton taking off its skull!

 

Apart from sunlight, the only light sources available in the 17th century were candles and oil lamps, which were very inefficient and produced very dim projected images. The invention of limelight in the 1820s made them very much brighter. Then the invention of the intensely bright electric arc lamp in the 1860s  eliminated the need for combustible gases or hazardous chemicals, and eventually the incandescent electric lamp further improved safety and convenience.

Although it primarily projected still pictures, it soon developed as a means of projecting moving images or animations. This was achieved  by alternating between pictures of different phases of motion. The magic lantern was, of course, the direct ancestor of the motion picture projector.

It was mostly developed and commonly used for entertainment purposes, but increasingly came to be used for education during the19th century. The magic lantern was in wide use from the 18th century until the mid-20th century when it was superseded by a compact version that could hold many 35mm photographic slides - the slide projector.

Here then are some images from John and Rosemary's presentation:

 

REMEMBRANCE SERVICE 2019

Another wonderful Remembrance Service this year with respectful attendance by members of the Heritage Society; Rehoboth Chapel; staff, pupils and parents of Five Roads School; local dignitaries and especially the families of the soldiers and fallen of the Boer War and both World Wars.

In his message to the children of Five Roads School, the Rev. David Jones demonstrated the various aids and tools for remembering, alluding of course to the importance of why we commemorate the sacrifice made by our fallen heroes.

As ever, the children were in glorious voice with renditions in both Welsh and English which was very warmly received by the congregation.

Bryan Hitchman, Chairman of the Heritage Society reminded us of the sometimes overlooked contribution, and sacrifice made by women in both World Wars. Their participation was the catalyst in the monumental changes to the social structure of our society.

The congregation also were in fine voice, accompanied by Mrs. Ffion Morgan, organist of Horeb Chapel.

The weather this year was in a clement mood and we concluded the Service with the laying of wreaths outside on our War Memorial.

'ELDON IN THE USA, 1956. 15 October 2019

We were entertained for the third time by the Rev. Eldon Phillips who gave us an account of his travels in the United States of America.

Eldon's father took part in a teaching exchange programme with another teacher from the United States. 

So, at the tender age of age of six years, Eldon was off to the  US of A.

This was the iconic time of the birth of Rock 'n Roll, spearheaded by Jerry Lee, Chuck Berry and of course Elvis the Pelvis.
Staying initially in Detroit, he was goggle eyed staring at those enormous gas guzzlers, Fords, Chevrolets and the wing-swepped Cadillacs. His father was fortunate to drive the family to L.A. in one of them. Sin City was then awash with one-armed bandits. He also experienced his first taste of 'Coca-Cola'.

We eagerly look forward to the Reverend's next visit.

RNLI BURRY PORT 18 September 2019

It was our privilege as members of the Heritage Society to visit the newly built RNLI station in Burry Port, being the very first such community group to do so.

We were addressed by Roger Bowen, volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager (one of three generations of his family to be involved with Burry Port RNLI). He informed us that a lifeboat station had been located at Burry Port harbour since 1887, though operations had ceased in the mid twentieth century and were reinstated in 1973. The RNLI had outgrown the old station and a need for a new one was identified officially in 2012 with proposals for redevelopment of the harbour, and growth in demand for their assistance. The crew and local community welcomed this, and were delighted to have the official opening ceremony four days prior to our visit.

     

Roger told us that an estimated 1500 lives had been saved over the years, and he elaborated on the work of the 32 local, volunteer crew members and their 'B' and 'D' class lifeboats, who can be followed on their Facebook pages. We were taken on a tour of the impressive new, sympathetically designed building and its facilities, and shown how crew members give freely of their time, effort and energy in order to be ready to save lives at sea and on the coast; they do not merely embody a 'can do' or even a 'should do' attitude, but more of a 'will do' approach in order to assist those in peril, and they are to be lauded for this.

It is clear that Burry Port now has two iconic buildings straddling its harbour and identifying it as a place of safety: the old lighthouse built in 1842; and the brand new RNLI Station, opened in 2019.

As a Heritage Society, we are extremely grateful to Roger, and to all crew members and volunteers who hosted us for the evening. We wish them all well for the future, and for their Open Day on Sunday 6th October 2019.We would urge all residents of our community to visit and support the work of these outstanding people and of this essential facility.

CARDIFF BAY TRIP 15 JUNE 2019

This year's annual excursion took us to Cardiff for a trip on the River Taff prior to lunch at the El Puerto Brasserie, Penarth Quay.

Refreshments before boarding the Aquabus

             Cruising the River Taff

   

Approaching Penarth Quay

View of Cardiff Bay from the barrage

View of  Somerset coast from the barrage

Going to El Puerto for a welcoming lunch

Cheers!