News Page

This web page will be used to report on any activities or information on Llangrannog. Please e-mail Bryan Davies with any news or information and it will be published.

A walk, organised by Llangrannog Welfare Committee, during the Christmas holidays, raised £460 for the LATCH appeal. LATCH support the families of children with cancer in the Children's Hospital in Cardiff, and the appeal was brought to local attention after six-year-old Charly Zerk was diagnosed with cancer. Thanks to every one who walked, contributed or helped.

On Thursday, 2^nd February, at 7.30 p.m. the folk group, Celf Cegn, will be giving a performance in St. Carannog's Church. Entry is £5. Parking is in the free Council car park at the top of the village, but people with mobility problems can ask to be dropped outside the gate to the east of the church, which gives access to the church without steps. A ramp into the church is available.

These are now taking place regularly in Pontgarreg Hall. Contact Cassie Brown on 07805 483674 for further information.

To all those who left books in the Dobsons' second-hand book box, and to everyone who has bought one from there. Monies raised have been distributed to Tŷ Hafen, New Quay RNLI, W. Wales Air Ambulance, Macmillan, the Latch Appeal, Llangrannog Welfare and Llangrannog Fireworks Committees, and Crannog Football Club.

to everyone who contributed to the British Legion Poppy Appeal box in Siop Glynafon, which this year raised £27.57.

This has now moved to the Pentre Arms, and continues on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 7.30 p.m. For further details please contact Philippa Gibson 01239 654561.

Leigh and Bradley Davies, brothers from Pontgarreg, are celebrating joint success in the World Kick Boxing

Championships, held in Germany during October. Leigh (29) won a gold medal, while Bradley (31) won 2

silver medals. Previously this year Bradley has won the Welsh Open, the Celtic Open and the British

Championships, while Leigh won a silver medal in the British Championships. Bradley is now back at his job in

We are currently without a vicar. Sunday services will take place at 10.15 a.m. each week and for details as to what the service is, please contact a Warden in advance: Clare Jones 01239 851165 or Glennis Simmons 01239 654127. Please check for the 5th Sunday in the month when the service is a joint one with out two other churches and may not be in Llangrannog

Are you interested in receiving computer tuition? The community Council is considering providing a series of lessons at Pontgarreg Village Hall. Contact the Council Clerk on 01545 580818 for further information.

Coastguard crews, RNLI and Air Sea Rescue were called into action on Tuesday evening after a 70 year old man was seen falling between Billis Head and Lochtyn Island. Newquay inshore boat brought the casualty into Llangrannog Beach and the Helicopter airlifted the casualty to Withybush Hospital in Harverfordwest.

Including Church, Chapels, Beach, Pendinas, Carreg Bica, Mill, Lime Kikns, Edward Elgar, Urdd etc.

( This was done by Ruth Roberts and is an excellent Pictorial Tour set to music)

The Saint Carantec statue has now been completed in Granite and we received the following message from Anne and Patrice Dumas a few days ago.

"you can notice the dove and its shave, he has a bell hanging on his side, and his coat is a goat skin. the rock at sant Karanteg' feet symbolises the one, which name is "Men ar Karantec" "Sant Karanteg's rock", and which stands in the sea in front of the beach where the legend says our common saint landed coming from your country."

Anne has also written and Published a book called "Saint Carantec - Legends and Miracles", in French and English and Kindly sent us a copy.

We have no current information on the completion of the Saint Caranog statue which will be placed on Penrhip at some stage. As soon as we have this information it will be published on the Website.

The Art Group has re-started on a Tuesday afternoon, in St. Carannog's Church Hall. If you are interested in having space and time to paint and would like to go along please contact Benny, 01239 654463.

Are you interested in gardening? Would you like to share your ideas and learn more? The next open meeting of the Gardening Club will be Tuesday 17^th May in Pontgarreg Memorial Hall at 7.30 p.m. For more information contact Heledd (01239 654327).

At the Annual General Meeting of the Welfare Committee (April 2011) the invited speaker was Nancy Hollinrake, a Consultant Archaeologist, who, with her Archaeologist husband Charlie, excavated the site of Carantoc's Church in Carhampton.

We have also had an e-mail from Anne Dumas in Carantec, regarding further links with Llangrannog

"I wish to tell you that there are two spots, but not churches, which are named "Ranngrannog" near Carantec, and "Grannog" in Ile de Batz, near Carantec too. Archaeologists think that it is a name which is before 9° century and it could prove a direct link with Llangrannog. And in the very old basilica "Notre Dame du Folgoët" not far from Carantec, there is a stain window on which is saint Carantec, and that means his cult is very ancient."

Click on any picture to see full size.

". I enclose three pictures which may interest you : two of them with the welsh name of our common saint. The third one is the stained glass in the Folgoët. May I tell you that in Trégarantec, the church is not dedicated to saint Carantec. It is only the village. In Breton language, Tré, means dependent on, Garantec, means Carantec. Numerous breton villages or towns have a name beginning by Tré, meaning that they are dependent on an other village or town. Trégarantec means that, in the ancient time, this village had to give an annual tax to Carantec village. It was only a question of administration and money... ! "

An open evening was held at the Old Barns studio on 30th March and Sebastien showed the next stage of the Statue, which is nearly ready to be sent to a Foundry to be cast in Bronze.

Recent communication with Carantec in Brittany, told us that they are now planning their own statue to St Caranog and that it will be made in Stone and carved between 15th July and 15th August this year. This will form part of a Saints Valley in the area and they hope to have it raised into place in the Autumn of 2011.

If you have email, and would like to buy cheaper oil, there is the opportunity to do so in the village. A group has been set up to allow for individuals to order oil at the same time, with the whole amount of oil being counted as a bulk order. The system works by individuals contacting the whole group by email when they wish to order, so that others can order at the same time. The oil is then delivered to all participating individuals who have ordered, who are billed and charged individually, but the price is discounted as if it was a bulk order. Contact teena@teenagould.com.

Very soon every resident in Llangrannog will be given the opportunity to sign up to the I Will for Wales campaign, run across the whole of the country by Keep Wales Tidy. Being delivered to every home is a pledge sheet, inviting people to make their own commitment to help the environment a little more in 2011. By ticking one or more line on the pledge sheet, individuals can promise only to use reusable bags, to pick up a bag of rubbish on every beach visit, to dispose of cigarette ends carefully etc. Please think carefully about how the environment can benefit by your actions. Thank you.

This year we had a grant from the Ceredigion Rural Events Programme (CREP), to help sustain the firework display for future years.

The photographs were funded through the Ceredigion Rural Events Programme and taken by Zodshop

We have produced an initial batch of 50 DVD's to be sold in order to help raise funds for Canolfan Crannog. The DVD has two films, the first containing over 50 pictures from the period 1900 - 2010, set to music. the second a short video of rough seas in Llangrannog from 2008. (By kind permission of Martin and Anne Greig)

The DVD's are on sale in Siop Glynafon for £5.00 per copy and the full amount is for Canolfan Crannog .

The exhibition on 30th October was a great success and may be repeated in 2011.

Mrs Roblin who designed and produced the Cranogwen Collage visited the exhibition and was delighted to see that it's condition after 30 years is still good.

Many thanks to William Roblin, Anne Greig and Ian ap Dewi, who helped us find and display the Collage.

An informal choir group is starting at Betws Ifan Hall on Tuesday evenings, from 7 – 9 p.m. The aim of the group is to enjoy singing together and sharing that enjoyment with others. The ability to read music will be an advantage but is not a necessity. Called the Allsorts, the choir starts on 5^th October. Further information from Helen (01239 810656) or Brenda (01239 810657).

A big thank you to all the local people, too numerous to mention, who automatically pick up litter and dog mess as part of their daily routine. The consistent, regular clearing of small bits of litter and (sometimes large) bits of dog mess by many different people helps keep the village looking good. Thank you all. Many visitors comment on it.

A small amount of funding is available on a 'first come first serve' basis for Neighbourhood and Home Watch groups to visit some of the 'Best Practice Case Studies' highlighted through the research of ERS 'Showcasing Neighbourhood and Home Watch Achievements' document. This programme allows for local Neighbourhood and Home Watch groups across England and Wales to meet up and share ideas, discuss common problems and explore solutions to their local community problems. For an explanation of the Peer Visit programme and how to get involved please talk to Martin Greig in the first instance. 01239 654257.

It is now possible to get a good Mobile Phone signal in the village from the following providers.

Orange Mobile is still variable with some signal available above Penrhip or towards Ynys Lochtyn. (The Orange signal should improve towards the end of 2010, as T-Mobile and Orange are now owned by the same company and plan to share transmitters)

Mobile Broadband using a 3 Dongle is now possible and we were able to connect our laptop, although it sometimes takes a few minutes to hook up.

A new dance class has started in Pontgarreg Village Hall. Covering Jive, ballroom, salsa, and Charleston, the class commenced on February 1^st and continues on Monday nights from 8 – 10 p.m. Beginners are welcome. Cost is £3 per person. Please turn up, or for further information contact Ruth on 01239 654544.

Richard Williams is hoping to start a small mixed choir/vocal group. Some ability to read music is essential as is the possession of a singing voice with little or no vibrato (wobble!). There will be a simple audition for compatibility with other voices in the group. The aim will be to achieve a good standard without entering competitions. Richard is also looking for violin or viola players for string quartets. Please contact him on 01239 810992.

The new Fitness Room at the Urdd Leisure Centre in Llangrannog is now open. Members can use it Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Open for occasional users on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. For details of membership and occasional user prices, please contact: 01239 653140.

The Country Cars Scheme is looking for Volunteer Drivers to provide a local service to transport people who would otherwise be unable to make essential journeys. Travel costs are paid. Please contact Geraint Evans (County Organiser) – WRVS Country Cars. 01545 571362/570813

There was a meeting of the District Neighbourhood Watch group, chaired by Ian ap Dewi, and attended by PC Alun Jones and PCSO Heather Cave. PC Jones explained the role of local co-ordinators and some local concerns were discussed. The major conclusion of the meeting was the need to extend the number of participants in the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme. If you would like to take part in this important local Scheme, please ‘phone 101 and ask to speak to a member of the local neighbourhood police team. Alternatively, please e-mail CardiganNPT@Dyfed-Powys-pnn-police-uk. Any non-urgent concerns can also be reported on 101 (remember to ask to speak to a member of the local police team).

Prior to a recent meeting of the Welfare Committee, guests from local businesses were invited to attend to hear the speaker, Mr. Austin, discuss the new AXIS 4 project within the County’s Rural Development Plan (RDP). The project is financed by the Welsh Assembly Government, and should run until March 2011. The Project aims to help communities to work together by forming “clusters” of interested parties with similar ideas about ways of promoting particular aspects of tourism within their local area. The project encourages clusters to “try things out” rather than be afraid of failure and do nothing. Mr Austin was aware of some of the events that already take place annually in Llangrannog, and suggested that information about these could be brought together in the form of an events calendar or directory, to be distributed throughout Tourist information Centres and other outlets. Some of these events might attract funding from AXIS 4, as might the production of visitor guides. Creation of such guides or calendars would help show where there would gaps to be filled during the year thereby triggering future events. Mr Austin went on to discuss ideas put forward from the floor and was extremely supportive and positive in suggesting ways in which AXIS 4 could help.

A very positive meeting was held in The Caban with a representative of the County Council, concerning the Council’s future action regarding parking at the sea front. Representatives of local businesses and sea front residents were present to make their views known about the enormous difficulties regarding parking, particularly in the summer.

Rolls of white recycling bags are carried on the refuse collection lorries. If you know anyone who is not yet using the bags please ask them to do so. Ceredigion has a recycling rate of over 39% at present, but it needs to improve.

A great deal of work is done by many individuals and groups in keeping the local shores, beaches, roads and general environment clean and a Keep Wales Tidy Group is being formed. For further details please contact Anne Greig on 654257.

A group meets weekly on Tuesday afternoons from 2 p.m. onwards in Pontgarreg Hall. Please contact Tony Iles 654714.

The Welfare Committee has been nominated for consultation with regard to the Cardigan Bay Shoreline Management Plan.

All member of the Art Group submitted entries to the recent Pontgarreg Village show and everyone gained an award. Congratulations to them all. For further details about the group, which takes place in St. Carannog’s Hall on Tuesday afternoons, please contact Don Jones on 654124.

This meets for the first time in the new academic year on Tuesday, 22^nd September, at 10.30 in St. Carannog’s Church Hall. New members welcome.

A reminder that vehicles need to turn, and emergency access must be available in the village. Also could people please not park so that access to the disabled toilets is prevented; wheelchairs need to be manoeuvred through a gap to gain access.

A reminder that Pontgarreg Memorial Hall is available for private bookings. Susan Kean 654581.

There are new bi-lingual leaflets available in the Church, one describing the Church and its history and one on our patron saint, Carannog. With the Welsh/English leaflets on Cranogwen there is now a great deal of information for visitors in St. Carannog’s.

This is a club for enthusiastic riders, for fun and social activities connected with horses. Please contact Wendy Brice 654446.

The Club is expanding in numbers all the time and is now able to race two men’s teams, two ladies’ teams and a mixed veterans’ team. In addition the Club has now attracted a junior side who are training in order to compete in future competitions. Anyone interested in joining the Club please contact Kevin Brown, 01239 654394.

A reminder that there is a book in the Ship where you can offer to give a lift to local people on one of your regular trips, or ask for a lift

A Butcher’s Van visits the village every Friday afternoon (contact Mark Webb, 851285) and the fish van calls every Thursday morning (Jamie Williams and Son, 01545 561491).

The club meets on the first Tuesday of each month in the Ship. Pob Thomas 07950 568538. pob.thomas@btinternet.com

There is a Welsh class in the Pontgarreg Memorial Hall on Monday and Thursday afternoons. For a full list of the nearest classes contact Philippa Gibson, 654561.

The group meets on the first Wednesday of every month from 2 p.m. onwards in Pontgarreg Memorial Hall. Generally there are invited speakers on a wide range of topics. A warm welcome to new members. Josephine Courtis, 654395.

The Women’s Institute meets on the first and third Thursday of every month at 7.30 p.m. in Pontgarreg Memorial Hall, generally with an invited speaker once a month. New members are very welcome. Jill Iles 654714.

All are welcome to join the choir, which arranges occasional concerts as well as the regular meetings. These have now changed from Sundays to Fridays, 7 – 9 p.m., in term time. Contact Lou Laurens 07866 371481 or John Page, 654627.

Two new DVDs are available at the Old Post Office Art Gallery, which is now open every day, 10.30 – 5.00 p.m., for the duration of the summer season. One film is of Cardigan Coast, and one film is of the village of Llangrannog. The DVDs are written, directed and produced by Phil Street, who has a holiday home in the village, and are released on Septterfilms, which can only be purchased in the Art Gallery.

With thanks to Anne and Martin Greig for the photographs taken on 3d February

An initial gathering of twelve interested villagers met in St. Caranog’s Hall last week to dance and discuss the possibility of the classes being held regularly. Thanks to John and Jean Page for hosting the morning. John brought along his sound equipment and recordings, called and demonstrated for the dances with help from Jean. Jean also provided very tasty refreshments for the interval. The dances ranged in complexity and the learning challenges became apparent quite quickly; however, with much laughter and encouragement, a most enjoyable morning was had – and all for £1 per person. Future classes will be held, probably fortnightly, after a short gap, and other adults are welcome to come along. Watch this space for the date of the next event.

Some black sacks have been found around the village, dumped, and this is not only illegal it is hazardous to everyone. Please remember that there are facilities for black sacks to be disposed of in Llangrannog on Saturdays on the sea front (between the toilet block and the flats). The shed is open from approx. 9.30 to 3.30. Paper, card, plastic and tins should be recycled in the clear bags. Anyone wanting garden rubbish (green) bags can get them from the Council offices for 25p a bag, and these go straight for composting. Alternatively, keep your own composter. At least 30% of your waste is made up of biodegradable material including kitchen waste, garden waste (such as grass cuttings, leaves) paper and cardboard – all this can be composted rather than taking up valuable space in landfill.

Local artist Barry Arnold also provides a picture framing service from his workshop. For further details about this work contact Barry or Chris on 01239 654884, at Fronwen, Pontgarreg.

A reminder that the ‘buses leave the village on Tuesday and Friday (to Cardigan), at approx. 9.35 a.m., and Wednesday (to Aberaeron) at approx. 10.30 a.m. Use them or lose them!

The Quilting/Sewing group in Llangrannog is a group of up to 8 members who have met regularly for some years now in the Church Hall (upstairs, next door to St. Carannog’s Church). They undertake individual projects, depending on each member’s interests, and currently are working on diverse items. On occasion they meet in each other’s homes and they share some communal activities, such as a Christmas lunch. In May the group hosted a very successful Quilting exhibition at which a most remarkable collection of quilts was displayed. There is no formal teaching but new members are welcome; support and encouragement will be given. Please contact Glennis Simmons on 01239 654127.

The Llangrannog Art Group continues to meet on Tuesday afternoons in St. Carannog’s Church Hall. The group provides a supportive environment for local artists, as well as the inevitable cuppa and chat. New talent is always welcome; for further information contact in the first place Don Jones (01239 654124).

The group for Welsh language speakers and learners meets in the Pentre on Wednesday evening (15^th October) at 7.30 p.m. Welsh learners of all levels are especially welcome, to practice what they have learnt with more fluent speakers. Contact Nic or Phillippa (01239 654561).

A Certificate on display in St. Carannog’s celebrates the success of the Quilting Group in raising approximately £350 for the British Heart Foundation by the raffle of a quilt at the May Exhibition. The quilt was made in memory of a friend, with her quilting remnants, and was displayed in Church during the exhibition. The Quilting Group meets on alternate Mondays in the Church Hall; please contact Glennis Simmons for details (654127).

The choir is meeting again after a summer break, in London House, Llangrannog. Anyone who wishes to join the singers is welcome. Time: 7.30 p.m. on Sundays. Please walk in – if you wait for an answer to the knock you might wait a long time.

A new Welsh class for beginners starts in Pontgarreg Memorial Hall on Monday September 29^th. The class is twice weekly for three terms, on Mondays and Thursdays, at 1.15 – 3.15. The cost is £45 (£35) per term of 40 hours. Anyone wanting further information can contact Nic Dafis, the tutor, on 654561.

The Writing Group re-convenes after a summer break on September 30^th, in the Hall besides St. Carannog’s Church. It meets fortnightly with the aim of encouraging members to write in a variety of ways, to share work for constructive criticism, and to provide support to each other when undertaking different writing projects. New members and visitors welcome. Contact Anne Greig 01239 654257.

It was, as we all know, a wet August. But in 7 days of the month one volunteer litter picker netted nearly 800 cigarette ends, mainly on the sea front and beach. Cigarette ends are a particular litter nuisance since they don’t biodegrade, and children play with them on the beach. If it had been a warm summer the number would have been much higher. Any suggestions concerning how we can reduce the number to a member of the Welfare Committee please.

During the summer months there may be some alteration to group meetings in the Village. Please make sure you check before coming for a group.

Bica Surf Club (first Tuesday of each month in the Beach Hut. Pob Thomas 07950 568 538

Cyd Group (1^st and 3^rd Wednesdays of the month, 7.30 in the Pentre. Contact Philippa or Nic 654561)

During the summer, the Cardi Bach bus leaves Llangrannog at 10.53 and 15.53 for New Quay, and at 12.35 and 17.35 for Cardigan.

No travelling involved! Jane and Debbie in Y Caban have a re-cycling box, and the ‘phones will be taken to Ty Hafan, the Children’s Hospice, who will receive funds for each one handed in. Remove the SIM card first!

Local Artist Barry Arnold is willing to run one day courses for local interested people or groups, if a sufficient number of people contact him. 01239 654884.

Llangrannog has no more of a litter problem than any other village which vastly multiplies in size during the holiday season. But we do have a beach and a village which we want to keep clean and tidy.

Members of the Boat Club clean up the beach regularly. They do a fantastic job, but even the next day you wouldn’t think that they’d been at work. The tide deposits more flotsam, picked up from other beaches, or thrown overboard from boats, and our beach gets its share all over again. The bio-degradable material is unimportant, but the plastic is horrible. If left to go back out to sea it can end up destroying marine life anywhere from here to the South Pacific. If you don’t believe this look at the Modbury experience, which stemmed from people seeing films of dead birds and animals who have choked on plastic bags and bits of plastic in the sea. See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1717476.ece

In addition, numbers of individuals in Llangrannog pick up litter around the lanes, and also dog mess. We would rather the dog owners cleared up their mess, but we also don’t want the visitors to have to endure it. Then, a couple of times a year there is a “Codi Swbriel” or “Litter Pick”, when the village turns out to do a massive tidy up. We did one just before Easter and will do one later in the year.

Each year the various litter pickers fill dozens of black sacks with rubbish. The key to cutting this down is to ask everyone, resident or visitor, to join the litter-pickers of Llangrannog and help keep the village clean and tidy. So ...

Don’t drop it, bin it!

If you see litter, pick it up and bin it!

If you see someone drop litter, ask them to bin it!

Remind people at the point of sale to bin rubbish!