Llangrannog is a small village in which a lot happens, and the village community is one which tries to look after the wellbeing of its members. There are now several organisations and clubs working towards the general welfare of the village or towards specific targets, and it is hoped that this Newsletter will help to highlight some of their ambitions and achievements.

The Welfare Committee

After some 60 years, the Welfare Committee is still going strong and in recent years has given birth to two sub-committees, the Fireworks Committee and the Millennium Fund.

Most villagers know about the more obvious things that the Welfare Committee does, like looking  after the village gardens, arranging events on the beach and in local venues, arranging public meetings when important issues arise, and supporting other village organisations. What is less well known is all the behind-the-scenes work that the committee does, especially in putting pressure on local councils and utility companies to act in our best interests.

With Thanks to Martin Greig for sending us copies of the Minutes.

Pwyllgor Lles Llangrannog Welfare Committee

Minutes of a Meeting on Thursday 8 December 2011 at 7.30 p.m.

 1.   Present

Cynyr Ifan, Deio Evans, Roy Tarbutt, Anne Greig, Clive Bullock, Martin Greig, Gari Jones, Paul Dawes

 2.   Apologies

Ricky Rowsell, Sioned Jones, Sarah Beechey

 3.    Minutes of meeting on Thursday 10 November

 3.1.    The minutes were approved

 4.   Matters arising

 4.1.    Latch appeal.  The agreed donation has been paid.  Regarding the fund-raising walk, Roy suggested that all start at the Pentre Arms and walk up to the top  car park; those with children and push chairs can go around Lôn Cati.  Those wanting a longer walk can go through the woods, and then choose again at the Urdd cross roads, but all ending back at the Pentre Arms.  For more variation there is another foot path at Fron Goch.

Suggested time of starting 11 a.m. On Tuesday 27 December.   We can promote it in the Tivy Side, and invite other groups to join in.  Posters need to be placed as widely as possible.  Suggested entry fee £5 for adults towards Latch, advertised on the posters.  Roy and Clive will work on the posters.

 4.2.    Maritime History.  Jane Evans has volunteered to try and take this forward with Anne Stokoe.   There will be a meeting soon, and feedback will be provided from the Committee.

 4.3.    Signposts.  Deio reported that Ceredigion do after all have plans to replace old signposts, so he has asked the clerk to the Community Council to write to the Council and express an interest in them.   Deio will report back.

 4.4.    Alan Bell plaque.  Roy has heard nothing new.

 4.5.    Christmas dinner. We have had 31 acceptances, and 5 waiters.

 4.6.    Llangrannog DVD.  Cynyr has pursued several ideas to spread the news, and is liaising with a contact in Tregaron to see how they have taken their marketing forward in a similar project.  Could we get financial support by including advertising with the video on You Tube?

 4.7.    Hanes Ysgol Pontgarreg.  Martin has written to the school but not had a response yet.

 4.8.    Lottery licence.  The Committee is licensed for lotteries for next year.

 4.9.    Churchyard   There is no great hurry to get it done, but it does need to be done in winter.

 4.10. Gents toilets.   The work is now completed.

 5.   Correspondence

 5.1.    An email has come through the web site from an aggrieved visitor complaining about the falling rock signs on the beach.   Gari pointed out that there have been signs for many years, and someone was actually killed sitting under the cliff on the right hand side of the beach.   Signs may have been missing at points, but they have always been there in principle.

 5.2.    A letter has come from Macmillan to acknowledge the coffee morning money.

 6.   Any other business

 6.1.    The statue is completely finished, and is waiting for Seb to arrange transport.  He will keep it in his workshop until we can agree a time to install it.   It would be good to stick as close as possible to Carannog's feast day, 16th May, but a weekend might be better.  (16 May is a Wednesday).  To unveil the statue it was suggested that Martin write and see if the Bishop will be available on either of the adjoining weekends, and it was also suggested that perhaps Derek Brockway could be involved.

 

 6.2.    From the Community Council meeting on Monday Deio reported on the scheme Village Pride.  This aims to improve the local community, with money available for projects such as landscaping schemes, planting schemes, seating, signage, etc.  Deio suggested that we might be able to put something together for Llangrannog, Blaencelyn and Pontgarreg with regard to signage.  Ian ap Dewi has been looking at blue plaques and heritage signing.
The meeting was also joined by a representative seeking to support communities developing heritage links and projects.  
There will be a Christmas fair in the village hall this Saturday (10 December) between 11 and 4.

 6.3.    Japanese Knotweed.  Cynyr asked if it is still a problem.  Pob Thomas has been on a training course, and Cynyr thought there might be some money available to help.   Roy explained it is usually sprayed about June.   We also have a problem with Himalayan Balsam, especially along the stream, which needs to be pulled up early in the year.

DoN Meeting:  January 12th 2012.

Pwyllgor Lles Llangrannog Welfare Committee

Minutes of a Meeting on Thursday 10 November 2011 at 7.30 p.m.

 1.   Present

Cynyr Ifan (chair), Deio Evans, Roy Tarbutt, Anne Greig, Clive Bullock, Martin Greig, Gari Jones, Ricky Rowsell, Sioned Jones, Paul Dawes, Sara Beechey. 
Also present for first part of meeting: Neil Zerk

 2.   Apologies

Aneurin Evans

 3.   LATCH Appeal

Neil Zerk spoke about LATCH, asking for support. Charley, Neil's nephew aged 6, has been in hospital for six weeks now and will be there until after Christmas.  LATCH is a charity which supports the Children's Hospital, and Neil's sister (Charley's mother) has been staying in the LATCH-supported “hotel” in the Hospital. The Committee agreed to make a donation of £100.     Roy also suggested a Welfare Committee sponsored walk, and asking the Fat Spanners to do a concert in aid of LATCH.  Neil hoped that the money be raised before Christmas. A date was agreed for the walk, on Tuesday 27th December.

Neil left the meeting at this point.

 4.   Minutes of meeting on Thursday 13 October

The minutes were approved

 5.   Matters arising

 5.1.    Maritime History Project (3).  Anne Stokoe had phoned Roy a week or so ago to stress that the information board is the most pressing item for the village.   It would be possible to use a map, or, Roy suggested, to find an artist who might do an overhead view of the village.  The question of who would be on the Committee needed resolving, and Roy was interested and prepared to ask a few people.

In passing, it was noted that two interpretation boards (not part of this project) are in place, at Cilborth and the Church.

 5.2.    Signposts in the Community (5.6). Deio has photographs of four old-style signposts.  Though they are now technically unauthorised there are no moves to remove/replace them.  Can we “adopt” them?

 5.3.    Alan Bell (6).  Pat Bell will let us know what details she would like on the plaque for Alan in the Memorial Garden.

 5.4.    Fireworks review (7.2). All paper work has been updated.  Next year's fireworks will be on 3rd November.  The Community Council has asked for their thanks and appreciation to be conveyed to those concerned.  The Welfare Committee have been asked for a donation. On the night, donations raised about £2,000 which, with other donations brought the total raised to about £3,500.

The insurance is paid for by the Welfare, and at the moment this is far and away our biggest cost.  It seems sensible to wait until next summer to see whether insurance costs rise as a result of the M5 disaster.  We might ask the Community Council for a grant, not least to help pay for insurance.

 5.5.    Christmas dinner (7.4). This will be on the 14th December in the Ship at 1 p.m.

 6.   Llangrannog DVD

Cynyr introduced a bi-lingual DVD about Llangrannog's attractions, which was watched in the English version. A discussion followed about how best it could be used as a marketing resource.  The DVD can be viewed on YouTube (http://tinyurl.com/Llangrannog-DVD), and is linked from the Llangrannog website.  Other links are to be encouraged.

 7.   Correspondence

 7.1.    There has been an email response to the letter requesting a warning sign at the Rhiw Gam corner, and Deio reported that there is funding available. Something should be done this financial year.

 7.2.    We have had a letter from a solicitor in Manchester concerning a legacy of £500 to the Welfare Committee from Helen Teresa Nicolaysen.  (Mother of Paul Nicolaysen.)

 7.3.    We have had a letter from Ysgol Pontgarreg asking for a donation towards publishing a book about the history of the school.  It is going to cost over £2,000 to get published, and it was agreed that the committee would ask for more details.

 7.4.    Roy has had a letter from Simon and Judith Jones, owners of the Lime Kiln, saying they have no intention at the moment of selling the house or the lime kiln.

 7.5.    A form has been received regarding the Lottery licence (for raffles etc.).  Roy and Gari are authorised by the Committee to deal with this.

 8.   Any other business

 8.1.    St. Mary's Well: The fencing hasn't yet been done as things haven't been finalised with the solicitor.

 8.2.    Statue:  The Foundry work has been finished apart from the patination.

 8.3.    Accounts:  The first set of accounts has to be filed with Companies' House within the first 15 months of becoming a registered company.   We want to keep our accounting year unchanged, and will act accordingly.

 8.4.    Churchyard:  The work already done has been well received, with comments in the church visitors book.  There is now a need to remove the ants' nests, and Roy is looking for volunteers for this and other work.

 8.5.    Entrance to the gents' toilets: This has been cordoned off for some weeks now.  The wrong pole was bought originally and we are now awaiting the correct one (reports Pete Dobson).  Deio will follow this up.

 8.6.    Caravan in the top car park. Mickey Beechey has bought this from Troedrhiwgam; it will be moved to a permanent site later.

 8.7.    Congratulations to Bradley and Leigh Davies on their achievements in the World Kick Boxing Championships.

 8.8.    Community transport group: The group is exploring the possibility of getting a grant to buy a bus.

 8.9.    Gardening club:  annual meeting next Tuesday 15^th November.

Date of Next Meeting: 8^th December.

Millennium Fund - St Crannog Project

The fund was set up in order to raise money for a project that would encourage the community to celebrate its history and culture. To date, the funds stands at £16,000, and we are hopeful that our grant bid to Ceredigion County Council will match this amount and the project will then start. The project will involve creating a semi - circular seating area made of slate. Within this area will be a circular mosaic depicting the history and traditions of our village, and with a life-sized bronze statue of St Crannog at its centre. The entire project will eventually form the focal point of a circular way - marked walk around the village.
 

Llangrannog Community Choir

Everyone has the ability to sing, and the right to sing: they provide the opportunity. To join Llangrannog Community Choir you don't need to read music or have an audition. They work with all voices and the repertoire (drawn from classical ,folk and world music) is taught orally by supportive, enthusiastic and qualified teacher, Lou Laurens.

They perform locally and also join up with other choirs for national events such as Karl Jenkins 'The Traveller' premiered in 2004.                               

This year they hope to 'Sing for Water' in a massed choir performance on London's South Bank.

the little arts school

The students of the 'little arts school' began the New Year with a project on 'Marine Life' Commissioned by Ceredigion Coast and Countryside, the children will design and make 6 glazed ceramic panels that will be sited in the village.

Further on in the year they will be starting a photography and film project based on our local history and folk-lore. They look forward to working hand in hand with local people to develop the project during the coming year.

Youth Club - Aelwyd Hawen

Aelwyd Hawen is a club for young people where they get a chance to take part in a  variety of activities through the medium of Welsh. They meet on  Friday evenings at the Pontgarreg Memorial Hall from 6.30 6o 8.00. They are looking foe volunteers who can come to demonstrate various skills and to share their experiences with the young people.

Pubs, Cafes and Shop

These are essential to the social well-being of the village, and they far more than just fulfil their various commercial roles.  

The Pentre Arms offers an after-match venue for the various village football teams, and the pub runs pool and darts teams. More details about the football teams can be found elsewhere in this Newsletter.     

The two cafe's play an important part in the social life of the village. The Beach Hut has hosted several events for the Welfare Committee, including an extremely successful fund raiser for Macmillan Cancer Care. Recently they have started a very lively Friday morning coffee club - see elsewhere in this News letter for details. On the other side of the stream, the Patio Cafe is also a popular meeting place for locals as well as visitors, and has hosted a series of successful Art Exhibitions, which it is hoped will continue.

The Village Shop stays open throughout the quiet winter months as well as during the hectic holiday season, a tremendous service to the community. Messages are left at the shop, holiday-makers collect their keys from there, money is raised for local and national charities, and in fact the shop is very much at the hub of the community.            

Crannog Football Club.

The Football Club are having another successful season, with the first team hoping to retain and win further honours in cup and league competitions. The second team and Ladies team are doing well, with the latter hoping to win trophies by the end of the season. The Mini Minors have a full programme ahead of them and are playing with great enthusiasm. Recently the men have formed an over-40s team, and managed to narrowly beat the Ladies in a charity match over the Christmas period. However, the condition of the Crannog pitch at Pontgarreg is a cause for great concern and at the moment is unplayable. The club is looking for a temporary pitch until the new one at Pontgarreg has been resurfaced or the new pitch at Gwersyll Yr Urdd is ready to be played on.

Coffee Club

Friday mornings have taken on a new lease of life at the Beach Hut over the winter. Regular Coffee Morning give the local people the opportunity to get together, enjoy a coffee and try their hand at a range of activities.... From arts and Crafts, to music and cookery, each week they attempt, under the guidance of group members to try something new! The Christmas cakes and Holly Wreaths were a great success...the charcoal drawing hilarious and the paper Mache messy! There will be future gigs as Jerry, their local musical guru, has agreed to teach some guitar basics, and as the watercolour lessons progress, they may be able to exhibit some masterpieces this summer. A monthly programme of walks is also being organised in support of members of the group, who will be taking part in the London moon walk in June. It is a moonlit 27 mile walk around the London Marathon Course to raise money for Cancer Relief. More details will follow ....

Play Group - Cylch Ti a Fi

The Cylch Ti a Fi is aimed at parents/carers and their children from birth to school age. They offer the opportunity to share play experiences with their children and to socialise with other parents and carers.                                               

The group meets at Pontgarreg Memorial Hall on Tuesday mornings between 9.00 and 11.30.

Nursery School - Cylch Meithrin Pontgarreg

The Cylch Meithrin is for children aged two until school age. Activities are arranged for the children by the cylch leader and assistant. The children are offered a variety of learning experiences in the medium of Welsh through play and so gives an ideal grounding to children from both English and Welsh speaking homes before they go to school.

Children with special needs are welcome in the cylch and all activities are available to them: an additional member of staff can be arranged if necessary.

The group meets at Pontgarreg Memorial Hall on a Monday and Wednesday morning between 9.00 and 11.30 a.m.

St Carannog's Church

As one of the four churches in the combined group, with Penbryn, Llandisiliogogo and Blaencelyn, they celebrated a memorable Christmastide with a portrayal of the Nativity by the children of the Sunday School with their story Babwshca, followed by refreshments in the Hall through the kind support of the Welfare Committee. The celebrations were further blessed with a celebration at St Michael's Church of the ancient devotion of Plygain with members of Cymdeithas Ceredigion. Since the beginning of the New Year, at St Carannog, they have endeavoured to unify all the Sunday Services to one time, and since their initiative to set the devotions at 11.00 each Sunday morning, the venture appears to be successful. They have met together as a combined church family at Blaencelyn and later joined for lunch at the New Inn, Brynhoffnant. They will seek to further broaden their outreach and associations with the Community and locality as the year goes on

Urdd Camp - Gwersyll yr Urdd

The Urdd camp has been an integral part of the daily life of the Llangrannog area since 1932. We hope that the employment, facilities and extra income which are provided by the Gwersyll are a boost to the local economy and culture. The recent developments have ensured that we have some of the best facilities available in a country area, and urge everyone to take advantage of what the Gwersyll offers:

• Syr Ifan Leisure Centre: The new centre is home to several clubs throughout the year, and we hope that the Fitness Suite will open shortly.

• Ski Slope: The ski slope is open to the public every Monday to Thursday from 5.00 till 9.00 and on Sundays from 2.00 till 5.00pm.

• Swimming: The pool is open to the public every Thursday from 5.00 till 6.30 pm and 6.30 till 8.00pm., as well as on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9.00 to 10.30pm.

• Parties and Meetings: They offer special packages for parties and meetings. At the moment the Centre is home to an Arts course.

Llangrannog Boating and Angling Association

The club has had an eventful year, having had a number of fundraising activities to pay for a new tractor, its maintenance, insurance, etc. A beach barbecue took place on a couple of occasions and a few fishing competitions were arranged - with thanks to the local companies that helped sponsor these events. The fishing competitions provided entertainment value if nothing else!

The club committee meets on the last Sunday of every month in the Pentre Arms at 1400 hours. Anyone interested in joining the club or using the slipway please come along to the meetings for further information.

Local ladies have shown an interest in re-forming a Longboat team. They are in the process of gathering information and are planning a way forward.

Welsh Classes

Welsh classes are held every Tuesday during term time in the Church Vestry in Llangrannog. There is a first year group at 11.30 - 1.00, and a second year group at 10.00 - 11.30. Learners can join at any point. Other courses are also available locally - different times, venues, pace and level.

CYD Group

A group where Welsh learners of all levels can meet and practice their Welsh with supportive Welsh speakers in an informal atmosphere. They meet on the first and third Wednesday of every month at 7.30 in the Ship. A warm welcome to learners and Welsh speakers to join at any time.

Welsh Language Society

A campaigning group for the Welsh Language which meets in the Pentre Arms at least once a month.

Merched y Wawr

Merched y Wawr meets once or twice a month between September and May in Pontgarreg Memorial Hall. As well as meetings with invited speakers, during the last year they went on visits  to a play, an opera, a pantomime, Christmas and Gwyl Dewi dinners, and held a Welsh learner's evening and concert. All activities are through the medium of Welsh. A warm welcome to new members.

Sixty Plus

The group for over 60s meets on the first Wednesday of every month from 2pm onwards in Pontgarreg Memorial Hall, generally having invited speakers on a wide range of topics. A warm welcome to new members.

W.I. Pontgarreg

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

Short Mat Bowls

This group meets every Tuesday afternoon from 2pm onwards in Pontgarreg Memorial Hall (except during school half terms and some dates during Summer holiday periods), and plays occasional friendly matches with other groups. New members are welcome.

Dyffryn Clettwr Riding Club

A club for enthusiastic riders, for fun and social activities connected with horses. Weekly rallies in the Llangrannog area.

This site was last updated Friday, 20 January 2012