At 7.00pm on Friday 24 February Ann Vaughan will talk about the Sir Henry Jones Museum.

The Museum is in the centre of Llangernyw on the main A548 road from Abergele to Llanrwst. The museum was two houses long ago, Henry Jones’s family on the left and his grandparents on the right. On the left is the bootmaker’s workshop and on the right is the kitchen. The Museum was opened in 1934 by the former prime minister David Lloyd George.

Henry Jones was born in 1852 and came from a poor background. His father was a bootmaker and Henry would help him in the workshop. He did not like Llangernyw church school because of the Welsh Not and children being punished. He was given books by Mrs Roxburgh to read and he educated himself. He was a very capable boy, winning the Penny Readings and singing. He went to Pandy Tudur school to John Price the principal and the farmhand. He won a scholarship to go to Normal College, Bangor then he taught in South Wales and lectured in Aberystwyth and Bangor before moving to Glasgow University. Henry Jones secured and established secondary schools in Wales fourteen years ahead of England. A very progressive man in that era.

David Lloyd George and Henry Jones were contemporaries. Both were from poor backgrounds, both worked in the bootmakers’ workshops. Lloyd George then helped Henry Jones when his son Elias Henry Jones was a First World War prisoner in Yozgad, Turkey. Elias used to send postcards home to his father, mother, and wife with hidden messages in them and those were then used to help the soldiers. Also Lloyd George, Henry Jones, and John Williams, Brynsiencyn were friends because they recruited young men to go and fight in the war.

Cwmulus are hosting this on-line talk, which is available both in Welsh and with an English translation. Details and registration at this link.

Cor Meibion Taf Male Voice Choir extend a warm welcome to rugby supporters and all others to their sing-along at Stewarts Melville Rugby Club (523 Ferry Road, Edinburgh  EH5 2DW) at 1:00pm on Saturday 11 February. The choir will have been performing at Mount Stewart House on Bute the previous day as part of their 2023 Scottish tour.

Some of our older members may remember the Denbigh, Ruthin and Corwen Railway, which linked the line in the Dee Valley in the south to the route along the north Wales coast. In the latest of the Cwmulus series of on-line talks, at 7:00pm on Friday 20 January, Fiona Gale will tell of a project to gather memories about the railway, explore some of the surviving features of the line, and research some of its history. Details and registration at this link.

A message from our President:

Annwyl Aelod CCD, mae 2022 bron a dod i ben. Da ni yn gobeithio gewch chi gyfarfod hefo teulu a ffrindiau and cael llawer o bleser ac mwynhad dros y Nadolig a’r Flwyddyn Newydd. Felly Nadolig Llawen and Blwyddyn Newydd dda i bawb. Cymerwch ofal ac aroswch yn iach ac yn saff. Hwyl fawr.

Dear EWS member, 2022 is coming to an end. We both hope that you are able to have some time and lots of enjoyment with family and friends over the Christmas and New Year period. So please have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope that we can meet again in 2023. Take care and stay safe and healthy. Best wishes.

David & Alison

At 7.00pm on Friday 9 December Dr D Ben Rees of Liverpool will tell the remarkable story of the Gwasg Gee press, and the famous literary figures behind it, in a talk illustrated by slides.

Gwasg Gee in Denbigh was one of the main Welsh publishers for the better part of two centuries. The company became famous as the publisher of Y Faner, Y Gwyddoniadur Cymreig, and many books of all types. It was established by Rev Thomas Jones in Rhuthun in 1808, then moved to Denbigh in 1809. Thomas Gee took over in 1813.

After its golden age a long decline came in the second half of the twentieth century, despite the heroic efforts of the novelist Kate Roberts, owner of the company from 1946 onwards. Kate died in 1985 and Gwasg Gee died in 2001.

Cwmulus are hosting this on-line talk, which is available both in Welsh and with an English translation. Details and registration at this link.