After undergoing extensive renovations, the Reading Room, formerly known as the village hall in Manorbier, will be launched as a new cultural space on Friday, June 3, between 7 and 10 pm.

The local community are warmly invited to attend the opening, where Abigail Sidebotham’s ‘Sea Empress’ Project will be introduced.

Throughout the evening there will be live music by local band Shanty Le Hara and hits from 1996 - the year of the Sea Empress oil spill. Food will be provided and the event is generously sponsored by Tenby Harbwr Brewery. Free parking is available at Manorbier beach car park from 7 pm.

Artist Abigail Sidebotham is collaborating with local historian Tudor Thomas to deliver a six-month long, oral history and community art project based on the Sea Empress oil spill disaster, during its 20th anniversary. The project will explore people’s connection to environment, their attachment to landscape, flora and fauna, and the consequent impacts that the ecological disaster had on the area.

Tudor Thomas of Tenby Historical Society will be working with volunteers to create an oral history archive of people remembering the event, which will be exhibited at the Reading Room and held by Tenby Museum and National Library of Wales archives.

Throughout the project there will be a number of events; talks, film screenings and exhibitions, open to the public and free to attend, and a regular project newspaper disseminated locally.

If you are interested in being involved as a volunteer collating the Sea Empress oral history archive, please contact Tudor Thomas via email: tudorthomas66@gmail.com. All volunteers will be trained in oral history interviewing techniques and archiving by People’s Collection Wales.

Following on from the project, Abigail Sidebotham will be using the oral history archive to produce an artist film, which will be exhibited at Oriel Myrddin Gallery.

Abigail Sidebotham, is an artist and filmmaker who grew up in Mid-Wales and lived in Tenby for many years. She graduated with a Masters in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art in 2013 and has since exhibited internationally. The project is supported by Beatrice Plunkett and the Heritage Lottery Fund and is partnered with Pembrokeshire County Council and Oriel Myrddin Gallery in Camarthen.

Find out about up and coming events and follow the project at: www.orielmyrddingallery.co.uk

About the Heritage Lottery Fund

Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) aims to make a lasting difference for heritage, people and communities across the UK and help build a resilient heritage economy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, they invest in every part of our diverse heritage.