CELEBRATING OUR PATRON SAINT'S DAY

As our meeting this month fell on March 3, we adopted a Welsh theme to celebrate our Patron Saint's Day.

Large numbers attended and they were not disappointed: they were able to enjoy an exhibition, a filmshow and a lunch (plus the usual coffee morning of course).

Thanks to the input of the county museum, we were able to put together an exhibition of Welsh costume, with exhibits borrowed from St. John and Judy Stimson, along with prints and photographs. Thank you to them and also to Terry John who worked with me to make a display about the background of St. David and his contemporaries, the saints who spread the word of Christianity in a time we call the Age of Saints during fifth and sixth century Dark Age Britain.

Those attending were given a rare treat; the showing of one of William Haggar's most famous silent movies, The Maid of Cefn Ydfa, which was based on an old Welsh folktale and popular Victorian melodrama. Vicki Haggar, great-granddaughter of William Haggar, gave us an introduction.

"Groundbreaking in its day, The Maid of Cefn Ydfa was Haggar's first fictional film and was first shown in the Bioscope at Swansea Fair in 1902.

"The film was a sensation in its day and literally made William Haggar's fortune. This version is the second, longer remake of 1908, and it was very much a family affair. William and his son Walter shot the film, it was directed and edited by William and starred his son William junior and his wife Jenny Linden.

"The film tells the sad and tragic tale of Ann Thomas, the daughter of a local landowner, and Will Hopkins, a poor thatcher and poet, who fall very deeply in love. However, the wealthy family solicitor schemes with Ann's mother to force her to marry his son, the obnoxious Anthony Maddox. Ann is duped into believing that Will has deserted her and marries Anthony, Will arriving at the church too late to prevent the wedding.

"Loss of Will, an unhappy marriage and dead baby lead Ann to despair, grieving at her child's graveside. At this point the film stops abruptly.

"The film was in fact missing for many years until rediscovered in 1984 in an under the stairs cupboard by one of the Haggar family in Swansea.

"It has not survived in its entirety: originally 50 minutes, the restored film is now 38 minutes long."

At this point, Vicki stopped to let the audience enjoy the film before revealing the missing final chapter in the story.

"You will now have to imagine," Vicki continued, "Ann on her deathbed dying of a broken heart, Will dashing back to his beloved who dies in his arms."

Pass the tissues please!... An enthralled audience applauded Vicki and also her sister Sue and husband Ron who were present. There really should be film museum in Pembroke to celebrate this huge Welsh contribution to the history of cinematography.

After the film, lunch was served - we have to thank Pauline Waters for making a vast quantity of leek and potato soup (I don't know how she does it!) which went down well along with the Welsh cakes and bara brith. Thank you too to Jackie Birthistle who organises our coffee mornings so efficiently and who always insists on making real coffee, instant will not do!

We saw many new faces at this meeting, which was nice. Among our visitors was our County Councillor for Monkton, Pearl Llewellyn, who was most complimentary about the event and the quality of the exhibition. Clr. Llewellyn has always given us her support as she has for other local organisations in her ward, and this is much appreciated.

Forthcoming events

Our next meeting will be the ever popular quiz night on Friday evening, March 16, at 7.30 pm, at Monkton Priory Church Hall. £3.50 includes a buffet - you are welcome to bring a bottle if you wish, teas and coffees are provided.

Please note: There will be no coffee morning next month as it would fall on the Easter weekend. We will have a Friday evening talk however, on April 20, when we will be pleased to welcome John Evans who will be talking about Pembroke Dock and its Flying Boats. Following this, we will arrange a visit to the Sunderland Trust.

Contact

If you have any stories or photographs for this column, please contact me, Linda Asman, on 01646 622428, email [email protected]">[email protected] and visit our website http://www.pembrokeandmonktonhistory.org.uk">www.pembrokeandmonktonhistory.org.uk