Members Night

In these days of supposed global warming/ climate change/ extreme weather it came as no surprise to the twenty or so brave members who attended the evening that this month's weather is extremely cold !!. Indeed, one commentator pointed out that the first week of December with its plunging temperatures was the coldest since 1894 in the British Isles and the second coldest since records began in the UK around 1650. Yet neither the arctic-like weather or seasonal coughs or colds could spoil what was a highly successful meeting.

The evening began with a contribution from keen photographer John Watson. John had taken a series of pictures of the Society's trip to Acton Scott on a balmy June day this year. It was wonderful to be reminded of a visit to a location which is now the subject of a number of historic documentary series currently being shown on television.

The second contributor was Mr Colin Evans who took "The Brig Resolven" as his topic. The tale of the ship is rather a mystery, and she is sometimes called the "Marie Celeste" of Wales, since the ship was found abandoned off Newfoundland with the fire still alight in the grate and no sign of a crew. Mr Evans described solving the mystery of the fate of the Resolven as being rather like trying to piece a detective story together. Following on from the work undertaken by John Mc Mahon and the late Alun Evans some twenty years ago, Mr Evans has followed some new leads and he intends to present the story in full on our website in the near future.

The third contibutor was our Secretary, Trefor Jones. Mr Jones took the nearly forgotten and epic tale of the 1925 Anthracite Strike which was centered on the town of Ammanford. The nature of the anthracite coalfield, the causes of the strike, the dramatic events and its results were discussed. Once again, Mr Jones intends to develop his contibution into an article on this blog.

The evening concluded with festive fare including mulled wine and the now "traditional" Christmas Quiz. This year, our new projector was used to give the quiz a digital aspect, since historical figures had to be recognised with powerpoint providing the clues. This did not diminish the intellectual acumen of the members since the sweets and crackers were won with comparative ease.

Mr Gwyn Thomas thanked the contributors for their efforts and wished all members present and those absent a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.

NADOLIG LLAWEN A BLWYDDYN NEWYDD DDA