Online Sermons
In the absence of a physical service Vicar Viv is offering all an online service here.
A Sermon for Passion Sunday
Category Archives: Llansadwrn Church
Services Cancelled
All church services have been cancelled until further notice, but please feel welcome to enter the church, anytime you wish, for quiet thought or meditation. There are some copies of prayer sheets there, printed for use at this difficult time – feel free to help yourself but do remember to take them home with you.
As with all activities at this time, please take all sensible precautions: keeping the recommended distance from others, and maintaining hand hygiene by frequent hand washing, or by using gel if this is not practical.
Please do not leave home if you have any symptoms, e.g., continuous cough or temperature. If you begin to feel unwell whilst in church, then please return home immediately.
Please join us, and people across the nation, in an act of prayer and hope this Sunday, the 22nd March, by lighting a candle in your window at 7pm. This will act as a visible symbol of the Light of Life, and of our prayerful hope for the days ahead.
Covid 19 and Llansadwrn
After much discussion and weighing the pros and cons, it has been decided to discontinue many of our indoor events for the time being – not an easy decision but given the circumstances arguably it is one to make earlier, rather than later. It is a very difficult time with so much uncertainty – and trying to do the right thing, balancing normality with good sense about the risk, is not without its problems: there is no blue print to guide us!
Meantime, a list is being compiled of anyone who would welcome an occasional phone call to make sure they are still ok / need anything / shopping / or whatever: if you think of anyone and you have their permission for their name and contact details to be shared, please let Jane Shaw or Vicar Viv know: similarly the names of anyone free, willing and able themselves to offer giving their support in this way…
Of course many already have local friends / family / neighbours who mutually support one another all the time, which is perfect – but there are some, especially if they are living on their own, in the vulnerable category and without family nearby, who could fall through the net if they catch the virus and self-isolate, without anybody else knowing they are unwell. Vicar Viv Sayer 01550 777200
To ensure that people do not end up isolated we are also organising a regular outdoor walk around the village, and we will also be doing work in the community garden to prevent isolation.
Weather permitting next Saturday morning (21st) we intend to have a community walk in the morning, meeting at the Reading Room at 10am and then a community garden in the afternoon from around 2pm. We have habitats to make and dogwood cuttings to plant. Keep an eye on the events page for updates and new opportunities for meeting up and not hugging.
As a community we commit to keep each other safe whilst not getting isolated. If you are feeling isolated or anxious you are surrounded by a loving community – please ask for help.
Never Forget, an Exhibition in Llansadwrn
This year saw the centenary of the end of that awful war that promised no others. There is now an exhibition at Llansadwrn Church of the men and boys lost in that terrible war and the one that followed.
Every town and village lost young men and boys in the horrors of that time and Llansadwrn was no different. Young men were recruited and sent out into the trenches from across the village. In all the two wars saw twenty young men lost from Llansadwrn.
The exhibition remembers all twenty young men and tells their stories, we tell three of their stories here.
Benjamin Trevor Davies, Gunner, 123915, Royal Garrison Artillery – The Great War, 1914-1918
Benjamin was the son of Daniel and Esther Davies, of Pantyrhendre, Llansadwrn. He resided at Manchester House, Caio prior to the war, where he worked as a grocer.
Benjamin enlisted at Llandovery on 21 October 1916 into the Royal Garrison Artillery.
On 17 April 1917 he landed in France, where he entrained for Marseilles.
Benjamin then sailed to Egypt before joining the 304th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, which was part of the XCV Heavy Artillery Group.
Benjamin fought in the Mesopotamian theatre, where he was wounded, and he sadly died of Meningitis following wounds on 5 March 1918, aged only 21. He is buried at Ramleh War Cemetery, Israel.
Benjamin Trevor Davies, Gunner
Benjamin Trevor Davies’s grave
Benjamin Wright, Private, 11479, Welsh Regiment – The Great War, 1914-1918
Benjamin was born at London, but resided at Pwllyfan, Llanwrda prior to the war, and worked as a Grocer’s Haulier for David Griffiths, London House, Llansadwrn.
He also worked as a Gardener for Mr Hunter at Abermarlais. He became the first man from the district to enlist, having enlisted at the outbreak of war at Carmarthen into the 2nd Battalion, Welsh Regiment, which landed in France on 13 August 1914 as part of 3 Brigade, 1st Division.
The Division fought at the Battle of Mons, and then during the epic retreat to the Marne, where they helped stop the German Advance before pushing them back to the Aisne. They were then rushed to Ypres, and took part in First Ypres, where the German advance across Flanders was stopped, although at great cost.
After a hard first winter in Flanders, the Division fought at the Battle of Aubers in May 1915 then moved to Loos, and took part in the Battle of Loos throughout September and October that year.
In 1916 they fought on the Somme, where Benjamin was killed in action on 23 August 1916, aged 27. He is buried in Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz, France.
Benjamin Wright, Private,
Grave of Benjamin Wright, Private
Thomas Vicars Hunter, Captain, Royal Air Force – The Great War, 1914-1918
Thomas was born in London on 2 April 1897, the son of Henry Charles Vicars Hunter, J.P., and the Hon. Mrs. Florence Edith Hunter, of Abermarlais, Llansadwrn.
Thomas was educated at Ladycross and Eton, which he left early at the age of 17 for a Commission at Sandhurst, joining the 5th Battalion, the Rifle Brigade.
Soon after being gazetted, he broke his leg in a motorcycle accident, which necessitated the amputation of his badly injured leg. This didn’t stop him though, as he returned to service in October 1916, but quickly discovered that he was hampered by the loss of his leg, and so he volunteered for the Royal Flying Corps in February 1917.
He gained his wings in May, and served in France flying scouts, with 66 Squadron. Thomas was gazetted Flight Commander in September, and in November 1917 was posted to Italy with his Squadron.
Sadly Thomas was Killed in Action there on 5 December 1917, aged just 20, and is buried at Carmignano Di Brenta Communal Cemetery, Italy.
Thomas Vicars Hunter, Captain, Royal Air Force