Category Archives: Llanwrda and Llansadwrn Country Women

Llanwrda and Llansadwrn Country Women’s Group February Meeting

‘All Aboard’  called Tony Birdwood to his passengers….sorry audience….as he began a most interesting and informative presentation  on The Heart of Wales Line to Llanwrda and Llansadwrn Country Women’s  Group and visitors at Llansadwrn Reading Room.

At the beginning  of the  ‘journey’  Tony explained the potted history of this remarkable, beautiful  line,  parts of which were opened in stages during the  1880’s.  He then continued  detailing all the stations, starting at Shrewsbury and  following the line all the way down and  ending up at the final destination Swansea. There were excellent slides to illustrate all the stations, passing loops, viaducts, tunnels, steam trains, 125s  and  DMUs that trundle   at various  speeds along the  picturesque rural line. Slides of drivers and signal men exchanging tokens to keep the line safe, signal boxes that have long since disappeared,  lines that have been taken up, bridges washed away by floods all  recorded and keenly explained by his encyclopaedic knowledge.

The final slides were of The Swansea and Mumbles Railway sadly recording the close of that line on the  5th January 1960. 

Keeping the Heart of Wales Line running and improving  is paramount  and something that Tony and the  Heart of Wales Line Travellers’ Association work very hard at all the time.  Tony encouraged all present to support the line  by using the trains and visiting the stations and to try out  the new walking routes that have been created. He reminded everyone that Llandovery station has an excellent cafe and exhibitions of art and craft throughout the year and a welcoming, roaring fire to keep all visitors warm in the winter.  Also everyone that has    a Concessionary Travel Pass from a Welsh Local Authority,  can travel free on the Heart of Wales Line – October – March only.

Following the talk delicious refreshments followed kindly provided by Hefina, Janice, Mair and Anne. 

The two raffle prizes of tokens for The Old Printing Office, Llandovery were won by Margaret Humphrey and Anne Morgans.

Liz collected the annual subs from everyone and we all were delighted to welcome six new members to the Group. The more the merrier! 

Celebrating St David’s Day, Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus, on Monday March 4th at 6.30 pm at The Sexton Arms, Llansadwrn will be the next meeting when we will all enjoy a tasty cawl cooked by Cliff. 

For further information  on the next meeting or wishing to join our Group 01550 777622. All welcome.

Llanwrda and Llansadwrn Countrywomen January Meeting

Llanwrda and Llansadwrn Countrywomen

Our first meeting of the New Year on 7th January 2019 was held in the old school hall in Llanwrda and proved to be very educational for all.

Lyndsey Maiden joined us to introduce the revamped web site for Llansadwrn.  The information on the site covers clubs, activities and events; useful resident information and telephone numbers for numerous organisations, timetables for local transport and details of community council meetings and much more.

Lyndsey explained and demonstrated how to use the menus and how to post information to keep the site current and relevant and encouraged us to make contributions from Llansadwrn and local villages.

Lyndsey followed this with a brief session on the basic use of smart phones for those of us not yet in possession of such a piece of equipment and help for those struggling with problems and not getting the best from their new phone. Overall an enlightening lesson.

Our next meeting will be open to non members and will be held in the Reading Room Llansadwrn on Monday 4th February 2019 at 7:30 when Tony Birdwood will give a talk “The Heart of Wales Line”.