Community
Something about Jackie Morris
JACKIE MORRIS is a world-renowned children’s author and artist, who lives just outside of St. David’s. Jackie exhibits her painting nationwide and has worked with authors such as Ted Hughes and Robin Hobb. In October 2014, Jackie had her latest book, ‘Something about a Bear’, published, and she is currently working to a tight deadline on ‘The Wild Swans’. We at The Herald recently spoke with Jackie about living and working as an artist in Pembrokeshire.
Jackie told us that most of her inspiration comes from her walks; living just outside St. David’s, Jackie is always surrounded with picturesque landscapes and scenery. Jackie told us that ‘The Ice Bear’, which was published in July 2014, is set on top of the world. Although the book is heavily concentrated with Inuit culture, Jackie dreamt up the setting for ‘The Ice Bear’ while on top of a cliff in Pembrokeshire, watching the ravens fly around her. God’s house, in one of the books she illustrated for Ted Hughes, is modelled on her neighbour’s house, she said.
Jackie moved to Pembrokeshire twenty-three years ago from Bath, so I asked her if she thought her artistry had changed since moving to our coastal county. She explained that she had definitely seen a change happen. While living in Bath, her paintings were often tall houses and archways modelled on Bath’s architecture. Since living in Pembrokeshire, most of her art is based on a peninsular landscape and a lot of space has crept into her work. Her new house immediately inspired her work in the form of a pair of hobnail boots that the estate agent had told her not to move. There are superstitions that leaving the shoe of a child who has moved away, or even died, in the attic will draw their souls back. ‘There are so many stories tangled in that,’ Jackie said. Inspired by the boots, she wrote a story about a mother who had put the boot of her son, who had gone to war, in the attic. Many had believed the story to be true. The boot is still in the attic, and Jackie will not even take it out of the house to take a picture of it outside.
Jackie takes a lot of inspiration from inside her house, and her attic studio is filled with stuffed animals. ‘It’s actually getting kind of creepy,’ Jackie commented. She fills her workroom with things to inspire her when writing and illustrating her next book. While out shopping a few weeks ago, Jackie noticed a beautiful wedding dress, which she immediately bought for her studio. She is currently taken inspiration from the garment for her next book.
When I asked Jackie if she had a favourite painting or book, she laughed and stated: “I hate them all.” Jackie struggles as nothing ever comes out the way she wants it to. She is completely obsessed with writing and illustrating the book and it takes a lot of time, but she struggles with confidence when she has finished it. She starts with a lot of enthusiasm, but by the end she is worried that the book is not as good as the last. Jackie was often in tears over her work, but she is starting to get over that now. She gained a lot of confidence talking to other artists she admired who also suffered with the same problems. Jackie is very busy churning out book after book and she talked about the fact that she only gets a minute to appreciate the finished piece before moving on to the next. Jackie has a real compulsion to paint, though, and loves becoming immersed in the world of a book, so she is very grateful that she gets to read books, write books and paint for a living. Jackie had always wanted to be an artist since the age of six, but a lot of people said that she could not paint for a career. She is aware that she is very lucky to have proved those comments to be wrong.
Recently, Jackie has found a new passion in stone sculpting. ‘The first cut released a wonderful smell of sulphur’, she commented, talking about how wonderful her experience working with stone was. Used to very twiddly, fine painting, Jackie wanted to find something a little more physical. “My paintings, on paper, will be gone in three or four hundred years,” stated Jackie, “but stone lasts forever.” Jackie loves the stories that rocks tell, their smell, and their beauty. It is also very good for working out frustration, apparently.
Jackie currently has an exhibition on in the Druidstone Hotel, which is mostly artwork from ‘Song of the Golden Hare’, and she also has work in Narberth’s Golden Sheaf and Porthgain’s Shed. She has just had a show in the National Botanical Gardens of Wales and has work in galleries all over the UK.
Community
Social housing plans for Cleddau Bridge Hotel site backed
A SCHEME to build 38 affordable and social housing units on the site of a fire-ravaged former Pembrokeshire hotel has been backed by senior Pembrokeshire councillors.
Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet, meeting on April 22, supported a contract with developer Castell Group Ltd for the mix of affordable homes and social housing units at the Cleddau Bridge Hotel site, Pembroke Dock.
Members, in a report presented by Cabinet Member for Planning & Housing Delivery Cllr Jon Harvey, heard Castell had approached the council’s housing service to determine whether there is an interest in working with them to bring forward the development as a social/affordable housing site.
Castell Construction Ltd specialises in the construction of affordable / social housing, typically for registered social landlords across south Wales, and hopes to build 12 one-bedroom flats, 15 two-bed houses, five three-bed, two four-bed, and four two-bed bungalows.
The development package would be part-funded from the housing revenue account, the remainder from the Social Housing Grant and/or second homes premium for affordable housing if it becomes available for the Housing Service to use in this manner.
Cllr Harvey – who moved approval – said the scheme was expected to provide £230,000 a year in rentals income, describing it as “an excellent opportunity to work with a proven developer for extra social housing in an area of proven need.”
Deputy Leader Cllr Paul Miller said he was supportive of the scheme, as was local member Cllr Joshua Beynon, saying: “It’s a bit of an eyesore at the moment, if we can bring this site back into meaningful use, and in an area where there is a need, I’m all in support of this.”
Members backed senior officers be delegated powers to enter into the works contract, and to have powers to proceed with the land acquisition.
If a subsequent planning permission is secured for the site, the homes could be built by autumn 2026.
In a prime location at one of the entrances to Pembroke Dock, the former Cleddau Bridge Hotel has been derelict since a fire in March 2019, which brought emergency services from as far afield as Ammanford, Aberystwyth and Swansea.
Community
County Hall to offer space for community banking
A CALL for Pembrokeshire County Council to potentially change its banking arrangement with Barclays, after it closed its Haverfordwest branch has been turned down, but County Hall is to offer space for community banking.
Barclays Bank, on the town’s High Street, is to close on May 10.
The council has had a banking services contract with Barclays since 2013.
Councillor Huw Murphy, in a notice of motion heard by Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet meeting of April 22, asked the council to review its banking arrangements with Barclays following the announced closure.
e said the loss of a branch “not only impacts upon town centres and businesses but also disproportionately impacts the elderly who are less likely to embrace on-line banking options”.
A report for Cabinet members said, in terms of the impact on Pembrokeshire residents, Barclays has said that it is “not leaving Haverfordwest and [will] continue to provide face-to-face support for those who need it” via community locations.
Two options were presented to Cabinet: to retender the banking services contract, and, the favoured, to work with Barclays to ensure a community location is set up in Haverfordwest.
Members heard the costs associated with moving to a new banking service provider could be in excess of £50,000.
For the second, favoured option, members heard Barclays was in discussions with the council about a location for potential community banking.
Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance Cllr Alec Cormack, after outlining the risks in the report for members, and moving the notice be not adopted, said he had “considerable sympathy” with Cllr Murphy’s notice.
He told councillors there was a glimmer of light for banking arrangements in the county, with an agreement now signed for two ground floor rooms at County Hall, Haverfordwest, to be used for community banking.
From April 25, the rooms will be available on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, members heard.
Cabinet Member for Planning & Housing Delivery Cllr Jon Harvey also said he had “a lot of sympathy” for the motion, adding: “It’s excellent news a deal has been struck to occupy the ground floor rooms three days a week; hopefully this will mitigate, to a certain amount, the closure.
“If we can work with the respective banks to get a community-type approach let’s move forward.”
Community
Little and Broad Haven RNLI to feature in Saving Lives at Sea
As the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) marks 200 years of lifesaving, the volunteer lifeboat crew of Little and Broad Haven are set to take to the nation’s television screens on Tuesday 30 April as they feature in the ninth series of Saving Lives at Sea on BBC Two and iPlayer.
The new series comes in the wake of an incredible milestone for the RNLI, as the charity marked two centuries of lifesaving on 4 March 2024.
After a special first episode which took a closer look at RNLI crews’ involvement in the Second World War, nine further episodes in the series focus on the lifesaving work of today’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards, featuring footage captured on helmet and lifeboat cameras including Little and Broad Haven RNLI.
Viewers will be able to watch dramatic rescues as they unfold through the eyes of RNLI lifesavers, as well as meeting the people behind the pagers and hearing from the rescuees and their families who, thanks to the RNLI, are here to tell the tale.
This forthcoming episode, on Tuesday 30 April sees Little and Broad Haven RNLI tasked alongside St. Davids lifeboat to a mayday call for a capsized dinghy with three people in the water near Newgale Beach. The episode will also show rescue stories from fellow lifeboat crew volunteers at other stations and beaches around our coasts.
Andrew Thomas, Helm of the Little and Broad Haven lifeboat crew featured in the forthcoming episode, says: ‘The shout out to Pointz Castle is a great opportunity for the public to witness how our small community lifeboat station in Pembrokeshire operates.
‘It’s unusual to have the opportunity to work alongside so many other rescue services, including a local fishing boat who responded to the mayday call. A successful outcome to any shout is always a positive one. The sea can catch anybody out.’
Michael Bool, one of the volunteer crew on that rescue says: ‘The shout was an opportunity to put many aspects of our training into practice, alongside other RNLI assets. As volunteer crew we put the time and effort into training to be on call to assist others when in difficulty at sea, and this shout was a good example of why we do it.
‘Saving Lives at Sea gives an insight into why the RNLI is such an important service for coastal communities and visitors, both in terms of education and rescue when required. It was great to be invited to show some of what we do in Little and Broad Haven’.
Another volunteer crew member on that day, Gareth Light, says: ‘This was a great example of why the RNLI is such a valuable service and even better that everyone got to go home safely. Filming with Saving Lives at Sea was a great opportunity to give the general public a look at our lives and experiences as volunteer crew for the RNLI.’
Filming took place over the past year, with lifeboat crews and lifeguards carrying special cameras and welcoming film-makers into their day-to-day lives on the coast. Rescues from the RNLI archives are also revisited, and we get a glimpse into the everyday lives of the thousands of men and women who give up their time to save lives at sea.
Saving Lives at Sea is broadcast at 8pm on Tuesdays on BBC Two and iPlayer.
RNLI media contacts
For more information please contact Denys Bassett-Jones, RNLI volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on Denys[email protected].
Alternatively you can contact Claire Fitzpatrick-Smith, Regional Communications Manager on [email protected] or 07977 728315, or contact the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI – public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.
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