Community

Local author storming up Amazon book charts

Published

10 years ago

November 27, 2014

Tom Sinclair

No wreck: Storming book charts.

A PEMBROKESHIRE author has seen his first book go straight to the number one spot on an Amazon best sellers chart. James Hedley Phillips’ debut book, ‘Pembrokeshire Trilogy, Tales of the Sea’, contains many stories and facts collected by Mr Hedley in his, near half century, of diving experiences. The writer has found more than 30 wrecks in his diving career, including a 15th century trading ship and coal freighter, but he believes there are over 3000 known wrecks off the Pembrokeshire coast. His career in diving began in 1968 and he has dived in many waters, including those off of North Carolina, Florida, Israel, Greece, France and Sri Lanka, but states that none compare to the ‘unforgiving’ seas in West Wales, of which he said: “Pembrokeshire has always been infamous for the variety of its sea and wind patterns, so in previous centuries sail ships were utterly at the mercy of the elements.

But when you add in dangerous rocks then even modern vessels are vulnerable to a combination of features which you don’t quite find anywhere else in the world.” The Herald spoke exclusively with ‘Jim’ Hedley Phillips at his Pembrokeshire home, starting by asking him what had first inspired him to dive and how diving has changed over the years: “I am an outdoor person and my family are all from maritime areas, so i fancied scuba diving.To breath underwater, it’s fascinating. The equipment has improved tremendously, we used to use wet suits, which are cold, but now we use dry suits so you stay dry and don’t get cold and can stay diving for much longer.

The safety is much better and we don’t use twin hoses anymore and we have decompression computers that we wear.” The Herald asked what his most memorable finds were and what are the main dangers of diving: “Probably Entering a room in wreck that had sunk in the 30’s. The door had rotted and on the floor were the hinges, locks and handles. We found knives and forks on the floor where the table had rotted away and these were left. In Pembrokeshire, if I narrowed it down, I would say the ‘Langton Grange’ on Bell Rock, We went 150 foot down and there was row after row of dinner plates – the galley had disappeared but the plates were all in a row. If it was gold we had found, everybody would be coming out of the woodwork – you don’t get the problems if you don’t find treasure.

There is supposed to be the ‘Santa Cruz’ which was apparently sunk off Pembrokeshire with millions of pounds worth of gold on board. I looked at the archives, but there is no actual record of anything expensive sinking around here really.” “I have never found human remains diving, everything is recycled, it is a normal process. You don’t find bones but we have found buttons, on the ‘Nimrod, that sunk in 1860, buttons from the uniforms of the 45th regiment. Half a dozen soldiers went down – next to the cabinet where the booze was kept.” “The main risk is getting stuck.

You always dive with someone you have confidence in so if a problem occurs they can get you out of it. We don’t get a decompression problem because of the amount of slack water, so a diver can only go down for 20 minutes before the current starts up. The deeper you go go, though, the harder it is to concentrate, it’s called ‘nitrogen narcosis’. The nitrogen becomes like an alcohol and you can feel it coming on – but with years of experience you can push it away.” “There are no problems being attacked by a shark around here, seal pups, however, will pull your fins – they are just playing though! I have only seen sharks in Sri Lanka – they circled us but they didn’t come that close to us, fortunately.”

“It’s not just about shipwrecks – it’s looked at the pirates from Pembrokeshire – it’s more about stories and the people and characters. It’s worth a read just for the history of Skomer – 90% of the book will be about stuff of which people don’t know. Like the ‘Vendome’, it took 4 minutes to find the wreck, but just off it was a cave, I saw the biggest Conga eel I have ever seen, it was as thick as a telegraph pole. It had teeth the size of a Sabre Tooth tiger – I gallantly backed away! Finally, we asked if there were more volumes planned: “This first book took ten months, working some 12 hours a day, sorting it out, explaining the stories and getting it all together, but you get so involved that time means nothing. I have done 40 years of research, the book was very thick so I thought I would do it as a trilogy – all together it would be thicker than ‘War and Peace!’ I self published the book, paid for everything.”

Community

Tenby gears up for spectacular return of Steampunk Festival

Published

2 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A QUIRKY festival that brought a wave of eccentricity and invention to the streets of Tenby last year is returning in style next weekend.

The Tenby Steampunk Festival, which blends Victorian fantasy with retro-futuristic flair, will take place from March 28 to 30 – and promises to be even bigger and bolder in 2025.

Following the success of its inaugural event, which drew visitors from across the UK and as far afield as Belgium, the festival has gained national recognition. Travel publisher Rough Guides described it as “a fabulous new festival that offers a window into British eccentricity in one of the UK’s best seaside towns.”

This year’s highlights include the chance to enjoy tea with the Time Traveller, inspired by H.G. Wells’ classic The Time Machine, as well as the return of fan favourites like teapot racing and Tea Duelling – a light-hearted but fiercely contested biscuit-dipping duel.

Organised by Tenby’s community engagement officer Anne Draper and a team of dedicated volunteers, the festival is designed to celebrate creativity, costume, and community.

“The reaction last year was amazing,” said Anne. “We had people coming from all over. One person even came from Belgium! We’ve learned a lot and realised that steampunk folk are the entertainment – the streets come alive with them.”

This year’s additions include airship racing from the iconic St Catherine’s Island, which will once again be one of the festival’s most eye-catching venues.

Two spectacular Peacock Parades will take place through the town on both Saturday and Sunday at 2:00pm, beginning at the De Valence Pavilion and winding their way through Upper Frog Street, Tudor Square, the Harbour, and Crackwell Street.

The De Valence Pavilion will serve as the heart of the festival, housing a bustling Steampunk Emporium, a community art exhibition, and on-stage antics including Tea Duelling. A screening of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea will also take place, complete with a specially-written introduction to place it firmly in the steampunk world.

Church House will host live music acts including the ever-popular steampunk performer Madam Misfit, while those seeking something a little darker can take part in Victorian ghost walks, Scary Games and a Paranormal Experiment.

Visitors can also capture their own timeless moment in the Victorian photographic parlour, open throughout the weekend.

For more information, visit Tenby Steampunk Festival on Facebook.

Community

Henry Tufnell joins public call to clean up the Cleddau

Published

3 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Second public meeting on river health draws packed house in Haverfordwest

A PUBLIC meeting held last week at Haverfordwest Rugby Club has once again brought the Western Cleddau River into sharp focus, with growing calls for action to tackle pollution and protect this vital waterway.

The event, titled “What’s Wrong with the Cleddau and What’s Being Done About It?”, was held on Friday (Mar 21) and organised by The Cleddau Project — a grassroots campaign group working to restore the river. The panel discussion was chaired by Mid and South Pembrokeshire MP Henry Tufnell and attended by local councillors, environmental experts, farmers and residents.

Among those present was County Councillor Thomas Tudor (pictured with Tufnell), who represents the Castle Ward, through which the Western Cleddau flows.

Cllr Tudor said: “The Western Cleddau is at the heart of our community and its health affects all of us. I want to thank the organisers and everyone who came to take part in such an important conversation.”

Building momentum

This latest event follows a similar meeting held in January 2024 — before Mr Tufnell was elected — which also drew a large crowd and highlighted growing public frustration with the state of the river.

Over the past year, concerns have intensified as new data revealed that the Cleddau continues to fail environmental targets. Major sources of pollution include agricultural runoff, sewage discharges, and industrial waste.

Between 2016 and 2022, 72% of substantiated pollution incidents in the Cleddau catchment were linked to agriculture, according to river charity Afonydd Cymru. Meanwhile, the First Milk dairy processing plant in Haverfordwest has also faced scrutiny over waste management, and storm overflows continue to release untreated sewage during periods of heavy rain.

Expert panel takes questions

The evening featured a strong and influential panel of speakers, including representatives from:

Natural Resources Wales, who addressed regulatory enforcement and monitoring;
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, who spoke about wastewater infrastructure and pollution controls;
Afonydd Cymru, who shared research on agricultural runoff and environmental decline;
A local farming leader, offering a perspective on sustainable land management;
A representative from the angling community, who underlined the importance of the Cleddau for recreation and biodiversity.

According to The Cleddau Project, the event was “a success in that the panellists were asked a string of challenging questions. Each one of them can, in different ways, help restore the Cleddau to good health. They must all now fully appreciate the depth of frustration, anger and despair many of us feel. The panellists publicly confirmed that more needs to be done for the Cleddau, and there were some promising ideas about what and how.”

Grassroots action continues

The Cleddau Project has been instrumental in rallying the local community. Its initiatives include:

A citizen science programme monitoring water quality;
A pollution-reporting tool for local residents;
An educational outreach scheme for Pembrokeshire schools to raise awareness of river health from an early age.

Regulatory pressure

Many attendees voiced frustration over what they see as weak enforcement by Natural Resources Wales. Calls were made during the meeting for stronger action against polluters and increased transparency over environmental monitoring.

MP Henry Tufnell told The Herald: “This is a deeply important issue, and I am committed to working with the community and relevant agencies to secure the investment and accountability needed to protect the Cleddau.”

Further community events and volunteer-led monitoring efforts are planned in the months ahead, as the campaign to save the Cleddau gathers momentum.

Photo caption:
River at risk: Concerned residents, experts and politicians met at Haverfordwest Rugby Club to discuss pollution in the Western Cleddau (Pic: Herald)

Community

Young promoters Pembrokeshire to launch with a homegrown ‘Punk Night’

Published

4 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Tom Sinclair

EXCITEMENT is building at the Queens Hall Narberth this week as the newly-formed Young Promoters Pembrokeshire group get ready to launch their first ever gig at the Venue on Fri March 28th from 8pm.

Rock out with some of the best young punk bands on the scene right now. Lacross Club, REDREDRED and Pub Culture will bring their raw energy and rebellious spirit to the Queens Hall stage.

This upcoming gig is just one of several being organised by the Young Promoters Pembrokeshire in the coming months. Following a successful bid to Anthem Cymru, the Queens Hall Narberth launched the Making Music Events: Young Promoter in Pembrokeshire project in January 2025, which has brought together 10 young people from the County to learn about and undertake the planning and delivery of a series of live music events.

Lara Herde, the Queens Hall Manager said: “We are delighted to have such engaged and energised young people on board. With the full support of the professional team at the Hall, they have designed and programmed 5 gigs promoting a vast array of contemporary music from Wales. From contract negotiation to poster design and marketing, the group have had the opportunity to learn it all”

Anthem Cymru designed the funding to address the specific barrier of geographical and rural isolation for Young People in Wales through the medium of live music.

Kofi Acheampong, the Fund Manager said: “We are thrilled to enable the empowerment of the young people through this project, helping them become active citizens within their community, bringing them together to develop promoter skills and music interests, and introducing them to pathways into the music industry they might not have otherwise had the opportunity to learn about.”

So don’t miss the first YPP gig on 28 March from 8pm at the Queens Hall Narberth. It promises to be a gritty and electrifying atmosphere of heart-pounding music and pure punk chaos!

Save 25 April, 30 May, 27 June and 25 July in your diary for the rest of the upcoming YPP gigs including a Lounge night with soulful powerhouse twins, Nookee, a Folk night with Forte project member, Tomos Newman + local superstar, Connor Jillions, an Indie Rock night and more.

Tickets are available to purchase via thequeenshall.org.uk or call Box Office on 01834 861212. Door tickets will be available.