HORSES, STALLS AND FAMILY CROWDS RETURN TO MONKTON

FAMILIES, horse owners and visitors turned out in force for Pembroke Fair on Saturday (May 23), with many praising the event as one of the best organised in recent years.

Held at the Community Centre Field in Monkton, the annual fair brought together horse owners, traders and local families for a traditional day centred around horses, ponies, stalls and socialising.

Coloured cobs, heavy horses, ponies and horse-drawn traps attracted attention throughout the day, with many visitors gathering around the field to watch the animals being shown and led around the site.

A variety of stalls selling everything from clothing and ornaments to tack and second-hand goods helped create a lively market atmosphere, while food vendors kept visitors fed throughout the day.

Despite overcast conditions at times, the event remained busy, with many attendees staying for several hours to enjoy the traditional fair atmosphere.

Community members later took to social media to praise the smooth running of the event, with several publicly thanking organiser Charlie Price for his efforts in bringing the fair together.

Comments described the day as “well organised” and praised the welcoming atmosphere, with many saying it was encouraging to see a long-standing local tradition continuing to thrive.

The fair once again brought together members of the travelling community, local residents and horse enthusiasts from across west Wales.

A horse drive was also due to take place on Sunday (May 24), continuing the weekend’s celebrations.

Photo captions:

Traditional gathering: Horses, ponies, horse-drawn carts and market stalls drew crowds to Pembroke Fair in Monkton on Saturday (Pic: Herald).

A HEALTH board has been criticised by Audit Wales after GP contracts worth more than £10m were awarded without sufficient due diligence checks.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board allowed a GP partnership associated with eHarley Street Primary Care Solutions to take on eight GP contracts in south-east Wales, with a combined annual value of around £10.1m.

Audit Wales said the board should have carried out greater scrutiny before approving the arrangements, including checks on financial resilience, workforce plans, business risks and the partnership’s ability to manage several practices at once.

However, the watchdog found no evidence of fraud and noted the board was dealing with significant pressure in general practice, including vacant contracts and limited interest from other bidders.

The report said weaknesses in governance and scrutiny contributed to later disruption and uncertainty for patients and staff when problems emerged.

Concerns included financial and workforce pressures, unpaid invoices, and issues relating to tax and pension payments. Some contracts were later handed back, requiring the health board to step in to protect services.

Natasha Asghar MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Minister for Health and Social Care, said the findings were “deeply concerning”.

She said: “Patients and staff were left facing disruption and uncertainty because proper scrutiny was not carried out before these contracts were awarded.

“The Welsh Conservatives believe lessons must be learned to ensure robust checks are in place, protect frontline services and restore confidence in primary care across Wales.”

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board accepted the recommendations and said it had already strengthened its processes.

Audit Wales said the case highlighted the need for stronger checks before GP contracts are transferred, particularly when a single partnership is taking on multiple practices in a short period.

Concerns raised after mass stranding stretches hundreds of yards along shoreline

HUNDREDS of dead dogfish have washed up on a Pembrokeshire beach in a strange incident that has left locals and visitors searching for answers.

The fish, believed to be dogfish — a small species belonging to the shark family — were discovered scattered along Saundersfoot Harbour Beach on Thursday (May 21), with one witness estimating the carcasses stretched for around 500 yards.

Holidaymaker Colin Hill, who came across the scene, said the scale of the wash-up was shocking, with large numbers of fish appearing to have washed in at roughly the same time.

While the exact cause remains unclear, early indications suggest the fish may have been discarded at sea before drifting ashore on changing tides.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW), which attended the scene, said there was no sign of a pollution incident.

A spokesperson for NRW told The Herald: “We investigated reports of dead fish at Saundersfoot and found no evidence of a pollution incident.

“The fish appear to be dogfish, and this is likely linked to fishing by-catch being discarded at sea.

“Tides have since cleared the majority from the shoreline and no wider environmental impacts were identified.”

Fishing link suspected

Marine experts say one of the most likely explanations is that the dogfish were unintentionally caught by fishing vessels targeting more commercially valuable species before being thrown back into the sea.

Dogfish, also known as catsharks, are common around the Pembrokeshire coast but are not generally landed commercially in large numbers.

However, local marine conservationist Cliff Benson of Sea Trust Wales said the scale of the incident appeared unusual.

“We quite often see dogfish or catsharks seemingly intent on suicide and beaching themselves, though nobody seems to know why,” he said.

“However, this is on a different scale and looks like they might have been caught by some fishing boat that was hoping to catch more commercial species and thrown overboard dead.”

He added that pollution was another possible explanation, although less likely if only one species had been affected.

Not the first time

Pembrokeshire has seen smaller incidents involving dead dogfish washing ashore before, but similar mass strandings elsewhere in Wales have previously been linked to fishing activity.

In one case at Burry Port in 2019, fisheries experts suggested dead dogfish found on the shoreline had likely been dumped following the clearing of fishing nets. In Barry in 2021, hundreds more washed up, some still attached to hooks and tackle.

For now, the mystery remains unresolved — although NRW believes discarded fishing by-catch is the most likely explanation.

Caption:

Hundreds of dead dogfish washed up on Saundersfoot Harbour Beach on Thursday (Pic: Colin Hill).