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King’s statue a step closer

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Screen Shot 2016-02-02 at 10.23.30A MINIATURE statue of King Henry VII was unveiled in Pembroke on Saturday, January 16. 

There has been a long standing quest for a statue of the king who was born in Pembroke Castle in 1457. Progress is at last being made in the quest as Saturday’s event saw the unveiling of the Henry VII maquette (miniature of the statue).

The event was organised for Pembroke Town Council by the Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society and the large numbers attending gave evidence of the great public interest in this project.

Proceedings were opened by the Mayor of Pembroke, Cllr Pauline Waters who thanked all those present for attending and these included the deputy Chair of Pembrokeshire County Council, Cllr Keith Lewis, Cllrs Arwyn Williams and Daphne Bush, Pembroke Dock Mayor Cllr Peter Kraus, Neyland Mayor Cllr Margaret Brace and Consort Terry plus Pembroke Town Councillors.

The statue project is a partnership between Pembroke Town Council and PCC which has undertaken to match fund the £20,000 that has to be raised through its Town Centre Support Programme.

She then introduced sculptor Harriet Addyman, of Autodromo Narberth, who had been commissioned by Pembroke Town Council to produce the maquette.

Harriet told the audience she had been delighted to receive the commission as it was high time that Henry was celebrated in the place of his birth.

She added that the research phase of developing the maquette had been an amazing journey, and she had been fascinated to learn so much more about the life of Henry VII.

Linda Asman, Project Leader and Chair of the History Society, then gave an illustrated talk on the early life of Henry and traced his march to Bosworth which began at Mill Bay, near Dale, on August 7, 1485.

She and her husband Stuart had followed the route last year (albeit in a vehicle) and photographed the towns and villages where Henry’s army had camped during the progress to Bosworth.

That journey ended with the defeat of Richard III and the birth of a new Royal dynasty – a dynasty born in Pembroke.

A statue of Henry is long overdue but Linda stressed that we should be campaigning for a national visitor centre dedicated to Henry VII here in Pembroke to equal that of Richard III in Leicester: the Ricardians have had much publicity and we need to tell the other side of the story.

A home video followed which was taken in 1985 of the celebrations in Pembroke Castle to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Henry’s accession to the throne – many local people could be could be recognised participating.

The event officially marked the launch of the fundraising campaign to raise the money for the statue. The History Society has made a good start by raising £314 on the day with a coffee morning, raffle and book stall.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so to The Henry VII Statue fund c/o Pembroke Town Clerk, Pembroke Town Hall, Main Street, Pembroke SA71 4JS, Tel: 01646 683092. Email: [email protected]

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Business

Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Business

Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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News

Welsh Water has increased sewage discharges into waterways ‘by 40%’

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NEW figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Dwr Cymru discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 23,354 hours last year, a 40% increase on 2022. 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in Welsh waterways.

The party has also called for a halt on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.

Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “It is a complete scandal that filthy sewage is being pumped into our nation’s rivers and waterways without consequence.

“It’s beggars’ belief that both the UK Conservative Government and the Welsh Labour government are allowing water firms to get away with this environmental vandalism.

“We as a party are calling for tougher action to stop sewage being dumped in local waterways. We have also called for a halt on bonuses for water company fat cats whose firms have pumped filth into our waterways.”

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