Pembroke church will mark completion of major restoration project with ringing, refreshments and an exhibition of photographs

ST MARY’S CHURCH in Pembroke will hold a special service on Sunday (May 10) at 3:00pm to bless its newly restored bells and three new bells added as part of the project.

The service is expected to be a significant occasion for the church and the town, with refreshments available before and after, along with plenty of bell ringing to mark the celebration. Photographs showing the restoration work will also be on display.

The event will also reflect the long-standing link between the town’s mayors and St Mary’s bells.

Former Mayor of Pembroke, Councillor Dennis Evans, famously climbed the church’s narrow tower steps in full regalia to inspect the bells during his term of office.

Organisers say it is fitting that Pembroke’s new Mayor, Cllr Jonathan Grimes, County Councillor for Pembroke St Mary South and Monkton, will take part in the service at the beginning of his mayoral year.

The celebration is expected to draw local residents, church supporters and those with an interest in Pembroke’s history, as St Mary’s marks the completion of a project that has preserved an important part of the town’s heritage.

Photo caption:

Tower visit: Former Mayor Dennis Evans views the bells at St Mary’s Church during a previous visit (Pic: supplied).

Dyfed-bred mare rose from a farm in Eglwyswrw to national ceremonial fame and became a trailblazer for the Household Cavalry

TRIBUTES have been paid across Pembrokeshire following the death of Major Juno, the Dyfed-bred Shire horse whose journey from a working farm in Eglwyswrw to the centre of Britain’s ceremonial life made her a source of enormous local pride.

Known at home as Willa Rose, she was bred at Dyfed Shire Horse Farm, where her size, strength and calm temperament quickly marked her out as something special. Born on May 10, 2013, she was part of the fourth generation of the Dyfed bloodline and would go on to become one of the farm’s most celebrated horses.

In 2021, she was bought by the Household Cavalry and sent to London, where she underwent two years of specialist training before being officially named Juno in 2023.

Her rise was historic. Major Juno became the first mare to pass out onto parade as a Household Cavalry drum horse, placing both horse and farm in the national spotlight. The achievement shone a light on Pembrokeshire and on the work of breeders in rural west Wales, with many locally seeing her success as something truly extraordinary.

She went on to appear in three consecutive Trooping the Colour parades, cementing her place among the most notable horses ever bred at the farm. For local people, she was far more than a ceremonial animal. She was living proof that a horse raised in Pembrokeshire could reach the very highest level of national service.

Major Juno came from a remarkable line. Her uncle Celt went on to serve in London as Major Mercury after joining the Household Cavalry in 2008, while another Dyfed horse, Ed, later became Major Apollo. In 2023, Apollo and Juno paraded together at Trooping the Colour, an extraordinary moment for the family behind Dyfed Shire Horse Farm and a measure of the farm’s unique reputation for producing elite ceremonial horses.

Despite her national fame, Juno never lost her connection to Pembrokeshire. She returned to the farm for public visits, drawing crowds of admirers eager to see the Dyfed-bred mare whose reputation had spread far beyond the county.

Her death, after a short illness, has prompted an outpouring of sadness from those who followed her story from the beginning. Dyfed Shire Horse Farm paid tribute to her as “our Rose”, while the family has asked for her to be returned to Pembrokeshire to be laid to rest alongside Major Mercury.

Among those paying tribute was county councillor Huw Carnhuan Murphy, who wrote: “Your journey is done, proud to have been there on the day it all began on May 10th, 2013 with Nikki Murphy & Anna Raymond.”

From the fields of north Pembrokeshire to Horse Guards Parade, Major Juno carried the county with her. In death, as in life, she remains a symbol of the care, quality and quiet ambition that took a Welsh-bred mare to the very heart of national tradition.

Cross-party Senedd members and councillors say Welsh public money must not be invested in firms linked to alleged war crimes and apartheid

POLITICIANS from across Wales have called for local government pension funds to stop investing in companies they say are complicit in Israel’s actions against Palestinians.

In a cross-party letter coordinated by Palestine Solidarity Campaign Cymru, Senedd members and councillors from Plaid Cymru, the Greens, Labour and the Liberal Democrats urged the Wales Pensions Partnership to end investments they describe as supporting “genocide and apartheid”.

The Wales Pensions Partnership manages Welsh local government pension funds worth an estimated £26 billion.

In their letter, the politicians said ensuring public investments “are not contributing to grave violations of international law must be an urgent priority”.

The intervention comes as the Wales Pensions Partnership develops an Exclusion Framework, which campaigners say is intended to prevent investments that conflict with climate, human rights and international law commitments.

However, those behind the letter argue that the framework risks falling short of what they describe as a clear democratic mandate from councils across Wales.

According to PSC Cymru, many councils have already passed motions calling for divestment from companies alleged to be complicit in war crimes, apartheid and other breaches of international law. The group says 11 councils in Wales — half of all councils in the country — have now backed such motions.

Research cited by the campaign claims that Local Government Pension Scheme funds in Wales have more than £1.1 billion invested in companies said to be linked to Israel’s actions against Palestinians.

As one example, the campaign says Rhondda Cynon Taf Pension Fund has invested more than £12 million in BAE Systems, which it describes as an arms manufacturer making parts for fighter jets used by Israel in Gaza.

The letter calls on the Wales Pensions Partnership to ensure its Exclusion Framework explicitly excludes all companies said to be enabling grave violations of international law by Israel, and to produce a clear, time-bound plan for divestment.

Bethan Sayed, co-chair of PSC Cymru, said: “Today’s letter sends an unmistakable message: Welsh politicians from across the political spectrum will not allow public money to fund genocide and apartheid.

“The Wales Pension Partnership manages £26 billion on behalf of Welsh workers and communities — not a single penny of it should be profiting from the massacre of Palestinian men, women and children.

“Six out of seven people in Wales support divestment. Eleven councils have passed motions. The democratic mandate could not be clearer. The WPP must act — and it must act now.”

PSC Cymru said the letter reflected growing pressure across Wales for public bodies to review investments linked to the conflict.