News

WI preserves more than jam!

Published

12 years ago

February 27, 2014

AS THE Women’s Institute movement prepares to celebrate its centenary next year, Pembrokeshire County Council Archives is helping it preserve its records for posterity.

The Haverfordwest based Archives, which is the key custodian of the county’s history, is storing the archives of local WI branches.

The documents include scrapbooks, photograph albums and press-cuttings, as well as the official minutes and monthly records of branch meetings, and provide an unique record of the County’s past for posterity.

“Many WI branches institutes hold invaluable historical information about their area in the form of written observations of local events, photographs of residents and comments on the effects of changes in government policy upon everyday life,” said Pembrokeshire Archives archivist, Nikki Bosworth.

“Over time many of these valuable resources disappeared but now the WI is collecting and collating all the surviving material from local institutes and depositing it for safe keeping in local county archives.”

The WI began in 1915 with the first Pembrokeshire branches Mathry and Solva – established in 1917 closely followed by Carew, Clarbeston Road and Narberth.

By the end of the 1920s, there were WIs in Boncath, Cosheston, Dale, Kilgetty, Llanddewi Velfrey, Neyland and Tavernspite.

Today Pembrokeshire has 1,300 WI members and almost 60 branches including branches in County Hall and Pembrokeshire College with the most recent group, founded in 2013, intriguingly named the “Marmaladies”. Amongst the documents recently deposited by Llanddewi Velfrey WI are copies of women’s magazines such as “Mary Bull, Every Woman’s Weekly” dating from 1914 while from Fishguard WI, there are records of fruit-preserving centres where the WI made jam during the Second World War.

The records are being stored in the new state-of-the-art Pembrokeshire County Council Archives in Prendergast, Haverfordwest, where a team of staff, led by County archivist Claire Orr, has been sorting and listing the documents.

In the future, the public will be able to access this material and widen their knowledge of their locality and its people in the past. Pembrokeshire Archives is based in Prendergast, near Sir Thomas Picton Secondary School, and can be visited in person, or contacted by telephone on 01437 775456, email [email protected] or via the web-site www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/archives.

It is open to the public (without the need for advance booking) on Wednesdays 10 am to 8 pm. Thursdays and Fridays 10 am to 5 pm and Saturdays (except Bank Holiday weekends) 10 am to 3 pm.

For enquiries about joining a branch of the Women’s Institute, the Pembrokeshire Federation of Women’s Institutes can contacted by telephone on 01437 768674, email [email protected] or via the web-site www.thewi.org.uk.

Crime

Man charged with strangulation and assault offences after October incident

Published

12 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Court Reporter

A MAN recorded in court as having no fixed abode has appeared before magistrates charged with intentional strangulation and two further assault offences.

Michael Sudbury, 50, whose address was not read out in court, but in Herald records is Glan Hafan, Llangwm, appeared before the bench facing multiple charges.

The charges relate to an incident on 22 October 2025 and include:

Intentional strangulation, contrary to section 75A of the Serious Crime Act 2015
Common assault
Assault by beating

No further details of the alleged incident were opened in court, and no plea was entered at this stage.

Sudbury was remanded on conditional bail, with the case listed to return to magistrates later this month.

Crime

Haverfordwest man sent to Crown Court on multiple serious charges

Published

12 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Court Reporter

Defendant remanded in custody

A HAVERFORDWEST man has been sent to Swansea Crown Court to stand trial on a series of A 49-year-old Haverfordwest resident has been committed to Swansea Crown Court to face trial on multiple serious charges deemed too grave for magistrates to handle.

David Guy, of Market Street, Haverfordwest, appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates facing a series of allegations stemming from a single case. The charges, which were not detailed in open court, include:

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH)
A second count of assault
Criminal damage
An additional allegation of interpersonal violence
A public order offence

Magistrates declined jurisdiction, determining that the matters exceeded their sentencing powers, and sent the case in its entirety to Swansea Crown Court.

Guy was remanded in custody pending his next appearance. The court register notes: “Sent to Crown Court for trial in custody – next hearing at Swansea Crown Court.”

A date for the initial Crown Court hearing will be set administratively. Guy will remain in custody until then.

The Pembrokeshire Herald will provide further updates as the case progresses in the Crown Court.

Crime

Castlemartin man back before magistrates over multiple alleged assaults

Published

12 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Court Reporter

Defendant remanded on conditional bail ahead of further hearing

A CASTLEMARTIN man has appeared repeatedly before magistrates this month over a string A 40-year-old man from Castlemartin has made repeated appearances before magistrates this month in connection with a series of serious alleged offences, including assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), intentional non-fatal strangulation, common assault, and criminal damage.

Anthony Alcock, of Pwll Street, Castlemartin, is facing six linked charges stemming from incidents said to have occurred earlier this year. These appear to relate to the same complainant in what is understood to be a single ongoing domestic abuse prosecution.

During recent administrative hearings at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court, Alcock did not enter pleas while matters of bail and case management were addressed.

Charges Include:

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH)
Intentional non-fatal strangulation
Common assault on a woman
Criminal damage in a domestic context
Additional assault allegations involving the same complainant
Breach of bail conditions

Alcock was initially granted conditional bail but was subsequently brought before the court on two occasions for alleged breaches. On those instances, magistrates remanded him in custody ahead of further hearings. He was later re-granted conditional bail, subject to strict conditions such as no contact with the complainant and exclusion from specified locations.

Magistrates have now declined jurisdiction, ruling that the case—particularly the more serious charges involving non-fatal strangulation—is too grave for summary trial. It has been committed to Swansea Crown Court for plea, trial, or sentencing.

No detailed evidence has been presented in open court at this preliminary stage. Alcock remains on conditional bail pending his next appearance at the Crown Court.