News

County Library ‘redefines our heritage’ but is at risk, says Royal Commission

Published

4 years ago

March 31, 2021

HAVERFORDWEST’S old County Library building features in a list of twentieth-century heritage buildings at risk prepared by the Royal Commission of Ancient and Historical Monuments for Wales (RCAHMW).

Public libraries, as important places of free and accessible education for adults and schoolchildren alike, were highlighted by several post-war studies including the Education Act of 1944, the Ministry of Education report ‘The structure of the public library service in England and Wales and The Robbins and Newson Reports on Education of 1964.

The Public Libraries and Museums Act, also of 1964, made it a statutory duty for local authorities to provide a library service that was ‘comprehensive and efficient’ as well as encouraging cultural activities within communities.

The Pembrokeshire County Library of 1967-69, designed by Pembrokeshire county architect, Gilbert Ray, was part of the building programme that followed the Act’s passage.

Externally the facade is dominated by a sculpture by artist David Tinker designed to represent the pages of open books, the last of his Fibonacci Sequence inspired series, while the interior is characterised by large, well-lit, open-plan spaces. To the left, a round theatre is curtained by a curved stone wall, the slit lights evoking a sense of the origin of the medieval town.

The function of the building was replaced by the Glan-yr-Afon cultural centre built in 2018 and it is currently for sale.

RCAHMW is challenging the idea of what springs to mind when you think of ‘a historic building’.

Castles, medieval churches, timber-framed houses? Maybe nineteenth-century industrial complexes, nonconformist chapels and Victorian mansions?

The chances are that post-war theatre, civic centres or schools are not the first buildings that most people think of, or would consider, as being ‘of historic interest’ at all!

The twentieth century in Wales was one of major economic, social, political, technological, religious, and cultural change, and the built environment had to change and diversify drastically over the course of 100 years in response to this.

These buildings and planned landscapes have equally shaped our lives from our day-to-day experiences of transport, work, home and leisure to landmark civic and political structures.

The twentieth-century heritage, particularly of the post-war period, is increasingly under threat of demolition and redevelopment and the Commission urges planners and the public to think urgently about what this means for Wales’s heritage.

It is important that disappearing buildings and landscapes from this period are recorded for future understanding alongside those of earlier periods, but we also want to recognise and celebrate the achievements of twentieth-century developments in design, architecture and technological innovation and ensure that its importance as the latest chapter in our long history can be understood and appreciated.

While some of these buildings, because of their scale, materials or complex history, may not always be easy to love at first sight, they play a vital role as a visible marker of our society’s more recent past.

To this end, the Royal Commission is recording C20 heritage at risk and formulating strategic programmes of thematic research to take forward.

RCAHMW has also been involved in the formation of C20 Cymru; the Twentieth Century Society in Wales and are looking forward to co-ordinating the twentieth-century period for the forthcoming revision of the Research Framework for the Archaeology of Wales.

Whatever your view of the County Library’s appearance, it is a marker of a period in our shared history. The library building and its sculpture represent how the architect and planners behind it saw both their time and the future.

The 2012-2017 Council, under Jamie Adams’ leadership, found the cost of redeveloping it as a cultural centre too heavy a burden only after it closed the library and shunted it into temporary accommodation.

Facilities which that administration promised to house in the building, including a community centre for young people, remain unprovided.

Since its closure, the building has remained empty; the façade slowly mouldering away. It is now up for demolition and redevelopment.

The modernist sculpture has been offered for installation elsewhere in Haverfordwest.

It remains to be seen whether anyone will accept it as a valuable reminder of Haverfordwest’s 20th-century heritage and give it the home it deserves.

Crime

Police arrest suspects following vehicle interferences in Haverfordwest

Published

9 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Tom Sinclair

HAVERFORDWEST police responded swiftly after reports of multiple vehicle interferences in the Tasker Way area on Sunday night/early Monday morning (Nov 4).

Officers from the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPPT) conducted extensive house-to-house enquiries, gathering evidence and reassuring the community. These efforts led to the identification of two suspects.

Both NPPT and Response teams acted promptly, locating and arresting the suspects, who are now in police custody.

News

Ancient Welsh hymns brought into 21st century with unique collaboration between Lleuwen Steffan and National Eisteddfod

Published

14 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Sarah Jane Absalom

Some of Wales’ long-forgotten hymn tunes are being brought vividly back to life this month, thanks to award-winning singer, songwriter and composer Lleuwen Steffan and her unique collaboration with the National Eisteddfod of Wales.

Performing as ‘Tafod Arian’ (Silver Tongue), the collaboration pays homage to the lost voices of the past, and infuses these timeless melodies with some highly contemporary electronic arrangements.

The project originated in 2012 when Lleuwen was working on a music project at St Fagan’s National History Museum where she came across some long-forgotten recordings of hymns which had been left in the sound archives. None of these hymns could be found in the official hymn books nor the older hymnal editions, possibly as the result of their informal, conversational lyrics, or because they often delved into the world of addiction, mental illness and the darker side of the psyche.

But now these unpublished and unknown hymns will be heard for the first time in over a hundred years when Tabernacl Chapel, Maenclochog, will be one of 50 Welsh chapels to be visited by Tafod Arian.

With translations and insights, the tour breathes new life into archive recordings, ensuring these cherished sacred songs rightfully claim their place in today’s spotlight. Lleuwen masterfully combines electronic and acoustic instrumentation, seamlessly blending the past with the present, and takes the stage alongside a dynamic quintet of international musicians including Sioned Webb and Gethin Elis from Wales, and Nolwenn Korbell and Brieg Guerveno from Brittany.

Despite the hymns’ long-distant past, the music is firmly in the present as Lleuwen uses various instruments to provide angular electronic accompaniment as well as her soulful vocals and guitar. She provides translations and explanations as she proudly puts the archive recordings of the lost |Welsh hymns on centre stage. As a result, these sacred songs are being passed on orally rather than via the hymn book which is precisely how Welsh folk music was conveyed.

The long-forgotten hymns will be heard once again in all their glory at Tabernacle Chapel, Maenclochog on Sunday, November 17 at 6.30pm.

Crime

Suspended sentence for Goodwick man who sent sexual messages to young girl

Published

14 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Court Reporter

THE FATHER of a young girl sent sexual messages to an individual he believed to be a 12-year-old girl online, Swansea Crown Court heard this week.

An undercover police officer posed as a 12-year-old girl on the website RandoChat, with the decoy’s profile stating they were 18.

James Roberts messaged the decoy on 9 August, stating he was “looking for a naughty girl”.

The decoy promptly informed him that she was 12 years old; however, the defendant continued to send messages referencing sexual acts and self-gratification.

Roberts added the decoy on Snapchat, claiming to be 19 and living in England.

He again sent sexualised messages and, referring to the decoy’s age, said they were “never too young to start sending pictures”.

The defendant also told the decoy that he was having similar sexual conversations with a 14-year-old, Mr Dickens said.

Police attended Roberts’ home in Goodwick on 17 August, and he was arrested. He denied having a mobile phone, claiming he “had sent it off to Samsung to be fixed” but was “extremely vague” when asked for further details. Mr Dickens said no phone was ever recovered by police.

The 28-year-old Roberts pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child. The court heard that he had no previous convictions.

Hannah George, in mitigation, said the defendant showed “some degree of remorse” and that there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

“In the 13 months since he was interviewed there have been no further offences,” she said.

Ms George said Roberts had suffered “significant” shame and embarrassment as a result of the offences, and it had led to him losing his job.

He had previously been diagnosed with PTSD and suffered “deep periods of depression”, Ms George said.

She added that his contact with his young daughter “has been diminished” following these offences.

“You were in contact online with who you firmly believed to be a 12-year-old girl,” said Judge Paul Thomas KC, addressing Roberts.

“You have a two-year-old daughter. Just think how you would feel if a man in his thirties tried to have that sort of conversation with her in 10 years’ time.”

Roberts was sentenced to 30 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. He must complete 35 days of an accredited programme and 25 rehabilitation activity requirement programme days.

He must also register as a sex offender for 10 years and was made the subject of a three-year sexual harm prevention order.