News
Who the heck are the reporters behind Pembrokeshire Cachu News?
WE’RE reading it, we’re laughing over it and there’s no denying that the people of Pembrokeshire have grown to love it.
But who the heck are Barri Bryth, Ceredig Pysgod-Jones and his co-editor in chief, Gito Goch? In other words, the team responsible for Pembrokeshire Cachu News?
This week the Pembrokeshire Herald tracked them down to a pub in Pembroke town centre.
Gito, like all true journos, was knocking back the vino sacramento, and Ceredig was sticking to shandy because of a hangover from the previous day’s funeral.
The landlord ushered the GPT (the gutter press trio), to an upper room, well away from his other customers. No surprises there, then.
“I’ve always wondered what was up here,” said Gito.
And so began two hours of ceaseless comedy as they launched from one story to the next with that dynamic spark that typifies Pembrokeshire Cachu News.
As they talked, they played with Lego and drew on brown paper bags with their crayons. I kid you not.
“Here you are,” says Gito, shoving a packet of biscuits across the table.
“ Here’s a packet of Hobnobs from Barri Bryth. Why does he eat hobnobs? Because he’s a nob, that’s why.
“God knows where he’s got to this afternoon. In fact we often wonder whether he really exists, but he exists in our head.
“Our ultimate goal is to bring Barri to life and turn him into a black and white ‘film noir’ played by Rhod Gilbert and that man who goes on about Welshness…What’s his name?
“Michael Sheen. That’ the one. He’ll play Gito Goch.
“Barri, see, is your typical reporter in his corduroy trousers, collarless shirt, an ill-fitting tweed jacket, coke-bottle glasses and suspenders.”
Ceredig Pysgod-Jones takes a measured slurp of his shandy.
“I think you mean braces, Gito. Barri doesn’t wear suspenders.”
“Ah yes, braces. And Barri just wanders around the place saying ‘I don’t f****** know who I am’. That’s Barri.”
Brith, Psygod-Jones and Gito Goch were born during the Covid lockdown of 2020.
“It was all because of Nick in the sandwich shop in Pembroke Dock. She started telling us about the council watch page and so we started reading it and realised just how daft most of the stuff on it was.
“Remember that bloke who was complaining to the council that the grass was never being cut? And then when it was cut, he started complaining all over again, that it had gone all over his car?
“So during lockdown, Ceredig and I started writing our own stories for our own amusement and we launched Pembrokeshire Cachu News.”
They initially set their sights on attracting a couple of hundred followers but, following their Cleddau Bridge story, they realised that things were starting to turn.
“We said the Cleddau Bridge was going to close for six months because ‘Newky and Brown’ were going to repair one of the main pillars with a new formula super concrete called ‘Uber Beton’,” says Gito.
“I wrote that story in seven minutes. Within ten minutes I could see it being shared 50, 60, 70, 80 times.
“And this was only a few weeks after we launched Pembrokeshire Cachu News, so we knew that that story was our catalyst. Overnight we’d gained 500 followers.”
Today, their figure stands at well over 8,000.
“We never imagined this happening as even today, me and Gito are just doing it for our own amusement and for our own mental sanity,” says Ceredig.
“But we try and latch onto local history, and that seems to wind people up quite a bit which helps the figures.
“We’ve really got it in for Whitland because the people of Whitland complain about everything. And then we try and cause rivalry between the Tenby Sharks and the Penally Crows and as for the Mount Estate….you’ve only got to mention it and there’s hell to pay.”
Mr Chizzit from Birmingham is another PCN character who’s good at raising hackles.
“During the covid lockdown we ran a story saying that Mr Chizzit had driven his Volvo down from Birmingham to Tenby and my God, did it make people angry. We were laughing all the way to the bank with that one, but it made us realise that that’s what we had to do. Make people angry.
“And so Mr Chizzit travelled from Birmingham to Tenby again last year and said he wanted the Gosker Rock to be bulldozed down as it was spoiling his view.
“And the fantastic thing is that people actually believe this stuff.
“The one that really got people angry was in the summer of 2021 when we said that the refugees had escaped from the Penally Camp and were squatting in the abandoned Imperial Hotel in Tenby and were going to turn it into a Welsh kebab restaurant. People were writing in and saying they were never going to go to Tenby again.
“Only once we’ve had a pull a story, and that was when we said that the airfield in Carew was going to house 8,000 refugees from Penally Camp. We didn’t know that the airfield was owned by a private company so naturally they weren’t too happy when they read this.”
Gito admits to being the PCN editor who tends to throw caution to the wind and tell it just like it is, while Ceredig is more restrained, extremely dry and exceptionally cutting.
“But our intention is never to hurt or belittle people,” says Ceredig. “Except our friends, of course.
“We’re doing it just to amuse ourselves and hopefully to bring a smile to the people of Pembrokeshire. And one of the best things is when we see one of our rival newspapers asking people what’s the best thing about Pembrokeshire. And more and more people are saying it’s ‘Pembrokeshire Cachu News’.”
The way things are looking, this trend is set to continue for a very long time indeed.
Health
NHS staff at risk during pandemic due to PPE issues, Covid Inquiry hears
NHS staff in Wales may have put their health at risk during the Covid-19 pandemic by treating patients without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), former health minister Vaughan Gething has admitted.
Giving evidence to the Covid inquiry, Gething acknowledged significant challenges in distributing PPE despite assurances that national-level supplies were maintained. He revealed that stocks of key items ran out far quicker than anticipated, with some equipment deemed unfit for purpose and discarded.
“There were some very real challenges,” Gething said, noting that gloves, expected to last 15 weeks, were depleted within 11 days. Aprons and other essentials soon became critical concerns. He also condemned opportunistic profiteering during the crisis, calling some suppliers “shysters” who exploited global demand to sell inadequate equipment.
The Welsh Conservatives described the revelations as “completely unacceptable” for NHS staff, while Plaid Cymru accused the Labour-led Welsh Government of “significantly letting down” frontline workers.
The inquiry also heard of chaotic conditions in some hospitals. An email from a consultant at Prince Charles Hospital in March 2020 described a dire situation, with staff lacking protection, low morale, and masks unavailable.
In some instances, healthcare workers resorted to makeshift solutions, including wearing bin bags or purchasing their own safety gear. Trade unions highlighted that schools even stepped in to produce masks and hand sanitiser for local health services.
When asked whether healthcare workers treated Covid-19 patients with inadequate PPE during the first wave, Gething replied, “I’m afraid that’s possible.”
Decisions under pressure
The session also addressed difficult decisions made during the pandemic. Evidence was presented that some patients with little chance of survival were not admitted to critical care due to limited space.
“It’s very upsetting to read,” Gething said, acknowledging the heartbreaking choices faced by medical teams, though he claimed to be unaware of specific instances.
Gething, who served as health minister until May 2021, conceded that delays in tackling hospital-acquired infections could have contributed to the challenges. He admitted he might have acted earlier in forming a task group to address the issue, which worsened during the second wave.
First Minister reflects on birthing partner rules
Current First Minister Eluned Morgan also testified, reflecting on delayed decisions to allow birthing partners in hospitals during the pandemic.
Morgan, who succeeded Gething as health minister in May 2021, acknowledged that guidance was not updated until May 2022, more than a year after England implemented similar changes.
“If I had my time again, that’s one of the things I definitely would have changed,” Morgan said, calling the delay regrettable for new parents.
She also defended the decision not to launch a national investigation into hospital-acquired infections, citing extensive reviews conducted by health boards. However, Morgan acknowledged shortcomings in resuming routine surgery and criticised poor management at some facilities.
The inquiry continues to examine decisions made by Welsh ministers and NHS leaders during the pandemic, focusing on lessons learned to prevent similar issues in future crises.
Entertainment
Miles Jupp: On I Bang
SINCE Miles’ last tour finished at The London Palladium in 2017, he’s been in The Full Monty on Disney Plus, The Durrells and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? on ITV, as well as a heap of episodes of Frankie Boyle’s New World Order and Have I Got News For You. He’s made an award-winning radio series and he’s published a novel. But for Covid, he would have played a lead at the RSC. Hey ho. Nevertheless, he’s done a play in the West End and played the Emperor of Austria and Europe in a Ridley Scott film and now he heads here to the Torch Theatre in Milford Haven!
Yet one sunny day in the middle of all this, he suddenly suffered a brain seizure. This led to the discovery of a tumour the size of a cherry tomato, and a rather pressing need to undergo major neurosurgery. Obviously, one doesn’t wish to make a big deal of it, but the experience has left him with a story to tell and a few things that he’d like to share with the room. So that’s exactly what he’s doing in his new show On I Bang – a tale about surprise, fear, luck, love and qualified medical practitioners.
Having received rave reviews by The Times, The Guardian and The Telegraph, On I Bang with Miles Jupp is one not to be missed here at the Torch, and tickets are selling like hot cakes. Awarded four stars and described as “Elegantly funny, terrible English account of a tumour” by The Guardian and awarded five stars by The Arts Desk 2024, this a performance that will be talked about for months to come.
Join Miles Jupp: On I Bang when he visits the Torch Theatre on Friday 10 January at 8pm.Ticket price: £25. For tickets phone the Box Office on 01646 695267 or visit torchtheatre.co.uk.
News
Steel support ‘will reach thousands’ Welsh Secretary tells Senedd committee
THOUSANDS of people affected by the transition to greener steelmaking at Tata Steel Port Talbot are set to benefit from support set up by the UK Government, Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has told a Senedd committee.
Appearing before the Senedd Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee as part of its report on the Future of Welsh Steel today (Wednesday 20 November) Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens explained that since taking up her post in July, the Tata Steel Port Talbot Transition Board she chairs had already released £26.5 million to support businesses and workers in Port Talbot and across steel communities.
The Welsh Secretary told the committee that the £80m Transition Board was not fully funded when she came into office. However, she fought for an initial £13.5m in August to support supply chain businesses and workers.
The full £80m was confirmed by the Chancellor in October’s Autumn Budget. Following this, the Welsh Secretary announced last week (16 November) a further £13m to fund grant schemes to help people start new businesses and grow or protect previous businesses.
Dozens of firms in the supply chain are already moving forward with applications and money will be granted in the coming few weeks. The Welsh Secretary added that she expected support in the coming months and years from the Transition Board eventually to help thousands of steelworkers, family members and businesses in the supply chain.
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens told the Senedd: “Our focus is to make sure that we are protecting Port Talbot as a site of steelmaking in the future and that we will be helping thousands of people through this transition – not just direct employees but people in the supply chain and people in the wider community.
“We as a government see a bright future ahead for steel in the UK. We have a long-term vision that will deliver for the UK and I am determined that Port Talbot will be at the forefront of our steel industry in the future.”
The Welsh Secretary also reiterated to the committee that within weeks of taking office in July the UK Government delivered a better deal that secures the future of Port Talbot Steelworks, laid the groundwork for future investment and improved terms for the workforce without additional costs to the taxpayer.
She added that on arrival in office it was found that the £80m commitment to the Tata Port Talbot Transition Board was unfunded. It was later fully funded at October’s Budget.
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens told the committee: “The fund of £80m was initially announced last October. Between October 2023 and the General Election in July 2024 not a single penny of that £80m went out of the door to help steelworkers, the supply chain or the wider community.
“After we took office, I was horrified to discover that the £80m was an unfunded spending commitment.
“I have worked very hard to make sure that the £80m has now been confirmed through the Budget.”
Wednesday’s evidence session was the first time that the Welsh Secretary has appeared before a Senedd committee following her appointment in July.
Further funds from the Transition Board will be released over the coming months to provide a wide range of support for steelworkers and the wider community.
The committee was also told that the UK Government is committed to providing up to £2.5bn for steel which will be available through the National Wealth Fund and other routes. This is in addition to the £500m for Tata at Port Talbot steelworks and will harness public and private investment to ensure a sustainable future for UK steelmaking.
The UK Government is also developing a steel strategy that will set out a long-term vision for the steel sector in the UK.
The Welsh Secretary added: “We will have a steel strategy published in the spring to set out that vision for how Welsh steel and UK steel will play such an important part in the future.”
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