Five ‘hidden heroines’ to be celebrated at Pembrokeshire’s new heritage centre

Published

12 months ago

February 24, 2025

When it comes to fighting for their nation – be it politically, culturally, socially and ethically – the women of Wales have proven themselves invincible.

Yet despite their significant achievements, Wales’ heroines have remained largely hidden, and their stories forgotten.

Now, thanks to the commitment of the ‘Monumental Welsh Women’, five influential females have finally been acknowledged following commissions to erect public statues in their honour.

“Despite what so many women have done and achieved in Wales, there wasn’t one single public statue commemorating their achievements,” said Pembrokeshire historian Angela John, who has been one of the Monumental Welsh Women who has campaigned for their recognition for the last eight years.

“There has been a complete lack of visibility.”

Later this week, Angela will be giving a talk in her home town of Newport, Pembrokeshire, on the five women selected.

The first was Betty Campbell, a black woman of poor parentage who was told at school that the problems for a working class black girl would be ‘insurmountable’. Despite this stark statement, Campbell won a place as one of the first female students to study at the Cardiff Teacher Training College where she enrolled whilst the mother of three young children. She taught at Butetown, Cardiff, for 28 years where, as a black teacher, she experienced some hostility from parents. In the 1970s, she became Wales’ first black head teacher at Mount Stuart where she began teaching children about slavery, black history and the system of apartheid.

“Betty Campbell was a huge influence in Wales who won the poll for the first statue which was unveiled in Central Square, Cardiff in 2021,” explained Angela John.

The following year saw the arrival of Mountain Ash’s Elaine Morgan, born into a poor mining family but who won a scholarship to study at Oxford.

Following her graduation she taught for three years with the Workers’ Educational Association and began writing plays to help make ends meet. She then began making an impact in the male-dominated world of the small screen with her first television scripts accepted before she even owned her own TV set. Elaine Morgan went on to become a top TV writer, a feminist icon and a ground-breaking evolutionary theorist, winning a host of awards and scripting some of the best loved dramas in television, including ‘How Green Was My Valley’, and ‘The Life and Times of Lloyd George’.

The Elaine Morgan statue is located in Oxford Street, Mountain Ash.

In 2023, Ceredigion celebrated the arrival of Llangrannog’s Sarah Jane Rees, better known by her bardic name of Cranogwen.

Her first claim to fame was as a master mariner and for two years she worked as a sailor on cargo ships between Wales and France before returning to London and Liverpool to further her nautical education. She gained her master mariner’s certificate – a qualification that allowed her to command a ship in any part of the world. Back in West Wales, overcoming opposition to the appointment of a woman, she became a head-teacher at 21, educating the children of the village, and also taught navigation and seamanship to local young men. Many men who would later go on to sail and captain ships across the world’s oceans were trained by Sarah Jane Rees.

Cranogwen, with members of the Monumental Welsh Women

In 1865 her writing skills turned her into an instant Welsh celebrity as she became the first woman to win a poetry prize at the National Eisteddfod, beating some of the major male Welsh poets of the day. Her winning poem – Y Fodrwy Briodasal (The Wedding Ring) – was a satire on the married woman’s destiny, using the wedding ring as a recurring symbol.

At a time when public speaking by women was frowned upon, Cranogwen embarked on a career as a lecturer, Temperance campaigner and a preacher, travelling across America twice, and often facing opposition from male preachers when she took to the pulpit.

Her statue is situated in the centre of Llangrannog, close to the church, where she was buried.

The fourth statue, erected in 2024, is that of the iconic Lady Rhondda (Margaret Haig Thomas), a suffragette who made the fight for the women’s vote front page news.

She brought Emmeline Pankhurst to Wales and confronted the anti-suffrage Prime Minister Asquith by jumping on his car. She also set fire to a post box and was sent to prison, where she went on hunger strike while during the First World War she ensured women played a vital role, recruiting them into the women’s services. She became Commissioner for Wales in the Women’s National Service Department, then Chief Controller of women’s recruitment at the Ministry of National Service in London.

She went on to become the greatest global business woman of her era and sat on the board of no fewer than 33 companies, and chaired seven of them. She oversaw an industrial empire of mines, shipping and newspapers and became the first, and to date, the only female, to be President of the Institute of Directors.

The fifth and final statue, which be unveiled later this year,is in honour of Elizabeth Andrews who was a great social reformer and campaigner for women’s rights.

She was one of the most influential Welsh female political activists of the early 20th century, being an internationalist, a suffragist and a socialist. Forced to leave school at 13 to help her parents make ends meet, the Welsh-speaking dressmaker brought the needs of working-class women into the political arena because she shared their lives and voiced their hopes and fears.

She became the first Labour Party Women’s Organiser for Wales and set up women’s sections, describing them as ‘working women’s universities.’ One of her earliest tasks was translating leaflets from English to Welsh to urge women to use their newly-won vote. She also became one of Britain’s first female magistrates and put the needs of women and children at the heart of her campaigns.

“Whittling our original list of 50 down to just five has been difficult, as there have been so many incredible women here in Wales who have achieved so many significant things for their nation,” concluded Angela John.

“But throughout our campaign, the support we’ve had has been tremendous with regular features on the media and support from the Welsh government who decided to give us £20,000 funding towards the cost of each statue, with each one costing around £100,000 to produce.

“We’ve also seen a huge public interaction, particularly with the number of school children who’ve been involved.

“This shows the enormous changes in the ways in which people are now relating to Welsh history. Previously, it was taught around kings and queens, their battles and all their relevant dates, while now there’s far more attention being given to race and social issues, so history is no longer such an elite subject but is there for everybody. The fabric of everyday life has become as much a part of people’s understanding of history as anything else.

“And each our five statues have gone a long way in helping to address this.”

Angela John will be speaking at Bethlehem Chapel, Newport, Pembrokeshire this Wednesday, February 26, at 7pm.

Crime

Former Wales rugby star admits Christmas Day drink-driving offence

Published

3 hours ago

February 4, 2026

Sarah-Jane Absalom

Ex-Ospreys captain was almost twice over limit in Pembroke town centre

Former Wales back row Jonathan Thomas has admitted driving through Pembroke town centre on Christmas Day when he was almost twice over the drink-drive limit.

This week Haverfordwest magistrates heard that Thomas, 43, was stopped by officers as he drove his Mercedes CLA 220 along The Green, Pembroke, at around 5pm on Christmas Day.

“The officers were very concerned at the manner of his driving, as the car was being driven erratically and was swerving to the other side of the road,” said Crown Prosecutor Sian Vaughan.

“When Jonathan Thomas got out of the car, the officers could see that he was having difficulty standing and was unsteady on his feet.”

Subsequent breathalyser tests showed Thomas had 62 mcg of alcohol in his system, the legal limit being 35.

Thomas, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to the drink-drive charge and was represented in court by solicitor Jess Hill.

“He has family in the area and had travelled to spend time with them on Christmas Day,” she told the magistrates. “He’s very remorseful for his actions and hugely regrets his decision that day.”

Jess Hill concluded by saying that Thomas is currently “between jobs and living off his savings”.

Thomas, who gave his address as Main Road, Bredon, was disqualified from driving for a total of 18 months.

“The length of your disqualification reflects the fact that you were more than a little bit over the limit,” commented the presiding magistrates when imposing sentence.

He was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £48 court surcharge.

The former Wales back row left his role as Swansea RFC head coach at the beginning of December 2025 as a result of ongoing health concerns. He was forced to retire from playing in 2015 on medical advice after being diagnosed with epilepsy and is one of the 390 former rugby union players currently taking part in a concussion lawsuit against the sport’s authorities.

“Long-standing issues linked to the head trauma have caused me some concern recently and it has been impossible for me to give the role everything it needs,” he said in a previous interview with the BBC.

His rugby career started out with Pembroke RFC juniors before moving to Swansea RFC, which he captained when he was 19. He then joined the Ospreys where, over a ten-year period, he won four league titles and an Anglo-Welsh Cup. He was the youngest player to captain the Ospreys and, at the time of leaving, was the joint highest appearance holder, together with Andrew Bishop, on 188 appearances.

His international career saw him play for Wales at Under-16, Youth, Under-19, Under-21 and Sevens levels. He made his senior international debut against Australia in 2003, featured at the 2007 Rugby World Cup and was part of two Six Nations Grand Slam-winning sides in 2005 and 2008. Between 2004 and 2011, Thomas was included in every Wales Six Nations squad. In his appearances for Wales, he scored seven tries.

Local Government

Independent panel gives positive verdict on Pembrokeshire County Council

Published

4 hours ago

February 4, 2026

Tamsin Mathias

Four-day assessment highlights improvement, leadership and governance

AN INDEPENDENT panel has concluded that Pembrokeshire County Council is meeting its statutory performance requirements and has shown improvement across a number of key areas.

The findings follow a four-day visit in October 2025, when a group of external peers carried out a Panel Performance Assessment (PPA), a process required once every electoral cycle under Welsh Government legislation.

The purpose of the PPA is to provide an independent expert view on how effectively the council is using its functions, how it deploys resources, and whether its governance arrangements are fit for purpose.

The four-member panel was led by Phil Roberts, independent chair and former chief executive of Swansea Council. Other members were Cllr Anthony Hunt, leader of Torfaen Council; Emma Palmer, chief executive of Powys Council; and Andrea Street OBE, representing the public, private and voluntary sectors.

In its final report, the panel concluded that Pembrokeshire County Council is meeting its statutory requirements and commented favourably on many aspects of its work. The authority was described as effective, having responded well to a challenging financial position and demonstrated improvement in a number of key areas.

Among the report’s findings was praise for “a cohesive cabinet, which despite its rainbow coalition arrangements, exercises a model of distributed leadership which is particularly effective”. The panel also highlighted “a committed Senior and Extended Leadership Team who recognised the journey of improvement the council has been on under the Chief Executive’s strong leadership”.

The panel further noted “a broad set of values and behaviours consistently demonstrated across the organisation, from the Senior Leadership Team to frontline staff”, adding that there was “a genuine desire to work in the interests of the communities and residents of the county”.

While the overall assessment was positive, the report also identified areas where further progress could be made. Seven recommendations were set out, covering scrutiny arrangements, corporate capacity, collaborative leadership, economic regeneration capacity, resource prioritisation, communications, and transformation and innovation.

Council leader Jon Harvey welcomed the report, describing the assessment as a constructive experience.

“This was an extremely positive experience for the council, and an opportunity to learn and benefit from the views and perspectives of independent experts from outside the authority,” he said. “We welcome the assurance provided by the panel that we are on the right track, and the feedback which has helped to identify opportunities and areas for improvement.”

Cllr Harvey also thanked panel members for their work, along with officers from the Welsh Local Government Association who supported the assessment process.

“We accept the panel’s findings in full and I am convinced that the action plan we have developed in response to the recommendations will enable us to further strengthen key areas of our work so we can continue to provide quality services to our residents and communities,” he added.

In line with legislation, the council has produced a formal response and action plan setting out how it will address the panel’s recommendations. These will be presented to Cabinet on February 9 and to full council on March 5 for formal approval.

News

Kurtz calls on Labour MPs to back release of Mandelson papers

Published

4 hours ago

February 4, 2026

Staff Writer

Opposition motion follows Epstein-linked document disclosures

A SENEDD Member has called on Labour MPs to support a Conservative Opposition Day Motion demanding the release of papers linked to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK Ambassador to the United States.

Samuel Kurtz said the motion follows the publication of new files and photographs involving Lord Mandelson, which were released as part of a United States investigation into the disgraced and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Speaking out, Mr Kurtz said that during Prime Minister’s Questions, the Prime Minister admitted he was aware of Peter Mandelson’s ongoing relationship with Epstein at the time of his appointment.

“That means the Prime Minister knowingly appointed Peter Mandelson to one of the most important diplomatic roles in government despite his links to Epstein,” he said. “This raises serious questions about the Prime Minister’s judgement.”

Mr Kurtz went on to accuse the Prime Minister of attempting to prevent transparency over the appointment process.

“Now, instead of being open and transparent, the Prime Minister is attempting to block the release of documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment in order to protect his own position,” he said.

He warned that Labour MPs who oppose the motion would share responsibility for withholding information, adding: “If Labour MPs support blocking the release of these papers, they will be complicit in covering up the process and judgement that led the Prime Minister to appoint Peter Mandelson as Ambassador, despite his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.”