FOR more than forty years, Ken Edwards has been both a player and the unofficial historian of Pembroke Dock Bowling Club. Few people are better placed to tell the club’s story — and its important role in Welsh bowling — than the man who has spent decades preserving its past.

This year, to mark the club’s centenary, Ken has written and published a comprehensive new history of the club.

Pembroke Dock Bowling Club was founded in 1925 at the newly opened Memorial Park on Bush Street, created in honour of the town’s servicemen who died in the First World War. The first woods were rolled on the new green that summer, beginning a tradition that continues to flourish a century later.

Ken was introduced to the sport by his late father, Syd Edwards — himself a former club president — in the early 1980s. Since then, he has assembled an extensive archive of photographs, documents and memorabilia charting the club’s activity, achievements and personalities. His research into the early years has added further depth, uncovering rare images and records that might otherwise have been lost.

The result is One Hundred Years, a beautifully produced 132-page book featuring almost 250 photographs spanning a century of bowling in Pembroke Dock. Many familiar faces appear throughout, including Ken’s wife Cynthia, a long-standing member of the club.

The book is available for £10 from the author on 01646 672501 or by emailing [email protected], and can also be purchased from the Bowling Club at Memorial Park. Printing was carried out locally by Monddi, Pembroke Dock.

A HAUNTING novel inspired by the largely unknown history of Welsh witchcraft has been published by an Aberystwyth University lecturer.

Set in sixteenth century Wales, amid the relentless rain and failing crops, a midwife is accused of witchcraft and her neighbours turn against her.

Through the eyes of a naïve gentry woman, associate lecturer Mari Ellis Dunning weaves a dark tale of suspicion and fear.

Her magical novel rooted in tradition and realism, tells a story rich with bold feminism that will captivate readers of “witcherature” fiction.

Author of the new novel and associate lecture at the Department of English and Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University, Mari Ellis Dunning, said:

“The stories of the women involved in early modern witch trials feel more relevant than ever at the moment, given the state of female reproductive rights and bodily autonomy across the globe.”

“The book has drawn on my research of early modern Wales – a country which was unique in its outlook on witchcraft. Distinct elements of Welsh culture, including superstition and religion, halted the witch trials seen across the rest of Britain and Europe.

“In fact, the witch is steeped in Welsh culture. There is speculation among some researchers that the traditional tall, black hat of the Welsh woman served as inspiration for the wide-brimmed hat of the fairy tale witch. Yet Wales saw no witch hunt. I hope the book is not only a thought-provoking read, but also gives people insight into some of our history as well.”

Mari Ellis Dunning’s debut poetry collection, ‘Salacia’, was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year. Her second collection, ‘Pearl and Bone’, was chosen as Wales Arts Review’s Number 1 Poetry Choice of 2022. She has just begun teaching a new ‘Writing Women’ module at the University.

Her new book will be launched at 5:30pm on Friday 31 October in the National Library of Wales

THE ENDURING allure of ghost hunting is explored in a new book published by a Welsh academic today.

‘Ghosted: A History of Ghost Hunting and Why We Keep Looking’ is the latest book by Dr Alice Vernon, Lecturer in Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University.

The book is a compelling exploration of the cultural, scientific, and emotional dimensions of ghost hunting.

From Victorian séances to ghost-hunting reality television programmes and the explosion of paranormal investigators on YouTube, Dr Vernon traces the evolution of our fascination with the supernatural and asks why, despite scepticism and technological advances, we continue to search for ghosts.

Embarking on a personal journey to encounter a ghost, Dr Vernon recounts her visits to some of the UK’s most haunted locations and invites readers to interrogate their own beliefs.

Speaking about the book, Dr Vernon said: “So many of us are drawn to the idea of the paranormal, even when we doubt its existence. Writing Ghosted was a way to explore this contradiction. And, whilst it is a book about ghost hunting, it is also about grief, memory, and the stories we tell to make sense of the unknown. 

“Whether they are a sceptic or a believer, I hope Ghosted invites readers to reflect on what it means to be haunted — and why that experience is so deeply human.”

Dr Alice Vernon completed her PhD, investigating representations of insomnia in fiction, in the Department of English and Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University.

She is now a Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Creative Writing in the department, teaching students the fundamentals of storytelling. Her research focuses on parapsychology, sleep disorders and the horror genre.

Her first book, Night Terrors, published in 2022 explored troubled sleep in literature and culture.  The Sunday Times described it as “a remarkable debut” and it was selected as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week.

Her latest book ‘Ghosted: A History of Ghost Hunting and Why We Keep Looking’ was released on 11 September 2025 by Bloomsbury Sigma.