Wow – what a pleasant surprise – I’ve been
waiting to see my blog views reaching the 10,000 mark when I’ve noticed tonight
that they’ve suddenly jumped to 10,384 views!
Due to the Autumn
term restarting, requests are beginning also for me to give my presentation on
Llyn Cerrig Bach, both in schools and the community. I really enjoy these, as
very often I meet up again with old friends in various parts of the island. Alan
always attends when he can to help me set things up for the talk. Our first visit
this term has been to the Senior Club in Llangefni, where we had a very warm,
homely welcome on a cold afternoon.
Alan with his replicas and a few of the ladies present.
I'm afraid that this is all the news this month on Llyn Cerrig Bach so I will put my input once more on the places we enjoyed visiting on Anglesey
I’m ashamed to
say that Alan and I hadn’t visited Oriel Tegfryn in Menai Bridge since many a
year. By now at our age, we’re wary of turning into difficult places to park.
For this reason, Oriel Tegfryn had always
been such a place as it is situated on the main busy road the Beaumaris end of
Menai Bridge. However, on this occasion we ventured forth and were immediately
pleasantly surprised to see a huge car park in front of us! This is hidden from
view from the road by a tall wall. No worries ever again!
The Tegfryn Art Gallery was established in
1963 and is one of Wales' oldest galleries and has a long and respected history.
Tegfryn has exhibited all of north Wales’ leading artists including William
Selwyn, Gwilym Prichard and, most notably, had a very close association with
Sir Kyffin Williams over many years.
We had a very
warm welcome from Sara the receptionist. She explained that it was mainly monthly
solo exhibitions on the main ground floor gallery. The other two gallery floors
had constantly changing exhibition of paintings, prints and sculpture. They
have also a large stock of work in store, which can be viewed on request.
The day we
called, we were fortunate that there were large collections on display of art
by Peter Prendergast and Mary Lloyd Jones RCA. You can even register on a Collectors Plan which allows you to pay for your purchase by instalments - with no added interest!
Another highlight visit this month was attending an evening performance
at Theatr Fach, Llangefni. Each term, they alternate with producing either an
English or Welsh drama. This time, it was “Leni” an award winning drama in Welsh
that had been translated into English. The actors were all magnificent in their
respective roles.
Cymdeithas Ddrama Llangefni is an amateur
dramatic society, active from 1942. In 1955, its secretary, George Fisher
(1909-1970), a schoolteacher, founded Theatr Fach Llangefni. The company
received financial help from the British Arts Council. The theatre organises
drama festivals, and is a member of The Guild of Little
Theatres.
Although situated in Llangefni, many people
find it difficult to find or even are not aware of it. This is why I’ve
mentioned it on Facebook and Twitter as it’s a little gem. Directions can be
found on the web.
Sorry, this other visit is on the opposite side of Afon Menai and not on Anglesey!
This month, I decided to organise a full
day’s visit to Bangor University (North Wales) for many of our University of
the Third Age members – Ynys Môn/ Anglesey U3A. u3asites.org.uk/anglesey
I
felt it would benefit us all to become better acquainted with various
departments and facilities. This will then hopefully instigate us to make use of such things as its Archives and
Library. Also, hopefully, for some to enrol on various further education
courses that they have on offer.
A big thanks also to Ffion Lisk, the Events Coordinator of The Business Centre situated across the
road in the old Normal College hostels. As
I entered the quad, I had happy memories of my time in Alun Room 135 in 1955
-57.
Ffion had prepared a lecture room for us to have a
presentation from Einion Thomas, the College Archivist. We were given an
insight into the background history of various historical documents which they
hold. One was a letter signed by Hitler, with a fascinating story of how it
finally made its way to Bangor.
We then made our way through to the “1884” Brasserie,
where there was a lovely view to be had of Anglesey over the Menai Strait. The
old hostel rooms have become modern accommodation for the general public to
book. Many people visiting Snowdonia and Anglesey stay here. The Brasserie
caters for the general public also and has an enticing Christmas menu on offer. Everyone praised the three course lunch which
we had.
We also enjoyed a delightful pre-lunch musical
recital, which again Sian had organised for us. Dr.Guto Puw kindly gave of his time to bring a
group of his students over from the University’s Music Dept. We were all in
agreement, that their standard of performance was brilliant and that they have
a bright future ahead of them.
Vote of thanks with an anecdote included!
After lunch, we attended more presentations. One was on the history of Graffiti by a PhD
student, Aimee Pritchard. Two others followed by Proff. Helen Wilcox and
Dr.Rachel Willie from the English Literature Dept. These were all light and
informative, finishing with an interesting questions and answers session.
To finish off our day, Sian Peris Owen took us on a
guided tour of the main University building. Sian explained the background
story of the John Pritchard Hall, Ed Povey’s mural in the Powis Hall, the
college chamber room, and the library etc. It was all new to many of our
members although a number of us had attended concerts and degree ceremonies in
the halls. All in all, it was a brilliant day, thanks to all the staff that
helped me make it a success.
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and
benefited educationally at the same time. This fitted perfectly the ethos of
the U3A namely “Learning through Pleasure”.
It was half term school holiday last this
week, so I took my granddaughter to an art workshop at Oriel Ynys Môn. It was
arranged by Ceri Williams, their Education officer, hosted by “Britain from
above” The art tutor was Catrin Williams. The children did not sit at a table
for the two hours in the lecture room. To begin with, they were instructed how
to form a sketchbook from an A2 sheet of drawing paper. Then they were taken on
a guided informative tour of various parts the History gallery. Here they chose what they
liked most and sketched it. They then went to the Main Art gallery to view
Elfyn Lewis’ exhibition. These were really colourful and appealed immensely to
the children. Eflyn describes his process as “volcanic” Surfaces are layered
with acrylic paint that drips or flows over the edges of the canvas, creating
wonderful imaginative abstract paintings. I was lucky enough to see a film
taken of him at work in his studio before I went which added to my appreciation
of his work.
On
returning to the lecture room, the children were distributed with various black
and white aerial photographs of Anglesey. They chose one to sketch onto a large
drawing cloth, incorporating their history sketch into it. We as parents and
grandparents accompanied the children throughout the two hours. Not only did my
granddaughter learn such a lot but I thoroughly enjoyed myself also.
Look out for these school holiday workshops
for children at Oriel Ynys Môn. They are advertised in the local press,
Facebook and on Twitter. Oriel Môn has its own Facebook page now. At the moment
you can access also by going to “events” on
www.kyffinwilliams.info
