Pembrokeshire National Trust Association Events
We arrange a programme of social events throughout the year; summer walks and visits and monthly winter talks from October to April. These are held at Crundale Community Hall near Haverfordwest. See details for the provision 2026/27 winter below.
2026 SUMMER PROGRAMME
Membership of the National Trust Association at a cost of £5 single and £8 for a household is required for all events. Click here for Membership form Mbshp pdf March 2026
Bookings also must be made in advance with the appropriate organisers as listed.
This information is also published in our newsletter which is sent to members electronically in early April. Information is provisional, so please keep checking for any updates.
Please note that you are responsible for your own safety so please make sure that you have adequate footwear and clothing suitable for the weather and terrain.
If you wish to go on any trips or walks, you will need to be a paid -up member of the PNTA
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 9th LLantrisant Mint and St Fagans coach day out
Come and find out how our money is made and then stroll around the many historical Welsh buildings. A lovely social day out.
Meet for parking at the Rugby Club Haverfordwest for 8.30am.
The coach will take us to the Mint for our tour and there is a cafe on site. We depart for St Fagan’s at 1.30pm and there is also a cafe there. We leave there to return home at 5pm.
Cost £37 per person to include the tour and the coach.
Bookings and payment to be made by the end of July to organiser Annie Weaver.
Click here to see the booking form. Mint Booking Form
September 28th Guided walk with Alex Shilling – Lead Ranger Stackpole Estate
Gupton
Tuesday October 20th, ‘Tour of the Pembrokeshire Archives’ and optional lunch at the ‘Bristol Trader’, Haverfordwest. ( You can select either to come on the tour, or both.)
Book early to secure a place.
Tour of the Pembrokeshire Archives
Travel by own car or car share. Arrive 10.00am, finish 12.00 noon. Cost £5.00 per person. Up to 20 places available.
- Introduction in the public research room covering who they are, what they hold, why archives matter, and how easily the collections and research facilities can be used.
- Behind‑the‑scenes visit to the conservation studio, digitisation facilities, and the repository block, where over 131,000 records are kept in climate‑controlled conditions, with an explanation of how collections are cared for and accessed.
- Return to the research room to view selected original items of interest, including maps, newspapers, and postcard albums.
Lunch at the ‘Bristol Trader’, Haverfordwest (optional).
Time 12.45 Parking available nearby. Cost: No deposit required; Winter Menu to be sent out in September by Sandra; Pre order with Sandra by 6th October 2026; all food and drinks to be paid for individually on the 20th Oct.
To book for the tour, or tour and lunch: complete the Booking Form on PNTA website/Mailchimp. Alternatively Email Sandra at pntatrips@btinternet.com for a form, or text to 07926 757321 if you don’t use email.
Booking Form for Archives & Bristol Trader
Booking/Payment deadline by BACS 6th October 2026, or by post 1st October 2026.
PAYMENT FOR ALL EVENTS CAN BE MADE BY BACS TRANSFER TO Barclays Bank, Sort Code 20-37-82 for the credit of the PEMBROKESHIRE NATIONAL TRUST ASSOCIATION, Account Number 90390992 Please put your name and event as reference for our busy treasurer.
Țhese take place at Crundale Community Hall, SA62 4DF at 2.30pm.
Entrance fee £2 members and £3 non-members.
Date 1st October 2026
Speaker: Dr James January-McCann
Title ‘Collecting Welsh Place Names’
The List of Historic Place Names of Wales is a groundbreaking resource containing hundreds of thousands of individual place names. The List is used both as an antiquarian and historical resource in its own right, and also as the basis on which new streets and developments across Wales are officially named.
Dr James January-McCann, Place Names Officer at the Royal Commission will delve into the history and development of the List and discuss the various sources from which it draws material, with a strong focus on local place names.
Speaker Biography
Born and raised in Havant, a small town outside Portsmouth, in an Irish/Welsh family, Dr James January-McCann finished his PhD in 2016, producing a scholarly edition of Robert Gwyn’s earliest surviving text, Na all fod un Ffydd onyd yr Hen Ffydd. He was appointed as a Teaching Fellow in the Celtic Languages in the Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth in 2015, and promoted to lecturer the following year, before taking up his current post as The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales’ Place Names Officer in June 2017, where he is responsible for the List of Historic Place Names. His research interests are Early Modern Catholic Literature in Welsh, and Welsh Place Names, and he has written a number of articles on both fields. His latest publication is Vernacular Catholic Literature in the second volume of the Oxford History of British and Irish Catholicism. He has also translated a number of books for learners of Irish, and is a regular columnist for Lingo360, the online magazine for Welsh learners.
Date of talk – 5th November 2026
Name of speaker – Caroline Marmara
Title of talk – Stackpole Walled Gardens – Then and Now
Stackpole Walled Gardens – Then and Now
Caroline Marmara’s talk traces a century of memories from the six‑acre Stackpole Walled Garden, once supplying vegetables, fruit and flowers to Stackpole Court until the mansion’s demolition in 1963. Each morning, staff walked from the garden through Lodge Park Wood to deliver produce to the ‘Big House’. At Christmas, exotic flowers and fruits were requested, supported by the garden’s heated glasshouses, vine cultivation and water‑storage irrigation system.
The garden was a centre of activity: beekeepers attended training days, and its roses won prizes at both the Chelsea Flower Showand the Royal Welsh Show. Many local families recall working across the estate, and some contributed memories to Caroline’s 2010 National Trust oral history project.
For the past 40 years, the Walled Garden has been leased by Pembrokeshire Mencap Ltd, offering training, work and wellbeing for adults with learning disabilities. Caroline has been a trustee since 2012, and the garden remains a place of deep personal significance.
Date of talk -3rd December 2026
Name of speaker – Michael Thomas
Title of talk – Whitland Abbey
Michael Thomas was born and raised within a mile or so of the ruins of Whitland Abbey. As a child, in the 1960s, he and his friends often visited the Abbey area to play in the woods and fish the river Gronw. Over the years his knowledge of the Abbey and its history grew a little, but it was tuning in to an online talk by Professor Janet Burton during lockdown that sparked a renewed interest in the Abbey and its history. A series of happy coincidences in the following year led him to write and perform a monologue, a kind of ‘performative history’, in the voice of the last Abbot of Whitland Abbey. Over the past four years Michael has performed the piece about a dozen times to various groups such as Merched y Wawr, various dinner clubs as well as at Open Days at the Abbey ruins organised by the Friends of Whitland Abbey.
In essence this is an attempt to bring the history of the Abbey to life in what Professor Gwyn Alf Williams called a ‘people’s remembrancer’ style. From its foundation in the late 12th century to its dissolution under Henry VIII Whitland Abbey was of significant social, economic, political and cultural importance. It deserves recognition and a special place in local, Welsh and European history.
Following the conclusion of the monologue Michael will add supplementary information on the Abbey as well as some general points of interest on the Cistercian Order.
Michael worked in social care in several roles across Wales before his retirement. He graduated from Lanchester Polytechnic with an honours degree in Modern Studies in 1976. Michael would like to thank Professor Burton for inspiring him to look a little deeper into the medieval world, David H Williams for his scholarship on the Cistercians in Wales and also to Robert Nisbet, Haverfordwest, who’s creative writing class he attended for a number of years.
Date: 7th January 2026
Speaker: Terry John
Title: The Siege of Pembroke 1648
Information pending
Date: 4th February
Speaker: Steve Whitehead Head Gardener Colby, National Trust.
Title: Colby Gardens
Information pending
Date: 4th March 2027
Speaker: Gareth (Gary) Hicks
Title:“Special Constabulary – some interesting Incidents! ”
Personal Profile
A Chartered Civil Engineer by profession Gary has always had an interest in the Police. Had he reached 5ft 10 inches he would have joined the Pembrokeshire Constabulary in 1968, that wasn’t to be, but thankfully his exam results pointed the way to a career in Civil Engineering .
At Swansea University he served with the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia), the senior Regiment of the Reserve Army. In 1973 on taking up an engineering position in Bedfordshire he joined the Bedfordshire Police as a Special Constable.
After a brief break in service, which saw him returning to West Wales he again served with R.Mon.R.E, up to 1982 when he joined Dyfed Powys Special Constabulary, serving until his retirement at the age of 68. In total he served the Special Constabulary for 39 years, the last seven of which were as the Dyfed Powys Police Specials Chief Officer.
“Special Constabulary – some interesting Incidents! “
Gary’s talk will give a brief introduction to the history of the Special Constabulary – which predates the regular Police Service. He will describe what the recruitment process, and training was like in 1973 – a time when Police Officers only had a whistle, notebook and pencil, and you seldom saw a female police officer on the front line.
He will then share with the audience his varied experiences over 39 years of front line policing. This takes the form of the audience choosing “Incident Titles” from a circulated list, Gary will then talk, from memory, about the chosen “Incidents” – obviously names and locations will not be disclosed, although on one occasion the incident recalled actually involved a member of that audience – so be warned!
Date 1st April 2027
Speaker:Simon Handcock. Historian and public Speaker.
Title: Ghosts, myths and legends from Pembrokeshire ‘s vast range of such stories.
The historic ghosts start with the stories of Gerald of Wales and include ghost stories of old buildings, ships and roads up to the twentieth century.
Simon Handcock is a Haverfordwest‑based historian known for clear, well‑researched storytelling about Pembrokeshire’s past. His talks for local societies and heritage groups blend strong archival work with an engaging delivery, making complex historical subjects accessible to broad audiences. He contributes to community history projects and supports museums and archives in promoting the region’s heritage.
Pembrokeshire National Trust Association 