For this St David’s Day I have organised a celebration of local Welsh culture and crafts at Myddfai Hall just outside of Llandovery in Carmarthenshire.
It seemed the perfect day to unveil the new stained glass window, recently installed there, depicting a traditional Welsh Parlour, complete with A lady in traditional Welsh dress at a spinning wheel, sat on a Welsh weave rug in Myddfai colours, in front of a Welsh dresser.
The window was designed and made by me with the help of some members of the local community and a match funded grant from Myddfai Tŷ Talcen
The design had been in my head for some time and actually fully formulated in my mind whilst making the previous window for the hall during The Year of Welsh Legends. The first window was unveiled by HRH The Prince of Wales (now King Charles). It was a great honour to introduce him to the nearly 30 members of the community who had learned stained glass with me and Lesley Griffiths, and then helped create that masterpiece. It is a legacy I am truly proud of.
Based on its success, the second window began just before the UK went into lockdown, meaning that the community involvement was severely hampered and much of the project was completed at home by me. However we did manage to run some sessions and engage some new and previous community members in its creation
On 1st March 2024 (St David’s Day) between 3pm and 8pm, I’ll be coordinating the event at Myddfai Hall and talking about both windows with an informal Q & A session.
There will be a selection of interactive stands where members of the public can have a go at various crafts, including:-
Spinning – with Emms Bear
Peg Loom Weaving – with Lisa Deniston
Hand Embroidery – with Debs Shah-Smith of Mopani Beans
Machine Embroidery, – with Linzi Brown of Bumblebees of Llandovery
Lino Printing With Amanda Ross of Quirky Ps
Pottery – with Jacki Yorke from Llandeilo Pottery & Art Studio
Willow Weaving with Jenny Walsby
Stained Glass with me
There will also be informative and interactive stands hosted by The Physicians of Myddfai Society, Welsh teacher , Jean Hughes, and Mandy from the independent bookshop, Book at The Dragons Garden
As if that weren’t enough; some students of Ysgol Bro Dinefawr will be there to provide musical entertainment and the Myddfai Cafe will be offering a special taster menu of traditional Welsh fare
Community competitions for the best homemade Welsh Cakes and Bara Brith, judged by deputy mayor, Ella Peel (also Welsh actor and local firefighter) and an invitation to display your own families Welsh blanket alongside its story.
For updated information on the event , go to their event page on Facebook
