CROESO

Welcome to the

Chelmsford & District Welsh Society

    Membership is open to anyone with Welsh origins or connections,          or to anyone with an appreciation of Welsh heritage and traditions.

     There are currently 90 members and you would be warmly welcomed to come and join us for one of our meetings.

ANNUAL CONCERT

featuring the

BRIDGEND MALE VOICE CHOIR

and the talented trio

SERIN

to be held at Chelmsford Cathedral on Saturday, 8^th June, 2019.

Tickets are £17.50 and are available from:

Arthur Williams on 01621 778711.

or, ordered via the website contact form

or, nearer the concert date, tickets will be available from

ALLEGRO MUSIC SHOP in CHELMSFORD High Street.

We need the help of all of our society members to sell as many tickets as they can, to help us to make this a successful concert.

JOHN STYLES

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of John Styles, devoted husband of Cynthia.

We offer our sincere condolences to Cynthia and the wider family at this sad time.

We will announce further arrangements as they become available

OUR NEXT MEETING

AT THE CHELMSFORD CATHEDRAL CHAPTER HOUSE

WEDNESDAY March 27th 2019

7.00p.m. for 7.30p.m. 

A presentation by

DEBRA JOHN

from Swansea who brings to life 

"EDWARDIAN MAID" 

and "TALES FROM WALES"

REPORT & SLIDE SHOW OF PHOTOS TAKEN AT OUR

ST DAVID'S DAY DINNER

at

THE COUNTY HOTEL, CHELMSFORD on 8th March 2019

The Society celebrated the feast of Dewi Sant, St David, the Patron Saint of Wales, with its 56th Annual Dinner at the County Hotel, Chelmsford, and a church service at Little Baddow URC. The 115 members and guests dined on beautifully dressed tables, with the Welsh national emblem, a leek, as a centre piece, under the regal gaze of y Ddraig Goch, the red dragon on the national banner. The rousing strains of the Men of Harlech, played by the harpist, Rachel Bartels, announced the entrance of the Mayor of Chelmsford, Cllr Yvonne Spence and her escort John Spence, and the guest speaker Huw Edwards, BBC news anchor, commentator and presenter, escorted by the President, Ivy Price and her husband Mike, the Vice President Liz Armishaw and her husband Jim, and Carys Williams. Grace was said by Brother Gildas. The dinner comprised: cyw a cennin gwasgedig a salad ffa gynnes ar surdoes (chicken and leek pressing and a warm bean salad on sourdough); lwyn cig moch rhost, mwtrin afal, gyda llysiau tymhorol a tatenau rhost neu newydd (roast loin of pork, apple compote, with seasonal vegetables and roast or new potatoes); tarten lemon a mascapone; (lemon and mascarpone tart); Coffi, te , a petit fours (coffee, tea  and petit fours). Following the dinner the President proposed the loyal toast to The Queen. The toast to Dewi Sant was proposed by the Vice President. Huw Edwards delivered a strong speech, regretting the current increasingly divisive social climate across the whole of the UK as the 29th of March loomed ever closer. In proposing a toast to The Society he was encouraged that, amid the uncertainty, the members of the Society continued to celebrate their Welsh roots in an inclusive spirit. The president congratulated Huw on his excellent speech and proposed a toast to Our Guests. The mayor responded on behalf of the guests. There followed some musical entertainment provided by Rachel Bartels, the harpist,  and the young tenor Dafydd Wyn Jones, accompanied by the Blue Riband pianist Meinir Wyn Davis. Dafydd, from Llanrhayadr, is a second year student at the Royal College of Music in London, and won first prize in the 16-19 year male singing competition at the Welsh National Eisteddfod in Anglsea, where the prize was donated by the Chelmsford and District Welsh Society. He will surely have a successful career. At the conclusion, Ivy thanked Liz and Kay Bright, assisted by David Brown, and with floral arrangements prepared by Shirley Moody, for arranging such a splendid celebration and Gwil Williams for being such an accomplished M.C. The evening ended with a joyous rendering of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.

The church service was arranged by Shirley Moody and conducted by the Revd. Michael Aston, with Keith Byatt at the organ. The President, Ivy Price read the lesson in Welsh and the Vice President, Liz Armishaw read the lesson in English. Following the tradition, the last hymn was dedicated to the two members who had died during the year, Elsie Salmon and Daniel Lewis. The dedication was made by Carys Williams. Following the service tea and cakes were served by Edith Brown and the catering committee in the vestry. The Society is grateful to the Minister and officers of Little Baddow URC for allowing them to use the church for the service, for the 28th year in succession.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW

Slide show opens in a new window

MIKE'S MUSICAL MISCELLANY

This event, to be held on Saturday 23rd March at Radley Green Farm now has a waiting list. If you have reserved tickets but find that you are unable to attend, please contact Ivy Price on 01277 210541 as soon as possible. 

 Intensive Welsh Summer Course Professional Welsh Course

Aberystwyth Intensive Welsh Summer Course July 29 - August 23, 2019
This is a course for a wide range of learners - from with little or no knowledge of Welsh up to those who are fluent but want to improve the accuracy of their spoken and written skills. For beginners, this is an opportunity to master basic communicative skills in the language within as short a period as possible, and for everybody it is a chance to make a real improvement in their mastery of the Welsh language. To this end, the timetable is very demanding. Nevertheless, there will be plenty of time for revision and practising the language skills acquired on the course.
The Course runs for 4 weeks but you are welcome to attend for a week or two if this is more convenient.
For more information and a registration form, please go to: https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/media/departmental/learnwelsh/pdf/Brosiwr-Cwrs-Haf-Dwys-2019---Interactive.pdf