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FRIENDS
OF ST JULITTA’S CHURCH
CYFEILLION EGLWYS
SANTES JULITTA
Rhif Elusen
Cofrestredig/Registered Charity Number 1068756
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ANNUAL REPORT &
FRIENDS' NEWSLETTER 9
Dear
Friends/Supporter/s,
Hopefully most of you will have a good idea at the level of
progress at the church in 2002/3. Again I start this
Newsletter by thanking you all for the help and support that
has been forth coming over the last twelve months, without
it the church would not be the building that we should now
all be proud off.
We can now feel that the
outside of the building is complete and ready to face any
storms that the weather at Capel can throw at it. A visit to
the church at any time answers the Question “ ….and
what have the Friends of St Julitta’s done in the last
twelve months”? It is not so many years ago when some
people felt that nothing could be done, the building was
beyond repair – it was too far gone to ever again play
a part in social life of the village. Now we have a building
that has been resurrected to become something that the
village can be proud of. Clearly
we are not totally “there” yet, but now that we
can see what can be done the rest should be easy and plain
sailing!
A big feature of 2002
was the memorable Herbert North exhibition (“Herbert
North, his life and works”) that we presented in the
church. I have prepared a report that is available price £2
50 (sorry it was costly to put together) from myself if you
would like a copy. I think our exhibition showed us as a
group willing and able to contribute to worthwhile projects
in the village. We are indebted to the Heritage Lottery Fund
for a grant of £2900 to provide the basic nuts and
bolts of the event, together with Pam Philips, Phil Thomas,
Fred Luther and all those many people who contribute so much
to a wonderful show.
The volunteer input
produced an exhibition that would have cost many more
thousands of pounds in a commercial world. We had a lovely
sunny day for the official opening which was very well
attended, and Phil Thomas’s illustrated lecture in the
evening at Plas y Brenin was another memorable event. The
exhibition is now in Llanrwst, at the Old Arms Houses, so if
you missed it in the grandeur of the church then you have
another chance to have a look at our handiwork – it is
there till after Easter.
But the North exhibition
was only a small part of what has been a very productive
year. As we turn on from one chapter of the book of
Restoration to the next we have more challenging and
exciting problems to tackle. We are now investigating the
work that needs to be done inside the church, and a list of
initial jobs have been agreed for 2003. These do not include
any alteration to the existing floor, but involve repairs to
the roof timbers and lintels.
We are very lucky to be
able to have the support of both Major Peter Kirby and Mr
Will Pearce a local builder from Betws y Coed to move this
part of the work on. We have been given a supply of tapestry
embroidered kneelers that came from old Penrhos College by
Jane Pullee which when we have sorted the inside of the
church out a little will add a further dimension to it. I
have also getting a costing from a blacksmith on the design
of candle holders to be fixed to the wall.
The Christmas village
carol evening, organised by the youth club, was again a
lovely evening, with the church full to overflowing. We
thank all those involved for bringing it about; the
collection this year was divided between the youth club, the
chapel and the Friends. It is heart warming to see the
building being used and supported by the village. Our hopes
are that we can hold many other functions that will be
equally well supported
With our AGM the next
important function I do hope that all that those Friends
that are available will come along and get involved in the
social arrangements of our group. Please bring your friends
along too! It is one of our big flag waving occasions, and
we have put together a little programme that should have
something in it for everyone. The walk or the excursion
should be interesting, but even if there are problems making
the daytime events tea will be available at Hafod y Gwynt at
5 pm, and the Members Dinner will be at Cobdens Hotel at 7
45pm. Please try very hard to come, it will be nice to meet
you.
Another little part of
our project is the social history of the church yard. Some
of you will be familiar with the grave stone to E Salt who
died in a mountain accident on Lliwedd in 1910. As he was
member of the Climbers Club I got a copy of his obituary
that was published in their journal. I sent this to Mr Eddy
Naylor who lives near Burton on Trent, the home town of
Salt, and he has come up with some info that fills in a
little of the life of Salt. When I can get it copied I will
circulate it. Also I now have enough information on Edmund
Wigram, also buried in the church yard, who was on the
Everest Expeditions with Tilman and Smythe in 1934 and 1935
to put together a display board, which will be displayed in
the church. We have spent an interesting few hours in
Cardiff researching the records of the Queen Ann’s
Bounty as it applied to Capel and came up with a few
interesting facts. Again I hope to write this up shortly,
but in the mean time get in touch if you want to know more!
In 2002 we were also
fortunate in being awarded £1000 by The Conwy Valley
Voluntary Services Council, to finance a computer for the
secretary, Jan is more than happy to pension off her steam
operated early model.
Following our last
committee meeting I have another exciting project to report
to our membership. The committee have proposed to organise
another exhibition in the church this summer on Evan Roberts
MBE, a noted botanist who lived in Capel Curig, entitled
EVAN ROBERTS, QUARRY WORKER & BOTANIST. EVAN ROBERTS
MBE, M.Sc., (hon.) (1909 - 1991), became a nationally known
and recognised botanist who lived and worked all his life in
Capel Curig Snowdonia.
From small beginnings he
became interested in the wild flowers of Snowdonia, until
his interest grew to him being the acknowledged expert on
the distribution and ecology of the arctic-Alpine plants of
Snowdonia. The Exhibition will be bi lingual and follow the
format of the North exhibition. We are very grateful to Fred
Luther for agreeing to put together the exhibition boards.
We will promote at least one lecture at Plas y Brenin on
Evan Roberts, and we will endeavour to raise monies to
publish the book on Evan Roberts, in English, written by
Llyr Gruffydd and Robin Gwyndaf entitled in its original
form “ His Grandfathers Book of Ferns”, and
originally published in welsh. The proceeds will be donated
to the Friends of St Julitta’s. We seek funding for
this and I wonder if we have any members who could perhaps
help in this?
We also intend to
promote a walk or a series of walks based on Cwm Idwal/other
sites during the summer months. We will again seek support
from bodies such as the National Trust/ National Park/NCC
with these. Following its showing in Capel Curig other
venues will be researched for the exhibition.
We propose to have the
official opening of the exhibition on Sunday 20th July and
for it to run until Sunday 7th September. It will also be
open during the European Heritage weekends, in mid
September. The exhibition will be a major attraction to the
village of Capel Curig during the main tourist season. The
presentation of it will be very important for the village,
for our group and give recognition to a local man who is
deserving of it. We have the support of the community in
Capel and this will mean a lot to them, there is a general
excitement about the project. Please get in touch if you
feel you can contribute and come along in July or August and
support the exhibition.
Sadly recently three of
our members have passed away, Mr Chris Brasher, Mr Peter
Castrey and Mr David Pickard. Mr Chris Brasher was a
generous benefactor both to the church and to Snowdonia (as
well as many other beautiful parts of the UK). He helped us
to replace the rotten window frames, a big step forward in
the restoration of the church. Peter Castrey had been a life
long friend of mine and was always available to help when
needed. Sadly in his later years he suffered a heart attack,
(from which he never fully recovered), but this did hinder
his involvement in our project. His wife, May, has promised
to make the cushions for the box pew seats. David Pickard,
despite living in Thornton Heath in Surry was always
interest in the restoration of the church and generous with
his subscriptions. His ashes are to be buried at the church.
Our sympathies are with their families.
As ever we are anxious
to increase our membership. I have not had the time over the
last twelve months to chase up members for their fees and
correspondingly subs are down this year. Please consider
filling in a Standing Order if you have not already done so
and please spread the word among your friends and relatives;
or better still pass around our membership form, in the hope
that others will consider joining our numbers.
The Events Diary is now
in print, thanks to our secretary, please try hard to
support the events that we organise, we do try to give as
much notice as possible for all that we put on at the
church. I reported in the November News Letter about the
success of the Get Stuck in Weekend 2002, and I do hope you
have made a note in your diary of the date for 2003, it is
5/6/7th September. If you live away and want accommodation
please give me a ring, we can sort out accommodation in the
village or near by.
Finally I thank the
committee for all that they have done over the last 12
months. We have and enthusiastic executive committee who
meet regularly and produce results! I would also like to
thank the management of Plas y Brenin for all the help they
give us in providing rooms for our meetings and other
functions. Their support and cooperation is very much
appreciated and goes a long way in helping with the
restoration. My thanks also go out to our members who are
always generous benefactors. So that’s about it for
now. I trust that you are happy with progress at present. We
may be working on the smallest church in Snowdonia but for
the outcome to be successful we do need to give it MAXIMUM
effort and support; join in and feel happy as you walk or
drive past the church – we are all part of this little
success story.
Please get in touch if
there is anything that you would wish to comment on, hope to
see you soon,
Harvey Lloyd 31 03 03
Ysgrifennyddes/Secretary: Jan Hughes, Isallt, Borth y Gest,
Gwynedd, LL49 9TP 01766 515300
Yn Achub Eglwys leiaf
Eryri/Working to Save Snowdonia's Smallest Church |
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