Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

The Mayor of the London Borough of Richmond heaped praise on Côr Meibion Llanelli (Llanelli Male Choir) after their concert at The Duke Street Baptist Church Theatre in Richmond. Councillor Mrs Clare Head described the choir’s performance as outstanding and said that the choristers were true ambassadors of Wales. The Mayor added: “The passion and commitment to Welsh choral singing really shone through in a wonderful evening’s entertainment. “We were regally entertained by one of the finest male choirs I have heard.” The concert was billed as a ‘St David’s Day concert in aid of the Mayor of the London Borough of Richmond’s chosen charity, the Citizen’s Advice Bureau. The Mayor added: “It was wonderful to hear the choir in full voice and the whole evening was held together wonderfully by some readings of Welsh prose and poetry by the choir’s musical director, Eifion Thomas. “Wales is very lucky to have a choir of the stature of Côr Meibion Llanelli and we were very lucky to hear them a...

Hywel Dda Health Board | ‘Take the Leap’ with No Smoking Day Smokers are encouraged to ‘Take the Leap’ and quit for good on 14 March for this year’s No Smoking Day. No Smoking Day is the biggest day of the year for smokers who want to try quitting. An estimated one million people in the UK will try and go without cigarettes and over 40,000 will be able to quit for good. People are four times more likely to succeed in giving up if they get help from their local stop smoking service. If you are one of the 63% of smokers that want to give up, then get in touch with any of these FREE local free stop smoking services: Anywhere in Wales: Stop Smoking Wales: 0800 085 2219 Glangwili Hospital: 01267 227185 Prince Philip Hospital: 01554 783558 Your local pharmacy

The line-up for this year’s Laugharne Weekend is (yet again) an interesting and diverse one with a variety of artists set to appear, including Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Cerys Matthews, the Pogues’ James Fearnley, Simon Armitage, Howard Marks, John Cooper Clarke and Jah Wobble and Keith Levene from the iconic late 70s band, Public Image Ltd.  There is one performance on the bill, however, that has a special relevance to Laugharne. The work of one of its most famous residents, Dylan Thomas, will be brought into the 21st century with a performance of Buggerall – which has been described as an ‘update’ of Under Milk Wood. The play, written by local author Jon Tregenna (pictured above), is being performed by Corsham-based theatre group Three’s Company on the opening night of the weekend. Buggerall poses the question: what if the poet was alive and well and writing about life in a West Wales seaside town today? (For those not in the know, Buggerall is Llareggub – the settin...

The St David's Day concert staged at Five Roads Community Hall on Friday night was a big success. There was a packed house at the hall for the event organised by the Five Roads School PTFA parent-teacher association. Children from Five Roads School (above) stole the show with their musical and recitation spot. Cor Meibion Dyffryn Aman (below) were the special guests and they provided a splendid and varied evening's entertainment under the musical direction of Ian Llewellyn. The compere for the evening was someone called Robert Lloyd - less said about him, the better!

The latest South Wales Evening Post gardening column by Aberglasney's head gardener Joseph Atkin -  Spring is upon us nice and early and we have even been blessed with a few breaks in the rain and some sunshine. Despite the cold nights we are having some great gardening weather even if the ground is still very wet. One of the great things about gardening in the spring is presence of the early flowering plants reminding us why we do it. At Aberglasney the snowdrops, Hellebores and Crocus have and are putting on a great show. Looking round the garden today buds could even be seen on the Tulips and many of the earlier flowering Narcissus (Daffodil) have started. Last autumn we planted more than 100 different varieties of Narcissus amounting to more than 10,000 bulbs. One of the most interesting parts of growing a variety of the same plant is you see all its different shapes and guises as well as benefiting from a greater length of flowering. Amazingly we have had Nar...

Llanelli artist and photographer Russ Myners has sent through another update on his work this morning. Russ Myners is a local part-time artist and photographer, outside his 'day job' as a busy Practice Manager. He is also a weekend volunteer working in the grounds at the National Wetland Centre Wales, Penclacwydd, and it will be at the centre that he will be exhibiting some watercolour painting and photography throughout April. Russ started painting in watercolours around 2005 and has exhibited work at wetland centres both in Llanelli and at Slimbridge. His art and photographic work has attracted interest from the USA, Sweden and India. Aside from painting, Russ also carries out some Life drawing in charcoal and pencil. When time permits, Russ loves to be outdoors with his camera capturing nature as it is. His photography has been appreciated by many people across the UK, and has been commissioned for work on websites, canvass wraps and even digital wallpaper! The exhibit...

Latest news from the Brecon 'Jazz in the bar' team is that the Dave Cottle Trio will be performing at Theatre Brycheiniog, Canalside, Brecon, on Tuesday, March 20. Admission is £6 on the door. The trio is made up of - Dave Cottle (Piano), Alun Vaughan (Bass) and Paul Smith (Drums). Tipple n Tiffin theatre bistro will be open from 6pm, but booking is essential : 01874 611866 or email - info@tipplentiffin.co.uk The Dave Cottle Trio have been the house trio at Swansea Jazzland for the past 12 years and have worked with most of the top British Jazz artists.  At JITB Brecon, they will be playing a selection of mostly popular jazz standards, with Dave adding vocals and trumpet to the set. Dave comes from a showbiz family having spent most of his childhood as part of a musical/comedy/magic act with his brothers Richard and Laurence.  With both Dave's brothers moving to London in the 80s and establishing themeselves in the music business, Dave, who has ...