Cwmbran Historical Society: The society have enjoyed another successful few months with many very interesting talks and visits.

In April, we were entertained in musical fashion by Dr Gareth John and one of his colleagues from the Isca Morris Men.

The evening was a lively one, and some of us got so carried away with enthusiasm that we somewhat rashly accepted Dr John's invitation, to join him and his Morris Men at the Caerleon Roman amphitheatre at 5.30am (yes am') to welcome in the May Day dawn.

Came the hour, came the two crazies, Val and I - Yes, folks, we turned up on what was one of the coldest spring days on record.

Afterwards we were invited to join the Morrismen for breakfast at a local hostelry.

It was an "interesting" experience, but not one we would wish to repeat any time soon, as we were not much use for the rest of the day!

Our May meeting took the form of an "open" evening, where members brought along their memorabilia, photographs and documents. Many members contributed to the success of the evening.

An item of particular interest was a WWI soldier's memory box, contributed by one of our visitors, Julie Reynolds.

Julie's late father, Fred Lloyd, was an avid local historian who has contributed greatly to our collection of old maps and photographs.

In June, we had a most enlightening talk by Roger Bryant on the RNLI. The meeting was very well attended and all our members agreed that it was one of the best meetings we have had.

We were able to make a donation to the fund, and many of our members gave generously when the "lifeboat" was passed around.

It was not the best of days weatherwise, but the sun was in our hearts and we were up for a spot of adventure, come hell or high water - well the water had been forecast anyway!

It was a pleasant journey through the Marches and the nearer we got to Ironbridge the better the weather became until we arrived in brilliant sunshine.

Ironbridge is a beautiful place from both an engineering and architectural aspect.

That particular weekend was Victorian-themed, and Blists Hill mini town' was just amazing, with everyone in Victorian costume running the village as it would have been in those days; Sweet shop, bank - where one could purchase Victorian money (unfortunately not at Victorian prices!), apothecary, printer, and even a working foundry.

We all had a great day, and some of us almost missed the bus back.

Veteran's Day parade at Weymouth: This was our second visit of the year, an account of which appeared in Grassroots last week.

Further visits planned for this year will include a trip to Portsmouth, St Fagans, Swansea Maritime Museum, and also Plymouth.

These visits have been made possible by our recent Lottery grant - Where else can you get such good value for the sum of £2 per trip for paid up members?

by Anne Moore