Llangwm At Christmas
The Cast of a Nativity Play at Galilee Baptist Chapel, 1949
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Back Row – Merle Brock, Morfydd Cole, Sally Hitchings, Shirley Prout, June Morris, Maria Morris, Katherine Jones, Billy John, Pauline Thomas,
Ruth Rees, Lorraine James, Glenys Wilcox, Jean Morgan, Norma Lewis (part hidden), Kathleen Wilcom/O'Brien, Jill Stephens.
Middle Row – Glenys Davies, Valerie John, Auriel Thomas, Dorrie Davies, Bert Jones, Mauren Prout, Unknown, Unknown, Derek John, Betty Bennett,
James Brock, John Brock, Margaret Rees, Marion Barrah
Front Row – Kenny Laugharne, Ruth England, Stuart ?, Ann Stephens, Bronwen Jones.
Programme for 'A Carol Concert and Nativity Play'
Performed at Llangwm School, January 1951
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Christmas Night Concerts at Galilee Baptist Chapel
“During the ministry of the Rev. D. M. Pryse, the radio had not yet materialised, and the Christmas Night Concerts continued to be a popular and well patronised feature of chapel life. On Christmas Evening 1912, the building filled to capacity long before the time of commencement to savour the bright and lively programme. Under the leadership of Mr. T. Hitchings and with Miss Lavinia Owen as accompanist, the choir performed with great credit. The Male Voice section delivered a very impressive rendering of ‘Crossing the Bar’, and a succession of songs and solos were sung by the Misses Lavinia Owen, Marion Pryse, Hilda Saies, Ivy Morgan and Gladys Llewellyn" (from The People of the Covenant by W. Grenville Thomas).
"I Remember Christmas …"
by 'The Collier's Wife'
"Sixty years ago I was a young girl of seven, maybe eight. There was my mother and father, and at that time we were four sisters, living on the hill at Black Tar, Llangwm, a lovely little place. Our cottage was one of five on the hill, two rooms up and two rooms down. I can see it all now, especially the kitchen with a black-lead grate, the tidy and the fender, with a kettle singing on the hob by the culm fire that never went out, the brass round the mantleshelf all clean and shining. On the mantleshelf were two dogs and the clock, then there was the skew with the long cushion on it, also a Welsh dresser with all types of crockery; the kitchen table that was all scrubbed white, the chairs round it and a folding bed or a cupboard bed, and to finish it off was the rag mat by the fire - all homely and comfortable.
"It was a loving home with Mam and Dad, and we had a little dog, a Pomeranian named Ching - ah, she was lovely, and when we cried the poor old dog would cry with us. If Mam smacked us for anything the poor old dog would cry.
"And then I remember Christmas. It was a lovely time at Christmas and there'd be weeks and weeks preparing, and I can remember Mam making puddings in the evening, and everything that was done was done on the culm fire, and she'd put the puddings all ready and early the next morning she'd get up and put the iron boiler on the fire and when it was ready put the puddings in, and we could hardly wait for the evening because she always made a small pudding in the cloth for us to taste. It was lovely, I don't think I've ever tasted puddings like it since. We'd all had a stir and a wish, and she used to put in some threepenny bits - not many because they couldn't afford a lot in those days. Mam always put in a cup full of tea when she made the puddings, and I do the same today because they say it makes a juicier pudding. It would be a day they kept apart from doing these things.
"When it came to making cakes, there were four bakehouses in Llangwm at that time; Mr Tommy Palmer at Rock House, the club is there now, then you'd go down the main street and there was Mr Johnny John there, then we'd go on a bit further over the Holloway Hill, and Mr Edwin Palmer kept the bakehouse there, and he also kept a very large shop, and you'd go round Rectory Road and there was Mr John Morgan, he had a bakehouse as well.
"Now then, before they made the cakes they'd go to the bakehouse and borrow the tins the bread had been baked in to put their cakes in. Some would make two, some would make six, then you'd take the cakes to the bakehouse - and the smell then, coming home from school from the top of the village all the way down. It was grand, and it made your mouth water because coming home from school you'd feel really hungry and it was lovely! They'd go up there at six o'clock at night and the cakes would come out perfect, absolutely perfect. But about the cakes for icing, I think they must have cooked those in their own oven at home. This was the loaf cakes that they'd made and baked at the bakehouse.
"The day before Christmas now, everybody would go to the bakehouse - they'd go to the bakehouse where they had their bread - wherever they had their bread they cooked their cakes and their poultry. So it came now, the day before Christmas, and all this stuffing was going ahead, and getting all the poultry all ready, and then you'd take them to the bakehouse. But if you had a goose you had to put him in a deep pan, or the fat would go all over the oven and they didn't like that one little bit. There were a lot of chickens, but mostly geese then, and one or two might have turkeys, and they'd go in the oven - and then the smell! Can you imagine it, coming through the village? (from The Pembrokeshire Magazine, 29, December 1984).
Mrs Ellen Skyrme Remembers Christmas
At Christmas, the big families would have a batch of cakes baked at the bake house. We would take them up in a bath or clothes basket with our names on, and collect them about nine o'clock. Our goose would be cooked there as well. Most Llangwm people had goose or duck - no one except the Palmers at the shop had turkey. Turkey was dry and chicken not much thought of. We always had a Christmas Bush - a round bush of holly which was hung in the ceiling and decorated with small, polished red apples and small oranges. Holly with berries, picked locally, was the only decoration - on the mantlepiece, behind pictures and around the room. No tinsel or anything. We all hung our stockings up on Christmas Eve, and had different nuts wrapped in paper, sweets, a handkerchief. Nearly all the girls would have a doll. Christmas puddings were made weeks beforehand and covered with boiled and fresh cloths after baking in order to hang on ceilings. They were eaten with custard, not white sauce or cream. On Boxing Day, the hounds met on the Green (from Llangwm Village News, 12, December 2002).
Christmas in Llangwm 1954
reseached by Nikki Bosworth
T. P. Hughes in Haverfordwest were selling Tri-ang doll's prams for £5 15s 0d and Tri-and pedal cars for £3 19s 11d.
Corona Sparkling Drinks - "It makes the party" - cost 1s 10d for 4 bottles.
Trew & Co. of High Street, Haverfordwest, were suggesting "Give slippers this Christmas".
S & F Green of Haverfordwest advocated "Give her a Hoover for Christmas".
Jenkins Garage of Barn Street, Haverfordwest, thought that a gift voucher would make a suitable present.
Greens Cycles and Radio advertised "Add to your Christmas pleasure with a TV set".
"Mars are marvellous". Only 5d a bar. Or you could buy a "Bounty" bar for 6d, a packet of Spangles for 3d and a box of Maltesers for 1s 6d.
The "Gay Heart" restaurant in Victoria Place, Haverfordwest, was offering 3-course Christmas lunches for 3 shillings.
The local cinemas were screening "The Happiness of Three Women" starring Petula Clarke and Donald Houston.
The village police constable, P C Samuel, sustained an arm injury after crashing into a fallen tree, brought down by storms described in the local newspaper as "Night of Terror and Havoc".
Fireman D J Slater received a medal from the RSPCA for rescuing a sheepdog from a disused mineshaft at Fiddler's Green, Freystrop. He had to descend 120 feet on a rope before he could haul the dog to safety.
John Evans, the son of Mr and Mrs Elwyn Evans of Llangwm Ferry, was recovering at home after an operation at Carmarthen hospital.
A concert by Llangwm Ladies Choir took place at the school. The conductor was Mr Ashley Davies and the accompanist was Mrs E Roach.
Llangwm beat Haverfordwest in the first leg of the Bishop Cup by 6 points to 3.