Aberystwyth and District Floral Society

AFTER the entertaining open evening in November with the NAFAS demonstrator and teacher, Daphne Furneaux, the Christmas meeting on 15 December brought to a close an exciting year of celebrating the club’s 50th anniversary. Kevin Davies, who previously ran a florist shop in Aberystwyth, was the demonstrator and said that he wanted to get away from all the hype and commercialism of Christmas and invited his audience to relax and just enjoy the evening. He certainly achieved his aim. As he skilfully worked through a series of displays depicting the various aspects of the Nativity he told amusing anecdotes which added to the enjoyment of the demonstration. Kevin featured the traditional colours of Christmas in his designs and included a stunning arrange-ment in white emphasising the purity of the event.President Donald Morgan de-livered the vote of thanks compli-menting Kevin on the conditon of his flowers and foliage and his use of space.As customary, Kevin’s arrange-ments were raffled whilst a finger buffet was served, followed by the Lucky Number draw in which Donald Morgan, Pat Jones and Lowri Morgan won the first, sec-ond and third prizes respectively.In the members’ competition, Ffion Hicks took first place in the novice class, Glenys Morgan and Beti Wyn Davis were awarded joint first place in the intermediate class with Christine Hughes taking second.The next meeting will be in Llan-farian Village Hall on Tuesday, 19 January, starting at 7.30pm. Johnathan Lloyd-Davies from Neath will be the demonstrator with the title, Tiptoe Through the Tulips. Please bring all entries for the members’ competition, which is to be an arrangement for a dark corner, by 7.15pm to enable judging before the meeting begins.A warm welcome awaits every-one who has a love of flowers and ways to arrange them.

Rotary Club

AT THE new year meeting, Dr Jamie Medhurst, senior lecturer in theatre, film and media studies at Aberystwyth University, spoke on the early years of television.The development of television was the work of many inventors, among them, John Logie Baird, a prominent engineer. It was he who pulled the bits and pieces together as The Baird Television Development Co was established. It functioned between 1923 and 1930 when television was rated as “the greatest invention of the age”. In March 1925, in Selfridges, Baird was the first to give a public demonstration of a working TV system. In July 1930, the Coliseum saw the first theatre audience viewing a TV programme.In 1935, the BBC became respon-sible for the TV service though it was said that “enthusiasm must be tempered”. The following year the Alexandra Palace opened, but only those with-in a 30-mile radius of the centre were able to view. At this time, two versions oper-ated, the mechanical Baird system and the electronic Marconi/EMI system. The former relied on a cine camera with a film to be developed which caused a two-minute delay. The Marconi/EMI system soon took over.Apparently the director general Sir John Reith was not impressed with TV and was said to have never watched, though his diaries later revealed the contrary.December 1936 saw cookery dem-onstrations, laundry advice, how to cook and carve a turkey, and the first weather chart. The first Outside Broadcast was of the 1937 Wimbledon, though there was interference from nearby hospital equipment. The May 1937 Coronation view-ing was eagerly awaited. With war imminent, the TV service was shut down, Alley Pally was mothballed until June 1946.The first regular colour transmis-sions was of the 1967 Wimbledon.By December of that year 80 per cent of programmes were in colour. Logie Baird had been the first to demonstrate colour TV in 1927, which he had called phonovision.Past-president Mike Price in giving the vote of thanks for an excellent presentation, said it was a delight to have been shown the origins of such a momentous invention.

Aberystwyth Beekeepers Association

THE 2015/16 winter is proving to be an interesting one for beekeepers with the unseasonably mild and very wet weather having their impacts on colonies. Already there have been reports of bees flying actively in mid-December and taking back pollen to their hives from flowers tricked into believing that spring has come early. The weather and individual exp-eriences will no doubt be a major topic in conversations at the next of the Aberystwyth Beekeepers Association’s programme of winter meetings. This will be the annual general meeting which will be held on Tuesday evening, 19 January, in Waunfawr Community Hall at 7.30pm. Anyone interested in bees and beekeeping will be very welcome.

Cymdeithas yr Aelwyd

NOS WENER, 8 Ionawr, croesawodd ein llywydd, Terry Edwards, yr hanesydd Russell Davies.Hiwmor oes Fictoria oedd testun Russell ac er bod hiwmor yn brin yn ein llyfrau hanes mae mwy na’r disgwyl ar gael yn y ffynonellau y mae Russell yn eu defnyddio fel awdur nifer o lyfrau. Yn ogystal â’r Punch Cymraeg roedd yna gyhoeddiadau eraill fel Y Ffraethebydd, Casgliad o ffraethebion, a Chymorth i chwerthin.Cyflwynodd Russell enghreifftiau difyr o’i waith ymchwil oedd yn cynnwys llysenwau, plant a’u hiw-mor, a’r straeon doniol sy’n dod o’r b