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As Remembrance weekend approaches and we reflect on the futility of war and the lives lost in  that terrible conflict, photographs of all six CWGC memorials of the  Great War in St David’s Cemetery appear under the drop down menu of “What’s in a name” together with details of each individual.

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them”

Johnstown Primary School Carmarthen made history on the 16th October when they visited St David’s Cemetery to lay poppy crosses on each of the six WW1 Graves.

Not since 1918 – one hundred and one years previously had a primary school visited the graves. In all 58 pupils attended and were met at the cemetery by the Chairman of the Trustees of the Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity Mr Richard Goodridge MBE who gave them a guided tour of the six graves and explained the tragic circumstances as to why each of them became casualties.

At the conclusion of the visit the pupils recited the words at the grave of Brighty Thomas Lewis, Welch Regiment “They shall not grow old” without notes which was a fitting tribute to those brave soldiers.

It has indeed been a busy year in keeping the grass cut as short as possible. The weather has of course not helped over the last few weeks and with only one ordinary garden mower and one strimmer we have had our work cut out. To give you an example it takes on average four and a half hours without a break (except to refuel) to cut all the grassed areas accessible in the cemetery and this together with an additional two hours of strimming takes it’s toll physically. However, in carrying out this work ourselves the Trustees have saved the charity a considerable amount of money in having to pay contractors. In the new year the Finance Sub committee will be looking to prioritise our financial needs for the forthcoming year and to this end we will be looking at purchasing an additional mower and possibly a strimmer so that we can then invite volunteers along to help in carrying out this work. Eventually we hope to be able to aquire a “ride on mower” as well  which will save an awful lot of time and will be more economical let alone much easier ! We also have a large area of the cemetery grounds still to restore,  and to consider the importation of soil to level off uneven areas.

Memorial restoration will however now become the charities main objective over the winter months and the list of memorials requiring attention is quite a long one but there’s the challenge. One headstone that has been laying face down for over 50 years covered over with earth has only recently been uncovered and will be restored to it’s rightful position in the coming weeks. THOMAS DAVIES  from Lammas Street, his wife and two young children (aged 5 and 7 ) will now once again be  remembered and the Trustees look forward to completing this task.

On Wednesday 4th September the trustees met for their quarterly meeting at Park Lodge, Morfa Lane, Carmarthen. Such meetings are held usually every three months and serve to ensure the smooth running of the charity, which also gives everyone the opportunity to discuss anything from memorial repair to finance and anything else that is of concern. On this occasion Dr Huw Michael was unable to attend. Before the meeting commenced we met at the cemetery where Mr Jeffrey Moreau our website designer and photographer met us to take some photographs for this article and we are grateful to him in allowing us to publish these two photographs.

It is the trustees intention at some point in the future to place on the website a map of the cemetery giving the exact location of individual burials which will allow researchers to pinpoint exactly the location of any particular individual, despite there being no headstone in situ. This is because in 1977 a survey was carried out before the removal of many of the headstones to the boundary wall which mapped out in some detail each of the memorials location. Whilst the documentation is not perfect or indeed complete it nevertheless provides us with important details which to the family historian are priceless. More details on this project will follow in due course. What is important perhaps to note is that many of the memorials give a lot more information than you may think including the death of a loved one in a foreign country such as Connecticut, the Red Sea, Australia, New York etc. mostly in the second half of the nineteenth century. Such information is invaluable to researchers and we also hope, with further funding to be able to have all the memorials photographed and appear on this website. So much to do and so little time !

Sunday 1st September saw the Trustees carry out three restorations in one day. The first required lifting equipment, the second sheer muscle power, and the third a delicate operation to straighten a leaning memorial. All three were achieved after several hours of hard work.

The first – a quarter of a ton marble headstone to the GRIFFITHS family of 46 Lammas Street was lowered into place after preparatory work in securing the stone base. This headstone had been lying on the ground for fifty years. During this work two holes were drilled into the sides of the marble headstone and two steel rods inserted to take the enormous weight of the marble when lifted from the ground and into position. After a lot of maneuvering, left, right, up and down we finally managed to lower the marble into position and are very pleased with the result

Thank you to Robert Goodridge and his son Thomas, and to Chris Dzioba for their really hard work that day which was much appreciated.

The second memorial to be restored was that of the NICHOLAS family from Water Street. Please refer to the drop down menu under the “What’s in a name” for further information.

This engraved stone headstone had also been buried in the ground for decades face down and was initially moved by hand whilst the base again was made secure ready to receive the headstone back into position.

The second phase was to manhandle the headstone back into position and using special resin to secure it to the base. Once this was done wooden supports were used to ensure its safety.

The following day we returned to remove the supports and the area surrounding the base will now be cleaned up.

For the purpose of the photograph below showing the wording engraved on the headstone it was necessary to rub self raising flour into the lettering to show up the wording otherwise the photograph would not capture the script. This is a “technique” I often use to reveal engraved headstones that have been weathered over the years.

The third and final restoration was to upright a leaning memorial to MASTER   MARINER WILLIAM JONES and family. This polished red marble cross had      been leaning at an angle of almost 45 degrees and was in danger of toppling    over, let alone being a safety risk to visitors.

Major ground restoration has begun at the north section of the cemetery at the rear of the church. This has involved the use of heavy machinery in order to remove four damaged and fallen headstones to the boundary wall so that the cemetery ground can be levelled sufficiently for the use of a mower and also the removal of a considerable amount of old rubble which had been dumped there previously. This area will be seeded during the course of the next week and will be a massive improvement to this area which is the first thing the public see when walking along the footpath. The charity is indebted to Mr. Mick Butler of West Wales Gardening for his efforts and hard work in bringing this area of the cemetery back to an acceptable standard. Due to financial constraints the charity will be looking to scale back any further major restoration until next year but will continue where possible the repair and restoration of damaged and broken memorials, one of which in particular will be restored this Sunday with the use of  hydraulic lifting machinery. A full story of this restoration will appear in due course. The photograph below shows the five memorials rescued from the ground during the restoration. One which is broken in two will be restored in the near future.

An example of the overgrowth, in particular Ivy that covered the cemetery boundary wall. The local TA from Picton Barracks were extremely helpful in assisting in removing some of it over a two day period in 2017. As can be seen from the photographs there is some obvious improvement ! We continue to bring the grounds back into shape and will shortly have contractors on site to progress further the restoration of the cemetery.

As you will see from looking around the website, we are beginning to add information as and when time allows. The charities latest newsletter sent out to “Friends” was delivered this morning, containing all the latest information.

Over time, I will be adding all the stories that have appeared in the previous newsletters  under the heading “what’s in a name” so do keep checking the menu for any additions. Also the memorial database continues to be added to, and this will take some time to complete. We are still awaiting the outcome of our application for a small heritage lottery fund grant. Competition is fierce, and I will spread the news of the decision as soon as it is known. Thank you for taking the time to look at our website and do get in touch if you have any comments.

 

Richard Goodridge (Chairman)

Become a Friend of the Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity.

 

I am writing this letter to appeal to all of the former parishioners along with relatives and friends of those buried in the church grounds at St David’s, also neighbours, and anyone interested and connected with the history of Carmarthen, to be aware that finally, a major clearance operation has began over two years ago to bring the north and east sections of the cemetery back to a place of dignity to those buried there. It is unfortunate that the church itself was closed in 2003 mainly due to storm damage and safety issues. In 2011 the church, along with the surrounding land/cemetery (north and east sections) had been sold to a private developer. The charity is named after my late grandparents (Tommy and Bessie as they were affectionately known) who are buried in St David’s Cemetery. The charities role is to take over the maintenance and upkeep of this section of the cemetery and to repair and restore where possible as many memorials as possible, and for this to happen we are reliant on donations of any kind, large and small, one off donations, or by the enclosed standing order mandate, which will ensure a regular income for the charities work of annual maintenance.

I am delighted to inform you that the charity gained official charitable status as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with the Charity Commission in December 2015, and in October 2017 the charity officially became the owners of the cemetery (north and east sections) which is a microcosm of Carmarthen’s rich military, social, economic, industrial, cultural, and maritime history, as inscribed on many of it’s memorials of those interred there going back to February 1841. With an area the size of the Cardiff Principality Rugby pitch (12,000 square metres) and over 6,500 burials, together with a stone boundary wall 200 metres long and eight foot high the effort required will be monumental but very much achievable if we receive sufficient support. On the 15th September 2015, myself, my brother and a friend of ours planted nearly one thousand daffodil bulbs at the entrance to the church and cemetery, thereby creating an oasis of colour between January and March each year, as there are two variants of the flower which come into bloom at different times. We also planted a further thousand bulbs at the rear of the church in October last year, resulting in a mass of colour along the footpath.

The task ahead of the Trustees is an onerous one that will be achieved providing we receive the much needed financial support and backing of local inhabitants and businesses, and of those now living further afield with an interest in the history of Carmarthen. I have attached a Friends of the Thomas & Elizabeth Mayhook Charity standing order mandate payable monthly, the amount you wish to contribute is entirely at your discretion though we do ask for a minimum of £4.00 per month if possible, and anything larger will be a bonus and most welcome. If you know of someone who would like to support us please send a copy on to them. You will receive regular newsletters keeping you up to date on all our activities. Ideally we need at least 50 Friends to raise the funds required on an annual basis. Not everyone is able to afford large donations so this gives more people the opportunity to lend their support and gives the charity a much needed regular income, however small. It’s not much to ask for such an important local charitable cause. One off donations are also welcome, payable to the charity.

We do not process your data on this website. Please click here to download  the donations pack which includes pdf forms for you to print at your convenience. Once downloaded to your computer please print and fill out the form relevant to your chosen donation then return it to the Treasurer. Please contact us if you would prefer the pack in Word format.

The Standing Order Mandates should be returned to the persons Bank for processing and the Gift Aid Form returned to the Treasurer of the Charity together with any “one off” cheque donations.

Name and Address of Treasurer:

Robert Goodridge
Brynglas
Gerynant
Llangunnor
Carmarthen
SA31 2NY

Rest assured that in time we shall restore this sacred and important cemetery back to a respectable and pleasant place in which to visit, and I thank you in advance for your support. However you decide to support us your interest and support is much appreciated indeed.

Richard J Goodridge. MBE
(Chairman)

Welcome to stdavidscemeterywales.org, launched on July 4th 2019. Please bear with us while we continue to update content.