Cylchgronau Cymru

THE DISTRICT HISTORY SOCIETIES OF NORTH BRECKNOCK BRECON. Secretary: Miss A. B. Jones, M.A. BUILTH WELLS. Secretary Mr. Onfel Thomas. HAY. Secretary Mr. John Williams. TALGARTH. Secretary Mr. C. A. Price. GEORGE HERBERT once wrote Make no pretences Of new discoveries, whilst yet thine own And nearest little world is still unknown". No truer words were ever written, for there is evidence that people are more inclined to study the history and social life of other lands to the total exclusion of their own country and neighbourhood. However, in North Brecknock there has been lately an honest desire on the part of many people to know more about their own locality so keen has been the interest taken that the Breconshire Education Committee, through its Chief Education Officer, Mr. Deiniol Williams, decided to arrange a series of lectures at the four principal centres Brecon, Hay, Builth and Talgarth, and these were delivered by scholars of national and international repute; Dr. H. N. Savory lectured on "The Archaeology of North Brecknock," Professor E. G. Bowen on "The Age of the Celtic Saints with special reference to Brecknock"; Emeritus Professor H. J. Fleure on "The Study of Local History," and, lately, The Rev. Gomer Roberts, M.A., on "William Williams, Pantycelyn". At each centre there is an active and virile historical Society, and among the many duties expected of the Secretaries and members to undertake is to collect information relating to folklore, legend and song of the district, to search for old documents, to locate the sites of old buildings and inscribed stones, and to interview elderly people who have a fund of knowledge of the neighbourhood. All these duties conform to a pre-arranged plan drawn up by the Society itself. A great amount of work has already been done. Some excavations have been carried out, and quite often visits are made to our historic houses. Of considerable interest to North Brecknock, and indeed to Wales, was the discovery in 1954 of four gold tores or armlets at Cefn Farm in the rural Parish of Llanwrthwl. The armlets, which were spiral in shape, were the work of an Irish goldsmith of the Middle Bronze Period (1000-700 B.C.), and are now the valued possession of the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Recently, the family papers of the Williamses of Gwernyfed, and formerly of Llangoed, through the kindness of Mrs. Hore-Ruthven of Gwernyfed, were deposited on permanent loan at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. The earliest document dates back to the early years of the sixteenth century.