ON AUGUST 5, Peter Simon gave a talk to the Club on “Gems of the Vale”. Peter first of all drew the members’ attention to a book published in 1938 entitled “Glamorgan History and Topography” which describes the Vale as being of mainly agricultural land but with many un-discovered villages and hamlets.

The first example of a structure of note was the Porthkerry viaduct built by Prince Ceri, an early Welsh Prince, in 1897 to provide a rail link from the valley coalfields to Barry docks. 110 feet high, it had to be closed shortly after opening for repairs to some of the pier foundations but was re-opened a couple of years later. Peter considers it to be a dramatic structure and an indication of early craftsmanship.

Boverton Place, also known as Boverton Castle, was built by the Seys family in the 16th century and the adjacent lane leads down to Summerhouse Point where a summer house was built for the family use. The buildings are now in ruins and an attempted sale in 2007 at a price of £50/80,000 failed to find a buyer. An earlier castle had been built close by in the 12th century by Prince John who had married Hadwisa of Gloucester but soon divorced her. She died in seclusion at the castle but her ghost was reputed to haunt the buildings and was known as the Black Lady.

John Wesley described St. Illtuds church in Llantwit Major as “the most beautiful church in Wales.” It is actually two churches joined together, the monks worshipped in one and the townsfolk in the other. It houses five early Celtic stone crosses from the 9th to the 16th century. Until the church buildings were restored the crosses were largely ignored and not given any pride of place. However, in 2012, they were re-positioned with more prominence and suitably displayed for public viewing. One cross bears the inscription “St. Samson placed this cross here for his soul”.

In the mid 19th century, a Dr. Salmon came to live at Penllyn Court near Craig Penllyne. He greatly improved the estate and established two vineyards. He built his own laboratory and invited prominent scientists to stay. He built three wells and during the drought of 1887 villagers queued for hours for water. The Doctor died in 1896 at the age of 106.

Peter also mentioned other gems in the Vale such as the ancient woodland at Coed-y-Bwl in the Alun valley. Famed for its display of wild daffodils, it received The Prince of Wales Trust award in 1975 as being a natural woodland environment which later has an outstanding display of wild bluebells.

The village of Llancarfan is famous for being the birthplace of Iolo Morgannwg, the founder of the Gorsedd ceremony, but it is now more famous for being the location of medieval wall paintings in St. Cadoc’s church. The paintings, dating from around 1480, were discovered in 2007. Wall paintings are very rare in Wales, and of these, the one depicting the battle between St. George and the Dragon is thought to be the largest. They were restored by funding by a Lottery grant.

The vote of thanks was given by Haydn Morgan.