IT WAS a pleasure to be in Penarth on Sunday morning, to attend the 150th anniversary service at St Augustine’s Church.

The event marked exactly 150 years since September 11, 1866, when the new church was dedicated. Accounts from the time record the fact that the first service took place on a very wet and windy day – but 150 years later, it couldn’t have been more different, with beautiful September sunshine to welcome churchgoers, guests and the Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan.

There was even an ‘appearance’ by the famous Victorian architect William Butterfield in his top hat and tails to give a reading - St Augustine’s is viewed as one of his finest works.

After the service I had the opportunity to catch up with the Friends of Belle Vue Park, and hear about their exciting plans for the pavilion. Belle Vue really is a wonderful asset to the town, and the dedicated Friends group should be applauded for their efforts.

My Penarth visit followed a busy constituency day on Friday, which included a trip to the exciting Tramshed project in Grangetown; a catch-up on local matters with Network Rail; a meeting with youth workers in Butetown; and a meeting with Oxfam Cymru to discuss refugees, the situation in Yemen and Syria, and aid issues more widely. There was also the Co-op Party Conference which took place in Cardiff on the weekend, which I attended along with my parliamentary colleagues.

Then on Sunday evening I met with a number of people who had contacted me about the result of the EU referendum. I wanted to follow up with constituents who had written to me on the subject of the UK’s exit from the European Union – whether they were pro-remain or pro-leave – and there was a good turn-out of people from Penarth there, the vast majority of whom had voted to remain.

I was keen to hear people’s views and experiences over the last couple of months since the vote, given the return of Parliament last week and the crucial need to hold the government to account on Brexit. Constituents can be assured that I will be scrutinising government actions very closely.

I’ll be holding more of these sessions in the future, and am still keen to hear people’s views so please feel free to let me know your thoughts by emailing stephen.doughty.mp@parliament.uk