News Column

10th Feb 10

New Art Group
New members wanted for arts group which runs every Friday 6pm to 8pm in Park Baptist Church. For more information, please contact Paul on 07946 635848.

Children’s Ceramics

The Neigbourhood Learning Centre will be holding Ceramic Classes during the half term school holidays. A session for seven to ten year olds will be held on Tuesday, 22nd February and a session for eleven to fourteen year olds will be held on Wednesday, 23rd February. Both sessions will last from 10.30am until 12.30pm at the N.L.C. Pen-y-Dre, Gurnos. Sessions cost £5 each including refreshments. Booking is essential. To book or for further information, please contact Pauline on 01685 384936.

Welsh Folk Music

This Saturday, 12th February at 10.30am until 12.30pm, Y Ganolfan Gymraeg (The Welsh Centre), Merthyr Tydfil, will be hosting a Welsh bagpiping workshop, through the medium of Welsh. The workshop will cost £5 per person and will focus on Welsh repertoire for pipes, basic piping techniques, how to articulate and ornament the music, learning by ear, playing as a group and having a lot of fun! Some instruments are available for those who don’t have their own pipes, or for pipers currently playing different types of bagpipes. The workshops will use bagpipes in the key of C. If you are a beginner you should be able to play another wind instrument such as flute, whistle or clarinet, to a reasonable level. Please contact to confirm attendance and also whether you would like to use teaching sets of pipes, which will need to be reserved. For information about this and other dates, please contact Bagad Pibau Morgannwg at bagadmorgannwg@gmail.com or the Office at Menter Iaith Merthyr Tudful on 01685 722176.

Open Mic Night
Poet and author Phil Knight will be visiting The Imperial Hotel, Pontmorlais tonight, Thursday 10th February, as the invited guest at the monthly Open Mic Night. Local author Mike Jenkins and other contributors will also be present, filling the night with poetry and verse. Born in Neath in 1965, Phil Knight graduated from the Polytechnic of Wales in 1988. He has been active on the far Left from early teens and joined the Anti–Nazi League and the Socialist Workers’ Party in 1993. His poetry comments on a wide range of social and political issues. He believes a knowledge of the past helps in understanding the present. Phil’s poems have been published in The Pen, Linkway, Wire, City Writings, Y Faner Goch, Target, ECTO-1, Quantum Leap, Solizzi and others together with his own publications including “Images of Past and Present - a collection of Poems”, published by Aramby Publishing. Open Mic Nights are free entry, supported by MTCBC Arts Development and Academi. For further information, please contact: 01685 725382 or arts@merthyr.gov.uk.

Merthyr Aloud
The Merthyr Aloud community choir voice workshops are now on Fridays at 10.30am until 12.30pm at the Canolfan Gymraeg, Neuadd Soar, Pontmorlais (current access through Castle Street Car Park, during the building work on Soar Arts Centre). All are welcome to come along to these drop in voice workshops to learn some beautiful harmonies from different musical traditions with Natural Voice Practitioner; Heather Murray. No experience is needed and all songs are taught by ear. These sessions can help to improve your health, you can meet new people, and have lots of fun! Cost per session is £1, which includes refreshment. For more information or to book call Clare at Glamorgan Gates on: 01685 729940.