The Living Stones Heritage Trail will be officially launched at a Heritage Day on Saturday 22 May.
The Trail comprises sixteen historic churches and chapels in North Montgomeryshire, Powys. Two, St Myllin’s Church and Pendref Chapel, are in Llanfyllin where the Heritage Day will be held. Events begin at 10.30 a.m., when Porth-y-Waen Silver Band will strike up in the Square. There will be a children’s roundabout and other entertainments, and at 11 o’clock the band will march along the High Street to Pendref. Here they will play traditional hymns, some by the poet Ann Griffiths who was converted here in 1796. Around 11.30 they will march back to the Square.
Over lunch time visitors will be able to see several buildings in the town not regularly open to the public. These will include the Tabernacl Methodist church across the bridge and Llanfyllin Workhouse. There will be a free organ recital in St Myllin’s and an exhibition of photographs of the sites participating in the Heritage Trail will be on view.
In the afternoon two of Wales’s leading experts on historic buildings will give a presentation in St Myllin’s Church, beginning at 2.00. Tim Hughes is the author of the ground-breaking ‘Wales’s One Hundred Best Churches’, which has opened many people’s eyes to the unique characteristics of Welsh places of worship: he will give an illustrated talk on: ‘Defining the Special Character of Welsh Churches and Chapels and the Importance of their Landscape and Setting.’ Tea will follow, and then John Harvey, Professor of Art at Aberystwyth University, will speak on ‘The Architectural, Biblical and Cultural Perspectives of Welsh Chapels’. Professor Harvey makes exciting and innovative use of visuals in his presentation, which lets us into the secrets of some remarkable and little-known buildings.
The Living Stones Heritage Trail comprises three separate trails in the Tanat, Vyrnwy and Cain Valleys.
Visitors will be guided by a website, and by a leaflet which will be available at Tourist Information Centres and other outlets in the region. When they arrive at each church and chapel they will find information materials about the site and its associations, designed to be accessible to all the family, as well as details of other attractions and facilities in the area. The Living Stones logo, a Celtic cross in red and green, will become a familiar sight in North Powys, and the Trail will help to attract new visitors to a beautiful and undiscovered part of Wales.
