Pembrokeshires Industrial Heritage
23 February 2011
A Feasibility Study for the Potential Development of Industrial Heritage Tourism in Pembrokeshire has been recently completed by Sula Rayska with two associates, Katie Foster and Alison Caffyn, for PLANED, the Pembrokeshire Local Action Network for Enterprise and Development.
The objectives of the study derive in part from the wider ambition of the strategic agencies, tourism and heritage partners of Wales to explain and promote a range of key Welsh themes and stories both to internal and external markets.
The strategic context for this work sits within the wider aspirations of Visit Wales and Welsh Assembly Government of ‘the offer for visitors’, creating more ‘products’ to extend their dwell time and thus an increased contribution to the local and country economy. Importantly however, the study’s impetus derives principally from a key Welsh objective for its people to celebrate their own ‘sense of place’ and their role in Welsh history.
St Beuno's Church
Bible Society Plans for Llanycil Move Forward
Bible Society's plans to create a Welsh Faith Heritage Centre at St Beuno's Church, Llanycil, on the edge of Lake Bala, have move forward with the completion of a Business Plan by Rayska Heritage. Funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, the plan looks at the future uses of the building and adjacent field and considers the potential for walkers and visitors of all types to visit the church and hear the story of Mary Jones who walked 25 miles to get a bible from the Reverend Thomas Charles. This one one of the events which led to the formation of the Bible Society, now a major international organisation.
Shobdon Church Funding
March 2011
Shobdon Church restoration moves nearer.
Rayska Heritage has just reported that a grant application for £50,000 on behalf of the Shobdon Church Preservation Trust has been successful. The donation from the Garfield Weston Foundation will enable the work to go ahead without delay and a contract has now been agreed with Capps and Capps Ltd of Hereford, a highly respected firm of conservation builders. The main funder is English Heritage and the World Monument Fund has also given a generous donation and raised more money through its matched funding programme.
Offas Dyke Path
Sula Rayska has been asked by the Offa's Dyke Assocation and partners Natural England and Countryside Council for Wales, to organise an event on July 10th 2011, to celebrate 40 years of the Long Distance Path's existence.
Over the last 40 years, the Offa’s Dyke Path has become one of Britain’s best loved walking routes, and an important mainstay of the local tourism economy. During that time, hundreds of thousands of visitors have discovered a unique walking experience which combines spectacular landscapes and wildlife, the extraordinary history of the Welsh Marches (most obviously represented by the ancient bank and ditch of Offa’s Dyke itself), and the warm welcome to be found in the market towns, villages and rural communities along the route.
Natural England, the Countryside Council for Wales, and the Offa’s Dyke Association are working together to celebrate the Offa’s Dyke Path 40th Anniversary. As well as celebrating Offa’s Dyke Path, the Welsh borders, and the people and communities who live and work along the route, the events will reflect the lasting achievement of a pioneering 40 year old public/voluntary sector partnership which means that, even in challenging times, Offa’s Dyke Path has a strong future as one of the UK’s best countryside attractions.
