Visit to Caernarfon, 15-17 May 2017

 Given Jesus College’s historic links with Wales, a JOMG trip to Caernarfon – the most Welsh of towns – is long overdue!  The town has a superb location – the island of Anglesey is across the Menai Strait to the north west, and the mountains of Snowdonia to the south east.

Caernarfon is probably best known these days for its castle, one of the “iron ring” ordered by Edward I to subdue North Wales, a goal that was only partially achieved. The castle and town walls – now a UNESCO World Heritage Site – were built between 1283 and 1330, with the unusual banded stonework and polygonal towers thought to be in imitation of Constantinople.

The town’s period of greatest prosperity came in the 19^th century as a result of rapid growth in the slate industry. Slate was exported from Caernarfon all over the world, generating ancillary industries such as ship-building and iron production.  After the 1914-18 war, slate production went into slow decline, but shops selling slate artefacts such as coasters, name plates and wine-racks are a reminder of the industry, while Penrhyn Quarry at nearby Bethesda is still thriving.

Caernarfon is a centre of Welsh language and culture, and around 9 out of 10 inhabitants speak Welsh as their first language.

The town boasts several choirs, with celebrities from the surrounding area including opera singer Bryn Terfel, Aled Jones (Walking in the Air), and Gwyneth Glyn (Jesus 1999), while the annual Harp Festival attracts enthusiasts from around the world.

Some 15 minutes up the A4086 is Llanberis, and the terminus for the Snowdon Mountain Railway, with a choice of footpaths to the summit for the more energetic. Other diversions in Llanberis are the Slate Museum, the Electric Mountain, and the Zip Wire (claiming to be the longest in Europe and the fastest in the world).

The British Rail line from Caernarfon to Bangor was closed in 1972 and is now part of the Wales Coast Path, ideal for biking and walking. However, local narrow gauge railways have in recent years been resurrected, including the Welsh Highland Railway, from Caernarfon to Porthmadog (next to Tremadog, birthplace of Jesus alumnus T. E. Lawrence).

Programme

Monday 15 May

15.30: Meet at the Galeri Café/Bar, Victoria Dock, Caernarfon. Guided walk (about 45 minutes) through the town

18.00: Welcome, orientation, and dinner (19.00) at the Royal Welsh Yacht Club, Porth yr Aur, Caernarfon (beer and wine may be purchased at the bar and table)

Tuesday 16 May

9.15: Meet at Castle entrance, Y Maes, for guided visit.

After the guided tour there will be the option to split up and visit parts of the castle which the guide tells you about, but does not take you to – notably the “Inside Edward’s Head” exhibition, and also the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum (entry to both included as part of castle entry). Climbing to the top of the Eagle Tower is worth it, for the view).

There are cafes and pubs within easy reach of the castle for lunch or takeaway sandwiches and drinks.

14.00 pm: Meet at Welsh Highland Railway Station for journey (departure 14.15) to Porthmadog (arriving there at 16.30)

17.30 pm: Coach back to Caernarfon. Arrive 18.30

Dinner is left open for the members to make their own arrangements.

Wednesday 17 May

9.00 Meet outside the Black Boy Inn, Northgate Street. Guided archaeological walk up to and around the Roman fortress of Segontium (about 2 hrs 30 mins)

13.00 pm: Light farewell lunch provided by the Cymdeithas Ddinesig Caernarfon Civic Society in “Y Wal”, Palace Street. (Drinks may be purchased at the bar)

After-lunch: an optional free end to the visit: a coastal/countryside walk led by Ifor Williams starting from Y Wal to the church of Llanfaglan – St Baglan – built in the 13^th century with 17^th century additions, now owned by the Friends of Friendless Churches.

Travel to Caernarfon

Rail: Nearest main line station is Bangor. Bus service about every 20 minutes from Bangor station to Caernarfon. Come out of the station, turn left up the hill, and the bus-stop is a few yards up on the left. Check with driver that the bus goes to Caernarfon. Taxi is around £25.

Road: A55 along the North Wales coast links to the UK motorway system. Leave the A55 at Bangor and take the A487 to Caernarfon. Other routes from central or southern England – e.g. via Corwen, Dolgellau or Bala – are more scenic but much slower.

Sea: sailors – if they’re sufficiently intrepid – can get visitors’ berths at Victoria Dock.

Accommodation

The Celtic Royal (celtic-royal.co.uk) , the Black Boy (black-boy-inn.com), the Premier Inn (premierinn.com) and Travel Lodge (travelodge.co.uk), among others. Totter’s Backpacker’s Hostel (totters.co.uk) is said to provide excellent value. All the above are within easy walking distance of the main square, Y Maes, with the Black Boy and Totters the closest. There is also a range of B&Bs such as  Bron Menai http://www.bronmenai.co.uk .

Caernarfon is an increasingly popular venue, so do book early”

 Due to tour and transport restrictions, the group size is limited to 30

Nearby places of interest:

Snowdon Mountain Railway

Llanberis Slate Museum and the Electric Mountain

Port Meirion, Clough Williams-Ellis’s Italianate village, the setting for 1960s cult series The Prisoner and more recently for Festival 6

Blaenau Ffestiniog slate caverns

Well preserved pre-historic sites abound in Gwynedd and Anglesey.

 Queries about booking: Chris Hicks at events@jomg.org

Contact when in Caernarfon: Eddie Williams

Land line: 01286 672244

Mobile:  07985408915

eddie.williams@bangor.ac.uk

Tourist information

You’ll get a number of out-of-date and/or shoddy websites if you google “Caernarfon”. Among the better ones are:

http://www.caernarfon.com/index.html

http://www.walesdirectory.co.uk/Towns_in_Wales/Caernarfon_Town.htm

Caernarfon Tourist Information, Oriel Pendeitsh, Castle Street, Caernarfon, LL55 2NA, Wales, UK.  Telephone:- +44 1286 672232

(recent cuts in funding may affect this service)

The Jesus Old Members XL Group Annual General Meeting will be held in the Ship Street Centre on 11th April 2015 commencing 10:15am.

Appended are the reports and agenda.

AGM 11 April 2015 Agenda

AGM 2014 Minutes AGM

2015 Treasurer’s Report and Accounts-3

Apologies or comments please to Paul Seward (secretary)

The Summer Science Exhibition is an annual display of the most exciting cutting-edge science and technology in the UK. It runs from 1st July – 6th July and takes place at the Royal Society’s HQ at 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG . Entry is free and no booking is required.

See details of last years event

The plan is to meet at 10.00am in the refreshment tent on the terrace overlooking the Mall and to reconvene there for lunch at 12.30 pm.

Old Members Day this year will feature talks by the Principal and senior members of the College.

We are very fortunate to have the Principal come to address us this year as we are almost certain that this would not be possible in 2015, which is his retirement year.

Lord Krebs will be joined by Prof. Paul Riley, who is Professor of Regenerative Medicine – a field in which we have seen and continue to see enormous advances being made, and by Prof. Tim Palmer, who is the Royal Society Research Professor in Climate Physics. To suggest that their talks will be interesting is likely to be a gross understatement. We are also aiming to have a short presentation by one of the graduates supported by the Group.

We may have time for a drink – if questions can be limited! – before lunch is served in Hall.

As drinks are not included this year, we have been able to keep the cost down to £19.00 per person.

The timetable is:

10.30am   Coffee and Tea in the Ship Street Centre

11.00am   The programme of talks led by the Principal

13.00am   Lunch in Hall

The charge for Old Members’ Day is £19.00 including coffee and lunch.

I look forward to seeing you at what I am sure will be a memorable occasion. If you are driving to Oxford, the use of a Park & Ride is recommended.

 Bookings by Saturday 14 June, at the latest, will be much appreciated.

Malcolm McIvor

Email:    Malcolm.McIvor@btinternet.com; Tel: 01202 769297; Mobile: 07808 921730

I am an undergraduate medical student at Jesus College, and I am currently looking to recruit participants of age 50 and above for a research project at the Department of Experimental Psychology in Oxford. Stimulating the brain during cognitive training

We are recruiting participants (aged 50-80 in good health) for a study that assesses that effect of mild, painless transcranial current stimulation on cognitive abilities during a fun and engaging cognitive training programme. This study will take up to 5 hours over 3 days within a week. All participants will receive £50. For further information, please email brainfhsproject@gmail.com or phone 07546366555 (Lish).

Gordon Russell was a design pioneer – a furniture designer, maker, calligrapher, entrepreneur, educator, and champion of accessible, well crafted design.

Located in his original workshop in Broadway, Worcestershire, the  Gordon Russell Design Museum  celebrates his life and work over a period of sixty years .

Richard Paice (1961), a trustee for the Museum, has kindly agree to host a group visit. The programme will be as follows:

Thursday 22nd May
Optional dinner at Russell’s for those wanting to stay overnight.

Friday 23rd May
10.30 am – Coffee in Russell’s on the High St.
11.00 am – Walk the 100 yards to the Gordon Russell Museum. The OAP entry charge is £4.50 which can be made as a gift aid donation
12.30 pm – Back to Russell’s for lunch
2.00 pm – Walk 300 yards to the Broadway branch of the Ashmolean Museum. The OAP entry is also £4.50.

Vera Farrants kindly organised a splendid outing to see the National Theatre production of  King Lear starring Simon Russell Beale.

In spite of the near instant sell out of the tickets for the matinee performance Vera was able to obtain 16 for our members.

Unfortunately a gentleman called Bob Crow got to hear of our plans and called a strike of tube workers for that very day. Undeterred by this and the rain whipped up by near gale force winds all of our party managed to take their seats on time.

We were then treated to a powerfully searching account of the tragedy that fuses the familial and the cosmic, the epic and the intimate. We all agreed that Sam Mendes’ production pondered every detail of the play with a fresh and imaginative rigour.

This was followed by a most convivial early dinner in the theatre’s Terrace Restaurant.

Hopefully Vera, who was ably assisted by Ron, can be persuaded to repeat the exercise in the not too distant future.

Peter Silverman
6th February 2014

The Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron facility. 13 Jesus old members attended one of the facility’s rare public open days on Saturday 9th November 2013.

Peter Silverman
12th November 2013

After assembling for coffee in the Ship Street Centre we set out on a tour of Oriel, the fifth college to be founded, in 1326.   Our guide was  Robert Evans, Emeritus Fellow of the College and until recently Regius Professor of History. Later we lunched at the Chiang Mai Thai restaurant on the High Street.

An extended review of the day’s event will be added shortly. In the meantime we are indebted to David Skyrme for these photographs.

“In June 2013 22 Old Members and partners visited Abergavenny. Why? We were in search of good fellowship, fine dining, and the tomb of the first Principal of the College. This quasi pilgrimage was curated by raconteur and historian Clive Jenkins (1966), whose ancestors are buried in the area”.  Read more of Stephen Walkers report.

You can also now read Clive’s history of the Marches of Wales.