Chapel in the Woods

When I posted my blog about the small chapel at Bayvil back in August, Andrew Wilson-Dickson told me about a ruined chapel he had discovered whilst taking a detour from the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path near St Dogmaels, near Cardigan. The idea of the church suggested many new ideas that I could use as part of the Creative Wales Award I’m currently working on, so I set off to find the church.

I initially I started walking the south along the coastal path from Poppit Sands, encountering some alarming notices …

… and the usual fellow travellers …

As well as other abandoned and discarded artifacts

The chapel belonged to the community of Cippyn, which is so small that it isn’t even signposted. Eventually, after walking along a bridal path for half a mile or so, the roof of a building came in sight.

The chapel is surrounded by woodland and fields

Some of its windows are broken and the entrance is overgrown with brambles, but the building has not been vandalised: 

Inside the original communion table is still in place

Someone has recently left a little plastic bottle with flowers in a little niche in the wall

It’s difficult to know how long the church has been abandoned, but there was still a newspaper scattered around the floor dating back thirty years: 

I left armed with lots of information, ready to move on to the next stage ... watch this space! 

More pictures of the deserted chapel near Cippyn 

Wales Comes to Oxford

Here I am in Oxford for a performance of my piece Beiliheulog (see petereynoldscomposer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/song-for-hidden-chapel.html for more details of the piece) 

It was part of a concert, This is Wales C21, at St Hugh’s College, put on by Claire Roberts from Ferryside, Carmarthenshire, who I met when she won the Young Composer of Dyfed prize in 2009. Claire is now a third year music student at Oxford University and decided to put on a St David’s Day concert (albeit on 7 March) of music by Welsh composers.

I was very proud to be one of group of composers who she asked to provide pieces, along with John Metcalf, Andrew Wilson-Dickson, Rhian Samuel, Gwyneth Glyn, Joseph Davies, Gareth Moorcraft and Claire herself. And Hanna Hopwood was also on hand to read some poetry in Welsh.

We had a full hall of people who turned out on the Friday to hear the music – though it might also have been the lure of a table groaning with Welsh cakes and Bara brith (not looking forward to my encounter with the weighing scales tomorrow).

Flautist Daniel Lewis, viola player Ffion Beven and harpist Lucy Nolan made a fantastic job of my piece, which is very quiet throughout and Claire boldly decided to put it in the programme as a final item. Thanks again Claire, it was a great evening.