Wales Week

Day Five:

As Wales Week comes to an end, The Prince of Wales visited Glamorgan Cricket Club, of which he is Patron. During the visit, His Royal Highness joined staff, players and community groups to celebrate their 100th anniversary of becoming a first-class county.

Formed in 1888, Glamorgan CCC is Wales’ only representative in the County Championship and have been Champions on three occasions – 1948, 1969 and 1997. They won the National One-Day League in 1993, 2002 and 2004, and also played at T20 Finals Day in 2004 and 2017.

Later, His Royal Highness visited The Prince’s Trust Cymru, where he met staff and young people involved in the ‘Launched in Lockdown’ Programme. The charity's Enterprise programme helps young entrepreneurs to explore if self-employment could be for them. The programme offers training, mentoring and funding to help young people generate and test business ideas, write business plans, and ultimately start their own business. Find out more here.

Final stop of the week - Ponthir House Inn! The pub, which received a Community Services Fund grant from ‘Pub is the Hub’, opened a new village store during lockdown to support local residents.

‘Pub is the Hub’ is a not-for-profit organisation, which offers independent specialist advice to publicans on rural services diversification or the options for the community ownership of pubs, so they can all provide viable local services at the heart of their community.

Day Four:

On the fourth day of Wales Week, The Prince of Wales was celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Church in Wales. Travelling across Pembrokeshire, His Royal Highness first attended a service at St David's Cathedral before heading to Nevern to meet the congregation at St Brynach's Church.

At St Brynach's, The Prince saw the church's 'bleeding' yew trees - 700 year old trees with a red-coloured sap, which was traditionally recognised as a miracle showing the tree's sympathy with the sufferings of Christ.

The final stop of the day was St Martin of Tours Church in Haverfordwest, which marked its 900th anniversary last year. His Royal Highness chatted with church groups and youth organisations, including Rainbows and Guides, who use the church hall.

Day Three:

As Wales Week continues, The Prince of Wales, joined by The Duchess of Cornwall, started the day at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, of which His Royal Highness is President. During the visit, Their Royal Highnesses watched a number of performances, including one by HRH's Official Harpist, Alis Hughes, who is an alumna of the College.

At Llantrisant Guildhall Heritage and Visitors’ Centre, Their Royal Highnesses met members of the local community including the local choir and school children, before touring the newly restored building. Built in 1346 and rebuilt in 1773, Llantrisant Guildhall celebrates the history of the town while also providing an activity centre for all manner of community events.

The Guildhall’s upper room was formerly used as a courthouse, while a corn market existed in the lower floor and opened out onto a market-place. The building was also used as Llantrisant’s first school and as a place of worship for the Baptist movement in the 18th century.

The next stop for The Prince was Y Bwthyn, where HRH opened the new Palliative Care Unit at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. The eight-bed unit was funded in partnership by Macmillan Cancer Support and its charity partner the National Garden Scheme with Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and the Welsh Government.

Designed by architects who specialise in creating palliative care buildings, it offers a warm, welcoming environment to people who need specialist palliative care. Each room has doors designed so a patient’s bed can be taken outside onto a screened terrace if they wish to go outdoors.

The Duchess of Cornwall, in her role as President of Wine GB, ended the day at Llanerch Vineyard to mark their 10th anniversary. Geologist and entrepreneur Ryan Davies became the owner of Llanerch in October 2010 at the age of 24. Ryan renovated the building and Llanerch first opened to the public in July 2011. It is the oldest Vineyard in Wales.

On average, Llanerch produces 12,000 bottles a year with up to 18,000 on exceptional years!

Day Two:

On the second day of Wales Week, The Prince of Wales visited Riversimple, a company developing Hydrogen Powered Cars. The company is designed from every angle to make sustainability profitable, in the design of the product, the business model and the governance. In the workshop, His Royal Highness saw a hydrogen powered car and heard from engineers and technicians about the vehicle production process.

Following this, The Prince met with Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, who is active as a teacher and mentor at universities internationally, and holds five Honorary Doctorates at UK universities. In 2018, Simon Armitage was awarded The Queen’s Gold Medal for The Gold Medal for Poetry was instituted by King George V in 1933 at the suggestion of the then Poet Laureate, John Masefield.

Meanwhile, The Duchess of Cornwall visited a number of independent bookshops and local businesses in Hay-on-Wye. At Booth's Bookshop, Her Royal Highness was shown images from the recent Hay Festival and met writers and supporters, who have been celebrating the success of its recent hybrid edition, which came to a close on 6 June. 

Hay Festival is a not-for-profit organisation that brings readers and writers together to share stories and ideas in sustainable events live and online. The festivals inspire, examine and entertain globally, inviting participants to imagine the world as it is and as it might be.

Earlier this year, The Duchess virtually opened Hay’s Gala with a pre-recorded message in which she said:

For over 30 years, Hay has been bringing readers and writing together at sustainable events, reaching more than 5 million people, of all ages, across 5 continents. I am one of those 5 million – and I absolutely love the Hay Festival.

Day One:

Wales Week has begun! 

This morning, The Prince of Wales kickstarted his annual week in Wales with a visit to Iceland Foods to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. In 1999, Iceland launched the UK’s first nationwide home shopping service and last year was the first supermarket to launch priority shopping periods for the elderly and vulnerable in response to the Covid-19 pandemic – originally the brainwave of an Iceland supervisor in Belfast.

During the visit, His Royal Highness toured the Headquarters and heard about Iceland's sustainability projects, including their plastic-free packaging and a reverse vending machine which rewards users for recycling. The Prince also toured the photographic studio and the cold store, which was opened by HRH during a visit 34 years ago.

Later, His Royal Highness visited Wockhardt Vaccine Factory in Wrexham to thank pharmaceutical, manufacturing and distribution centre staff for the part they have played in the vaccine roll-out.

To end the day, The Prince touched the healing waters at St Winefride's Well, a popular Catholic pilgrimage site.