After anxiously watching the clouds all day, we were blessed with dry weather for our annual Rainbow Fair last week.

It was very well attended and there was wonderful atmosphere around the Green. The donkeys were kept very busy taking youngsters up and down the Green, not to mention the members of the Llandaff Society who organised this and escorted the riders.
The stalls were bustling and, sadly, the Trefoil Guild ran out of Hot Dogs due to the high demand. The addition of a Summer Pimms stall was very successful The novelty dog show proved to be highly entertaining.

We finished with the release of a Rainbow of balloons. We hope they will travel far carrying messages from the children.

Many thanks to everyone who came to join in the fun, to all the Parish organisations, community groups and individuals who ran stalls and games and, also, to the very hard working volunteers of the Llandaff Cathedral Social Committee who made everything possible.

(Llandaff Cathedral Social Committee)

On Wednesday 12 July Llandaff Cathedral Choir will give a concert of choral favourites, including music from throughout the liturgical year. Refreshments with a summer slant will be served at the conclusion of the concert by the Llandaff Cathedral Choir Association. This event will also mark the end of the first full year for the choir under the direction of Stephen Moore, and will be wonderful celebration of the strength of the music department going forward. Accompanying the choir at the Nicholson organ will be David Thomas.

Doors open at 6.30pm, tickets will be available on the door and are priced at £10, £8 (concessions) and £5.

We hope to see you there!

The morning of Saturday 24th June saw nine very nervous, but excited people arrive at the Cathedral for the Ordination Service. Where five new deacons and four new priests were ordained by the Senior Bishop of the Church in Wales, the Rt Rev John Davies.

In particular, for those of us who were to be ordained priest, this was very much a day of joy and happiness but also a day with a sense of trepidation. During our pre-ordination retreat; being able to preside at the Holy Eucharist was something that we talked about a great deal. It was the culmination of many years of discernment and prayer, which finally came to fruition during the Service, while also, for all who were ordained, it marked the beginning of a new kind of ministry, a new phase of life and a new beginning.

 

 

 

 

 

We were also joined by our families and friends, some of whom had travelled from places such as Australia and South Africa just to be able to support us on this momentous occasion. I am sure that for many of us being ordained, our nervousness was certainly calmed and stilled once we’d seen the faces of our loved ones in the congregation, as we walked up the isle of the Cathedral.

We were all so moved by the Service where everything happened smoothly and beautifully. A particular highlight was being able to listen to the Cathedral Choir as they led us in our worship.

Once the Service was over, we were led out into brilliant sunshine where we had our photos taken.  I am sure that I speak for all of us, who were ordained, that it is a day at Llandaff Cathedral none of us will ever forget.

Fr Edward Le Brun Powell

The location of the clerestory shafts

 

During 2017 and early 2018 the Nave, Choir and West Front of the cathedral will be undergoing a programme of repair work, funded by the Welsh Government’s Historic Environment Agency, Cadw, and the Friends of Llandaff Cathedral.

The cathedral roofless during the war

Background to the Project

The Bathstone ‘detached’ shafts at clerestory level are splitting due to internal corrosion of iron cramps used in the re-construction of 1859 to tie the shafts to the surrounding stonework.

When iron corrodes it expands considerably, with enough force to split stone. It is likely that moisture got into the stone following the bomb damage in 1941 (when the clerestory was left exposed to the elements until the current roof was installed in 1953), and this moisture has accelerated corrosion of the iron.
Each of the 84 Nave and 12 West Front internal detached shafts will be carefully dismantled to remove the embedded ironwork and repair the stonework. New stainless steel cramps and dowels will be inserted, and the shaft stones will be repaired and reinstated in their original positions. The surrounding stonework will have a light clean to remove the worst excesses of carbon encrustation.

Repair methodology

The effect of corroding iron cramps on the stonework

 
The dowel hole and cramp inside a shaft
Ancillary Work

The cost of scaffolding the entire Nave and Choir is considerable, and it will make sense to do as much work as possible while the scaffold is in place.

The clerestory windows will be repaired and cleaned as part of the project. The leaded windows are secured to horizontal iron tie bars. During the 1950s restoration the tie bars were attached to brass spigots which were embedded into notches in the reveals of the windows with hard mortar. Most of these fixing spigots are now loose. This causes the windows to rattle with wind pressure and even when the organ is played, which in turn leads to cracking of the glass.

Stainless steel angle sections will be installed to hold the existing brass spigots against the stone reveals, to avoid dismantling the windows (a very expensive process). The brackets will be toned-down to make them less noticeable – the recipe involves a mixture of gold size, pure turpentine and burnt umber pigment. The plain glazing also needs a thorough clean inside and out, and this will be done carefully with cotton swabs.

Spalling window stonework around glazing tie bars

A prototype of the glazing bracket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 1953 hardwood ceiling is stained in places from past roof leaks, and these stains will be also removed in areas that can be accessed. Render will also be repaired and re-decorated.

Training Initiative

The project includes a training programme of five three-week training blocks for trainees who are considering a career in building conservation.

The Programme

Scaffolds will be erected in phases between June and November 2017 and from January to April 2018, with breaks for key events and festivals in the cathedral. The work will mean some disruption to visitor access and services at times, and this will be communicated to visitors and the local community throughout the project.