Rotary Club of Flint and Holywell

06/06/2026

Today June 6th 2026, it is the 82nd Anniversary of D Day when Allied Forces stormed the beaches and hinterland of Normandy to reclaim France and mainland Europe from the Germans after 4 years of occupation. The first troops to land in the early hours were soldiers of The Ox & Bucks Regiment led by Major John Howard whose gliders in a daring action made famous in the film, "The Longest Day" landed only a few yards from an important bridge forever known as Pegasus Bridge and were the first soldiers to commence the fighting on this momentous day.
Capturing the Bridge was essential to prevent German tanks and armour counter attacking Allied troops who would shortly be landing on the beaches at daybreak.
The first citizens of France to be liberated on D Day were the owners of a cafe next to the bridge, George's and Therese Gondree. They, along with their 4 year old daughter Arlette, brought out refreshments to the soldiers whilst the battle still raged! (Arlette's older sister Georgette, remained inside the cafe hidden in the cellars!)
Later, Monsieur Gondree, an important member of the French Resistance dug up 78 bottles of champagne he had buried when the Germans attacked in 1940 to celebrate the event and shared these with the victorious soldiers.
After the war, The Gondrees renamed their cafe "PEGASUS BRIDGE CAFE" and it has ever since been a place of pilgrimage for veterans of D Day, their families and all the many visitors who have visited the site of this famous battle. After the passing of Monsieur and Madam Gondree, their daughter, Madam Arlette has continued the tradition and as the first surviving French person to be liberated on D Day she has featured regularly in all the subsequent D Day Celebrations.
In 2018, a group of Rotarians from The Rotary Club of Flint & Holywell visited The Normandy Beaches and Pegasus Bridge, and were introduced to Madam Arlette who Rotarian David Pearse had met a number of times before this trip and also on subsequent occasions. Madam Arlette showed The Rotary Group around the cafe which although still functioning as a cafe, is also a museum full of artefacts from the event donated by former veterans and their families. Two years ago David revisited Pegasus Bridge cafe again and introduced his two granddaughter to Madam Arlette, still a remarkable beautiful and sprightly lady at 84. For two teenagers who are both studying The Second World War in their History lessons, this was indeed a very special occasion that both will remember for the rest of their lives
PHOTO 1: Madam Arlette Gondre with Rotarians holding The Tabard of The Flint & Holywell Rotary Club
PHOTO 2: The Pegasus Bridge Cafe and its proximity to the famous Bridge
PHOTO 3: Madam Gondree inside the Cafe.
TO THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE FREEDOM OF FUTURE GENERATIONS
"WE WILL REMEMBER THEM"

03/06/2026

*** CAERWYS. SHOW. JUNE. 13TH 2026 ***
One of the most popular social events of the year for the people of North East Wales will once again take place at Ty Ucha Farm Caerwys on Saturday June 13th.
Each year The Caerwys Agricultural Show gets bigger and bigger, offering a huge range of attractions which brings in visitors from far and wide.
This year's competitions include, Livestock, equine, shepherding and young handlers as well as vintage tractors and classic cars. Other attractions include a food fare, produce stalls, floral arts displays, a dog show and of course, The Main Event, - THE GRAND PARADE.
Once again The Rotary Club of Flint & Holywell will be supporting the event as they have done FOR THE PAST 25 YEARS.
The Rotary Club, which itself is celebrating its 70th Anniversary this year will be providing bars to keep the visitors refreshed during their visit. Due to the increasing numbers of visitors, Club Members with other volunteers now provide two bars, -the main Show Bar and the more relaxed Marquee Music Bar. Profits from these bars are shared 50-50 with the Show organisers, and these proceeds help The Rotary. Club to continue supporting numerous local needy causes as well as The Annual Christmas Float and international disaster relief requests.
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11/05/2026

*** WELCOME TO THE NEW “INTERACT CLUB” IN HOLYWELL ***
Flint and Holywell Rotary are delighted to welcome the formation of a new Interact Club in Holywell. Interact (short for International Action) Clubs are for young people between 11 and 18 who are very keen to contribute to community activities by working closely with Rotary. The Club has been formed from the Youth Club attached to the Holywell Churches, and they have chosen a very appropriate name ‘Friends in Faith’. The new Club will meet every 2 weeks at the Well Being, and will be delighted to welcome anyone interested in joining them and wanting to get involved in some really meaningful activities. Just come along. They will soon have their own page so you can follow their work.
The President of The Flint & Holywell Rotary Club, Steve Blakesley commented that the new Club are going to be an invaluable asset to the Town and expressed his particular thanks to Rotarian Rob Board whose input has been integral to the creation of this exciting new project.
The inauguration and Charter Ceremony was on Sunday, and the pictures show the new Club President Stacey Nyanjowa cutting the celebration cake with Rotary President Steve Blakesley - the two Presidents with Rotary Assistant District Governor Steve Walker and the Charter together with some of the new members

23/04/2026

***** DOUBLE SUCCESSES AT YSGOL TREFFYNNON ******

The many followers of our Facebook and webpage know that Rotary Club of Flint & Holywell are keen to support the talents of our young people, and we do this through our local schools in competitions, by offering awards and prizes.
We had the pleasure of reporting in January that one of our local teams from Holywell entered the Youth Speaks competition and were the winners in the round for Flintshire Schools. The fantastic news is that they subsequently went on to take the prize as best of ALL schools in our district which covers all of North Wales, East Cheshire, the Wirral, Merseyside and South Lancashire !
A wonderful achievement by Esther, Katie and Jack (pictured below). Our huge congratulations and thanks also goes to teacher Mrs Siobhan Henry for all her time and support.
Benefitting from the tremendous efforts of teacher Mrs Beverley Hartley, students in years 7 and 9 took part in "The Rotary Young Writer Competition". They submitted essays on the subject of ‘Happiness in Nature’ for external judging. Judges said that their task was difficult as the standard was high, but awarded first prize in year 7 to Matilda, and in year 9 to Siobhan. ‘Highly Commended’ certificates also went to Alex, Max, Ophelia, April and Eva. Two other special awards were made, to the student in each year who, in Mrs Harley’s opinion had made a really special effort, and these went to Layla and Hari. Well done to everyone. The picture below shows the award winners with Club President Steve.
Our Rotary Club along with the Mold Rotary Club assists and encourages schools to participate in the competitions for Youth Speaks, Young Writers, Young Poets, etc which can be in both English and Welsh.
Despite the success of this Competition, The Rotary Club were however somewhat dissappointed that apart from Ysgol Treffynnon, no other local school responded. If any teacher reading this, or indeed if there are parents who would like their school to take part, please get in touch with us. We would be pleased to work with you.

01/04/2026

*** ROTARIANS VISIT THE CAMPANOLOGISTS OF HALKYN PARISH CHURCH ***
Last Monday was a very special evening for members of The Rotary Club of Flint & Holywell when they were invited to view the Bell Tower of The Parish Church of Halkyn to experience the art of “change ringing”. Roy Newhouse (tower captain) assisted by Bell Captain Stuart and team explained the intracicies of the art of bellringing, which goes back to the 17th Century and for the most part only exists in British Churches and those in The Commonweath, particuarly Australia. Roy explained the history and then the complex mechanics of how bell ringing developed. Halkyn Church is blessed with a large thriving team and is recognised as one of the foremost teams within Wales. 6 Members had kindly turned out to give a demonstration of their art which was followed by the steep ascent via a narrow spriral staicase to the top of the tower which houses the 6 bells, (All Original) the largest of which weighs over 1/2 ton!
The Rotarians were also able to view the magnificent Parish Church itself which was built entirely at the expense of the First Duke of Westminster in the 18970s era to replace a delapidated old structure that was considered to be too far gone to be repaired, (And which also interfered with the view from The Duke’s newly constructed Halkyn Castle!) The Church is generally accepted as one of the finest examples of the mid Victorian Gothic style, incorporating perfectly dressed Gwespyr Sandstone and extreley rare, highly polished local Halkyn Marble columns. No expense was spared by the Duke and the stained glass windows are another magnificent feature, along with the less well known but equally important monochromatic “Plain Glass” windows. Indeed, such is the quality of this fine old Church that it has long been described as, “THE CATHEDRAL IN THE HILLS” and attract visitors from far and wide, not only to experience the wonders of the Church but also the superb view that can be experience by those with the energy and head for heights to ascend the steep steps leading to the top of the Tower from where the Cumbrian Mountains can be seen on a clear day.
TOP PHOTO: Roy and Team ringing a change.
BOTTOM PHOTO: Roy explains the mechanism to Rotary Club Secretary Paul Islip

12/03/2026

It is with great sadness that The Rotary Club of Flint & Holywell announce the sudden passing of one of its long serving Club Members, Gareth Owen. Gareth was born in 1949 into a Welsh speaking North Walian family and remained in Wales all his life. Following school, he undertook a teacher training course in Liverpool before joining the North Wales Police Force and served for the most part in Denbighshire and Flintshire where he became a well known and widely respected police officer and member of the community. Gareth’s first love was his family. He and his wife Meira raised three daughters, who in turn provided him with adoring grandchildren. He was a popular and active member of his local community in the village of Trelogan. In later years, retirement allowed Gareth to enjoy and develop his interests in rural life where he spent many happy hours sharing his knowledge and experiences with his doting grandchildren.
Gareth joined his local Rotary Club where he became an active member, especially when practical skills were required. Whether it was serving behind the Rotary run bar at The Annual Caerwys Show or out with Father Christmas and the Christmas Float, Gareth was always one of the first to volunteer, reflecting fully the motto of the Rotary movement, “SERVICE BEFORE SELF’. During his time in Rotary, he took on many jobs and served as Club President for an extended period during the Covid Pandemic. He loved football and was a passionate supporter of both Liverpool and Wrexham, and of course his beloved Welsh national team. In addition to his charity work with the Rotary Club, Gareth was a volunteer with Bernardos and an active member of "The Dangerpoint” team based at Talacre. This charity provides an interactive safety education centre set up to teach children how to stay safe in every day situations, and he was a accredited ranger within this Organisation.
At their weekly meeting, Rotarians stood in silence to mourn the passing of a much loved member, family man, good friend and colleague.

11/02/2026

The Rotary Club of Flint & Holywell were honoured to receive a visit from Peter Robinson and his wife Jan, at their weekly meeting at The Springfield Hotel, Pentre Halkyn.
Peter gave a most interesting talk on The History of The Rhyl Lifeboat from its beginnings in the middle of the 19th Century when the lifeboat was little more than a small open fishing boat, “propelled” by four oars through its various reincarnations leading up to the most recent immensely powerful jet turbine powered craft now in service.
Peter has been a member of the RNLI in Rhyl for many decades now and served for a long period as Coxswain. Indeed he is not the only member of the Robinson Family involved with The Lifeboat, his son Calum is also a current crew member and his wife Jan runs the Lifeboat Shop in Rhyl. The Rotarians listened intently to Peter’s vivid recollections of his own “rescues” and also about past tragedies including one when the entire crew of a Rhyl Lifeboats was lost in a vain attempt to save others.
Peter brought with him a moving film showing actual rescues, some of which were found to be deeply disturbing, especially where those included irresponsible parents taking their small children out to sea with no equipment and not even life jackets!
The Club President Steve Blakesley thanked Peter on behalf of his members for his superb interesting and most moving talk. The Rotary Club has been consistent supporters of The RNLI both financially and practically, and each year Rotarians have managed the gates to the local Flint RNLI’s 5th November Bonfire.

23/01/2026

23/01/2026

Success in Youth Speaks for Ysgol Treffynnon
Huge congratulations to both teams from Ysgol Treffynnon in the Flintshire schools round of Youth Speaks 2026. Youth Speaks is a Rotary competition where teams of 3 have 15 minutes to debate a chosen topic. One member is the Chairperson does the opening and closing, with a Proposer who makes the case, and then an Opposer who argues against. There then follows a ‘question from the audience’ that requires an unprepared response. Both teams gave immaculate presentations and had clearly prepared exceptionally well. It was an absolute pleasure to see young students perform so well in presentation and public speaking skills.
The great news is that the team of Katie, Jack and Esther achieved first place in their group. Their topic was ‘Do mental health days do more harm than good’. They now go to the next round which will be against schools from North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire.
The team of Alice, Eylul and Cameron, whose topic was ‘should social media be restricted to under 16’s’ were narrowly beaten by Mold Alun School, but their presentation was impressive.
Appreciation and credit from Rotary goes to all these young students, and to the teaching staff, Mrs Siobhan Henry and Mrs Shelley Wright, who give such huge support and encouragement. Well done everyone.