Carmarthen

Paula Britton (nee Halliwell) presents Princess Margaret with a Bouquet at the opening of Neuadd Non in July 1957 - carefully watched by Bishop Richards and her Mother and sister Nona Rees (nee Halliwell). In the background the Archbishop of Wales mulls over the finer details with the Lord Lieutenant Sir Grismond Philipps.

Annual report 1965

THE retirement of the Revd Canon T. Halliwell in the summer of 1965 after twenty-five eventful years as Principal marked the end of a most important chapter in the long history of this College. From a small College of a hundred men students Canon Halliwell directed its growth and development into a mixed College of almost 500 students which had established itself as one of the only two fully bilingual Colleges of Education in Wales and with a proud place in the Welsh educational system. Canon Halliwell's long and distinguished service to the College has been duly recognised by Council and staff, past and present students and friends, and more recently by the conferring of an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the University of Wales, and all hope that-despite a severe illness during last winter he will be able to serve the cause of Christian Education in Wales for many years. In his final report to the Governing Body last year Canon Halliwell was able to summarise an impressive list of post-war achievements.

Just when the College was about to congratulate itself on being within sight of discharging the debts accumulated in the last and formidable phase of expansion of four years ago, national needs have presented new challenges to the Council. Before the request from the Department of Education and Science in the summer of 1965 for a 20% increase in number of students, the College had already undertaken to expand to 650 from the past session's figure of 535, so the agreed target for 1968-9 is now upwards of 780. Even with the help now envisaged, with the grant on capital expenditure raised to 80%, the College faces a tremendous task if there is not to be a grievous break with a residential tradition and community pattern which has so long been its great strength. Situated as it is in a small market town, where it faces severe competition for the very limited lodging accommodation available, Trinity College will have to raise considerable sums to meet the residential needs of students, over and above the demands for extra teaching accommodation and facilities. But its unique position as the only voluntary mixed and fully bilingual College of Education in Wales makes it most desirable that the challenge of this further expansion be met with courage and determination. Certainly the present state of the College buildings and the careful planning of the past few years provide a firm base from which to develop this new expansion. The number of students for 1966-67 will total 635 and the teaching staff now numbers 63.

A new block of buildings has been approved, which will provide proper social facilities for the students, while the present common rooms, inconveniently placed within the main reaching block, will be converted into lecture rooms. An urgently needed language laboratory arid study accommodation for the increasing number of day students will be included. Two properties have also been purchased for use as small Halls of Residence, and the acquisition of further fields for the College Farm is being negotiated.

The plans for the establishment of courses leading to the B.Ed. degree of the University of Wales are now well advanced and it is anticipated that a small number of the students who entered College in September 1965 will be the first who will stay for a four-year course and obtain degrees in 1969. Trinity College will hope to attract at least its fair share of students of this calibre. But behind all the other uncertainties which the Colleges of Education will have to face in the next few years is the grave problem of the very indifferent academic quality of a large proportion of new entrants, especially among the men.

Despite the unsettling effect of current religious uncertainty among young people, which is certainly as true of Wales as of other parts of Britain, the attendance at the daily voluntary services in College Chapel remains encouraging. In present circumstances the impact of the Christian witness in College must continue to depend in considerable measure upon the steady recruitment of a strong nucleus of convinced Christian students. It is to be hoped that parish priests will encourage good young church-people, aware of a vocation to teaching, to apply for admission to the Church in Wales Colleges of Education as first choices.

We were honoured by the presence of our Visitor (The Lord Archbishop of Wales) as well as that of the President of College Council (The Lord Bishop of St. Davids) at the presentation of the official portrait and other gifts to Canon and Mrs Halliwell in September 1965. In June 1966 Mr George Thomas, M.P., Minister of State, Welsh Office, spent a day at the College, meeting the Executive Committee, Staff and Student Officers. Also in June a small party of Her Majesty's Inspectors paid a two-day visit to discuss the plans for immediate development. Visiting lecturers during the session have included Professor Glanmor Williams and Professor Alun Davies of Swansea, Mr T. Graham Jeremiah and Mr C. G. Hey of the Birmingham Education Authority. The English Drama Department staged " The Business of Good Government " by John Arden just before Christmas but the Welsh Drama Department's planned production had to be abandoned when the Department was invited to present " Dic Penderyn " at this summer's Royal National Eisteddfod at Aberavon. The Music Department presented two memorable concerts, one of Christmas music, and the other for Open Day on June 11th, when a polished performance of Mozart's Twelfth Mass was accompanied by a small string orchestra. The Welsh Theatre Company presented two Welsh plays in the New Theatre during the year and the Cardiff Puppet Theatre Company produced Culhwch and Olwen " as part of the St David's Day celebrations.

The College entertained four research students from overseas at the request of the University of London Institute of Education, in addition to parties of Japanese and African educationists and of Danish students, all of whom were concerned with the problems of bilingual teaching. Vacation bookings, over and above such regular functions as provincial and district assemblies of Freemasons and Rotarians, have included Conferences of Assistant Librarians and of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, Summer Schools organised by the Baptist Union of Wales and the Educational Development Association, a Local Education Authority junior Orchestra Course and an overnight meeting of the Church in Wales Liturgical Commission.

Three junior members of Staff left at the end of the 1965-66 session-Mr J. B. Selby, Miss Jill Percy and Mrs A. Jones. The College has also lost the services through retirement of two senior members of the teaching staff. Mr John H. Humphreys had given distinguished service as lecturer, Head of the Education Department and Deputy Principal over some 34 years. Apart from a period of secondment as Principal of the Emergency Training College at Cardiff in the immediate post-war years, his service at Trinity was continuous and his urbane advice based on this long experience will be sorely missed. Mrs Ceridwen Lloyd Davies was the first lady to take up a full-time lectureship when the decision to admit women students was taken in the mid-fifties, and the impact of her vigorous personality was felt with beneficial effect throughout the College community, as well as directly in the work of the Music Department which was her special responsibility and joy. We wish both these devoted servants of the College long and happy retirements.

The College Council is at present considering two important and recently published reports, one by a Working Party appointed by the Department of Education and Science on " The Government of Colleges of Education " and the second from a Commission appointed by the Council of the Church Colleges of Education on " The Communication of the Christian Faith in Colleges of Education ". The recommendations of these reports, when implemented, will have considerable effect upon the life and work of the College in the years ahead.