Welsh Journals

Southgate under snow, 2004. H.E.G. DAVID REES In January 1948 the Gower Society was launched on the initiative of four enthusiasts, who had previously met as an informal group of four and had christened themselves 'the Gowermen'. Together they visited places of historical interest and a few days before they 'went public' the whole group had travelled to Llanrhidian and had visited Cil Ifor and Llanelen, "in dismal rain" and in one car. Their minutes and those of the infant Gower Society were kept (in violet ink) by a young student, David Rees, who as Assistant Minutes Secretary and Field Officer played an important role in the founding of the Society. He also contributed, as David Bernard Rees, to the first two volumes of Gower, writing perceptive and sensitive articles on the integration of Welsh and Norman families and on the pass- ing of rural life in Gower. It was the Society's loss that, following a period of ill-health, he left our area to pursue a successful career as a journalist and writer. He eventually returned to settle in the Towy valley at Dryslwyn and from there he con- tributed once more to our pages (as David Rees) with ten articles appear- ing between 1970 and 2002. Their scope varied but all shared historical themes and were thoroughly researched, informative and eminently read- able. His personal memories of the meetings of the Gowermen and the beginnings of the Gower Society can be read in Gower 49 (1998), our Jubilee volume The respect which his writings in wider fields had earned him was made clear in his obituary in The Times (2nd July 2004). For us his death breaks another link with the Society's early days, in which he played such a significant part.