This year will be a special one for the Hywel Dda Centre at Whitland. It is celebrating its 30th anniversary since the opening by the late Rt. Honourable Lord Elwyn Jones, the former Lord Chancellor on June 29, 1985.

The Centre recalls and celebrates the achievements of Hywel Dda, 'King of all Wales' during the first half of the 10th century. At the Centre, which has a number of small themed gardens, examples of the laws are depicted on Peter Lord designed slate plaques illustrated with enamels. They provide a fascinating insight into medieval society, reflecting the customs of the people, their way of life and values.

"rich cultural and heritage experience....."

"A unique garden - an undiscovered jewel...."

The early manuscripts state that Hywel called a great assembly of lawyers, clerics and leaders from all over his kingdom to the 'Ty Gwyn ar Daf in Dyfed' (The White House on the Taf), now known as Whitland, to study the laws and customs of the various provinces and to devise a system of law that would be suitable for the whole country.

With the support of the National Library of Wales, we now have the 'Peniarth 28 Exhibition' with its unique drawings. It is one of the oldest of Welsh manuscripts and dates back to the 13th century. The NLW also presented the Centre with a facsimile copy of a 14th century manuscript of the Laws of Hywel, written in Welsh, and known as the 'Boston Manuscript'.

Lottery grant success: An excellent start has been made to the Cantre's 30th anniversary year with the news that Cymdeithas Hywel Dda have been successful in receiving a grant of £4,738 from Big Lottery Fund Awards for All (Wales).

The secretary, Ken Rees, stated: "The management committee were delighted to receive this grant. With more use being made of the Centre, we must make use of digital technology to manage the Centre more efficiently, as well as the use of the latest up-to-date computers for marketing.

"A group has attended familiarisation lessons in the use Windows 8.1 and further lessons will be arranged.

"This grant will also enable us to print a new bilingual booklet for visitors, as well as new fliers for marketing of this unique centre.

Digidol ar Daith - Digital on Tour: The excellent digital technology facilities available was highlighted when 'Digidol ar Daith' chose the Hywel Dda Centre as one of the 12 venues around Wales for training purposes. Emma Meese from the Centre of Community Journalism, Cardiff University and Dylan Iorwerth, a respected journalist and editor and director of 'Golwg' were the tutors.

Global Law Summit: The historic Welsh laws of Hywel Dda featured at the Global Law Summit in London recently to mark 800 years of Magna Carta. At the summit, Economic Minister Edwina Hart said: "Hywel Dda was centuries ahead of his time, he was a great innovator and his laws pre-date Magna Carta by nearly 300 years, which is a considerable achievement and something we are proud of." The Global Law Summit brought together over 2,000 leaders in law, business, government and academia from around the world.