Croeso / Welcome 
 'Adeiladu Pontydd Cyfeillgarwch'  
'Building Bridges of Friendship'  

Updated 1st April 2025: 

The site is more of a Building Site - as we lay foundations and build the project - so if it comes over as a bit messy - well it is! 

This site was prepared for the first delegation visit from Wales to Jamaica in Nov 2024 and we 
added reports from our first Taith 'inward mobilities' when we welcomed Barrington Richardson and Dr Kirt Henry to Wales. 

The site is currently being updated to use to provide information about the second phase of the Taith funded project. 

The site is part of our 'non formal' approach to learning, with information and resources to help anyone interested to explore the shared histories of Jamaica and Wales.

Thanks to Taith we are able to offer some more exchange visit opportunities for those registered with the North Wales Jamaica Society - and signed up for our non formal learning opportunities in 2024 and we are getting 'Confirmation of Interest' documentation together now

This Introduction Page is updated regularly - leaving previous posts for folks to catch up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adeiladu Pontydd Cyfeillgarwch   /   Building Bridges of Friendship

The shared history between North Wales and Jamaica is obvious with Penrhyn Castle, as the showcase of the wealth generated by enslaved Africans on the Welsh Pennant family plantations in Jamaica. The family owned a number of plantations in Jamaica, mainly in Clarendon, from the late 1600 until 1940, receiving additional payments for each of their enslaved workers at the time of Emancipation in 1838, as well as income from the forced sale of land they still owned in Jamaica in 1940.

In 2017 the Mayor of May Pen, Clarendon, Cllr Milton Brown, appealed to the Pennant family descendants for help with educational projects, since then some contributions have been made by the family. This is mainly thanks to the efforts of actvists from North Wales, who have developed links with communities in Clarendon and started to build bridges of friendship between Wales and Jamaica.

In 2023 the link was formalised under the name of the Jamaica Wales Alliance, with the patronage of Dr Lola Ramocan, wife of the Jamaican High Commissioner to UK 2018 – 2023. Chaired by Coy Roache, now retired from the role of Head of Mines for the Jamaican Government, with JWA Project Committee meets each week on Zoom, facilitated byu Liz Millman, Director of Learning Links International and Garrick Prayogg, Chair of the North Wales Jamaica Society.

One of the most significant bridges of friendship built to date connects the Fire Service in Clarendon with the Fire and Rescue Service in Bangor.