Merry Christmas! A new chapter published today looking at the "War Poets" and their involvement with #BelgianRefugees especially in Harlech & Penmaenmawr where Robert Graves & Wilfred Owen's families hosted Belgians. Also a brief look at Belgian Poets-in-Exile: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/writers/

The Welsh National Memorial at Langemark, Belgium. Photo taken last week on a trip to the battlefields by my son Ryan.

In the In Flanders Fields Museum last week we saw the Wales Memorial Chair - one of 120 which symbolise the empty chairs left at home when a soldier didn't return home. We supplied this chair to the museum back in 2018. It came from the home of the secretary of the Rhyl Belgian Refugees Committee.

Last week we visited the expo "Ontheemd" (Displaced) which details the flight of the Belgian Refugees from their country during the First World War. It's fascinating, and on display in and around the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ieper / Ypres until next year.

An interactive workshop exploring the 250,000 #BelgianRefugees who came to Great Britain during the First World War will be held at The London Archives on October 23rd, 2025. More here: www.thelondonarchives.org/whats-on/tracing-the-belgian-refugees-of-the-first-world-war

Flintshire Historical Society has invited me to talk about "The Belgian Refugee Monks at Talacre." If you'd like to come along, we'll be at Talacre Community Centre, Gamfa Wen, Talacre, CH8 9RT, on Saturday, September 27th at 2.40pm. All welcome! #BelgianRefugees

From October 2025 until June 2026, the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ieper / Ypres will be hosting the exhibition "Ontheemd" (Displaced) telling the story of First World War Refugees in the museum and around the city. More here: www.inflandersfields.be/nl/programma...

I’ve written lots about the Belgian woodcarver Emile De Vynck (tinyurl.com/vynck) but not found much about his wife –until today. I found that Maria Regina De Vynck (née Sermeus) signed the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition in 1923. See here: tinyurl.com/WalesPP

Published today! The largest chapter we've ever written - by far. It has taken so many years to research and write. Much information here about the #BelgianRefugees in #Barmouth and #Tywyn. Take a wander along the Cambrian Coast here: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/cambrian-coa...

At Aberystwyth Arts Centre for the exhibition "Unsettled Lives: War and Displacement in Wales" yesterday, by @centrecmop.bsky.social Featured is the 1923 bardic chair from Cemaes, Ynys Môn (Anglesey) which was carved by Émile De Vynck, a Belgian Refugee. refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/chairs/

The exhibition "Unsettled Lives: War and Displacement in Wales" launches on 14 June in Gallery 2 of the Aberystwyth Arts Centre. Later in the year it will relocate to The Senedd. More here: aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/lives-war-an... @centrecmop.bsky.social

Here's the story of Joseph Pierre De Kock of Antwerp, one of the #BelgianRefugees in Llandudno. He was a driver for the Royal Red Motor Company, but seems to have spent more time in court than on the roads... sway.cloud.microsoft/f2zTymDltTLL...

Yesterday we received more information about #BelgianRefugees who stayed in Wales (primarily Barmouth.) Also therein was information of Belgian girls who boarded at St. Mary's Convent in Rhyl during the First World War, which prompted a page update: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/sister-victo...

Very happy to see @pplscollection.bsky.social here on BlueSky. Give them a follow! They've loads of great stuff to show you, like this baby's frock made by Belgian Refugee nuns in Newport, Gwent: www.peoplescollection.wales/items/414612... #BelgianRefugees

A collection of photographs by Prestatyn-based photographer J.T. Burrows was recently acquired by the North East Wales Heritage Forum. Around 80 photos have been published, among them one photo of the photographer's family with #BelgianRefugees See the collection here: tinyurl.com/BurrowsPrest...

Plaque unveiled at New College, Oxford, to commemorate the #BelgianRefugees: www.new.ox.ac.uk/news/new-col...

Just found this this mirror with a frame carved by Emile De Vynck, one of the #BelgianRefugees in Pentrefelin (He lived there 1914-1924). Mirror sold March '25 in Froncysyllte. Size: 127cm x 70cm. Auction note states 1916 as year of manufacture. More here: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/chairs/

Yesterday we had the great honour of welcoming the Family Van Goey to St. Asaph, to visit the grave of their ancestor Constant Van Goey, one of the #BelgianRefugees who stayed in the city. See here: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/st-asaph/ for an update. #StAsaph #VanGoey

#Onthisday in 1945, Rhyl’s Marjorie Ashbery worked as a volunteer at the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. She helped care for the surviving internees. Her father, Percy, had also dedicated himself to humanitarian efforts as the treasurer of Rhyl's #BelgianRefugees Committee. tinyurl.com/3sr8hz64

Overnight, a huge amount of information arrived from Belgium: It ties together all the north Wales #BelgianRefugees communities and importantly contains the numbers of Belgians in each town. Much work to disseminate it all. It's an incredible find. I'm beyond excited.

Two new chapters published today! Both concern the area once known as Maelor Saesneg in north-east Wales. The country estates took in some noble families from Belgium - tinyurl.com/saesneg and one family of #BelgianRefugees who came to Penley stayed and made a life here: tinyurl.com/famdoex

The programme for the annual Heritage Lectures series in Dinbych/Denbigh has been published. If you're interested in hearing about Denbigh's #BelgianRefugees, please join me at 7pm on March 20th 2025 at the Town Hall. All lectures are free to attend. See you there!

There's a really interesting report on Milford Haven's #BelgianRefugees on the Western Telegraph website. Includes photos. Have a look! www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/2495411... @westerntelegraph.bsky.social

Thanks to a huge effort researching by our friend Mireille in Belgium, there is a major update to the info about the wounded Belgian Soldiers in Croesnewydd Hospital in #Wrexham. Take a look at the updates - there a new photos too: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/croesnewydd-2/ #BelgianRefugees

A brand new chapter published today - about the #BelgianRefugees who found a home in #Penmaenmawr at a house called "Noddfa" which is Welsh for "Sanctuary"... Take a look: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/penmaenmawr/

One of the bardic chairs carved by #BelgianRefugees appeared on BBC's Antiques Roadshow on Sunday. Emile De Vynck wasn't mentioned, but it's worth a look to see his work. Visit www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b... and click the "Beaumaris 2" link. Read more: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/chairs/

A brand new chapter published today - all about the Belgian Soldiers at Brynkinalt Military Hospital and the #BelgianRefugees who stayed in Chirk. We've had loads of help from Mireille in Belgium and Lady Trevor at Brynkinalt Hall. Have a look: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/brynkinalt/

Eugene Van Fleteren was a Belgian Refugee who carved the chair for the Birkenhead Eisteddfod in 1917, Hedd Wyn's iconic Gadair Ddu. But we found a collection of bardic chairs carved by another Belgian Refugee, Emile De Vynck. See the Belgian Bardic Chairs here: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com/chairs/

During the First World War, over 250,000 Belgian refugees stayed in the UK. The numbers shifted considerably throughout. The Belgians established a substantial exile press. A very popular one was De Stem Uit België located on Russell Square, the house on the right of this row.

Marie-Thérèse De Wulf was a Belgian Refugee who stayed in the slate quarrying town Llanberis. There she met Griffith Samuel Hughes, whom she married. They took care of the injured quarrymen in the quarry hospital until the day it closed. sway.cloud.microsoft/0fcs3tzyfxxq...

The Belgians who stayed in Bala, alongside Wales' largest natural lake, Llyn Tegid, were often to be found in the Welsh Chapels. They were very welcome there too: sway.cloud.microsoft/qX8ypFdXrVBf...

The town of Tywyn in Gwynedd was home to Belgians who needed a place to worship - so they founded their own. Read about Tywyn's Belgian Church: sway.cloud.microsoft/1yJ4HXZ4ajHh...

One Belgian Refugee kept returning to see the friends he'd made in Llandudno. Read about Jules Everaert from Mechelen here: sway.cloud.microsoft/cJf5HOPcyvJY...

Read about Edward Tudor Owen, a Rhyl man who was hugely important in the care of the Belgian Refugees - not on a local, but a national level: sway.cloud.microsoft/SNtHjCYDxxKD...

The Belgian Refugees in Rhyl project was set up 10 years ago to tell the stories of the people who fled Belgium during the First World War and found themselves in north Wales. Our research is here: refugeesinrhyl.wordpress.com and there are several new chapters to be added over the coming months.