Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines’ Visit

Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines, who was one of the children rescued by the late Sir Nicholas Winston when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938 and who came to school in Llanwrtyd Wells, paid another visit to the town on 27th April. She is currently associated with a project to erect on 27th May a memorial in Prague Railway Station to remember the selfless love and sacrifice of the parents who sent their children to a foreign land and into the arms of strangers fearing they may never see them again. The memorial will depict a railway carriage window with the hands of parents on one side and those of the children on the other. Most of the parents perished in the Holocaust.
The story of the children’s arrival in Llanwrtyd Wells is one of the many incredible stories of the town’s history exhibited in the Heritage and Arts Centre. Accompanying Lady Milena on her visit was a film crew who are making a documentary of the story to be broadcaston Czech television.

Llanwrtyd Wells has enjoyed a long and fruitful association with the former children who were at school at the former Abernant Hotel, now an adventure centre for schools. Children attending the centre nowadays learn about the tragic story of the Holocaust and the Czech children who came to safety in Llanwrtyd.

Llanwrtyd Wells is twinned with Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic and a meal was held in the Neuadd Arms Hotel with members of the Town Council and Twinning Association to celebrate Lady Milena’s (pictured second from end of table on left) visit with members of the film crew.