Lord Griffiths of Burry Port recalls life of ‘abject poverty’ in Burry Port at Grammar School reunion

The Reverend Lord Griffiths of Burry Port was the guest speaker at the Llanelli Boys Grammar School and Graig Former Pupils Association lunch at the Diplomat Hotel on Friday April 1st.

Lord Leslie John Griffiths , Baron Griffiths of Burry Port (born 15 February 1942) is a British Methodist minister, politician and life peer who served as President of the Methodist Conference from 1994 to 1995. A member of the Labour Party, he was an opposition spokesperson and whip in the House of Lords from 2017 to 2020.

Lord Griffiths regaled the attended guests with stories based around his classmates in an old school photograph he had brought along with him. Lord Griffiths also explained what life was like in the home he shared with his mother who worked in the tinplate works. He said that he did not eat meat until he was 16. There were no books in the house and it was he said, ‘abject poverty’.

Speaking about the kindness shown to him by teachers, fellow pupils and their families he said he remembered the time when he went to school wearing his friend’s cast offs. He described a period of time where he was housed in a building in the brick works with his mother having to sleep on the floor.

Lord Griffiths also highlighted some of the serendipity in his life whereby he eventually made it to the Lords only to exit a lift at his new offices and come face to face with a former classmate, Lord Michael Howard.

The association meets regularly throughout the year to host lunches and dinners and the next special guest is Lord Michael Howard. Money raised from these events has gone to help Llanelli based charities like LARS and the Brin Isaac Memorial Fund.

This was yet another successful fund raiser which will benefit a number of young people in the area.

The Llanelli Boys Grammar School is responsible for educating a long list of illustrious former pupils including Lord Michael Howard, Journalist and bowls champion David Rhys-Jones, Kenneth Bowen (tenor), Terry Boyle (footballer), Baron Elwyn Jones, Deke Leonard (musician), Terry Price (rugby) and Huw Edwards (BBC newsreader).