ROWERS turned out in force on the River Teifi to commemorate the untimely death of a popular member of St Dogmaels Rowing Club.

Jonathan Wiltshire died suddenly in February and the club staged a fundraising row on Easter Monday, which would have been his 36th birthday.

A total of 19 boats took to the water to raise money towards a permanent memorial for Jonathan and his mother Yvonne, another stalwart of the club, who died in 2014. Both were well-known figures in the club and the wider St Dogmaels community.

Jonathan was a member of the coastguard and worked as a dairyman. After the death of his mother, he took over the role of postmaster, enabling the Post Office to remain open.

“It was a wonderful turn-out, with several Celtic boats and a couple of surf rowing teams who came in to the moorings from the beach at Poppit,” said club secretary Sandy McCarthy.

“Rowers came from far and wide to join us, including from the Mumbles and Barry. We were a bit worried that with so many boats it would be a bit congested but they are all used to handling them and they were all in the water very quickly.

“It would have been Jonathan’s birthday on Monday and the high tide fell just right for us and we thought we had to do something. The boats set out at about 10.30am and got as far up as Cilgerran.”

Rhian Alwen Evans took to social media to say: “Thank you for a lovely row. It was so lovely to see all the boats on the Afon Teifi. We at Llangrannog Rowing Club thoroughly enjoyed. Such a lovely tribute for Jon.”

Refreshments were served in the Memorial Hall and it is hoped, together with a fundraising page, to have raised more than £1,000 towards the erection of some sort of permanent memorial by the moorings in the village, subject to planning.

St Dogmaels Rowing Club is looking for new members, especially younger people and women. It rows every week, sometimes off the beach at Poppit, and can be contacted through its Facebook page.

“We have a Celtic boat and a skiff and are applying for a grant to get another skiff,” said Mrs McCarthy.

“When we purchase a new boat, we will name it SIRJON in memory of Jon.”