CARDIGAN Castle recently hosted the installation of Susan Balsom as the new High Sheriff of Dyfed.

In an historic hat-trick, for the first time in the UK three women now occupy simultaneously the offices of Lord Lieutenant, Lord Bishop and High Sheriff in the county of Dyfed.

The declaration ceremony at the castle was attended by the Lord Lieutenant, Ms Sara Edwards, and the Right Reverend Joanna Penberthy, Lord Bishop of St Davids.

Bishop Joanna was enthroned in February 2017 as the first female bishop in Wales.

To complete the all-women line up, the declaration was witnessed by Gwen Burgess JP and the Reverend Canon Enid Morgan was appointed Chaplain to the new High Sheriff.

The office of High Sheriff is made under a Royal Warrant and it is the oldest secular office in the United Kingdom after the Crown itself.

Businesswoman Mrs Balsom was appointed to the role by Her Majesty the Queen during an historic ceremony in March at a meeting of the Privy Council held at Buckingham Palace.

In 1989, Mrs Balsom founded the company FBA (now Four Cymru) which over 25 years became the leading bilingual marketing & communications business in Wales. The company pioneered Welsh branding and marketing, helping to establish many of Wales’s most high profile food and drink brands such as Rachel’s Organic and Halen Môn.

In public and voluntary service she has served as a board member of prestigious national organisations such as OFCOM; the WDA; Finance Wales; The Prince’s Trust and the BBC.