TWO LLANDEILO medical herbalists are appealing for local people to come forward with their stories and experiences with herbal medicine. Stella Byrne (formerly Anderson) and Dylan Warren-Davies say these could be old recipes from a relative, stories of remarkable recoveries or just information about herbs or herbalists passed down through the generations. The duo, with over 60 years herbal experience between them, want to produce a contemporary Welsh herbal CD-rom with pictures, information and local knowledge.

As members of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, they are trained in the scientific and medicinal value of herbs, but they also have knowledge of the tried and tested remedies from thousands of years of traditional usage. In this project they would like to enrich it further with local experiences.

Both Stella and Dylan believe that the future may well bring difficult days and that knowledge of our own Welsh traditional medicine will become even more important than ever before.

They maintain that it has proved its worth when hard times brought poverty, sickness and epidemics. “Herbal medicine from herbalists such as Mr Yemm in Ammanford and Mr Walters in Swansea brought relief from sickness to many families in the depressions of the 1920s and 1930s,” said Stella.

“This new Welsh herbal CD will be a self help manual so that we can treat our own simple complaints cheaply and safely.

“It will show how to grow, collect and identify herbs, roots and berries that can be found so plentifully in Wales. Many are thought of as garden weeds.’ The pair say that if we share our knowledge it will never be lost and will pass from one generation to the next. “This can only help us now and in the uncertain days ahead,” added Stella.

Can you help? If so, phone Stella or Dylan on 01558 822199.