THE Chepstow Society is publishing a new booklet to mark the centenary of the town’s National Shipyard, developed in the First World War, and the associated housing at Hardwick "Garden City" and Bulwark.

The 28-page illustrated A5 booklet is titled ‘Shipyards, Scandals and Pigstyes’, and was written by society member Guy Hamilton.

The booklet looks at the setting up of the Standard Shipbuilding Yard in 1915, its nationalisation in 1917, and the subsequent national scandal over the costs involved, and contains information on the housing and other developments that took place in the town.

Copies of the booklet will be available for purchase, price £2.50, at the society’s Annual General Meeting in the Drill Hall in Chepstow today (Wednesday 17th May) at 7.15pm.

Copies will be available to purchase thereafter at the Chepstow Bookshop and the Tourist Information Centre.