LOCAL people have been recognised for their hard work and dedication in the Queen's New Year Honours List.

Dr Clive Grace from Abergavenny receives an OBE for services to business and voluntary services to communities while Roger Williams, MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, is awarded a CBE.

Other honours include British Empire Medals for Margaret Davies of Abergavenny for services to music and the community, and for Grenville Ham for his work on the Green Valleys energy project in Powys.

Dr Clive Grace was the chairman of the Local Better Regulation Office and a former Chief Executive of Torfaen County Borough Council and former Director-General of the Audit Commission in Wales.

Dr Grace is a qualified lawyer, with a Doctorate from the University of Oxford, a Masters degree from the University of California and a Bachelors degree from the University of Birmingham.

Crickhowell-born Roger Williams joined the newly-formed Social Democratic Party in 1981 and became a Powys county councillor for two decades representing Talgarth.

He was first elected as MP for Brecon and Radnorshire in 2001.

Previously the Cambridge graduate had served as the chairman of the Brecon Beacons National Park and had been the chairman of the National Farmers' Union's Brecon and Radnorshire branch. The honour recognises his political work and public service.

Mr Williams said: "I'm deeply honoured to receive this honour. I make a real effort never to be surprised by things in public life, but this was a huge surprise.

"It makes me feel very humble too because I think of all the people who make a huge contribution in my constituency whether they be in the public, private or voluntary sector.

"Sometimes these people are completely overlooked and they are deserving of awards, so I accept this on their behalf as much as anything."

Margaret Davies, aged 76 from Gilwern, receives her BEM for services to music and the community.

Music has always been in Mrs Davies' blood. She has been performing on stage since her youth and has travelled the world to showcase her talents.

She has performed with the Cor Meibion Gwent Male Voice Choir and toured with them to Australia in 2005 and Canada the following year.

Grenville Ham has worked on several award-winning low carbon initiatives including The Green Valleys, Llangattock Green Valleys projects, which supports the growth of renewable energy generation in the Brecon Beacons.

Mr Ham has said the idea for the project was dreamed up over a pint in a pub and in 2010 he was recognised as one of the top three environmentalists in Wales by the Institute of Welsh Affairs.

He receives his BEM for services to renewable energy in Wales.

A Raglan man has been awarded the Polar Medal in the 2013 New Years Honours List.

Tudor Morgan, 41, who lives just outside Abergavenny, has been awarded the medal for 'outstanding achievement and service to the United Kingdom in the field of Polar Research and Heritage' in recognition of his eighteen year career in the Antarctic.

Tudor, who works as a Project Consultant for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, says it was his boyhood dream to go to the Antarctic and that being awarded the Polar Medal is "a great honour and the icing on the cake".

The medal, which is conferred upon those who have undergone the rigours and hazards imposed by the Polar environment and who have made conspicuous contributions to furthering knowledge of the regions, will be presented to Tudor at Buckingham Palace in the summer.

"I grew up with stories of Scott and Shackleton and always dreamt of going South" says Tudor who first went to Antarctica in 1994 as a Field Assistant with the British Antarctic Survey. "I spent two and a half years at the Rothera Research station which included two winters, one of which was as Winter Base Commander".

He safely guided scientists across crevasse-filled ice fields, coordinated complex logistical operations into the interior of the continent and led expedition parties into Antarctica's beautiful and pristine mountainous terrain.

He returned to Antarctica as Field Operations Manager, running the logistics behind the complex scientific programme. During that time he met his wife, Rachel Duncan. Rachel is now Director of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust and the couple run the charity from their home in Kincoed safeguarding the few remaining historic buildings in Antarctica.

Subsequently, as Operations Manager for the Trust, he transformed the staff living conditions at Port Lockroy on the Antarctic Peninsula, the most visited site on the continent, by reconstructing an old wartime Nissen hut into modern insulated accommodation. Much of the Trust's work is funded by a small shop at Port Lockroy which Tudor manages.

"My family owned the David Morgan Department Store in Cardiff for several generations. I chose to make my career in Antarctica rather than go into the business but my father jokes that I now run the world's most southerly shop instead!"

Closer to home, Tudor also organised the service at St Paul's Cathedral last year for the centenary of Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole, which was attended by HRH The Princess Royal and William Hague.