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WENVOE VILLAGE HALL

As there are no plans to hold a Jumble sale in the near future, please do not leave bags of jumble outside the doors of the village hall. The last two bags someone left in July had to be removed and put out for refuse collection as we are unable to store jumble at the hall indefinitely.

Our plans for the Skercrows have had to be abandoned due to unforeseen circumstances. We hope to hold an evening with the Skercrows at a later date and will up-date you in September’s What’s On.

If you wish to enquire about booking the hall please contact us via email on wenvoevillagehall @yahoo.co.uk

We would also like to say how disappointed we were in finding that someone had taken the plants from the outside planters. The Playgroup children had spent their time and money on making the entrance a more inviting place. To find that someone has destroyed their efforts is very heart wrenching.

If anyone notices anything suspicious or sees anyone causing damage to the Village Hall and its’ grounds, please contact Sandra 029 20594724. Thank you for your support.

 

WENVOE RESIDENTS’ ACTION GROUP

We are pleased to report that, following significant objections by local residents and other organizations, the proposal to delete a large section of public footpath 21, Wenvoe, has been withdrawn and an improved proposal put forward.

However, several residents have voiced concerns regarding the new proposals, and we have passed these on to the Vale Council:

1. The proposal would still require the deletion of some public footpath on land unaffected by the Redrow development. This is contrary to the criteria set out in section 257 of the Town and Country Planning Act.

2. The proposal would lead to the closure of the public walkway on the offshoot of Clos Llanfair, known by some residents as “the gully”. There are no details of what would become of this dead-end. It could become a haven for anti-social behaviour/drug use or be used for fly-tipping.

3. The proposal fails to include details of how bicycles, mopeds and motorbikes will be prevented from using the Clos Llanfair access, as the Redrow planning permission allows access for pedestrians only.

The temporary closure orders for both footpaths 21 and 22 leading from Clos Llanfair expire on July 26th. WRAG has campaigned alongside various other groups to have these footpaths re-opened to the public on their current alignments once the temporary orders expire. The Vale Council is currently taking advice regarding the legality of continuing to keep the footpaths closed via a succession of Temporary Closure Orders, and they will be making a decision shortly.

Full details of both the original proposal and the amended proposals, including maps and our comments to the Vale Council, can be found via the “links” section of our website at www.wenvoerag. co.uk.

 

 

 

Rectory opened its doors to care for elderly people in 1985, and to celebrate this fantastic milestone we held a wonderful summer garden party in the grounds of the home. We were very well supported by the residents, their families, and some other regular visitors. Fingers sandwiches were served, along with some home-made cakes, some scones with jam and cream, and some bara brith. Thank you so much to the very special family that donated their own cakes and a wonderful arrangement of flowers.

The highlight of the afternoon was most definitely the performance of the choir from Ysgol Sant Curig, Barry. The residents were thrilled, and the smiles on every ones faces will definitely not be forgotten. The children most certainly made the event an extra special one, and one that we will not forget. They were led by Miss Watkins, and accompanied on the keyboard by Miss Evans, and also on there to support the school and the event was the Head Teacher of Ysgol Sant Curig, Mrs. Sian Owen.

Mrs. Beryl Richards opened the home in 1985 with just one resident. Mrs. Richards was a qualified nurse, and put all her skills and knowledge to work at the home. The home was her passion for life, and it remained her passion her whole life.

During this celebratory year we also celebrate that four of our staff have been nominated and three have been short listed in the Care Forum Wales Care Awards, a great testament to the team. Whatever happens with the awards the fact that some of the staff have been recognised by an organisation such as Care Forum Wales is a great accolade, and a testament to the Registered Manager Gordon Paton.

We have recently held a meeting with the Wenvoe Historical Society to discuss the history of the grade 2 listed home. Prior to being purchased by Mrs. Richards it was in actual fact a family home. More information on the history of this building will follow over the next few months.

The gazebo is up and has a fantastic spot in the main garden – giving us wonderful cooling shade from the sun when we welcome visitors for tea and biscuits.

We have once again enjoyed several strawberries and cream or ice cream afternoons, especially during the Wimbledon final weekend. We were all disappointed when Andy Murray lost in the semi finals – we were all very tense but Andy can come back next year we’re sure.

We have been holding wonderful music afternoons in the lounge. We have moved a record player into the room, and are playing wonderful albums, that always evoke a smile and a memory from most of our residents. The record player is used a great deal to play ‘Name that tune’ too – with hilarious results. Frank always leads the way, as his knowledge of music, especially classical music, is legendary. We have also held several quiz afternoons, with the residents always knowing the majority of the answers.

Our aerobics and ball sessions are popular, and are getting us all thinking as well as moving. We look forward to updating you again soon. We hope you all enjoy the Summer break and that we all get to enjoy some good weather.

 

THE SKIRRID

 

Llanvihangel Crucorney is a small village five miles to the north of Abergavenny. We parked there and set off south-east and soon came to Llanvihangel Court. According to the guide books this is one of the most impressive and richly decorated houses dating from around 1600 in Monmouthshire: the interior has plaster ceilings, wood panelling, fireplaces and a magnificent oak staircase. We saw a large barn with only its heavy supporting beams remaining but there is also a notable stable block. The house is open to visitors. See the Historic Houses site for the opening hours. On the lawns as we passed several peacococks were displaying. A short spell on road brought us to a field of longish grass when we headed towards the Skirrid, an irregular triangular shape against the skyline. Continuing south and crossing a field we had great open views behind us and next took a path where the rock had split giving rise to a local myth that the ark had landed here. We were now wending our way through woodland “under the nose of the Skirrid”. After crossing a wooden walkway we started the climb to the north to reach the top. From the four hundred and eighty six metre summit there are magnificent views to the surrounding countryside. After passing the two entrance stones that are all that remains of St. Michael’s Chapel we stopped for lunch just below the summit to enjoy the view and to be out of the cool wind.

After the lunch break we took a grassy path which zigzagged more gradually down than our ascent. Half an hour or so later we reached a field of longer grass and started to go northwards. Once we had crossed another field we joined the road at Pen-y Park. In the stretch near to Cefn Farm there were yellow flowers of Meadow Vetch in the hedgerow and a little further on attractive wild roses. Almost a mile brought us to the Offa’s Dyke Path and we continued north-east in a warm breeze

although under an increasingly cloudy sky. After some forty minutes we crossed the main road and turned into a field with a view of the Skirrid back to the south of us. Here we were walking along the margin of a field of young growing sweet corn. From the corner the village was only a very short distance away but on the way we were passed by a lorry full of sheep. The walk totalled eight and a half miles and 1700 feet of climbing was involved, so some refreshment was definitely in order.

The nearby Skirrid Inn is reputedly the oldest inn in Wales. The stone structure is probably original and likely to date back to the twelfth century while the doorway and many of the windows ore mediaeval. Owain Glyndwr rallied his troops here and used the mounting stone in the courtyard. There are oak beams made from ships’ timbers which have the original markings and peg holes; It seems likely that that these and the oak panelling came from one of the Royal Navy’s fighting ships when she was being broken up. As well as its role as an inn and a public meeting house the Skirrid Inn also came to be used to hold courts. Hangings were held within the building, many of which today we would regard as being for trivial offences and as a reminder of those times there is a noose positioned from a beam. However away from the interior we enjoyed a drink outside in the fresh air where we were glad to relax.

 

WOOLLY PIGS

In the May Footsteps there was mention of Woolly Pigs and some of you may have thought that the Wenvoe Walkers were hallucinating out on the Brecons Beacons. Some of you may have seen Country File and be aware of the truth but for the rest of you here is some information. These pigs , Lincolnshire Curly Coats, were famous for their hardiness. They became extinct in 1972. In the 1900s they were very popular in Hungary and Austria as they survived harsh winters. They were crossed with a Hungarian variety of curly coated ‘Mangalitza’ and the resultant cross was nicknamed the ‘Lincolista. There are in fact 3 different Mangalitza breed lines -Blonde, Swallow Bellied and the Red.

In the 19th century the Mangaliza was bred for lard and from crossing the traditional Hungarian Bakonyi and Szalontai breeds with imported Sumadia pigs from Serbia. The hair is similar to that of a sheep and they are now less popular as the demand for Lard has dropped but are kept as Rare Breeds.

So yes they do exist and we do see exciting and interesting things on the walks so consider joining us.

Jane

 

In June we visited Greenmeadow Community Farm in Cwmbran. We would

like to thank Emma Wheadon for arranging our transport with Wheadon’s Coaches.

All 55 of us boarded the coach at 9:30am in soggy wet Wenvoe, to arrive in Cwmbran 40 minutes later, where it was dry and cloudy. As the morning progressed the sun shone through, with blue skies arriving just in time for lunch. We were really lucky with the weather and felt blessed, as on our return to Cardiff it was still raining!

The children and their families had an enjoyable day. We walked around the farm in small groups, stopping to feed the animals along the way, taking the odd photo or two! The children enjoyed the open space and the play areas available and an enjoyable social time was had by all.

Some children stopped at the barn to watch a cow being milked, ‘beginning to understand where milk comes from and how’. After the milking, we enjoyed our picnic in the park and ended our day with a tractor and trailer ride. How great was that?

Playgroup is now closed for the summer holidays and will re-open at 9am on Monday 7th September. In September, we will be offering day-care on

Mondays and Thursdays along with afternoon sessions. For further information, please see our Statement of Purpose and Admissions Policies on our web site wenvoeplaygroup.co.uk

Please note: at this present time, we have opened a waiting list for 2015 – 2016. Please contact the playgroup for more information 02920597494 Full details are on our website mentioned above.

 

 

 

 

The photo shows a bee gathering pollen from a Borage plant in Grange Park in the middle of Wenvoe. Why is this important? The last and previous issues of Whats On have highlighted the many problems our bees are facing and if our bees are in difficulties we will suffer some of the consequences. Our parks can be wonderful green spaces but without any flowers that are good for bees they can be a lost opportunity. Regular cutting of the whole park means that most of the time a bee would be hard put to find a single flower to forage on. So, the chance to create a wildflower bed in the park was too good to miss and during July it was great to see bees working their way around the flowers and as late as 8pm on sunny evenings.

It has not been perfect as the enormous amount of shade from the park’s mature trees has caused the flowers to grow slowly and with a pronounced lean towards the west from where they get their main dose of sun. There is also competition from the dandelions and other ‘weeds’ and helpful squirrels have ensured that we have some ‘Conker’ trees growing in the bed. However, the bees are not bothered and during July their favoured plants were Borage and Bugloss. Incidentally Borage was often added to summer fruit cups – some refer to it as ‘the cup that cheers’ and herbalists many years ago used it to help hypochondriacs. In London Borage leaves floating in claret used to be ladled out to thirsty travellers at the Railway Stations. The bees clearly know what they are doing

 

ENVIRONMENT GROUP

In June the team concentrated on generally tidying up the village – weeding beds, pruning, clipping hedges, weed killing etc.

We understand that 11 villages have entered for the Best Village Competition 2015 many more than for a number of years. There are 3 different sections, village appearance, village feature and village activities. Some villages have entered all three sections while others only one. This year it should prove quite a challenge for all entrants after the low numbers we’ve seen recently.

By the time you read this piece judging the initial will have taken place although final decisions will be made in the week commencing 6th July. The presentation evening and dinner will be on the 16th July.

Trevor’s Garden

After such a cold, wet and windy May, the appearance of poppies is very welcome, heralding the arrival of summer. I always look forward to seeing the yellow Welsh poppy, closely followed by the much larger and more flamboyant oriental variety bringing my borders to life after the winter.

Poppies have been growing and multiplying in my garden for many years – in fact ever since we moved here.

The Welsh poppy is such a low maintenance perennial, spreading readily – even in dense shade – and has a superb colour and the plants will self-seed. They are perfect for naturalizing under trees or below a north-facing wall or fence.

The oriental poppy lives up any flower border with its large vivid flower heads. However their most serious fault is a weakness in the stem. You need to support them, either with canes and string or strong pea sticks. They are fully hardy, originating from the Caucasus, Turkey and Iran, where summers are hot but winters freezing and they thrive in almost any soil as long as they’re planted in full sun. To propagate poppies, lift mature plants, divide them and re-plant. They are also easy and reliable from root cuttings.

Now for a subject less welcome. I have read that the dreaded vine weevil are more widespread this year. Gardeners are all too familiar with the damage these pests can do with their larvae destroying roots and causing entire plants to stop growing and even keel over. Adult weevils are small, greyish beetles – less damaging than the larvae but equally unwelcome. Now is the time for an action plan. You can kill vine weevil larvae in potted plants by drenching the compost with PROVADO Vine Weevil Killer2\from Bayer. This will give several weeks of protection and destroys other pests\ such as aphids and scale insects too. To destroy adult beetles, go out after dark with a torch and pick them off the foliage by hand.

BEST KEPT VILLAGE COMPETITION 2015.

The annual dinner for the competition was held at Wenvoe golf club when forty eight villagers from the Vale enjoyed an excellent meal prior to the announcement of the awards.

Just twelve villages from seventy four entered the competition, this year sponsored by the Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council.

These are the results of the various categories.

Eleven schools entered with Cadoxton winning and the award was presented at Duffryn Gardens.

The special features competition was won by Gileston while the village activities award was given to Llanmaes. The Best Kept Village was judged to be Peterston super Ely.

 

WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

At our meeting on Thursday 4th June President Madeleine welcomed everyone especially friends from Barry Highlight Institute and our speaker Mrs Lynne Oliver. Members were thanked for their trust and faith in electing Madeleine as their president for another year. The ladies who attended the recent Link Meetings at Cadoxton and Dinas Powys had really enjoyed themselves and we are looking for-ward to the Pendoylan Link Meeting on June 16th. Our recent Table Top Sale was very successful and we are making plans for our Centenary Afternoon Tea along with various events within the Glamorgan Federation, including skittles and a quiz in Pontyclun on October 5th.

Our speaker Mrs Lynne Oliver gave us a most in-formative talk about her search for details regarding her Great Uncle who was killed in World War I. We also learnt many interesting facts regarding the life of Lynne’s grandmother Mrs J. Penny, a former mayoress of Stockport. A story connected with the Great War would not be complete without mention-ing the beautiful poppy. Lynne had very kindly brought along her three poppies from the Tower of London display, each handmade and individually boxed with a certificate. They were truly beautiful and so special. Lynne’s talk appropriately finished with her reciting “In Flanders Field”.

Our next meeting is on Thursday July 2nd when we welcome back again Viv Truran who will entertain us with her amusing holiday stories.