Category: Miscellaneous
Various items that do not fit any particular category
Wenvoe Spring Craft Fair
Huge thanks go to all of you lovely people who came along on the day and made the Wenvoe Spring Craft Fair on 18 May such a roaring success. The weather could not have been better and this was especially good news for the Vale Cider Company and Tricycle Treats Ice Cream who were working flat out all day. All of the traders did well and thoroughly enjoyed chatting with their customers. The proceeds of the raffle (and some of the Village Gardeners plant sale), which came to a whopping £421, was donated to the very deserving Wenvoe Wildlife Group. Their table was busy all day and the free saplings and wildflower seed packs were very much appreciated, as was the information that was passed on during the day.
Tables are now almost all allocated for the Wenvoe Christmas Craft Fair which takes place this year on Sunday 18 November. Save the date and start your Christmas ( I’ll wash my mouth out with soap for saying the C word in June) shopping with a day of hand crafted and unique items in a friendly, festive atmosphere. We will be delighted to see you.
If you have any queries please contact the organisers, Glenys and Mike Tucker, at pukkatucker @gmail.com or on tel. 07922109721
IS THAT REALLY THE BANK OR THE POLICE?
IS THAT REALLY THE BANK OR THE POLICE?
We know fraudsters are going round impersonating the police and your bank. Never trust any claims you hear which involve you sharing personal information, disclosing bank details, or making payments.
Be extremely wary of unsolicited calls from your bank or the police.
End the call, and call back from a different number. If not possible, wait at least a minute before calling back.
Call the number found on your bank card, or the police on 101.
Check with friends or family. Don’t trust claims by cold callers.
Never share your PIN with anyone.
Never hand over money, bank cards or make purchases following an unexpected call.
REMEMBER
Your bank or the police will never ask for your PIN, bank card, or for you to withdraw money or buy items on their behalf.
Telephone Scam Warning
South Wales Police urge all members of the public to be alert to a recent telephone scam that has started to become widely used Nationally and locally.
The Scam involves a person telephoning the victim claiming that they are a Police Officer and that there has been a suspicious transaction on their bank account.
They urge the victim to withdraw all the money from their accounts as they claim the bank accounts are not safe and to box them up for a courier to collect so that the Police can keep it safe for them.
They often give the telephone number ‘161’ to ring should the victim encounter any problems.
When the victim rings this number they are reassured that the officer is genuine.
A number of victims locally have become a victim of this type of crime and have lost substantial amounts of money. South Wales Police state that No officer will ever contact an individual asking them to withdraw money and send it them for safekeeping.
The Public are urged to be aware of this SCAM and not to respond but report the matter to South Wales Police using the Non Emergency No 101 or if somebody turns up at your door to ring the Emergency Number 999
Mercy Ship Funding Event
ONE AMAZING EVENING
About 80 people (mainly villagers, but a few friends from Sully, Miskin and Swansea too), attended the Community Centre one wet Friday evening on 25th May for an Evening of Entertainment by John and Olwen Griffiths (better known in Media circles as Johnny Tudor and Olwen Rees).
We soon forgot the rain as we heard some very interesting tales of life in showbiz, a wee bit of gossip here and there. with tales of extravagant parties, doomed romances, glitz and glamour. These stories from both John and Olwen were interspersed with songs. duets, fancy footwork by Johnny, whose tap dancing is as good as ever, and a beautiful rendering of Eli Jenkins' Prayer from Under Milk Wood, by Olwen, which brought a lump to the throat.
90 minutes had flown by, so the interval was later than planned. The very tasty cheese buffet was much appreciated, and Nick Cook, our expert Sommelier, was kept busy at the Bar.
Helen Ormrod had made the trip from London especially to thank the Parishes for supporting her in raising funds for her to join the Mercy Ship, which she did in the interval. Helen also invited us to view the Mercy Ship Display in the ante-room, and said how much she is looking forward to going on a 4 month adventure which will be very hard work, in difficult circumstances., but SO rewarding , for the medics and even lifechanging for the patients.
Johnny Tudor had already said he was happy to do an encore, so he sang more songs after the interval, inviting the audience to join in – which they did with gusto. (Fortunately, our grannies had taught us all those old songs which of course were before our time!). The atmosphere was so warm and convivial that we were sad to see it end, but over £700 was raised, towards this very worthwhile cause.
Rev Jon, Mrs Sheonagh and Miss Helen Ormrod would like to thank everyone who supported the evening, the Social Committee of St Mary's Church, especially Nick Cook, those who donated Raffle Prizes, Mr Tony Williams for his generous co-operation, and , most of all, Mr and Mrs John Griffiths, who gave their time and talent so willingly.
DIOLCH YN FAWR IN CHI!!
V.Roberts
Library Book Club – Off The Shelf
The Library’s second book club ‘Off the Shelf’ met for the first time on June 6th. The book we read was Anthony Doerr’s About Grace. Hydrologist David Winkler, the protagonist of the story has disturbing prophetic dreams. When he dreams of failing to rescue his infant daughter Grace from drowning, Winkler tries to save her by moving himself away from the predicted tragic event. He leaves his family in Ohio and find finds himself on the island of St Vincent where he spends more than 20 years before returning to search for his family.
Most of us had read and loved All the Light We Cannot See, which won Doerr the 2015 Pulitzer Prize, so we were looking forward to reading this, his début novel. We all agreed that About Grace was a story of hope and the author showed great imagination that was reflected in his description of events. However, in parts we felt there was too much description, which was often at the expense of character formation and sometimes got in the way of the story. Although About Grace was not a favourite, it was mostly enjoyable but sometimes a frustrating read. We were pleased that we had persevered and finished the book and would still recommend it to others. Overall we gave the book 7/10.
Off the Shelf will meet on the first Wednesday of each month from 7.00 – 9.00pm. We have places for a few more members so if you are interested in joining us please contact Isobel Davies: davies.isobel@ yahoo.co.uk
CIRCUS SKILLS WORKSHOP
Did you know 2018 celebrates the 250th anniversary of circus? Join in and be part of the celebrations, come and have a go and learn circus skills together in a safe and friendly environment. We’ll be juggling, spinning plates, learning tricks on the diabolo and flower sticks, hula hooping, balancing skills, riding trick bikes, building human pyramids and more… See you there!
Cost of each session – £8 for a Parent/Guardian plus one child. Extra sibling £4
The workshops are designed for children aged 5 – 11 years and parent / guardian
Circus Skills Workshops
Children have to be accompanied by an adult
Wenvoe Village Hall
Thursday 28th June 6.30 to 7.30pm
Thursday 5th July 6.30 to 7.30pm
Thursday 12th July 6.30 to 7.30pm
More information and tickets can be booked at http://www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/en/working/Rural-Communities/Date-Days.aspx
London Trip
THE HISTORY OF SCARECROWS
For thousands of years scarecrows have helped save crops from birds and other animals and provided an outlet for human creativity. Scarecrow genealogy is rooted in a rural lifestyle. The Egyptians used the first scarecrows in recorded history to protect wheat fields along the river Nile from quail flocks. Farmers installed wooden frames in their fields and covered them with nets. Then they hid in the fields, scared the quail into the nets and took the bird’s home to eat.
Greek farmers in 2,500 BC carved wooden scarecrows to look like Priapus (the son of the god Dionysus and the goddess Aphrodite) who was supposedly ugly enough to scare birds away from the vineyards and ensure good harvests. The scarecrows were painted purple with one hand holding a club to scare the birds and a sickle in the other for good harvests. As the Romans marched across Europe they followed the Greeks and introduced Priapus scarecrows. Simultaneously the Japanese had scarecrows called kakashis shaped like people. They dressed them in raincoats and a straw hat and often added bows and arrows to look more threatening. Kojiki the oldest surviving Japanese book from 712 features a scarecrow known as Kuebiko who appears as a deity who cannot walk but knows everything about the world.
In Germany scarecrows were made to look like witches whilst in medieval Britain children were used to patrol the crops and wave their arms and throw stones. Later on farmers stuffed sacks of straw, made faces from gourds and leaned the straw man against a pole.
During the Great Depression in America scarecrows could be found across the whole country until after the Second World War when farming began to use chemicals to protect their crops. For thousands of years scarecrows have helped save crops from birds and other animals and provided an outlet for human creativity. Scarecrow genealogy is rooted in a rural lifestyle. The Egyptians used the first scarecrows in recorded history to protect wheat fields along the river Nile from quail flocks. Farmers installed wooden frames in their fields and covered them with nets. Then they hid in the fields, scared the quail into the nets and took the bird’s home to eat.
Greek farmers in 2,500 BC carved wooden scarecrows to look like Priapus (the son of the god Dionysus and the goddess Aphrodite) who was supposedly ugly enough to scare birds away from the vineyards and ensure good harvests. The scarecrows were painted purple with one hand holding a club to scare the birds and a sickle in the other for good harvests. As the Romans marched across Europe they followed the Greeks and introduced Priapus scarecrows. Simultaneously the Japanese had scarecrows called kakashis shaped like people. They dressed them in raincoats and a straw hat and often added bows and arrows to look more threatening. Kojiki the oldest surviving Japanese book from 712 features a scarecrow known as Kuebiko who appears as a deity who cannot walk but knows everything about the world.
In Germany scarecrows were made to look like witches whilst in medieval Britain children were used to patrol the crops and wave their arms and throw stones. Later on farmers stuffed sacks of straw, made faces from gourds and leaned the straw man against a pole.
During the Great Depression in America scarecrows could be found across the whole country until after the Second World War when farming began to use chemicals to protect their crops.
