Category: Community Groups

February Events

WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

February Events

Our planned speaker for the February meeting had to cancel due to illness, but Charlotte is hoping to come and talk to us at a future meeting.

However, we had invited one of our longest standing speakers, Viv Truran, to our meeting to present her with a gift in recognition of all the entertaining meetings that she had provided us with, so she gave a short update on her more recent activities before we spent the rest of the evening socialising.

On 5th March we are looking forward to our talk from local author, Marc Harris. Our April meeting would have fallen on Maundy Thursday so we have moved it to March 26th when we will have an Easter themed workshop.

Visitors and prospective members are always welcome to our meetings in the Church Hall at 7.00pm, usually on the first Thursday of the month.

Please ring 07881853032 for further details.

Carol Charlson (President)

 

 

“I Am Malala ” by Malala Yousafzai

OFF THE SHELF

“I Am Malala ” by Malala Yousafzai

For this month’s book, I Am Malala, an autobiographical work by Malala Yousafzai co-written with Christina Lamb, was a powerful and deeply moving read. Beautifully written and highly informative, it combines personal memoir with a clear-eyed account of politics, culture, and the transformative importance of education.

Alongside the political narrative, Malala’s lyrical descriptions of the Swat Valley – its mountains, rivers, and close-knit communities – bring a strong sense of place and poignantly underline what was at stake when extremism took hold of such a beautiful region.

Malala’s story powerfully exposes the oppression of the Taliban, particularly their attempt to silence girls through fear and the denial of education. Several of her words stayed with us long after closing the book. When she writes, “I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard,” she captures the quiet moral authority that runs through the entire narrative. Her story is never about personal heroism for its own sake; it is about responsibility, solidarity, and the necessity of speaking out when silence allows injustice to flourish.

The idea that “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world” lies at the heart of her message. Even under brutal repression, Malala shows how education remains a quiet but formidable force. Her simple assertion that “Education is education” cuts through ideology and extremism.

Overall, I Am Malala is inspiring without being sentimental, informative without being heavy, and hopeful without ignoring harsh realities. It sparked thoughtful discussion in our group and left us with a renewed appreciation of the power of education – and of voices raised not to shout, but to be heard.

We rated the book 9.5/10.

 

The Forecasted Deluge Did Not Happen

LIVING WITH CANCER STROLLERS

The Forecasted Deluge Did Not Happen

 

The forecasted deluge did not happen for this month’s strollers at Cosmeston. We avoided the muddy fields and large puddles, and enjoyed the birdsong on the peaceful paths meandering around the lakes.

Taff Trail and Morlais

Taff Trail and Morlais

Mud glorious mud! In my last article I commented that we had been lucky in January and had frosty clear days for our Saturday walks despite rain during the week. It couldn’t last and twice we walked on Sunday for better weather.

This was an exciting walk and a favourite. Parking outside a carpark, we went up the road (a hill) passing a property which was built as a sanatorium, an ideal location with lots of fresh air.

Having warmed our muscles and circulation, we turned onto a track taking us to Morlais quarry, a rocky expanse with craggy trees some of which were heavily laden with lichen. Although it was still January yellow hazel catkins were dripping from trees. Below we could see the Pontsarn Viaduct and the ‘Spanish House’ which was built by a Cardiff businessman. As we moved on, looking back, a line of structures could be seen above the quarry, they were chimneys belonging to a row of houses.

Even in winter nature has its treasures, and we were treated to trees dripping with beard like lichen, hawthorns festooned in red berries and raindrops catching the sun, red berries glistening against silvery green lichen, bright yellow gorse bushes shining out against grey trees and glowing green moss covering any bare surface.

The winter rainfall also treated us to gushing streams pouring downhill into gutters and spouting down to the Taff Fechan River. A stone bearing the inscription ‘It was time for tea’ made us think of lunch but it was too early.

Morlais tunnel was open from June 1879 until 1958. It is called ‘the Miler’ only half a mile long but, with the stretch of railway to Dowlais, a mile. The tunnel ran underneath the limestone quarries for Dowlais Ironworks. Workers drilled through 200yards of millstone grit and limestone at a rate of 25feet a week. Its arched structure is lined with 2,500,000 bricks and the project was completed in under two years. It ‘connected Merthyr with the Midlands and Monmouthshire hill towns.’ Incredibly a tree is growing on the outside arch of the tunnel, its roots following the line of the arch down towards the ground. As usual a few of us couldn’t resist looking inside the tunnel and were rewarded with ice cold drips of water down our necks.

We could hear the river below and soon were crossing the Pontsarn Viaduct, another engineering masterpiece, it is over 90ft high and 448ft long with seven stone arches and built in 1866 to transport coal and lime. Nearby an old building is encased in scaffolding, and at a window opening with no glass, several storeys up, is a chair – none of us could imagine being comfortable sitting there with the huge drop.

We were now following the Taff trail down the Taff Fechan River. At the remains of Pontsarn railway platform we stopped at a picnic table, to enjoy lunch in sunshine. Continuing, we met a local who said that a man had died 18 months ago at the blue pool (luckily not on our route) so ‘be careful’. Recently BBC news advocated more safety measures in waterfall country as three people had died in the last 18 months. At a path junction a horse and cart trotted past us. We were closer to the river than we had been throughout the walk and started to appreciate its dangerous beauty. We crossed a footbridge and turned north for the final stretch of the walk.

At this point we were walking upriver, nearer to it, and the volume of water was enormous. Churning water roared between the rocky banks and the noise put paid to most conversation. Towering rocks rose above us and tree roots crawled along rocks finding purchase. The path is quite wide, and we were safe, but we did watch our feet at times. A stream crossed the path, and the footbridge was underwater. There was a railing and it was fine to cross but most of us headed slightly upstream to cross on the rocks.

Before long we reached a stile which led to the beginning of the walk. A sodden sheet of A4 paper hanging from the stile declared ‘this footpath closed from December 2025 for up to 6 months’, no wonder the carpark was closed.

This was a lovely walk on a dry day, and the river was a spectacle, but proper walking gear had been important. A brief drive down the road took us to a local hostelry, for much appreciated refreshment.

Walk 6. 25m 830ft. Map OL12.

Transferrable Experiences Save Higher Fuel Bills, and Hops

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

Transferrable Experiences Save Higher Fuel Bills

One motivation for taking a holiday somewhere warm while it’s winter here, is that what you save in cash and carbon footprint on not heating and lighting your home, contributes to what you spend on travel. During January we escaped the rain for a fortnight to go somewhere warm and sunny. It was more of a retreat than a holiday, no swimming pool, no fancy cocktail bars and no tourist traps either! In 17 hectares of bush not far from the Atlantic Ocean and close to the equator there is a community that takes paying guests offering them a taste of another culture. The place doesn’t seem to have an official address I don’t know how you post anything to them. Locals who personally know K&A, whose home this is, will respond to an inquiry for directions with a broad smile and point out your path. Those who don’t, shake their head and are apologetic, almost distressed that they can’t help. It’s important to learn to navigate yourself around the area or get the phone number of a TAXI from K before you venture far.

When we got home here, we found that the electric shower in the main bathroom wasn’t working and the electrician couldn’t repair it for at least a week. Now we are fortunate we have alternatives a corner bath that takes a long time and a lot of water to fill or using a shower room downstairs. There is an electric radiator in that room, but it would be very costly to get the room to comfortable showering heat in February. This was not going to keep our fuel bills down!

However, our holiday experience came in handy. In our off-grid, tread lightly upon the earth cultural break we had become accustomed to putting a lidded bucket of water out in a sunny spot in the morning and by the end of the afternoon it was just the right temperature for a jug shower in the private but roofless room created for that purpose. I was amazed at how little water is needed for a thorough wash.

The bucket and jug method worked as well in our shower unit too, but it was not nearly as nice as having the warm sunshine on your skin, bits of the bush curling over the walls and unfamiliar bird noises to try to identify while you pour delightfully warm refreshing water over yourself. But learning about bush showering, upgraded a bit by having proper walls, and adapting it at home, certainly will have saved a hike in our bills. We have reverted to normal now that the shower is mended but the experience really underlines how wasteful we in the UK are with water and fuel. It also reminds us that we can learn a lot from other cultures and different ways of doing things. It seems likely that as climate changes such learning will be important to help us thrive.

The Wenvoe Hops Group

I just wanted to share the information I have had on good authority from our new member Chris Webster. If you have some seeds this is the method suggested for germination.
In February open the seeds and put them on a tissue for 4 to 5 weeks on a windowsill.
In March put them in a fridge for a further 3 to 4 weeks. Once this has happened they are ready to be put into individual pots in the house, keeping them damp, in soil. This should be April time. In May they should start to sprout and then are ready to go outside in pots. If we may have good weather, keep an eye on them regularly giving them water.
We are unlucky this year as our brewer hasn’t got any Rhizomes to share with us.
Hopefully we will have a good year for the hops, even if this year our seeds don’t come to fruition. We hope to celebrate the harvest this September so watch this space.
If you need any help or advice contact: Sian on 07837291362. Or if you want to join the group, of course.

To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the GwenFo account @ https://www.facebook.com/gwen.fo.1 and then jon the Wenvoe Forum @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/635369267864402

Some further information and updates, blog site https://wenvoeforum.wordpress.com/. Any Wenvoe community member is welcome to join the Forum meetings, via Zoom, which are normally held 19.00 on the second Thursday of each month. E-mail gwen-fo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join

“The Place of Tides” By James Rebanks

 

“The Place of Tides” By James Rebanks

This book is set on a remote Norwegian island, and the author writes about his time on the island helping Anna, an elderly woman, as she works with a friend, to keep alive the centuries old practice of harvesting the down of the eider duck. This is used to make the traditional and extremely valuable eiderdowns. Rebanks is a farmer and shepherd in the Lake District and had contacted Anna, a woman he had met previously, to offer his help on the island as he was feeling overwhelmed with his own life and decided this may help him to find a way forward. He left his wife and children to look after their farm and spent six months on the island, and he writes about everything that happened from early Spring until early Autumn. He writes about watching Anna and her friend prepare nesting areas and shelters to encourage the eider ducks to return to lay their eggs. The ducks line their nests with feathers which they pluck from their chests to keep their eggs warm. When the ducklings hatch and leave the island, the ladies collect the feathers and meticulously prepare them to be sold. Rebanks gains Anna’s trust and she allows him to work with her to undertake the many tasks that need to be done to preserve a way of life that has been passed down the generations. Rebanks learns the value of routine and undertaking purposeful work and the island became a place of reset for him.

The whole group felt the book was beautifully written and was calming and atmospheric and some felt it was a lesson on mindfulness. Anna lived a simple life on the island undertaking daily routines every day in all weathers; she was a guardian of the eider ducks and the island, battling all weathers and predators. Everything she did was essential to preserve this traditional way of life and the story about it gently unfolds throughout the book. Members of the group felt that there were some areas of the different characters that they would have liked to know about but, in the main, the book was well received and, after voting, we gave it an 8 out of 10.

 

January Events

WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

January Events

Unfortunately, we had to cancel our talk on “The Spanish Armada of 1588” on January 8th due to the weather,

but we will add it to our programme as soon as we can.

Our lunch at the Horse and Jockey on January 15th was excellent; thanks to the staff for making us so welcome. We are looking forward to going back again.

On February 5th, Charlotte Archibald, the Engagement & Fundraising Manager of our 2026 chosen charity, The Vale Domestic Abuse Service, is giving a presentation on the work of the service and ways that we can support the charity during the year.

The following month we welcome local author Marc Harris who will be giving us a talk on the Wildlife, People and Places of South and West Wales.

Visitors and prospective members are always welcome to our meetings, which are held in the Church Hall at 7.00pm, usually on the first Thursday of the month.

Please ring 07881853032 for further details.

Carol Charlson (President)

“Orbital ” by Samantha Harvey

OFF THE SHELF

“Orbital ” by Samantha Harvey

This book made a strong impression on our group.

The novel takes us into the lives of astronauts orbiting the Earth, following the course of a single day in which they circle the planet nine times. From this unique vantage point, Harvey invites the reader to reflect on humanity, fragility, and perspective, as the vastness of space contrasts with the intimacy of the astronauts’ inner lives.

We felt both the tension and the quiet wonder of their experience – the fear, the discipline, and the profound sense of achievement. The writing is thoughtful and atmospheric, encouraging reflection long after the final page.

It was very much worth reading, and our group rated it 9 out of 10.

Ann Gill

 

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