Category: Community Groups

Brecon Beacons / Bannau Brycheiniog – Craig Cerrig Gleisiad

Brecon Beacons / Bannau Brycheiniog

Brecon Beacons / Bannau Brycheiniog

Craig Cerrig Gleisiad 

We parked near Forest Lodge cottages and set off along Sarn Helen, the 2000-year-old Roman road which runs from North Wales to Neath. The route would take us around Craig Cerrig Gleisiad Nature Reserve, Fan Frynych, climbing to the trig point and descending towards Twyn Dylluan-ddu before returning to Sarn Helen and the cars.

The first section along Sarn Helen is easy walking and we passed some interesting black and white sheep, cattle and lovely views. Taking a left turn we entered the nature reserve to walk along the valley and immediately spotted wind battered trees on the top of a hill. A noticeboard declared ‘It is a wild and craggy place and home to some arctic survivors. Glaciers carved out this special landscape. The steep rocky slopes, sharp escarpments and crags are home to rare arctic-alpine plants.’ The birdlife includes peregrines, kestrels, red grouse and rare ring ouzels. Archaeological remains found on the reserve show that the area has been inhabited for many thousands of years, including Iron Age huts.

As we progressed along Cwm du the state of the trees attracted our attention. On a visit 8 years ago, they were wind battered but now many seemed to have sparse leaves, one had a heavy crown of greenery. The path alongside the stream also seemed more overgrown but we had walked it on almost the same date last time.

The path gradually became more difficult with craggy, slippery rocks and narrow ledges. To continue past a waterfall, we needed to cross the stream. Large rocks were very slippery, so we went downstream, crossing to a bank of tall plants and made our way to a vertical wall with footholds cut into it. One of us is an experienced climber and she guided each of us until we were all safely at the top.

We were above the waterfall and followed the stream a little further before crossing it again to climb up to a grass covered area which proved much easier to navigate, following paths created by animals. We came across a herd of wild horses with foals which trotted off as we approached. The views were breathtaking, and we decided to stop for lunch looking back down the valley towards the Carmarthen Fans.

Arriving at a T-junction of paths we saw the first people we had seen all day and turned left towards Fan Frynych. At the trig point, we had awesome 360o views of the Brecon Beacons from the far west, north and around to Pen y Fan.

The path downhill led us back to Sarn Helen and the cars. The Mountain Centre provided a very welcome cup of tea and ice-cream. Looking at photos from 8 years ago, one person commented ‘we’re still wearing the same walking clothes’! Walk 7m, 1200ft. Map OL12

 

 

 

The Village Hop Harvest

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

“The Village Hop Harvest ”

Some readers will know that Sian and Steve Jones coordinate the Village HOP Harvest on behalf of the Wenvoe Forum. Our hops go to join a Cardiff community hop growing scheme that results in a beer called Taff Temptress. If you would like to join the hop growers then please get in touch via gwenfo.forum@gmail.com. Existing hop growers please read a message from Sian about this year’s harvest.

Hi village hop growers,

The hops have been a bit slow but I am sure like us you can see some flowering. We hope that you will be able to pick them on Friday 13th September for Steve to take them to Pipes Brewery on Saturday 14th. The Taff Temptress beer should then be ready three weeks later.

Like last year I don’t think we will have a huge crop but every little helps! We look forward to seeing you all on 13th September.

Sian and Steve Jones

 

To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the Gwen Fo 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 gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join.

 

“I Kiss Myself Goodbye: The Many lives of Aunt Munca”

a

OFF THE SHELF

“I Kiss Myself Goodbye:
The Many lives of Aunt Munca”

 

This is a memoir written by Sir William Robert Ferdinand Mount (3rd Baronet). Principally he is writing about his relationship with his aunt, an apparent millionairess who calls herself Aunt Munca after the mouse in a Beatrix Potter book (it was never explained why). According to Mount, his aunt is a bit of an enigma and a consummate liar, “Nothing about her back story seems to add up”. Mount writes about his summer holidays at her house by the sea and the comings and goings of various guests. He name-drops frequently throughout the book and paints the characters who come and go but in a very superficial or irreverent way. There is no depth to any of the characters.
Mount does get to find out about his aunt’s background – probably the most interesting part of the whole book. Despite that there was a general feeling of so what? The title, I kiss myself goodbye is a reference that Aunt Munca makes to her background – a background that she wants to disown and forget.
This book has been well reviewed elsewhere – but take a deep sigh here – none of our book club members liked the book, only one gave it a six out of 10, with the rest scoring it as low as 2, 3 or 4. Three of us failed to finish it. It was described variously as tedious, boring, pointless and self-indulgent. Overall rating 4 ½ out of 10.

“Akin ” by Emma Donohue

“Akin ” by Emma Donohue

A retired New York professor’s life is thrown into chaos, when he takes his great-nephew to the French Riviera, in hopes of uncovering his own mother’s wartime secrets.

Akin is a tender tale of love, loss and family, from Emma Donahue, the international best selling author of Room. It is a funny, heart-wrenching story of an old man and a boy who unpick their painful story and start to write a new one together.

In the main, the group thoroughly enjoyed the book with two even scoring it 9 and found it a definite page turner! Most felt that it was nice to read a straight forward book without numerous characters and eras that involved going back time and again to remind oneself of characters and events. The description of the developing relationship between the two was well written without being over emotional. Nice was brought alive both present and the WWII history.

Two members of the group found the book less well written in comparison to Room which they had both found extremely good.

Overall the score was 7.5 and made all the more enjoyable by sitting in beautiful sunshine, in a most delightful garden with good company and of course the obligatory moreish lemon drizzle cake!

Firstly, A Big Thank You

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

“The one that didn’t get away”

 

Firstly, a BIG THANK YOU to those that donated unwanted garden equipment, tools and plant pots to our SWAPS table at Tucker’s Spring Plant Sale, earlier in May. Our table quickly became tables, as we were inundated with donations including lawn mowers, hedge trimmers and an industrial tile cutter. Thanks also to the volunteers that helped run the stall and make it such a success. Donations from satisfied “swappers” added significantly to the overall total, with all proceeds going to the Wenvoe Wildlife Group (WWG).

It was a fantastic day, and we chatted about re-using, re-purposing and re-homing ideas with many local visitors. I thought I would share one tale from the day.

The one that didn’t get away…Mrs Sybil Green and her late husband Colin were founder members of the WWG. Sybil met Colin at university. They married after completing their degrees and moved to Wenvoe where Colin advised local farmers. On finding that many of the agricultural queries concerned legal issues, Colin subsequently went on to take a second degree, this time in law, so graduated both as a BSc and an LLB).

Sybil mentioned that Colin had been a keen fisherman in his spare time. She was in the process of tidying her garage and had recently found Colin’s old fishing tackle. A relative had told her that one of the rods potentially had a value. Sybil had been mulling over what to do with Colin’s angling equipment and kindly offered to donate the rod to support the WWG.

Google helped identify it as a Richard Walker designed 10 ft, two-piece Mark IV Avon split cane rod made by B James & Son, Ealing, London. A visit to Garry Evans tackle shop on Whitchurch Rd confirmed this, and that the freshwater rod was in good condition. The helpful folk at the shop put us in touch with a local collector of vintage rods, who lived in Sully. We contacted the collector, Mr Victor Bonutto, who expressed an interest in acquiring the rod and agreed to help identify it further and to value it.

Victor checked the rod and thought it had been made in the late 1950s, early 1960s. Sybil confirmed details of its history and it seems Colin’s grandfather may have bought it new, in Barnstaple, c. 1957, as a gift for Colin’s A Level success prior to going up to university

Victor agreed a purchase price with Sybil and is looking forward to using it, in local ponds, as a member of Glamorgan Anglers. He agreed to help identify Colin’s other equipment and subsequently offered to purchase a 1960s centre pin fishing reel and various floats and accessories. Sybil then kindly donated the total proceeds of the sale to the WWG.

Photo: Courtesy of Mr Victor Bonutto – ttaster@outlook.com: Colin’s rod, reel and floats alongside Victor’s collection of fish exhibitions.

Victor also agreed to find new homes for the other usable rods and reels via his contacts at local game fairs; possibly youngsters just starting out on the hobby. The remainder of the equipment will be re-used / re-homed via the local ‘tidy tip’ at Barry.

The tale(s) continue…Victor shared further interesting personal stories. He had caught his first fish in the Regents Canal, North London, in 1966, the same week as England won the World Cup at Wembley just a few miles away.

He became interested in collecting vintage fishing tackle as a youngster and it had become something of an obsession. He is one of the longest-running ‘fixtures’ of The Game Fair, at Blenheim Palace, having exhibited at the event for over 30 consecutive years.

Victor also collects late Victorian and early 20th century signs, typically produced using enamel on steel creating colourful and hardwearing forms of advertising, with some dating back more than 100 years. He has signs from all around the UK, advertising products including soap, chocolate and whisky. One of the signs in his collection was being used as a manhole cover and another as part of a garden fence. In June 2017, Victor curated an exhibition entitled “Sign of the Times” at the Penarth Pier Pavilion. He also remembers the Fry’s sign that used to be on the side wall of the old shop on Old Port Road. Sybil was able to tell him that this sign is still on exhibition locally in Wenvoe

Victor and his wife are both former Redcoats and met at the Barry Butlin’s resort. They’ve been together ever since.

Sources: Thanks to Sybil and Victor for their input and kind permission to relate their stories. Also, please remember the existing Facebook pages that already support the idea of reusing existing resources in the Village – the Wenvoe Recycling & Reuse Group @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870475136410648 and the Wenvoe Buy and Sell pages, @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/3019469164839088.Finally, a reminder that Wenvoe Forum members are focusing on ideas around the REUSE (including REPURPOSING and RE-HOMING) of various resources. Please keep an eye out for future activities, and join us or send messages on: Facebook: Gwen Fo @ https://www.facebook.com/gwen.fo.1/ and Wenvoe Forum @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/635369267864402twitter @ForumGwenfo

 

 

Brecon Beacons / Bannau Brycheiniog

Brecon Beacons / Bannau Brycheiniog

Brecon Beacons / Bannau Brycheiniog

Some were a little concerned about the length of this walk as it was billed as 8 miles. A reminder that we had been here before was reassuring.

Seed heads of coltsfoot decorated the side of the path. On the edge of a wood, we spotted a tiny blue-purple flower, Butterwort, it is carnivorous and grows in bogs, moors, damp heath and wet rocks. It was believed that it protected cattle from elves’ arrows and newborn babies from thieving fairies. The leaves were used to curdle/thicken milk.

Ears pricked as we heard a cuckoo – a rare sound these days but, given our ages, one we are all familiar with. ‘Cuckoo’ seemed to follow us as we walked the perimeter of the woodland and out into the open.

A steep descent invited the fittest of us to visit a cave. Others walked around a gully to meet ‘the intrepid cavers’ as they climbed back up to join us. Now we crossed moorland, it was uphill and difficult as we tried to follow tracks made by animals, hopefully avoiding the largest holes, clumps and water. At one point we saw a ‘frog in a bog’.

Lunch was at the highest point of the moor. What a delight, as well as decent views, there was the continuous song of skylarks, two flying close to the ground near us. Dark clouds gathered and there was even a clap of thunder but apart from a few raindrops, they disappeared, and rain descended on the hills around us.

We entered woodland and took a track through Penmoelallt forest where Ley’s whitebeam grows. There are only 10 of these trees growing wild in the world and they are all in this area. Towards the end, we found a clearing with a large natural table, and various sculptures – badgers, a woman and a hare with the moon.

A slightly longer walk than usual but an enjoyable day of wide vistas and a sense of accomplishment. Walk 9.2miles, 1600ft. Map OL12

Clodock – We parked outside the church in Clodock, a village with few houses in Herefordshire. A large plastic shark on a wall reminded us we were here 10 years ago. We headed east, a steep climb to start, and then rolling countryside. Turning north, Skirrid (where we had walked a week earlier) came into view in the distance.

We reached the highest point of the walk where there was a trig point, hidden as it was enclosed by a hedge. We passed Oldcourt farm, a Grade II listed, 14th century stone house and barn with mullioned windows and a huge chimney. Agents’ details show it was on the market for close to £1million. A stand-alone wall was fascinating with triangular holes through it and pennywort growing between stones. We saw several longhouses in the area.

Now we were headed towards Longtown but stopped for lunch next to a dry brook as the views were extensive. A downhill stretch took us to Escley Brook whose refreshing water gave the dogs a chance for a deep drink.

Longtown castle, 12th and 13th century, has a keep which can be seen from a distance even though it is crumbling. The castle was founded by Walter De Lacy, one of the Marcher lords, to defend England’s border with Wales and the adjacent town of Ewias Lacy (now Longtown). By 1403 the castle had become dilapidated, but Henry IV ordered it to be refortified to defend against Owain Glyn Dwr.

Near the castle is the Old School House which has several stone plaques displayed. The school was originally financed through subscriptions of £66 2s raised from 34 people. Broome’s garden, next to the school is owned by English Heritage and maintained by volunteers. Mr Broome was a volunteer who taught boys vegetable gardening whilst girls were learning domestic skills.

We headed to Longtown and saw ‘The New Inn Spiritous Liquors Sold Here’ now a private house. A friendly farmer helped us avoid a difficult stile by inviting us to walk through his farm – chainsaw in hand he said, ‘Come with me’; we gladly followed!

Back at Clodock, we were impressed by the church, dedicated to a British king Clydawc and founded in 6th century, enlarged during 12th century and restored 1919.

A day of historic buildings, rolling hills, meadows, kites and buzzards and probably the worst stiles we have had to negotiate in a very long time. We decided that we had chosen the best time of year for this walk – not much mud or too overgrown. The pub in Clodock has the smallest bar I have ever seen with a delightful garden. Walk 7.3miles, 1000ft. Map OL13.

 

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