Category: Community Groups

Bees, Beer, Boilers and Brilliant Brains

WENVOE FORUM

Considering tomorrow today

Bees, Beer, Boilers and Brilliant Brains

Bees

Did you know that there are 25 species of bumble bee, 260 species of solitary bee and 1 honey bee species in the UK. These only account for a few of the 500 species of insects that pollinate plants, which include hoverflies, wasps, flies, beetles, butterflies and moths.

For a while there has been concern about the reduction in the numbers of bees and pollinators in the UK. Across the country organisations are developing B lines to ensure that the bees can travel between plants and thrive and encourage other pollinators. Bees and pollinators need a wide variety of flowers in all the seasons of the year to survive and places to shelter. The forum would like to develop a Wenvoe B line and we need your help. Contact us if you would like to be more involved. Look out for more information next month.

Beer

The group of Wenvoe hop growers is increasing. Currently we send our hops to those of the Cardiff hop growing community whose beer Taff Temptress is brewed at Pipes Brewery. Last September we collected over 5 kgs between us. Whilst a couple of free pints and several bottles at reduced prices are enjoyable, wouldn’t it be nice to have a Wenvoe beer? We need a few more growers. Please contact Sian Jones if you want to join us and become part of our Hop Growers Group. sianjo@btinternet.com or ring 07837291362.

February is a good month to plant the hop rhizomes and we might be able to source some free ones for you. They are easy to grow and grow profusely up a string framework or along a fence. The brewer at Pipes recommends Prima Donna, a dwarf species, as being easier to manage in a garden. If you want a bit more information, look up Essentially Hops essentiallyhops.co.uk on the internet.

Boilers

If your gas boiler is getting old and needs replacing there are some government schemes that will help you to afford greener alternatives.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-boiler-upgrade-scheme/ what-you-can-get

https://www.gov.uk/apply-boiler-upgrade-scheme

Brilliant Brains

We know that some What’s On readers are very clever and have lots of good ideas so we are setting you a problem. One of the challenges of generating electricity with solar panels is that often in the summer you have more electricity than you need. Often this gets sold to the national grid at a much lower price than users are charged. What we are looking for is good, simple ideas for using up that spare electricity in a better way. One seasonally inspired idea is for those who cook electric, is to cook your Christmas cakes and puddings in the summer on the free solar electricity and as it will cost you nothing you could invite your neighbours without panels to do the same. Send your ideas to us and we will share them so that everyone can benefit. Thank you.

 

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New Forum members are always welcome to join e-mail us e-mail gwenfo.forum@gmail.com.

Contact to us on :-Facebook: Gwen Fo@https://www.facebook.com/

gwen.fo.1/

and Wenvoe Forum @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/635369267864402 or twitter

@ForumGwenfo. See our Blog site https://wenvoeforum.wordpress.com/

 

Penarth With Plenty Of Sunshine

 

THURSDAY WALKERS

Penarth

Once again Bert managed to pick a Thursday with plenty of sunshine, though there were remnants of ice in places.

Eighteen of us started from the cliff top car park. We were led on an undulating route down to the sea front, up through the park to the town centre and then straight back down to the sea front before climbing the steps behind the Kymin. The promise of a chance to walk off some of the post-Christmas pounds was fulfilled.

Views were excellent with both Severn bridges visible. We lingered at the viewing point on the cliff top where you can see the whole of Penarth seafront.

Joseph Parry, who composed Myfanwy, is buried in St Augustine’s church and we found his grave.

Then a detour to Costa for coffee before walking back along the old railway footpath to the end.

 

Next Walk

Thursday 23rd February.

Meet at Village Hall at 1.00pm. Transport can be shared. The walk will be from Pontcanna and will be about 5.5 miles. There will be a car parking fee of £1.

Many thanks, Bert. Tel: 029 20594418.

All are welcome but you participate at your own risk.

 

Final Stress Buster Stroll Of 2022

The Stress Buster Strollers

 

Final Stress Buster Stroll Of 2022

The rain stayed away for the final Stress Buster stroll of 2022, as an attempt was made to walk off some of the mince pies consumed in the past days! Leftover celebration chocolates were provided to keep energy levels up. Christmas stories were shared – including the tale of the exploding champagne bot-tle left for too long in the freezer…. I hope it wasn’t a vintage bottle!

 

Colwinston 

 Colwinston 

At the beginning of our walk, we took a slight diversion to visit the Old Ford Project, an environmental enhancement scheme involving the village’s Ancient Well, Clapper Footbridge, Watercress beds, woodland hedges, Colwinston Brook and Springs. Unusually for the Vale of Glamorgan Colwinston village has steep slopes at its centre. The watercourse is now underground but rises to the surface in prolonged wet weather.

The Michaelmas Well is one of three wells which provided the village with water until 1935 when the main water supply was brought to the village. There are 24 steps to the bottom of the well, with recent rain only the top step could be seen but a local resident told us that there were sixteen steps visible after the hot dry summer of this year.

There was a ford across the stream a short distance from the well. Until the early 1900’s when the old ford was covered for traffic the clapper bridge was the only dry path across the stream for pedestrians. It is an 18th century structure, one of several in the Vale. A pond fed by springs has been excavated to provide more habitats for wildlife and it is hoped watercress.

We returned to the centre of the village to begin our walk and soon passed the village War Memorial which was erected at the village green in 2014. Colwinston is a ‘Thankful Village’ – one of only three in Wales which suffered no fatalities in World War I. However, four men were lost in World War II, one of them Agatha Christie’s son-in-law, Colonel Hubert Prichard.

One house had an exuberant Christmas garland around the whole of their double porch entrance, with door wreaths, small reindeer, and lanterns; it all looked splendid. We spotted several Victorian wall-mounted post boxes still in use on the walk, one on a house called ‘Ramblers’ which we thought appropriate but realised it probably referred to roses rather than walking!

There are ten Grade II listed buildings in the village, all dating from the medieval or post-medieval period. They include a thatched house, ‘the Old Parsonage dating from the 16th century which has a Gothic or Tudor arch and is one of only two in the Vale with a latrine in the form of a small closet next to the fireplace.

Now we walked through fields and crossed the A48 at the old Colwinston village milestone – Cowbridge 3 miles, Bridgend 4 miles, London 173 miles – only to find the next stile blocked, a nearby gate was an easy substitute.

It was a cloudy but reasonably clear day, and we could see the long line of wind turbines on the hills, quite a few rotating. A red kite appeared overhead and seemed to ‘stay with us’ for the rest of the walk soaring high and occasionally swooping quite close to us. Would you ever get tired of seeing this marvellous bird?

A tall chimney north of Gelliaraul farmhouse, Llangan, dominates the landscape. It is Grade II listed and has three distinct levels and an arched opening a couple of feet above the ground; possibly some sort of oven associated with the nearby quarry. Arriving at Llangan we found their public phone box was a book exchange and contained a defibrillator, good idea we thought until we saw a sign ‘Sorry this defibrillator is out of order’. We passed the church, walking through the graveyard, where there is an old cross and noted that the church looked as if it had been doubled in size at some point in its past.

Now we were walking on grass again and spotted a buttercup flowering, not bad for December. We passed a huge solar panel installation and found a pile of logs so stopped to eat lunch; glimmers of sunshine appeared. Some of the logs had a very pretty, thin, pure white, fungus growing on them. As we set off, we met a flock of sheep with square shaped heads, even the ewes looked masculine, and the ram was solid muscle.

Now we walked through Troes and turned south to return. At times it was quite dark but then the sun would come out for a while and brighten everything. Nearing Colwinston we came to ‘Charlie’s Shop’, – open 9-5 so after checking he was open, we finished the walk and drove back up the road for a few minutes to enjoy a piping hot cup of tea next to a wood burning stove, very cosy and he had lots of local eggs for sale.

Walk 6.9m 400ft Map OS151

 

 

What 2023 Might Spring On Us

WENVOE FORUM

Considering tomorrow today

Wishing you the best of the Season’s Greetings

As the year turns and we wonder what 2023 might spring on us, we wish for you all a space and a place to celebrate the New Year with family and friends, ready to look forward. Here we are in 2023, but let’s consider 2035!

To meet the UK target of a carbon neutral electricity grid by 2035, the government expects there to be five times as much electricity generated through solar power, which might take up an additional 0.2% of agricultural land. Wenvoe will be playing its part with many residents already generating electricity from rooftop panels, so many others inquiring about installations that the supply chain is struggling and community buildings earmarked for development. We have some solar farms already in the area and more are in the planning process including within the geographic boundaries of Wenvoe. They change the landscape, the landscape is always changing however and many readers may remember the outcry about the “excess of bright yellow” when the growing of oil seed rape as a crop suddenly changed the colour of the countryside. Farmers and landowners have always had to diversify land use, the key to success lies in thinking of the future to maximise positive outcomes. Accepting that solar farms are here for a while at least, as part of our electricity supply, what else can they provide?

Awareness has grown of how intensive agriculture, industrial development and the ever increasing demand for housing from a growing population has resulted in the decline in wildlife both in terms of numbers of individuals and numbers of species. Small mammals such as the brown hare, birds like the iconic Barn Owl, reptiles and insect species are all in decline. Particular concern has arisen recently about the decline in numbers of pollinators that are so crucial, not least to growing our own food supply. Solar Farms have a lifetime of between 25 and 40 years, a long period of little disturbance giving the soil an opportunity to recover and offering established shelter for wildlife. Solar Farms are often clustered together around good access to the National Grid and with positive local action it might even be possible to link these habitats by constructing corridors between sites.

Solar Energy UK, a trade association for all parts of the solar energy industry has published new Natural Capital guidance for its members on best practice aiming to:- “… promote the design, construction and operation of high-quality solar farm projects which support ecology and deliver additional benefits..”

The guidance considers the life cycle of a solar farm from Site appraisal and design through to Decommissioning and gives practical examples of the ecological benefits that can be achieved. With sensitive consideration of the site and the surrounding area it is possible to:-

  • Improve the soil health of previously intensively farmed land which encourages insects and the birds and animals that feed on them and avoids/reduces the need for toxic chemicals such as pesticides
  • Create new areas of meadow wild flowers providing food and habitat for a wide range of fast disappearing species, small mammals, insects, bees, butterflies, birds
  • Strategically increase the numbers and species of pollinators
  • Maintain and develop appropriate hedgerows to provide habitat
  • Increase further botanical diversity with scope to introduce long lost species
  • Create footpaths that sensitively allow community access to the enhanced ecology providing educational opportunities and supporting good health well being

A change in the landscape is inevitable, let’s engage with the developers of Solar Farms and work with them to secure a better future for our local ecology.

NB Statistics quoted are drawn from www.theconversation.com and the Solar Energy UK Guidance is available at www.solarenergyuk.org/ resources

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New Forum members are always welcome to join e-mail us e-mail gwenfo.forum@gmail.com.

Contact to us on :-Facebook: Gwen Fo@https://www.facebook.com/

gwen.fo.1/

and Wenvoe Forum @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/635369267864402 or twitter

@ForumGwenfo. See our Blog site https://wenvoeforum.wordpress.com/

 

 

Wenvoe Village Hall Christmas Raffle

WENVOE VILLAGE HALL CHRISTMAS RAFFLE

 

The Village Hall Management Committee would like to thank everyone who kindly donated prizes to this raffle and to the people who support us by buying and selling of the tickets. All money raised through the raffle contributes to the on-going insurance, maintenance and daily running costs of the Hall which is primarily for the use of the villagers. We thank you all and wish you Good Health and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

 

River Ely was Frozen

 

THURSDAY WALKERS

Bert’s midweek walkers’ final walk (and chat!) of 2022 followed the circuit from Penarth to Cardiff Bay. It was so cold the river Ely was frozen on the surface but with glorious sunshine all the way it was refreshing and felt warm. Coffee and snacks in the Bay, were much appreciated before we went back across the barrage to Penarth.

Happy New Year everyone.

Thurs January 19th, a walk from Penarth taking in a few cliff climbs to help get rid of those extra calories, but there will be time for a coffee. Meet at Wenvoe Village hall at 1pm. Transport can be shared. Bert029 20594418.

All are welcome but you participate at your own risk

 

Intrepid Band of Strollers

CARERS WALK

An  intrepid  Band of strollers  Enjoyed an invigorating  walk around Nell’s point to  Jackson’s bay. Hot chocolate was the  drink of choice for many at the end of the  walk, but one brave walker enjoyed a large scoop of salted caramel ice cream…!!

 

December Report

WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

December Report

Wenvoe WI has been particularly active this month. We held our Christmas Party on the first Thursday evening in the Church Hall, where festive buffet prepared by the members was served. Also, we had a seasonal Quiz, followed by a rendition of an alternative version of ‘Cinderella ‘written by R. Dahl, a nostalgic poem penned by one of our members, as well as a raffle.

On the 7th, we held our annual Christmas Lunch at the Wenvoe Arms where we all enjoyed the convivial atmosphere and dined on traditional Christmas fayre. Many thanks to Jenny and her team for an excellent repast and the usual warm welcome.

Lastly, on Monday 12th we held our Christmas coffee morning in the Church Hall, where we all enjoyed tea/coffee, mince pies and Welsh cakes as we were entertained by one of our members who played carols and seasonal songs on her accordion. Also, we held a quiz and an extensive raffle.

Our next meeting will be on 5th January at 7pm in the Church Hall, when we shall be holding our annual, ‘Bring and Buy’ – one ladies’ junk is another’s treasure! New members are ensured of a warm welcome.

I take the opportunity to wish readers seasonal greetings and a Happy New Year.

Jan Young (President).

 

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