Category: Community Groups

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

OFF THE SHELF

“The Long Winter” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is an autobiographical children’s novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She shares with us the harsh conditions of being brought up as a child in the late 19th century in one of the hardest winters of South Dakota. It is the story of a close-knit family’s struggle to survive the freezing temperatures and food shortages, as the severest of blizzards rages on for seven months. Each chapter unravels the unimaginable struggle that this isolation brings. The chapters can seem repetitive, but this cleverly reflects the claustrophobic life the family has to endure. Even when homes are only ‘just across the town’s street’ the high-density snowfalls obliterate any pathway to a neighbour’s door. If they are to be reached many townsfolk are also bereft of fuel, food and energy. The rail and road links have been completely wiped out, but hope exists because the family is creative, resilient and resourceful. It is a wonderful social history book suitable for adults too as it is full of lessons about relationship building and survival. Possibly a similar reflection on our current situation and there are many excellent tips on good parenting, which are still relevant to today.

Isobel Davies

Our Book Club members gave this a score of 9 out of 10

 

 

Literature’s Most Dastardly Villains

“THE PAGE TURNERS”

Literature’s Most Dastardly Villains

Another year, another lockdown, another postponed Page Turners meeting, but another opportunity for Book Club members to reflect on characters in books they have read…..and disliked! There are many villains in literature: Flashman in Tom Brown’s Schooldays was considered a scoundrel; whereas Professor Moriarty in Conan Doyle’s Sherlock has been described as a ruthless, vindictive mastermind; the White Witch in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has never been forgiven for killing Christmas! So who do the Page Turners believe is the greatest villain in the books they have read?

May’s choice of villain is Mrs. Reed, Jane Eyre’s aunt, from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. May claims that Mrs. Reed was very unkind to Jane, an orphaned child and her unjustified treatment included locking Jane in a haunted bedroom and sending her off to boarding school with a bad reputation. May appreciates that there are more vicious villains, but they are often more obvious in their treatment of their victims than the shrewd Mrs Reed.

Helen’s most villainous literary character of all time is the boldly ambitious and manipulative Lady Macbeth, from Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. Helen considers Lady Macbeth to be one of Shakespeare’s most infamous and treacherous female characters. She is cunning and power-hungry and the mastermind behind the idea to kill King Duncan. Towards the end of the play she is overcome by remorse and driven insane, but in Helen’s opinion, this does not make amends for her previous evil deeds.

Lynne selected Herbert Powyss, a scientist set on making his name, from the novel, The Warlow Experiment by Alix Nathan. In 1793, Powyss imprisons a poor farm labourer in his cellar for 7 years, for a generous financial reward, to study the effects of prolonged solitude. Predictably, the experiment is determined to be ill judged and has many unforeseen consequences. Powyss is an example of the upper class barbarity and cruelty of the time and an authentic villain.

Hannibal Lecter, from the novels by Thomas Harris was Babs’s choice. Although Hannibal Lecter is a highly intelligent and charismatic forensic psychiatrist, he is also a serial killer who eats his victims. Babs claims that once you have read about Hannibal, he will always be remembered as the greatest villain.

Nicola’s selection for the title is Alexander Zalachenko (Lisbeth’s father) in ‘the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ trilogy by Steig Larsson. Nicola judges him to be an astonishingly evil character without an iota of humanity; his evil deeds included abusing his wife, leaving her with irreparable brain

damage, disowning his children by never seeking them out and then going to astounding lengths to kill his daughter.

Sylvia nominated Wynstan, the evil Bishop, from The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett. Sylvia kept thinking he couldn’t do anything more evil but he always did; however (spoiler alert!), Sylvia does say,” he gets his ‘come uppance’ eventually.”

Jenny proposed Alec d’Urbervilles from the Thomas Hardy novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Alec cruelly took advantage of impoverished young Tess, deserts her and her child, and then misuses her again against a backdrop of evil lies, in the guise of an evangelical priest. Jenny deems Alec to be manipulative, selfish and uncaring and thoroughly deserving of the title of the greatest villain.

Undoubtedly, fictional villains can be fascinating: they can be scheming, determined, uncompromising and evil….as the Page Turners have described in their choices of villains. Do you agree with their selections….or is there an even greater villain lurking in a book you have recently read…..?

 

 

Ogmore by Sea Walk

Ogmore

We walked in the Ogmore area several times last year, using the Vale Trails leaflet no.1 ‘Ogmore by Sea Walk’ as a basis for our routes and starting from St Brides Major. From here we walked past St Bridget’s Church and were soon on footpaths leading onto Ogmore Down. This part of the walk is across open countryside with good wide grass pathways.

We have seen swallows sitting along a fence and gracefully swooping for insects in the air. At Pant Mari Flanders there is a hollow cut into limestone with a stone structure covering an ancient well. If you take the more northerly route you pass the golf course where the views are extensive.

After crossing the Down, you come to the river Ewenny and walking south soon arrive at its confluence with the River Ogmore, the site of Ogmore Castle. From here it is a lovely walk along the river and estuary towards the sea. The dunes of Merthyr Mawr Warren are on the other side of the river and horse riders gallop along the other bank. Stepping-stones offer a safe river crossing unless the water is extremely high.

Ogmore Castle is one of 3 fortresses built, at the time of the Norman invasion, to guard Glamorgan against attacks from the Welsh-held west. Beginning as a castle of earth and wood in the early 12th century, it was quickly fortified in stone before being further strengthened with a curtain wall in the early 13th century. Unusually the original defensive banks and ditches are still visible, the deep ditch in the inner ward was designed to fill with sea water at high tide.

The castle was given to one of the 12 knights of Glamorgan, William de Londres, who left when the Welsh attacked in 1116. Allegedly, the castle was saved by his butler, Arnold, and for this he was knighted Sir Arnold Butler and given the castle and manor at Dunraven as a reward. Ogmore Castle continued to serve as a residence until the 16thC and hosted the Court House until 1803.The present-day castle remains consist of the keep and some outer walls.

A ghost Y Ladi Wen (“the White Lady”) is said to guard the castle’s hidden treasure. In the story, a spirit was long said to wander the wider area until a man finally had the courage to approach her. When someone eventually did so, the spirit led him to treasure (a cauldron filled with gold) hidden under a heavy stone, he could take half for himself. Later, he returned to take the rest; the angry spirit attacked him as he returned home. The man became gravely ill but did not die until he confessed his greed.

The river always has lots of birds swimming along and feeding – seagulls, Canada geese and ducks to name a few. Soon we reach the estuary where the horizon opens out and the sun glistens on the sea – it seems to do this even on grey days though you may need to look far away to see it. The route now heads east towards Southerndown and Dunraven Castle, through the car park with the sea on the right. As soon as we were away from the concreted area, we scrambled over some rocks to sit gazing out to sea whilst eating our lunch and trying to work out whether any of the black birds hopping about on the grass were choughs. For some reason it is hard to spot their red beaks and legs but eventually, we were all convinced we had seen one (should have brought binoculars).

Looking over my shoulder briefly I noticed someone walking along the path that I thought I recognised – a celebrity. I quietly said something to my companions who said I was wrong. But… when we resumed our walk who should walk towards us but Gareth ‘Alfie’ Thomas of Welsh rugby. We were so cool, and he was very gracious exchanging greetings with us but underneath two of us were excited and the other two (English) had no idea who he was.

This stretch of the coast is picturesque and mostly level with a short steep climb near Southerndown. Then there is a steep drop down to Dunraven Bay where there are facilities and Dunraven castle and Walled garden (where according to legend there is another ghost!)

From here we walked inland passing the Heritage centre and then across farmland to come out opposite the Farmers Arms. Passing the pond and pump, we turned right to avoid the busy main road, climbing the road behind a row of houses. At the top there was a steep descent back to the road and our cars.

Walk 5-8 miles depending on which route is taken. Map 151

 

 

Educated by Tara Westove

OFF THE SHELF

“EDUCATED ” by Tara Westove

Tara Westover tells the story of her family and upbringing in rural Idaho. It is fascinating and at times quite scary. Her father ruled the family, and they were all at the mercy of his extreme ideas. In retrospect, she is convinced that he had schizophrenia; it was hard to live and cope with his behaviour and restrictions. None of the children were allowed to go to school or consult doctors; they had to wear old-fashioned clothes and had no life of their own. Her mother was complicit with these rules. She did at times seem to encourage Tara, but ultimately always supported her Father. One of her brothers and her father were very cruel and vicious at times, with seemingly no care for Tara or anyone else.

Tara had great strength of character and an independent spirit; eventually, she managed to leave home, go to University and eventually to study in Cambridge, England. At the time of writing her family would still have nothing to do with her.

Most of us found this book to be a real page-turner but some did not enjoy it because of the cruelty and unpredictability of the family. As a group we scored it 7/10.

 

Tricia Coulthard

 

 

Sirhowy Valley Country Park

Sirhowy Valley Country Park

Sirhowy Valley Country park is south of Caerphilly, with 4 miles of flat well surfaced path along the former railway track. The entrance to the park follows the old railway and we drove past Full Moon, once the site of the Full Moon Inn and a small community of cottages but all that remains is the crossing keeper’s cottage. We parked at Nine-mile point car park.

It was a gloomy morning, but the air was fresh as we set off, not along the level railway but straight up the hillside to reach Mynydd Machen Common. The steep valley walls of bare cliff made it seem steeper than it is. A large tree had fallen across the path but luckily it was a good distance off the ground and we easily ducked under it.

Up here we had good views across the valley, houses old and new nestling into the red hillside rising behind them. Ferns lift the spirits at this time of year in their winter russet coats (if you can look at them from a distance rather than walk through them!). The rain-soaked ground beneath our feet was soft but, in most places, there were stones beneath the surface, so we did not sink far.

A feature of the walk was the number of fungi we spotted. Some traditional mushroom shaped glowing an orange colour, lacy frills around twigs and fallen tree branches and some climbing through dead trees. The trees looking as if they are being eaten alive by the fungi but of course they are only there because the tree is dead, and they are clearing the dead wood with many insects helping them.

 

The trees form sculptures as bereft of their leaves you can see their structure. A fallen tree covered in moss looked like a creature stalking through the wood. Old beech hedges, now several trees, with their lower limbs and roots exposed and wrapped around one another along a boundary were fascinating. Two trees apparently reaching out to each other as two branches were wedded together about 3ft from the ground, created a seat. An old stone wall was steadily being destroyed by a tree pushing its way through the restriction.

The sun came out and we enjoyed its heat and the views all around us. We found a relatively dry, grassy ledge to sit on for lunch, and gazed out at the distant Channel watching clouds blow across and then towards us, the view disappeared just as we finished.

Now it was time to head downhill. Partly on a tarmacadamed road but also along a stretch of particularly muddy path, luckily there was a stream flowing down it and we walked in the stream to use the stones for purchase. Then the stream ran out and one of us (me!) slipped and almost ended up with their face in the mud! Apparently, it looked quite dramatic, but the landing was soft, and the only damage was a small graze and muddy hands and trousers. Some long, wet grass took care of the hands and we were on our way. Before long we arrived at the railway with a level walk back to the cars.

To the miners of the valleys a ‘journey’ meant a line of coal trams joined together. The Sirhowy Valley has been a place of journeys for the past two centuries. Iron and coal travelled down the valley by horse, canal, road and rail. Salmon and trout made their way up and down the river to mate or find their way back to the sea.

An intricate metalwork sculpture stood at the top of a post showing horse drawn carts, steam trains, cyclists and trees. Bright pink open-ended boxes hung from lots of the trees and we decided they were for detecting the presence of small mammals. It was a while before we could see the river at the bottom of the valley even though we could hear it and narrow waterfalls tumbled down the hillside to it.

The Sirhowy valley tramroad joined the Monmouthshire canal tramroad at Nine-mile point on its way to Newport. Sir Charles Morgan, of Tredegar house, and his business partner John Jones had a colliery at Blackwood and needed a new tramroad to get their coal to Newport. The Sirhowy company fought the construction of the new road. Only the threat of an Act of Parliament brought agreement and the Penllwyn tramroad was built by1824. By 1864 the practical use of the tramroad was finished as it was replaced by the railway. Penllwyn Tramroad Bridge crosses the river near Nine-mile point. it has an impressive arch and is a grade II listed structure, with the original stone sleepers still visible.

Walk 8.3 miles Map 166

 

 

My Mother’s House by Lily Tobias

OFF THE SHELF

My Mother’s House by Lily Tobias was written around 1930, so the style of writing is different, in so far as it is lyrical, explanatory and very vivid.

The story concerns an intelligent boy who wants to break away from Judaism. The beliefs and actions of Judaism are well explained during that time.

The story is fascinating and examines the meaning of having a faith and feeling a foreigner in your own country. The book was well received by the Book Club with a score of 8/10 and we can recommend that you read this book. Ann Gill

 

 

Severn Bridges Footsteps

Footsteps on the Severn Bridges

Our plan to walk between the two Severn bridges, was postponed due to lockdown so we were going to go for it despite a wet weather forecast. We parked at Portskewett and set off in a north-easterly direction on a course parallel with the river but a short distance inland, we caught glimpses of the 2nd Severn crossing (the Prince of Wales bridge). The route took us through fields and past huge electricity pylons ‘marching’ across the countryside.

On a slight rise there is a group of stones and we climbed to look at them. We watched a group of long tailed tits flitting between trees. A herd of bullocks with their mothers and gorgeous coats of various warm shades of brown followed us along a fence. We climbed onto a low bank and found a small harbour with 6 boats stranded in mud – it was low tide. Starlings flew in clouds and landed on one of the electricity pylons, even knocking each other off to claim a chosen perch.

Now we headed towards the railway. This is a mainline, we had heard quite a few trains, and were careful crossing but as the track is straight, although misty rain was falling, we could see a long way.

Reaching the river, we were on the Wales Coast Path and could see the 1st Severn bridge to the north and the 2nd crossing (completed 1996) to the south. Looking towards England we caught glimpses of brightness coming our way through very dark clouds. Nearing the new bridge, there is a small island with a beacon and the nuclear power station was just visible.

Rocks underlying the Severn estuary are old red sandstone and carboniferous limestone, the same ancient rocks which form the Brecon Beacons. 15,000 years ago, this area was untamed grassland and forest. Early Britons lived and hunted here but global climate change at the end of the last Ice Age transformed it. Increased temperatures caused Ice sheets to melt, leading to major rises in sea levels and the result is the estuary we see today.

It is easy to forget as we trundle across the bridges to England that crossing the River Severn has been a challenge for centuries – even the Romans were regular users ferrying legions across to Aust. The Severn Railway tunnel was built by the Victorians, connecting Sudbrook with England, at a cost of £2 million, it opened in 1896.

At Black Rock we stopped for lunch and the heavens opened, rain hammering down. It was here that the ferry, established in 1930s, crossed to England. This avoided the drive up to Gloucester though at times queues (possibly of several hours if you missed the tide) could mean no time was saved. It stopped when the bridge opened in 1966 (initial toll 2s6d – 12.5p).

There is a large wooden sculpture of a lave fisherman and a salmon towering over the area. The Estuary has the second highest tidal range in the world. Knowledge passed down over generations allows the lave fishermen to wade out into the estuary to fish for salmon with their lave nets. Fishing can only take place for 1.5 hours either side of low tide. It was first recorded on the Severn estuary in the 1700s, but almost certainly predates this time. The craft was featured in a BBC Countryfile programme about the Gwent Levels earlier this year. We were disappointed that birds seemed to be in short supply, as we could have expected to see migrating birds at this time of year but enjoyed the call of the curlew and a flock of terns.

Sudbrook village was created, between 1883 and 1876, to house the 3000 workers, with their families, who built the Severn Railway tunnel. As well as houses a school, mission hall, two hospitals, a coffee house and reading room were constructed. In 1883 a 6ft tidal wave flooded the village and people had to be rescued from their single storey homes.

During construction, the Severn tunnel was completely flooded by a breach of the Great Spring and the project was saved by a diver, Alexander Lambert, who had to walk through the drowned workings in complete darkness to seal it off. Sudbrook pumping station was built to extract water from the Great Spring; it still pumps millions of gallons of water daily.

Following the estuary, we came upon the ruin of Holy Trinity Chapel and then walked under the 2nd Severn Crossing before travelling inland towards Portskewett. We walked through the Cornfield project which is an open space maintained and enjoyed by the community. An historic map of the village is on a notice board near St Mary the Virgin C12th church.

Driving home the motorway had speed restrictions because of heavy rain and standing water affecting visibility – we were very lucky to have escaped with only one short heavy shower.

A flat walk of 6.5 miles

 

 

“The Confession” by Jessie Burton

OFF THE SHELF

“The Confession” by Jessie Burton

A young girl called Elise Marceau, life model, meets the dazzling, older and alluring Connie Holden. Connie is a very successful author and Elise is easily encouraged to follow Connie to the glamorous and glitzy Hollywood, as her latest book is being turned into a film. Elise is unsettled and an event changes her life’s direction which has many consequences.

The narrative switches to the future where Rose Simmons, another lost soul, is seeking answers to the disappearance of her mother. After realising that Connie Holden, now a reclusive novelist, had a connection to her mother she entangles herself in a story to find the threads of her past.

The themes of the book are concerned with motherhood, pregnancy and independence and the characters of Rose and Elise do mirror each other. Given these themes it is surprising that we all agreed the relationships are rather unconvincing. You do not get the impression that the characters actually really care for or love each other. Having said this, we all enjoyed the book possibly because Jessie Burton knows how to hook you into a plot. It does have a slow start but definitely worth a read. We gave this book a score of 8/10.

 

 

Where the Crawdads Sing’ by Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing’ by Delia Owens

After the success of last month’s inaugural Page Turners Walking Books meeting, the group met outside once more, following appropriate social distancing guidelines, to discuss their latest book. The venue this time was Cold Knap in Barry. There were spectacular views across the Channel as we ambled along the promenade in bright sunshine. The book was then mused over by the group as they stopped for a discussion under one of the shelters overlooking the lake.

The book under discussion was ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ by Delia Owens. It has topped the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 2020 for 32 consecutive weeks. The book is set in late 1969 in Barkley Cove, North Carolina and tells the story of Kya, who has survived for many years alone in the marshes, with gulls and sea creatures as her only friends. After a young man is found dead, Kya is a suspect in the ensuing murder hunt.

There was a very positive response to the book from the entire Page Turners group…which seems to occur rarely! Helen loved the elements of whodunnit; Nicola enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the sea and landscape. There were discussions about the role of men in the book, the ending of the book and alternative suspects…(no spoilers!!), the author’s background. Everyone certainly gained something from reading it…and it’s easily a book which could be read again.

It is a book all members of Page Turners would recommend…and scored a 9.5/10.

 

 

Pleasure of Reading Rediscovered

PLEASURE OF READING REDISCOVERED

Page Turners favourite books of 2020

The publisher Bloomsbury have claimed that people have ‘rediscovered the pleasure of reading’ in lockdown.

The firm, best known for publishing the Harry Potter books, said profits jumped 60%. Popular books included ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race’, ‘Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood’, ‘White Rage’ and ‘Such A Fun Age’. Page Turners already know the pleasures of reading and were asked to reflect on their year of reading and to decide which was their favourite book of 2020.

Babs’s favourite book this year was ‘The Lost Man’ by Jane Harper. The book tells the story of Cameron, the middle brother of three, who is found dead in the remote outback in Western Australia, having apparently walked miles from his car which was fully stocked with water and supplies. Babs says it is so atmospheric, descriptive and well written that it transports the reader to the unrelenting heat and isolation of the Australian outback.

May chose the ‘Collins Wild Flower Guide’ by Streeter, Hart-Davies, Hardcastle, Cole and Harper. May claims that during the first lockdown, when repeating the same walks, it gave her an interest. She started taking photos and noting small differences between the flowers she spotted. It is a large book that would probably not fit in most stockings, but would fit under the tree, next to the box of Celebrations!

Helen’s most memorable book was the, excellent and thought provoking ‘A Mad World, My Masters: Tales form a Traveller’s Life’ by John Simpson. John Simpson was the BBC World Affairs Editor and his riveting and beautifully written accounts of his experiences brought a new perspective to Helen’s understanding of many world events in the late 20th century.

Lynne’s choice was the Booker Prize Winner, ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ by Bernardine Evaristo. The book follows 12 very different characters, from different periods of time, on an entwined journey of self discovery in Britain. The vibrant book opens your eyes to the struggles and pains of many black British families.

Sandra’s selection was ‘Sweet Sorrow’ by David Nichols. Sandra really enjoyed this book which is a compassionate story about the pain and loneliness of a teenage boy and his life changing summer; a classic coming of age novel. Sandra claims this is a good read for sitting in front of a fire on a winter’s day and for anyone who has fallen in love….what better stocking filler for a romantic at Christmas time?

Nicola’s favourite book was ‘The Lost Words’ by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris. There are magical words and spells to conjure words lost to the lexicon of children. Beautifully illustrated by Jackie Morris. Nicola says this is a delight to share with youngsters and to lose yourself in – particularly in these strange times when the natural world has gained in importance for so many.

Sylvia loved every minute of her favourite book of 2020: ‘The Small House at Allington’ by Anthony Trollope. It is the 5th novel in the series ‘Chronicles of Barsetshire’. It concerns the Dale family who live in the Small House on the estate of the Squire of Allington. It is a gentle slow story; it takes some of the characters two chapters to walk out into the garden!

Jill chose ‘The Secret River’ by Kate Grenville. It is set in the early 1800s and vividly follows the lives of a Londoner and his wife following their transportation to Australia. How they cope with many hardships, and bring up their family in desperate conditions amid the Aboriginals whose community they have infiltrated, is a thought-provoking reading experience.

Jenny selected ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which she missed reading with Page Turners a few years ago. The story follows the course of the Nigerian-Biafran civil war in the 1960s. It is told through the experiences of ethnically Igbo characters, exquisitely written as lives intertwine. Jenny couldn’t put it down, and she doesn’t know why she has waited so long before reading this masterpiece.

 

What was your favourite book of 2020?

Maybe one of these suggestions from the Page Turners will find its way into someone’s Christmas stocking this year….if Santa is not in a lockdown in Lapland……..and is allowed to deliver presents!

 

 

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