Category: Community Groups
CARERS WALK JULY 2023
WOMEN’S INSTITUTE AUGUST 2023
WOMEN’S INSTITUTE AUGUST 2023
Wenvoe WI completed their year’s monthly meetings tonight in style, with a cream tea. The Speaker was Mrs Vivian Turan from St Nicholas, an antiques enthusiast. Mrs Turan brought along a dozen antiques of various kinds, from china cups to a mundane picture hook, as well as two boxed Dinkie toys and a Royal Doulton figurine. Our members’ tasks were to asses them, date them and price each article, while Mrs Turan regaled us with tales surrounding each item.
Although tonight’s meeting is the final meeting of the WI year, we have decided to hold two informal meetings through the Summer so members can stay in touch. The first is a members lunch in the Walston Castle on 18th July. The second meeting is an open Coffee morning in the Church Hall at 10 am on 15th August to which any ‘tasters’ / prospective members are welcome.
This year marks the centenary of the Glamorgan Federation of Women’s Institutes, and on 4th July, Wenvoe WI held a Garden Party at the home of a member, Mrs Judy Marsh, as phase one of our commemorating that event. Phase two will comprise members planting 100 daffodil bulbs in the grounds of Wenvoe Church in late September.
Wenvoe WI meets regularly at 7.00pm in the Church Hall on the first Thursday of each month, beginning a new year on 7th September, when we shall be holding ‘Floral Evening’, courtesy of ‘Daisy Chain’ from Sully.
New members and ‘tasters’ are always most welcome.
Jan Young (President)
CARERS STROLL
WOMEN’S INSTITUTE
WOMEN’S INSTITUTE
Wenvoe WI met on June 1st, as usual in the local Church Hall .
Our speaker was Mr Terry Ewington from Coastal Watch. Mr Ewington delivered a lively, informative talk about the role of Nells’ Point Coastal Watch station in Barry, describing in detail the history of the station against the background of the role of Coastal Watch UK. The station at Nell’s Point provides a vital service in maintaining coastal safety, given that the Bristol Channel experiences the second highest tidal rise in the world.
Our next and last formal meeting before the Summer break in August, will be held in the Church hall at 7pm on 6th July, when Mrs Viv Turan , an experienced globetrotter, will entertain and regale us with one of her adventures. On that occasion we shall enjoy a Cream tea together, to round off the year.
We have a busy programme to conclude the Summer : an afternoon tea at the Beech tree on 16th June, a Garden Party to celebrate the centenary of the Glamorgan Federation of WIs on 4th July, as well as a lunch at the Walston Castle and a coffee morning in the Hub (dates to be decided).
New members are always most welcome at our events .
Jan Young ( President)
FOOTSTEPS
FOOTSTEPS
Clydach Vale
Clydach Vale is a village adjoining Tonypandy in the
Rhondda valley. It is named after Nant Clydach, a
tributary of the river Rhondda.
It was a warm day and we were planning to walk in
the woodland surrounding the Clydach Vale Country
Park, which has been created in the old mining area.
There are low level footpaths and two lakes to
explore, on Saturday morning it was very popular.
We parked and set off along the
shore of a lake which had a good
number of waterfowl swimming
around and one chunky bodied
one with a red wattled face, but I
have no idea what it was. As we
moved along the shore, we could
see a cafe with outside seats
perched on the edge of the lake
and started planning our
refreshments after the walk.
At the end of the lake, we
moved onto a footpath leading
into the woods, leaving the bustle of the lake area
behind. And yes, as planned we had the shade of the
trees, with occasional breaks in the shrubbery
allowing us to see the village spread out below us.
Yellow gorse bushes shone across the area and even
one yellow rhododendron. It was not long before we
found that the footpaths we expected were gone and
replaced by wide gravel paths. These had been
created as wind turbines have been put at the top of
the hill and we were now walking the access roads.
Trees had been felled in the process so we no longer
had shade but one advantage was that we had
extensive views across the valley.
Arriving at a trig point we found a huge cairn, about
6ft high, next to it. At first, we thought it might have
been built as an animal shelter but there were no
obvious openings. We stood here a while and looked
at the vast number of turbines
and were very pleased to note
that they were turning even if
it was with reduced output due
to the light wind speed! We
were walking along Mynydd
William Meyrick, a hill
straddling the boundary
between Bridgend and
Rhondda Fawr. To the west
was open moorland whilst the
area we were walking was
mostly woodland but with
views.
Behind us we spotted Tylorstown tip in the distance,
a wedge of a hill which is easily identified. In
February 2020, after several other winter storms,
Storm Dennis precipitated a landslip on the
Llanwonno side of the tip. This blocked the river
valley, broke a foul sewer, covered a strategic water
main in several metres of debris, and covered a
footpath and cycle path. The area was closed to members of the public to ensure safety
immediately. The hillside has been
reinforced and new footpaths and cycle
paths created, and new receptor sites created to
reduce the impact should further storms hit
Tylorstown.
We headed into the shade of fir trees for a lunch
break and were soon surrounded by insects, so most
of us retreated to the edge of the path. When we
resumed we were walking past
tall firs with bare trunks for
most of their height. The lower
branches obviously dropped
when they were surrounded by
other trees but the creation of
the roadway for the wind
turbines had taken out the
protecting trees on the edge of
the wood.
We turned back down the valley,
losing height quite quickly and
as we dropped lower the
temperature rose. We spotted a rose and a
chaenomeles (Japanese flowering quince) but the
skies had been very quiet all day, apart from one
buzzard the only birds we had seen were at the lake.
Now approaching Clydach Vale again we could see
below us a sports field. Someone said that this was
where handball was invented. A little research has
revealed that the native games developed in Wales
share a Celtic heritage with sports in Cornwall,
Scotland and Ireland. A number of sports are
recorded, including variations of ‘village football’,
‘bat and ball’, and ‘hand ball’ games. The most
prominent native sports to survive into modern
Welsh history are Cnapan, Bando and Pel-Llaw.
Welsh handball, more commonly known as ‘Pel-
Llaw’, is related to Irish handball, Fives, Basque
pelota and later American
handball and has been
continually played since the
Middle Ages. The sport’s
popularity offered ordinary
people opportunities through
prize- money, bookkeeping
and even player
professionalism. Pel-Llaw
has been described as ‘Wales
first national sport’.
At the end of the walk we
went to the cafe on the lake
for tea/ beer/ ice cream and
enjoyed a well earned rest. There is a large display
board with a map of Rhondda showing all the
mining tunnels underground, a fascinating picture
which makes you realise that the Rhondda is like a
huge sieve and there is a tunnel below you almost
wherever you go.Walk 7m 1100ft Map OS166
[Footsteps walk routes and map are available by
contacting the editors]
“Go Set A Watchman” by Harper Lee
“Go Set A Watchman” by Harper Lee
Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee
Harper Lee wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning novel
To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960 which became a
classic of modern American literature and went onto
become an iconic film starring Gregory Peck.
Following its publication, Harper Lee was subjected
to a whirlwind of publicity tours which she found
difficult. It remained her only published work until
2015.
Lee is reported to have said in 2011 that there were
two reasons that she never wrote again; “One, I
wouldn’t go through the pressure and publicity I
went through with To Kill a Mockingbird for any
amount of money. Second, I have said what I
wanted to say and I will not say it again.” She died
in 2016.
To Kill A Mocking Bird remained her only
published work until Go Set a Watchman was published in 2015. It is understood that
she didn’t want the book to be published.
It was therefore with interest that the Page Turners
group read Go Set a Watchman. The book contains
versions of many characters from To Kill a
Mockingbird although it is set some years in the
future when Scout is a young adult and returns to her
childhood home town. The book was completed in
1957, although it has been published as a separate
piece of work.
Nearly all members of the group were very
disappointed in the book feeling that it was very
much a first draft and was a series of disjointed
thoughts and ideas. It was difficult to read it as a
stand alone book without comparing it with To Kill
a Mockingbird.
The book received an overall score of 4.
LIVING WITH CANCER STROLLERS
Is it a bird? or a plane? or a squirrel? or the sun? You will never know, because you weren’t with us on the living with cancer strollers at Cosmeston. Such a lovely, sunny walk…and lots of things to see!!WENVOE FORUM Considering Tomorrow, Today
WENVOE FORUM
Preserving Summer Holidays
In 1880 education was made compulsory for children up to the age of 10 and the rhythm of the seasons, already drifting away from an agricultural pattern, began to be dominated by the school year, the Christmas concert, Exams in May/June and the long summer holiday. The long summer break was set originally to accommodate agricultural need for extra labour, frequently crop picking, and were often quite different times in different parts of the country according to local agricultural practice. For example families from the East End of London went “Hopping down in Kent” right up to the 1950’s. A working holiday for the whole family in the fields away from the pollution of London was the only holiday many were likely to have. Over the years there has been greater consistency and several suggestions of changing the school year to avoid having a long summer holiday but still the echo of the agricultural rhythm persists. In the adult world many activities like clubs, reading groups, and classes that are not tied to the school holiday in any way close down for the end of July and August anyway, so there may be a little longer in your time schedule to consider some new activity.
Here then is something for you to consider doing “over the summer”, by yourself, with friends, as a family or with grand children, whatever suits. Linking to the seasonal schedule of crop picking, one of the activities for summer and into autumn is to preserve any excess crops that you may have in your garden. Or you may wish to take advantage of the cheaper prices when fruit, vegetables or herbs are in season. We will ignore freezing and focus on other preservation methods that may be considered more environmentally sound. Long before refrigeration and freezing were available to the average citizen, fruit and vegetables were preserved through drying, using sugar, salt, vinegar or oil, through fermentation, by making particular preservation products e.g. jam, chutney etc and preserving in alcohol. Below are some examples that you might try.
Drying Herbs
Herbs are best picked in fine weather and early in the morning before any of the oils have started to evaporate. Herbs have a better flavour earlier in the season, before flowering, but it is not too late in summer. Tie small bunches of herbs with cotton or thread, wash them gently in cold water and dry off with kitchen roll. Hang them to dry in the house out of sunlight, or in a shed or garage (not the greenhouse). They may take a couple of weeks. Check each bunch is sufficiently dry. Store in an airproof container.
Salting Roasted Garlic
Set oven for 200C, using 8 cloves of Garlic and 300 gms sea salt
Peel the garlic and whizz it in the food processor., add salt and whizz again until mixed.
Pour/spread the mixture on an oven tray and bake for 10 mins, whizz and store in an airproof container.
Preserving fruit in Alcohol
Use a good quality but not highly flavoured Gin or Vodka and choose either a single fruit or a mixture of fruits. Cut up any larger fruits so that all chunks are a similar size, berries work well. A large ceramic jar with a lid is ideal, a glass jar is fine but cover it to keep out the light.
Fill the jar with fruit and pour in the alcohol to cover the fruit. Replace the lid and keep in a cool dark place for a minimum of 4 weeks shaking gently every now and then. When the taste is to your satisfaction strain out the fruit, bottle the alcohol and eat the fruit or use it in a suitable recipe within a few days. The alcohol of course will keep for some time, in some households!
Look out for information on drying apples in September.
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OFF THE SHELF
OFF THE SHELF
Hadji Murat by Leo Tolstoy
This is the last book that Tolstoy wrote before his death, and it was posthumously printed. It is well regarded as a truly classic read but for our reading group it proved to be a ‘Marmite book’. A few found it not to their reading taste.
Those loving the book felt it a sad, intense, and beautifully written account of man’s struggle to come to terms with the psychological feelings during a war. Tolstoy was himself enlisted into the Russian army in 1851 and left for Caucasus to fight the Chechens. He witnessed many events leading to the death of this charismatic leader Hadji Murat, so the book is a partially fictionalized story. Tolstoy wrote with painstaking accuracy so future generations can come to understand the horror, nobility and destruction which inherently comes with war.
Hadji Murat was a great chieftain who broke with the Chechen leader Shamil and fled to Russia for safety. The book shows his struggle of this uneasy alliance with the Russian leaders and the difficulty Hadji Murat faced in trying to rescue his family from Shamil’s prison. His continual pursuit by those he betrayed was nuanced through the work and the shadows of danger was subtlety woven through the book. Unfortunately, we were never clear why Hadji Murat had fallen out with the Chechen leader, but he commanded respect from those in Russia who tried to support his cause and use him to deliver peace.
For those of us who loved the book it was considered an unforgettable and artfully written story. For those who struggled on, they were pleased it was a slim read.
We gave it 8 out of 10.
Isobel Davies