Category: Community Groups
Clytha
Clytha
On a March Day in 2018 we visited Clytha and I opened my write-up of the walk with ‘snow flurries and hills dusted with white’. It was bitterly cold with icy winds which made us pull hats down to our eyebrows and on that day, we trudged through mud and flooded lanes. Four years on and a month earlier, the weather forecast was blustery with showers and heavy rain after 2pm but still relatively mild.
We travelled to the National Trust car park at Clytha Park. Our route, reverse direction to our previous visit, was described as a ‘snowdrop walk’ and we were eager to spot the gorgeous flowers which push up through the earth so early in the year and presage the advance of winter and the coming spring.
Our walk was based on a route from the National Trust website and took us on some permissive paths (allowed by a landowner) which are not shown on OS maps. We set off south, along the river Usk which was fairly full and came to a good strong footbridge, crossing a small stream, but it was tilted at about 10° – very strange. The river Usk is a designated SSSI, and a special Area of Conservation well known for salmon and trout. Otters, dippers, sand martins, kingfishers and bats live in or near this stretch of the river.
We were pleased to find our first snowdrops, a small clump on the bank of the river. Soon we found a mat of white snowdrops in the undergrowth and a spread of bright blue and pink flowers of lungwort (pulmonaria) glowing in the shade. Lungwort is named after the white splodges on some leaves which resemble diseased appearance of the lungs. It is used by herbalists to treat coughs and bronchitis and can also be used as an astringent. Nearby were tight clumps of pink flowers on bare branches of viburnum. All cheering us on a grey winter’s day, especially when we found a carpet of snowdrops under a hedge which covered about 20ft.
A long line of mole hills would suggest a good population of moles here but who knows as… ‘Mole activity is usually greatest in late winter and early spring and moles are very territorial and in many cases the mole hills seen in a garden are the activity of just one individual. ‘
Leaving the river, we followed the road to Bettws Newydd. A small village which boasts a Grade II listed, stone well ‘Erected by those who love him, to the memory of William Richard Stretton of Brynderwyn, who died 24th March 1868’. The 17th century, Black Bear Inn emanated enticing smells of bacon cooking – willpower and the threat of rain later kept us walking.
Pretty black faced sheep stood framed by the outlines of the Blorenge, Sugarloaf and Skirrid on the distant horizon, clear at the beginning of the walk but now wreathed in dark black clouds and probably heavy rain.
Coed y Bwnydd beckoned us in. It was presented to the NT by Captain Geoffrey Crawshay in memory of Sgt R.A. Owens, RAF who died aged 21 in World War II. Snowdrops carpeted the whole of the wood, breath-taking! Later in the year you can see bluebells and orchids. We climbed to a hillfort; where human involvement goes back over 2000 years and sat on a tree trunk to enjoy a well-earned lunch.
Now we were on the final stretch. We passed Clytha castle, an C18th folly, in the care of the Landmark trust and available to rent, and the Clytha Arms. It started to rain but we voted to complete the walk rather than dash for the cars which were close by. We skirted Chapel Farm with the remains of Capel Aeddan, a chapel dedicated to St Aythean, thought to be founded in C12th. All that survives is an L-shaped wall footing but we couldn’t spot it. The stone may have been used on Chapel Farm, where a substantial C17th house with stone-mullion windows was added to a C16th stone house with upper crucks.
We went down into woods where one of us was inspired to give us a short excerpt from Hamlet! Then a short walk along Clawdd Brook and we re-joined the river Usk espying a red kite soaring above us and a buzzard being mobbed by crows.
Trees had provided colour all day. Early, yellow, hazel catkins could be spotted hanging and
blowing in the breeze. Birch skeletons stood with drooping branches covered in pink/ purple buds. And most notable, large clumps of Mistletoe had been a constant companion sitting high up in many of the trees. It grows in hawthorn, poplar, and lime as well as the apple trees with which most people associate it.
A lovely walk with excellent views and dry weather until after lunch with sunny spells, how lucky we are! Walk 8.7miles, 900ft. Map OL13
Considering Today and Tomorrow
WENVOE FORUM
Considering Today and Tomorrow
Global gas prices have seen record increases over the last 6 months, with wholesale prices quadrupling in the last year. They are set to rise further, and with the knock-on effect to electricity production, the Ofgem energy price cap is due to increase by £693 from 1 April for around 22m UK customers. This will impact all of us to a greater or lesser extent, and Government is looking at a range of packages to help alleviate the financial situation.
A recent article sparked in me a degree of hope. Oxford scientists announced that they had smashed a previous record for generating fusion energy, hailing it as a ‘milestone’ on the path to cheaper, cleaner power and a cooler planet.
Nuclear fusion is the process that the sun uses to generate heat. By forcing together atomic nuclei, at high speed, energy can be released and used to generate electricity. Operating the power plants of the future based on fusion would produce no greenhouse gases and only very small amounts of short-lived radioactive waste. Proponents believe it could one day help address climate change by providing an abundant, safe and green source of energy.
The team at the Joint European Torus (JET) facility at Oxford generated 59 megajoules of energy for five seconds during an experiment in December, more than doubling a 1997 record according to the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
That is the equivalent energy needed to power 35,000 homes for the same period of time, or boil 60 kettles. The UKAEA claim the results “are the clearest demonstration worldwide of the potential for fusion energy to deliver safe and sustainable low-carbon energy”.
Great news I thought, except that the article went on to say that the practical benefits would not be realised for 20 years, at the earliest, more likely during the second half of the century.
In the slightly nearer-term, wind and solar-power generation is developing along with better insulation projects, heat pumps, hydrogen boilers, energy efficiency schemes and community energy generation, they are expensive but will eventually ease the economic problems and help to address global warming.
So, what can be done to help bridge the gaps in the meantime? Various websites offer a range of energy- (and money) saving tips that can help.
The Which website offers 10 key ways to save on energy bills, see below (with more detailed information on their website). The eco-friendly habits website (also below) offers 37 specific tips for both money-saving and energy conservation, and the
U-switch website (also below) offers a staggering 98 tips. We hope some of these will help.
- Review your energy bills: small savings are available
- Choose energy-efficient appliances
- Add to your insulation
- Consider a new boiler
- Replace light bulbs with low-energy options
- Install / make use of your central heating controls
- Fit draught proofing
- Use less hot water
- Find out if you could get energy efficiency grants or free cash
10.Consider the wider range of quick energy-saving tips
Finally, if you want to be part of the ongoing Forum discussion and help to shape any future schemes for Wenvoe, please get in touch, via gwenfo.forum @gmail.com.
For further reading / information:
https://phys.org/news/2022-02-scientists-britain-fusion-energy.html
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/price-cap-increase-ps693-april
https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/cutting-your-energy-bills/article/how-to-save-on-your-energy-bill/10-ways-to-save-on-energy-bills-aX2RS8b8llMR
https://www.ecofriendlyhabits.com/how-to-conserve-energy/
https://www.uswitch.com/energy-efficiency/free-energy-saving-tips/
In the meantime we’ll be keeping a look out for schemes available in Wales to help those finding energy price increases difficult to manage. We will put information on our Blog site https://wenvoeforum.wordpress.com/
Any Wenvoe community member is welcome to join the Forum meetings, via Zoom, held at 19.00 on the second Thursday of each month. Next meeting 10th March. E-mail gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to come along.
February Book Choices
Snap by Belinda Bauer
On a stifling summer’s day, eleven-year-old Jack and his two sisters sit in their broken-down car, waiting for their mother to come back and rescue them. ‘Jack’s in charge,’ she said. ‘I won’t be long.’
But she doesn’t come back. She never comes back. And life as the children know it is changed for ever.
Three years later, mum-to-be Catherine wakes to find a knife beside her bed, and a note that says: I could have killed you.
Meanwhile Jack is still in charge of his sisters, of supporting them all, of making sure nobody knows they’re alone in the house, and – quite suddenly – of finding out the truth about what happened to his mother.
But the truth can be a dangerous thing …
A taut, suspenseful new novel from award-winning thriller author Belinda Bauer in which a woman being menaced by a knife-wielding home invader is connected to a string of burglaries in a quaint bedroom community, and the brutal murder that left three children motherless three years before.
The group scored an average of 7 for this quirky and well written thriller. Overall, it was described as an easy, enjoyable read.
There were a number of threads which initially some found quite confusing but it was interesting to see how these all came together at the end. Good descriptions of characters and environments in the story although there were also a number of unrealistic situations. A number of the group would recommend it to others to read
Cold Comfort Farm
OFF THE SHELF
Book Review for Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
The plot is simplistic and was written as a comedy about rural life in the 1920s. When it was first published in 1932 it was not without its critics, but it did sell very well. Flora Poste, the main character, was orphaned at 19 when her parents were both carried off by the 1919 Spanish flu epidemic, and she was left penniless. Her only option is to throw herself on the charity of her remote Sussex relatives, the Starkadders who live in Cold Comfort Farm. This desolate and ominous place is full of miserable, brooding, and overpowering characters, where even the animals are all full of gloom. Big Business the dominant bull, reigns over a hopeless herd of Jersey cows, ridiculously named: Graceless, Pointless, Aimless, and Feckless. They do all add to some memorable, comical, and bizarre accounts, such as the references to the cow with three legs, which reminded one group member of the cleverly written Monty Python sketches. Cousin Amos preaching hellfire and damnation to the congregation of the Church of the Quivering Brethren is another such high point in the book.
As the rustic mayhem unfolds, Miss Poste, who is a modern bossy-boots, decides that it’s her mission to bring a “higher common sense” to the lives of her relatives.
There were divided opinions on the book as some felt that there were too many questions left unanswered, the ending was too simplistic and there was a condescending pitch that the Starkadders’ lives needed ‘mending’. Generally, a well-liked book and the group scored it 7 out of 10.
Short walks around Wenvoe
Short walks around Wenvoe
5km (3 miles)
1 Starting at the Church gate. Go up Walston Road and into Clos Llanfair to the end and pass through the kissing gate. Keep straight ahead and turn right when you reach the road. Follow the road around to a footpath between 50 and 51 Burdons Close. The path leads to a stile into a field. Cross the field diagonally heading for the electricity pylon to pass it on your right to a stile beyond and you are now on Burdonshill.
2 Turn right to reach a stony track at the top of the hill. Pass through the kissing gate ahead. You are now on the golf course, keep close to the righthand hedge to reach a footpath post; descend right to a kissing gate (can be muddy here if wet) Turn left to reach a stony track.
3 Turn left going downhill through a gate past the Goldsland Farm Orchard to reach Goldsland Farm. (This is a working farm cattle and machinery are moving around at times, keep to the public path)
4 Turn right and left to pass around the barns and continue along the drive to the junction. Turn left. Follow this road passing through the golf course and the entrance to the club. Continue past the Walled Garden and the Bothy houses to reach the main road. (The road opposite the Bothy will take you back to the top of Burdonshill).
5 Go left past the garage and Style garden centre and either continue to Old Port Road and go left back to the church or take the first turn left into Goldsland Walk and take the footpath in front of No 18 to re-join your outward path at the kissing gate.
February Walk Reports
LIVING WITH CANCER
STROLLERS
Time to Talk day is February 3rd and coincided with the Living with Cancer Strollers at Cosmeston. It’s a day when people are encouraged to talk and to share….the strollers did not need much encouragement. Indeed, as ever, they were cajoled to keep walking, whilst doing all the talking! And what did people talk about: the mud , the start of radiotherapy sessions, the abundance of robins, painful migraines….and the sheer joy of being outside walking ‘n’ talking with good companions. Join us!!
STRESS BUSTERS STROLLERS
Five new walkers joined the first Stress Buster stroll of 2022. The newbies were welcomed into the group and soon found themselves chatting and sharing stories with the oldies…no disrespect meant!! It was a very still, calm sea that the walkers by passed and nobody was tempted to join the cold, very cold, water swimmers at Watchtower Bay…maybe next month!??
Dull, dark, dismal skies
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CARERS WALK
Dull, dark, dismal skies did not dampen the enthusiasm of the walkers on the Carers stroll. 3 new walkers joined the group, and although views across the Channel were lacking, conversation and bonhomie were in plentiful supply!! Italian ice creams at the end of the walk seemed to revive any weary limbs!
Women’s Institute Back In Action
WOMEN’S INSTITUTE
We’re back!
At last, Wenvoe WI members were able to meet as normal in the Church Hall on Thursday Feb 3rd. Many thanks to Carol Wylie for her prompt action and advice.
It was a well-attended occasion, and we held our ‘rummage’ / unwanted Christmas presents sale. One member even brought a ‘simulated’ fur coat along and it was duly auctioned!
On Valentine,s Day afternoon, an informal meeting was held for members in the Wenvoe Arms, and we would like to express our thanks to Jenny and the staff for their welcome and willingness to provide us with a venue during the pandemic.
Our next meeting is on March 3rd, at 7pm in the Church hall, when Debra John from Swansea will address us as ‘an Edwardian maid’, describing the duties and difficulties of such a task.
All new members are ensured of a warm welcome.
Janet Young ( President)
