Category: Community Groups
July Meeting Report
July Meeting Report
President Madeleine welcomed everyone to the meeting, especially Shirley, who has been unable to join us for some time due to ill health. We were delighted to see her again and spend time with her.
Our speaker Viv Truran, has been a visiting speaker at Wenvoe WI for many years and it was good to have her back. We all thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the stories and facts behind a selection of items that Viv passed around for us to see. They included a Vaseline Glass Vase (which was quite valuable), Victorian postcards of local landmarks and a beautiful handmade purse/small bag displaying hundreds of tiny beads, all sewn on by hand. We are looking forward to Viv’s visit next year to see what treasures she will be sharing with us then.
We all enjoyed strawberries and cream and then moved on to WI business. Members were thanked for their contributions towards the success of our recent Charity Tea. At our October meeting we shall be giving a generous contribution to the Breast Centre at Llandough Hospital.
Names were collected for Wenvoe Garden Centre on 10th July to celebrate Gloria’s special Big Birthday and final arrangements were put in place for our trip to Radyr Garden Village on 22nd July.
Our next meeting will be on Thursday 5th September (there is no meeting in August). We will be collecting names and payment for our Fish and Chip Supper in November. September’s speaker will be Abi Reader who will be giving us an insight into ‘Cows on Tour’. Any visitors can be assured of a warm welcome and there is no charge.
National Meadows Day
National Meadows Day
National Meadows Day is an annual celebration of wildflower meadows across the UK. The event takes place on or around the first Saturday of July every year. National Meadows Day events are helping to raise awareness of the importance of meadow conservation of a fast disappearing habitat.
The Living with Cancer July Stroll coincided with this special day and the strollers felt fortunate to be walking under bright blue, cloudless skies amongst a huge range of wildflowers, insects and grasses. Cosmeston has an abundance of wildflowers and Tess and Helen did a great job naming a selection including knapweed, orchids, oxeye daisies and cow parsley.
The strollers were also treated to the sight of a grey cygnet with its proud mother.
We are lucky to have Cosmeston on our doorstep with its myriad of paths. It’s different every time the strollers go there! You’re welcome to join us: the first Thursday of every month at 10:30am.
‘Under A Pole Star’. by Stef Penney
‘Under A Pole Star’. by Stef Penney
This book is centred around the two main characters, Flora Mackie and Jakob de Beyn.
We are first introduced to Flora, an elderly explorer known as the Ice Queen, as she prepares to return to Greenland in the year 1948. A reporter, accompanying the group, questions her about the fate of de Beyn and his companion Armitage, both of whom had disappeared during an Arctic expedition in the 1890s.
The story then follows the early lives of Flora and Jakob in the late 1800s. From the age of 12 years, Flora accompanies her father, a widowed Captain of a whaling ship, on his fishing expeditions to the Arctic. She is fascinated with the polar regions and its indigenous inhabitants, the Inuits. From the age of 18 years, at a time when it was difficult for a woman to achieve a good education or career, she studied Meteorology and was determined to lead her own exploration to the North. Jakob meanwhile, having been raised by his brother in New York, studies Geology and follows his ambition to become an Arctic pioneer.
It is during the ensuing expeditions that their paths cross.
The group agreed that the expectations for this book had been high with the promise of adventure, historical interest and romance in the early chapters. We loved the descriptive and expressive prose which brought to life the glaciers, the skies and the hardships experienced by the Inuits on a daily basis and the explorers during their expeditions. It had obviously been well researched and many of the Page Turners had read ‘The Tenderness of Wolves’ a previously successful novel by this author.
However, despite an interesting start and even though it was necessary to read of the personal relationships, emotions, passions and power struggles to set the scene of the protagonists, the Page Turners agreed that the storylines became too verbose and confusing and it was difficult to relate to some of the characters. The romantic encounters between Flora and Jakob were far too frequent and graphic. The storyline petered out and the question of the fate of de Beyn and Armitage was inconclusive.
The Page Turners agreed it is not a novel we would recommend. The overall score was 5 out of 10.
Carers Walk
THURSDAY CARERS WALK
As a summer heatwave descended over Europe, the carers walkers met at Barry Island in similarly scorching heat. Hats, suntan lotion and bottles of water at the ready, the group set off. Jackson’s Bay was the first stop and an almost empty beach looked as beautiful as any beach on any Mediterranean coastline. We are lucky to live in this part of the world.
The group for this walk was small. That is the nature of carers’ commitments. Caring can be a lonely job and plans have to be unmade to fit in with the needs of the person who is being cared for. The Carers Walk is for carers, when the time and situation is right. The walk doesn’t have to be a monthly commitment. If you care for someone and want a short walk, in good company, join us at Barry Island train station on the last Thursday of every month at 10:30am.
Castell Carreg Cennin
Castell Carreg Cennin
Our destination was near Llandeilo so after a long drive we arrived at Castell Carreg Cennin and were soon booted up and on our way. We set off uphill, as usual, noting that a large barn had been converted into a tearoom and shop where we could get a drink later.
Then we caught sight of the imposing ruins of Carreg Cennin Castle. In the 1960s Carreg Cennen Castle was acquired by the Morris family of Castell Farm, when a legal mistake included the castle as part of the farm. Today the castle remains privately owned but is maintained by Cadw. Our walk was to be a circular route around the castle.
The ruins sit on top of a dramatic limestone crag, towering 300ft above the surrounding landscape. The steep slopes and cliffs made it easy to defend and there is evidence that it may have been occupied in the Iron Age and later by the Romans. It is believed that the first castle was built in the 12th century when Lord Rhys, Welsh Prince established a stronghold and administrative centre for Is-cennen. Over the next 100 years it was fought over and changed hands a number of times, until it was seized by the English King Edward I in 1277. Under Edward’s control the castle was demolished and replaced by the impressive fortress that remains today. The castle remained in English hands but fell temporarily to the Welsh during Owain Glyndwr’s uprising in 1403. Eventually, to prevent it becoming a base for local robbers, 500 men were paid a total of £28.5s.6d. (approximately £28.27) to demolish the castle in 1462. There is a natural cave beneath the castle, which leads deep into the hillside. A freshwater spring rises in the cave, which would have been a useful supplement when rainfall was low.
The steep sides of the crag have helped to defend the site for nature. Inaccessible cliff edges provide nesting sites for birds and safe havens for rare plants. The steep southern edges are cloaked in the trees of Coed y Castell, home to Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Pied Flycatcher and others. Due to a geological fault two different rocks are exposed here – Limestone and Sandstone giving rise to distinct habitats within the woods. Limestone supports Ash trees (as we know in Wenvoe!) whilst Oaks prefer sandstone. The wood is now a local Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest.
As we began our circumnavigation of the ruin we couldn’t help but be awed at the sight of the castle high above us. It was a warm and cloudy day as we walked towards the river Cennen and then up quite a steep slope to open countryside. Pillow mounds are marked on the map here and we debated which of the hillocks they were. Curiously as we walked the castle seemed to move; at one moment it would be to the right, then to the left and back to the right again but of course it was us that were taking a meandering route around it. 
We came to the source of the river Loughor and followed the stream back to the River Cennen. A good bridge was provided over the river but one or two members of our group took the option of the ford. Humidity was higher near the water and we were happy to emerge into open countryside again.
Lunch was enjoyed on a grassy slope above running water. We passed the village of Trapp and shortly after passing Carreg Cennen farm took the decision to take a footpath east cutting out a section of the walk as we were taking longer than usual. Approaching the castle from the northwest it was fronted by the patchwork fields of a farm complete with newly shorn sheep. The hay had been cut and bales were scattered across a couple of fields. We walked through some beautiful grassland during the day with lots of different species of grass. We spotted a couple of unusual plants: in a stream a cress like plant with small blue flowers – brookline, Veronica becabunga, and a small yellow flower – ribbed melilot in grass at the side of the path. The hedges were full of Brambles, Honeysuckle and Meadowsweet.
Walk 5.6 miles 1200ft climb. Maps 186 & OL14
The Cuckoo’s Calling
The Cuckoo’s Calling
This month’s book was Robert Galbraith’s ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’. This is the first of the Strike detective series written under a pseudonym by J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. Rowling’s identity was leaked before the televised series of her third book was launched.
Cormoran Strike is a war veteran whose injuries resulted in the amputation of a leg. After a period of convalescence, Strike opens a London-based private detective agency on borrowed money. Strike’s story opens with his break-up from his glamorous but disturbed girlfriend and we find him camping out in his office. Robin Ellacott is sent by a secretarial agency to work for Strike and her initiative helps him solve the murder of a supermodel who plunged to her death from her balcony. Despite Strike’s financial difficulties, Robin proves her worth and her position is made permanent.
As with the Potter books, Galbraith’s vibrant attention to detail gives readers a vivid description of the characters and their surroundings. One of our group found this irritating and related that much of the first quarter of the book was distended and longwinded, but thereafter found it to be a page-turner. We all thought that the book was an enjoyable light read and that the protagonist proved to be more than the stereotypical hard-drinking private detective that had fallen on hard times. Galbraith painted a tawdry picture of mostly shallow people and we were all surprised by the choice of crude language which punctuated Strike’s thoughts and conversations. However, this was probably influenced by our knowledge of the identity of the author more than our sensitivity. Overall, we gave the book a score of 7.5 and might take the next book in the series as a holiday read.
Wenvoe Village Show
Have you ever been to a show and thought “mine are as good as that”? Well why not try your hand at entering our Village Show?
Submitting your entries – You must enter only home-grown/home-made produce or items. The fee per entry is 50p for as many categories as you wish to submit.
The Community Centre will be open for entries on the Friday evening before the show between 6:30 and 7:30 and between 08:30 and 10:30 on the morning of the show after which the Community Centre will be cleared for judging.
After the official opening at 12 noon, all remaining home-made goodies may be sampled by the public.
Further information in the library. See schedule page
July Walk Schedule
Sunshine, Orchids And Blue Skies
Sunshine, orchids and blue skies were in abundance on this month’s Living with Cancer stroll in Cosmeston. A happy band of people met at the information centre at Cosmeston and welcomed Alan a new walker.
So what did the strollers think about the walk? I asked them for their thoughts on what they enjoyed about the walk:
“Sun shining. Great walk.”
“A lovely peaceful walk in sunshine and shade. How lucky are we to have Cosmeston on our doorstep?”
“I enjoy the camaraderie.”
“I loved the serenity of our gentle walk today.”
“So many wild flowers to enjoy.”
“The company.”
“Chatting while we walked.”
What a thoroughly positive group….if you want to join us, see you next month on the first Thursday at 10:30am.
