Category: Community Groups

Seven Good Reads

 

This month, we each reviewed a book of our own choice that we had enjoyed.

‘The tattooist of Auschwitz’ by Heather Morris.

This book is based on the real life of Lale Sokkolov a survivor of Auschwitz, interviewed by Heather Morris. It is the love story of Lale and Gita, who met in the concentration camp. Lale’s role as a tattooist gave him a little more freedom, enabling him to exchange jewellery and cash from murdered prisoners, for food.

‘Tombland’ by C.J. Sansom

(Also reviewed by ‘Off the Shelf’ last month) This is the 7th in the Shardlake series of historical mystery novels. In 1549 Shardlake is requested by Princess Elizabeth, to investigate a murder. He travels to Norwich and becomes embroiled in the peasant rebellion. “Historical fiction at its best.”

‘Normal people’ by Sally Rooney.

Follows the see-saw relationship between Marianne and Connell living in Dublin. The balance of their relationship alters as Marianne transforms from a skinny, anxious girl to become a popular student at Trinity, while Connell gives up football after being a star. “Couldn’t put it down.”

‘Tip of my tongue’ by Trezza Azzopardi.

Set in 70’s Cardiff, it is one of a series of books retelling fables from the Mabinogion. ’Geraint, son of Erbin’ is retold, seen through the eyes of Enid, a nine year old girl from Splott. She goes to live with rich relatives in Devon when her mother dies and her father sinks into depression. “The relationship between Enid and Geraint (her cousin), is thought provoking and well written.”

‘Painted girls’ by Cathy Marie Buchanan.

In the late 1800’s in Paris, after the death of their father causing their mother to turn to drink, the Van Goethem sisters need to earn money. Antoinette, the eldest, finds work as a stage extra, while her sister Marie goes to the Paris Opera to train as a ballet dancer. Marie becomes a model for the painter Edgar Degas. The book links in historical newspaper reports from that time. A very good read.

‘Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine’ by Gail Honeyman.

Eleanor aged 30, rarely says a word at work not related to her job. At weekends, she does not speak to anyone from Friday night till Monday. Then she meets someone who connects with her. The plot has a clever twist at the end. An excellent book that draws you right in. Other members of the group who had read the book, agreed it was very enjoyable.

‘One good turn’ by Kate Atkinson.

Jackson Brodie, a retired detective, in Edinburgh to support his girlfriend Julia, who is performing in the fringe. Jackson witnesses a violent road rage incident. With dark humour, the book then introduces a series of distinctive characters, who slowly become linked to this

 

 

Tuesdays After The Christmas Break

After our Christmas break we resumed our meetings with a social evening. This gave members a chance to catch up and enjoy an evening together. Thank you to Betty for providing a quiz and to everyone who generously donated to our Bring & Buy table.

Our next meeting was a talk by Lyn Howell about the charity LATCH. This charity was set up in 1982 in Llandough Hospital and although the acronym Landough Aims to Treat Children with cancer with Hope is not as appropriate as it was the charity still carries on the fantastic job of supporting children and their families who are being treated by the Oncology Unit at The Children’s Hospital of Wales.

Latch famously provided accommodation for families at Llandough so that families could stay together during their child’s stay in hospital. In 1992 this was relocated to the children’s unit at UHW.

As well as this support for parents Latch also provides essential equipment such as CT Scanners. Other services provided are Social Workers who can provide practical, emotional and financial support to families at a very difficult time.

In order to provide its comprehensive range of services Latch needs some £700,000 per annum to cover the cost of supporting families. This charity has no paid fundraisers and they rely heavily on the hard work of volunteers and are very proud of the fact that they have one of the lowest management expenses for a charity in the whole of the UK.

One of the most recent innovations was the installation of a patient controlled interactive lighting system. This has enabled children to have scans without an anesthetic as they can control various display screens to watch while in the scanner and this serves to relax them and so makes a frightening procedure more acceptable.

Lyn spoke from the heart when telling us about the work of the charity as his daughter died from leukaemia at a very early age. We were shown a series of photos of her before and after treatment and I don’t think there was a dry face in the audience. It

is through the work of this local charity that survival rates for childhood leukaemias are improving all the time and although there are so many charities out there that need our support this local charity should get support

 

 

THE SECRET PLACE by Tana French

 

THE SECRET PLACE by Tana French

This book is fifth in the Dublin Murder Squad series and although some of the characters can be found in previous novels, it can be read as a stand alone.

Following the unsuccessful investigation into the murder of a teenage boy, Chris Harper, in the grounds of St.Kilda’s School for Girls on the outskirts of Dublin, a year later a note is posted on the “Secret Place”, a bulletin board in St. Kilda’s. The note shows a photo of Chris together with the words “I know who killed him”.

Holly Mackey, one of the boarders at St.Kilda’s, finds the note and takes it to Stephen Moran, an ambitious young detective on the Cold Case Squad. Eager to further his career, Moran proceeds to work with Antoinette Conway, the detective originally assigned to this murder case.

The investigation centres on two groups of girls at St.Kilda’s and their rivalry, quarrels and jealousies in the claustrophobic atmosphere of the boarding school.

Once again the Page Turners had varying views on this novel. Some found it too long, boring, tedious and naive, with an overuse of adjectives. The characters were described as being in no way memorable with the ending running out of steam. However, others really enjoyed the book and thought it a good murder mystery, with the characters of the girls in the two groups particularly well drawn. The interaction of the two detectives was interesting and the portrayal of the young girls going through adolescence and on the cusp of young womanhood was at times electrical.

One of the Page Turners listened to the novel on audio books. It was narrated with an Irish accent and she described the whole experience as “thoroughly enjoyable”.

The scores out of 10 ranged from 4 to 9 resulting in an average of 6.

This was our first meeting of 2019 and a warm welcome was given to a new member of the Page Turners.

 

 

Cwm Clydach and The Swansea Canal

On a sunny morning in late October, we parked in Clydach and we walked east along the Swansea canal, with reflections of trees in its still waters.

The canal was built to serve collieries, iron works and copper works in the Tawe valley. The first section opened in 1796; its final length was 16½ miles and included 5 aqueducts to carry the canal across the river Tawe, at Pontardawe, Ynysmeudwy, Ystralyfera and Cwmgiedd. One section, the Trewyddfa canal, was privately owned by the Duke of Beaufort who charged a toll.

We passed the heritage centre in Coed Gwilym Park, where metallic outlines of three figures stand. The towpath is easy walking and we soon found another ‘sculpture’, a bicycle marooned on top of a tall tree trunk (the towpath is a cycle trail). A little later we spotted a rhododendron bush in full flower.

The river Tawe soon came into view and we walked a short distance between the river and canal. We crossed a bridge and after following the canal for a while, headed uphill away from Trebanog towards Gellionen. A flock of handsome goats in a field next to the footpath were very friendly coming up to the fence and standing on their hind legs to eye us up whilst another (the nanny?) stood/sat on a nearby picnic table.

As we continued we enjoyed extensive views of Swansea Bay with thick fluffy white clouds on the distant horizon. At Gellionen there is a chapel ‘for the use of the society of protestant dissenters’. It was erected in 1692 and rebuilt in 1801 when an ancient carved stone, part of a Celtic cross (from 8th century Llan Eithrim church), was set into an outside wall. The stone is now in Swansea museum. As we left the chapel we went through a gate with a sign which said ‘Welcome – Croeso please take care of this stunning place’.

We continued northwest crossing moorland and passed close to (but didn’t see as although only 50 yards from the footpath it is a difficult place to find) Carn Llechart. Believed to be about 3500 years old, it is one of the finest examples of a stone ring cairn or burial chamber in Wales. It has 25 low stones set close together and leaning outwards with a shattered stone lined cist (coffin) towards the centre.

 

Now we headed west and downhill alongside a stream towards the Lower Clydach River. We entered woodland which was shaded and cool. At the river we scrambled across rocks or sat on grassy hummocks to find a spot to relax and eat our lunch.

Cwm Clydach RSPB Reserve established in 1987 is mixed broadleaf woodland with a wide variety of bird species present all year. These include Buzzard, Red Kite, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Tree Creeper, Bull finch Dipper and Grey Wagtail. Otters have returned to the river, a sign of how much cleaner it is.

Until 1962 much of Cwm Clydach was a working coal mining valley. The largest colliery was opened in 1863, known locally as ‘Nixons’ it was one of the main employers. It produced 115,000 tons of saleable coal a year. It was a rock top colliery but as it was virtually gas free, the boilers to raise the haulage engines were underground, as was a blacksmith’s shop, which was rare in a colliery.

The path through Cwm Clydach was covered in warm brown leaves and the sun shone through the trees which had dropped most of their leaves. We passed the remains of many abandoned buildings, some with streams tumbling over them – a reminder of the area’s industrial past. We passed the village of Craig-Cefn-Parc. Its name is thought to mean rocks behind the enclosure. Craig probably refers to small quarries that were in the area. Cefn Parc (meaning at the back of the enclosure) is the name of an old farm at the top of the village – its name suggests that it was at the edge of a Manorial Lord’s enclosure. Even now it is the last farm before you reach the open common.

We continued along the river through housing and passed a large weir. Walking over a bridge over the river we could see the lower Clydach Aqueduct where the canal joins the lower Clydach River and the River Tawe. Now we were back alongside the canal and returned to our cars, passing signs of the restoration work which the Swansea Canal Society are undertaking.

Our walk was 7.7 miles in length with 700ft of ascent. OS Map 165.

 

 

Walking Off Christmas Excesses

There was a great turnout for the first strollers meeting of 2019. Two year olds mixed with “slightly” more elderly walkers as all sought to walk off the Christmas excesses. Christmas bobble hat gifts were in abundance, but all agreed that Pam’s bobble outdid the rest! The walk circumnavigated the entire park and was the longest the group had attempted. But with plenty of opportunities to admire the scenery, rest and chat, the walkers easily completed the challenge.

A recent article in the i newspaper celebrated the walking achievements of an octogenarian from Edinburgh. Jim Snodgrass was prescribed regular walks by his doctor to improve his health. He had a series of serious health problems including cancer, hearing loss and a heart by pass, but after taking his doctor’s advice to walk, he racked up more than 1000 miles in less than a year! He said, ” one friend told me that I am the only person she knows who gets younger every year.”

So….the living with cancer strollers group can’t promise you an everlasting youthful appearance, or a 1000 mile count on your step watch, but it can offer a friendly walk with a sociable group in a wonderful lakeside location.

Make it your 2019 resolution to join us for a stroll, on the first Thursday of the month at 10:30, at Cosmeston Information Centre.

 

 

First Meeting Report

President Madeleine welcomed us to our first meeting of 2019, wishing everyone a healthy and peaceful year ahead. We were all sorry to hear that Mair and Pat were in hospital and hoped they would both be returning to good health and home soon.

Our speaker on this occasion was Julia Wylie. After teaching in Hong Kong, Canada and the Philippines, Julia has brought her love of yoga to Wenvoe. She gave a very informative and interesting talk and then it was our turn! We had a wonderful time as Julia showed us lots of different ways of performing yoga sitting in a chair. Everyone really enjoyed the time Julia spent with us. It was a great way to start a new year!

After refreshments we proceeded with WI business. Madeleine thanked all those who donated mince pies for the carol service, Pam for reading on our behalf and Janet for playing the church organ. We are extremely grateful to Rev John Ormrod for planning and leading the WI Link Carol Service at St Mary’s. It was a very special occasion as it was the first time our Banner had been at a church service. Each member present voted for one of the six Resolutions with the most votes going to “A Call Against the Decline in Local Bus Services”.

Our February meeting will be at 7pm on Thursday, 7th February at Wenvoe Church Hall. The speaker will be our very own Janet Young who will be recalling what it was like “From the Other Side of the Desk” – stories from that wonderful world of teaching. Visitors can be assured of a warm welcome and there is no charge

 

 

Advice From Action Fraud

Action Fraud has received more than 5,000 reports about fake emails and texts purporting to be from TV Licensing. The messages contain links to genuine-looking websites that are designed to steal personal and financial information.

Always question unsolicited requests for your personal or financial information in case it’s a scam. Never automatically click on a link in an unexpected email or text.

For more information about how to stay safe online, visit cyberaware.gov.uk

Action Fraud has also experienced an increase in the reporting of malicious calls, voicemails, text messages or emails to members of the public purporting to be from HMRC. (HM Revenue and Customs)

The fraudsters state that as a result of their non-payment of tax or other duty, the victim is liable to prosecution or other legal proceedings such as repossession of belongings to settle the balance but can avoid this by arranging for payment to be made immediately by method such as bank transfer or by iTunes gift cards.

If the victim is hesitant or refuses to comply, the suspect makes a threat such as immediate arrest, bailiffs or in cases where the victim appears to be of overseas origin, deportation.

Often, the period for which the tax is allegedly due is distant enough to guarantee the victim will have little, if any, paperwork or ability to verify the claims. Once the money is paid the suspects sever all contact.

It is vital that the public exercise caution when receiving messages or telephone calls of this nature.

What you need to do:- Always question unsolicited requests for your personal or financial information. Just because someone knows your basic details (such as your name and contact details), it doesn’t mean they are genuine. Instead, contact the company directly using trusted methods such as a known email address or phone number.

Listen to your instincts. If something feels wrong then it is usually right to question it. No genuine organisation will ask you to pay taxes, bills or fees using iTunes Gift Cards, or any other type of voucher.

Don’t be rushed or pressured into making a decision. Under no circumstances would a genuine bank or some other trusted organisation force you to make a financial transaction on the spot.

Report Phishing attempts. If you receive a call, text or email of this nature and have not lost money, report this as a phishing attempt to Action Fraud.

 

 

Pobol y Cwm

The BBC recently used the Wenvoe Community Centre to film scenes for the Welsh language series Pobol y Cwm.

These scenes will be screened on Monday, February 11th at 7.30pm, and also on Sunday on the Omnibus edition (all 5 episodes) of the week, it normally starts at around 5.00pm but the omnibus time can change

 

 

 

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