Category: Community Groups

September Walk

 

Wellies or sandals? Sun hats or bobble hats? T shirts or woolly jumpers?

These were some of the decisions the Living with Cancer Strollers had to wrestle with prior to August's monthly walk, since the weather had been unpredictable in the days before. Luckily, the sun shone, as it always seems to do on the first Thursday of the month!

The strollers welcomed some new members and for this August stroll the group ranged in age from 2 years to 80 years. We are truly inclusive! The two year olds were helped on their way, and did stop off in the park, but everyone else completed the walk around the two lakes.

Some visitors from Cairo encouraged people to remember their holidays in Egypt. Hips, knees, feet and other body parts were also topics of conversation! As you can see in the photos, lots of talking goes on with the walking!!

The cafe was a welcome resting place and a chance to refuel after all the calories burned up on the walk!

Join us in September. Cosmeston at 10:30. All ages welcome!

 

 

The Anniversary Walk

 

July's stroll was a special event. It was the anniversary walk as the group has been meeting, strolling, chatting and drinking coffee for a year. To celebrate this, Bethan made cup cakes. The group enjoyed the refreshments BEFORE the walk to store up enough energy to get around the lakes in the intense sunshine!

Three new people joined the stroll in July. Hopefully they will return for the August walk: even though no cakes are promised as they are only available on anniversaries!

Cosmeston in the sun is a truly splendid place. We managed to keep in the shade for most of the walk, and enjoyed the birds on the two lakes.

If you would like to join us in August, just turn up at Cosmeston Information Centre at 10:30am, on the first Thursday of the month. We are really friendly!

 

 

Snowdon and Beddgelert

 

Snowdon and Beddgelert.—Wednesday morning in Beddgelert dawned sunny and bright with many of us choosing to eat breakfast alfresco.

Seven of us plus a dog drove to Llanberis and used the Sherpa bus service to Pen y Pass (free to Welsh bus pass holders!) for our walk along the Pyg track heading for the summit of Snowdon. It was warm and clear as we began our ascent on a relatively easy stretch. The views along the valley were excellent and we admired the craggy peaks around us. As we progressed the day got hotter and hotter, the paths are all reinforced with rocks so although you can hardly lose your way, it is unforgiving in heat. Frequent water stops were the order of the day.

It was a sociable walk. We met students from Swansea University who had decided to see something of Wales before leaving. There was a party of 8 year olds from Birmingham which had left school at 7a.m. They had regular stops for refreshment but some of the children really struggled, the patience and support the teachers showed was amazing. Every one of the children made it to the top and was grinning from ear to ear when we talked to them about their achievement. Apparently for some of these children it is their first venture away from their home town. A lady walking alone turned out to be Belgian, a regular visitor to the area she had decided to go up alone since her husband was not fit enough.

As we progressed our party stretched out maintaining visual contact with the person in front and behind us. As we climbed we looked down on the Miners track below as it wove its way past Llyn Llydaw and Llyn Glaslyn. We could clearly hear people shouting to one another as they played in the water, even though they looked like ants. The first peak we spotted wasn’t Snowdon but Crib Goch, another craggy summit. At Igam Ogam zigzag the path becomes a scramble up rocks as the Pyg and Miners tracks merge.

A wall of gabions provided an excellent final rest before the push up to the col at Llanberis pass. Then after 10 minutes or so you step up onto the col, to cries of congratulations from your friends and an unbelievable view. It was as though the whole world opened out in front of you and you could see forever: the whole of Anglesey, the Lleyn Peninsula,

and even the Saddleworth Moor fire outside Manchester were very clear. It was also our 1st view of the Snowdon Mountain railway, climbing the mountain at 45o angle here. After rest and refreshment (an apple proving a real pick me up) it was a short, steep walk on an excellent path to the summit, at 1085metres. It was like Piccadilly Circus at the top, with people staying to enjoy the views and the glorious weather. There was reminiscing about other times people had been up here with very limited visibility, we were well rewarded for our efforts today.

A large cup of tea and a pasty from the cafe (£5) went down a treat. Then it was time to descend. We split into 2 groups; the first group taking the Miner’s track using walking poles to help them through the steep sections. They arrived at the bottom with time for a quick well earnt pint before getting the bus to Llanberis to collect the cars.

The rest of us came down the Llanberis path which is a slightly longer but gentler route. We met a man who was completing the 3 peaks challenge – Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in 24 hours. We also spotted a small tornado and grass fires started by sparks from the trains.

At Halfway House we enjoyed refreshments and our first shade of the day in a strong breeze, wonderful. The lady who works here walks up from her farm daily and was planning to climb to the summit when she finished work at 5.30pm.

Misty, the dog, had to rely on water fed to her until we were near the end of the walk when we found our first stream and she had a good wallow. Soon after we found the only other stream with a husky sat in it. Then we were meeting cyclists coming up, they are allowed to climb Snowdon after 5pm and it typically takes them 2hours up and 15 minutes down! We walked 7.5-8 miles and climbed 2372ft.

The following day we went to a viewing point to appreciate our Snowdon walk before visiting Swallow falls and Bettws y Coed and then returned to Beddgelert to walk along Afon Glaslyn past Gelert’s grave. We stopped on a bridge to see the West Highland Railway steam train with its Pullman coach. The path becomes a scramble over rocks before reaching a car park. Most of us continued on uphill for excellent views of Snowdon and on towards Llyn Dinas before returning via a different stretch of the Afon Glaslyn which descends from the lake below Snowdon. (5.75miles) and another 1200ft). A couple of us doubled back early in order to try out the award winning ice cream parlour in Beddgelert regrettably the shop was closed by the time the rest of the walkers returned.

It later transpired that Porthmadog, just down the road was 30.5o C on the day we climbed Snowdon and 33o C on our second day, the hottest anywhere in Britain so far this summer. Mad dogs and Englishmen springs to mind, though of course a few of us were Welsh.

 

 

Wenvoe School Choir Visit

 

We always enjoy a visit from the children of Wenvoe School choir and their visit on June 20th was no exception.24 children and their teacher crossed over the road to come to entertain us and gave us a lovely afternoon.

On 27th of June Bruce Hawkins gave us a talk “Naughty Women in History”. His list was endless, some were known to us , many not, but all of them unbelievably cruel and callous.

We sat down to strawberries or raspberries and cream on July 4th and followed it with a picture quiz.

On the 11th of July Pat Summers brought along lavender from her garden and showed us how to make Lavender Dollies. Using ribbons, she wove around the lavender head. We were invited to have a go .Two members volunteered but it was not as easy as it looked

The Autumn programme is now ready, if anyone would like one please ring me 02920 592822

There will be no meetings during August

 

 

“Crafty Surprises”

 

In Madeleine’s absence Pam led our July meeting with a special welcome for our speaker, Eva Leslie and our visitor, Pat Weavers. Eva gave a talk on “Crafty Surprises” during which she created a selection of animals such as sheep and dogs from felt by making stabbing action with a two pronged pin. Pam E and Judy had a go themselves and produced a lovely heart and star. Eva has had stalls at many craft fairs including St. Fagans and donated a red heart to be given to Madeleine-such a very king gesture and much appreciated . We finished our meeting with strawberries and cream.

Three members attended the Link meeting at Penarth and two will be going to the Highlight coffee morning on the 31st July. Our summer lunch is on August 7th at the Wenvoe Arms .Future events include a trip to the Botanical Gardens on August 15th (£22) and a trip to Worcester market on Dec.1st (£18), both arranged by Dinas Powys WI. Culverhouse Cross has invited us to their harvest supper on Oct 11th( date to be confirmed).

As there is no meeting in August , our next will be on the 6th Sept. in the Church Hall at 7pm when we will be presenting our cheque to the speaker from Air Ambulance Wales. Visitors are very welcome.

 

 

The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark

 

The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark

Kirsty Wark is the respected BBC television presenter. This, her first novel, was mostly a disappointing read for the Page Turners.

We are introduced to Elizabeth as a nonagenarian who harps back on her single life and some love but little excitement. She bequeaths her house on the island of Arran to a passing stranger whose daughter becomes the beneficiary.

We found the plot of the novel to be somewhat turgid and annoying. We had little empathy for any of the various characters, but enjoyed some of the historical facts about Arran. Between us we offered only a few positive adjectives for this month’s read. However the majority of us did finish it and we scored it an average of four out of ten.

 

 

The Mercy Ship Fund Raising

 

The first major fund raising event held in Wenvoe to help raise money for Helen Ormrod's work on the Mercy Ship in Africa was held in May, when Johnny Tudor and Olwen Rees gave us a musical tale of their lives in showbiz. This was reported in the June edition of the What’s On , and was a very successful evening, and a hard act to follow. But I think all who attended our second event on Saturday 23rd June will agree that we achieved another "Double Whammy".

This time, we were entertained – and enlightened – in the most interesting way, by Derek Brockway and Nicola Smith, both of BBC1 Wales fame. The ‘Weatherman Walking’ gave us a fascinating insight in to the mysteries of meteorology, as he had become fascinated by the weather since a child. (As he said, all the British talk about the weather, especially the Welsh!). He served the Met Office in various places from Cardiff Airport to the Falklands, where he did some vital work for the Army, RAF and Navy. As the islands are so remote and very barren and windy, conditions are hard, but he managed to take some lovely photographs of the wildlife there. My favourite was the 3 penguins, all lined up for a photo shoot, just for Derek! (Attenborough, eat your heart out!).

Derek did a special Forecast for Wenvoe for the week ahead, which he assured us would be sunny, hot and "toasty", and said there is a strong possibility that this summer will be very dry (bad news for all you gardeners).

After the interval (for refreshments and raffle!) , we were introduced to Nicola Smith, the BBC1 news reader, whom half the audience knew already as "one of us". Nicola recalled how she and her twin sister Sian, lived in Orchard Close, Wenvoe with their parents for many years, and spent happy hours with their grandmother, Mrs Margaret Barton, whom lived in Walston Road. Many of us remember her fondly as a lovely, jolly, kindly, sociable lady who was a staunch member of the Choir at St Mary's Church.

Nicola was married and christened in St Mary's Church, and a rranged for her own two children, Isobel(7) and Will(5) to be christened there too. (Husband George was babysitting on 23rd so Nicola could talk to us, so "Thank you, George"!). Nicola said she was pleased to be asked to talk to her home village- and in aid of such a good cause.

Nicola described her career rise, and loves her job as it is so varied, no 2 days are ever the same and we now feel we can appreciate more all the hard work which goes in to the outside broadcasts and interviews, often in very inclement weather, for long hours, which only results in 2 minutes of screen time! She showed us photos of the inside of her car boot – stacked with wellington boots, hiking boots, macs, a sleeping bag, change of clothes (and maybe a snow shovel from November on?).

Both talks were humourous. Light-hearted and very entertaining, but also educational with food for thought. We are extremely grateful to both Derek and Nicola for giving so freely of their precious leisure time, and we know that Helen Ormrod joins us in

thanking all who supported this Event, including Tony Williams, who helped us with the venue at the Community Centre, Cath and Andy who ran the bar so well, the Church Social Committee, and donors of the raffle prizes.

Diolch yn Fawr i chi!!

 

 

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