Category: Community Groups

Christmas Celebration

 

President Madeleine welcomed everyone to our Christmas Celebration Meeting on 6th December. The evening commenced with WI Business which included final arrangements for our Christmas meal at the Wenvoe Arms on 10th December and the Link Carol Service at St Mary’s Church, Wenvoe on Thursday, 13th December.

Janet read out some poems so that we could have a taste of the Christmas Miscellany that we were unable to attend at Wenvoe Castle Golf Club. This was followed by a delicious buffet donated by all members. During “buffet time” we all tried to recall those “panto times” of early childhood as we searched our brains for the answers to Pam’s “Panto Quiz”. We are very grateful to Pam and to Janet for providing our entertainment. The evening concluded with good wishes to all for Christmas and 2019, followed by details of January’s meeting.

This will be on Thursday, 3rd January at 7pm in Wenvoe Church Hall. Our speaker will be Julia Wylie who will be encouraging us to “stretch and relax”, with something to suit all fitness levels. Julia is a new resident of Wenvoe and we are looking forward to welcoming her to our very first meeting of 2019. Visitors will be most welcome and there is no charge.

Members are reminded that subs are due in January. (Please place payment in a sealed envelope with your name on the outside; cheques should be made payable to “Wenvoe WI”.)

The President and Committee would like to wish all members and their families a healthy and peaceful 2019

 

 

The Final Walk of 2018

The living with cancer strollers had an unusual and unprecedented experience on their final walk of 2018. The walkers got wet! Since its inauguration the walkers have been fortunate every month to walk in dry, sunny conditions. The weather did not dampen our enthusiasm, although our Christmas hats wilted in the drizzle!

After a long stroll through the trees the walkers were treated to a wonderful Christmas lunch at the lakeside cafe. Crackers pulled, jokes told, turkey eaten, the group disbanded until January’s walk. If you want to join a sociable, friendly group for a short stroll, meet at the Cosmeston Information Centre the first Thursday of every month at 10:30

 

 

A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks

 

As the Page Turners gathered for their final meeting of 2018, they received a warm welcome from their hostess and discussions were started whilst sipping mulled wine or buck’s fizz. The book on offer in December, A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks was not so warmly received by the majority of the book club members.

A Week in December is set in London, over a period of one week in December. It is a story of contemporary London and introduces many characters and themes including an examination of Islam, football in London, drugs, financial dealings and journalism. Phew!

The mince pies that were available did not sweeten the comments that were made, most of which were unfavourable. The story was considered too long, with particularly boring descriptions of the financial plotting of one of the characters, John Veals. It was felt that the book did not reflect the characters and lives of real people in the city of London. Most people wanted to finish the book, but found the ending a disappointment. The overall score was 6. After the discussion, the group got on with the real business of the evening: pulling crackers, sharing cracker jokes, eating festive food and discussions about the Archers.

Happy reading in 2019….and remember, ” the more you read, the more you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr Seuss. So. off you go!

 

 

Lincoln in the Bardo

 

Lincoln in the Bardo is a 2017 experimental novel by American writer George Saunders. The bulk of the novel, which takes place over the course of one single evening, is set in the bardo: an intermediate space between life and rebirth. The book received widespread critical acclaim and won the Man Booker Prize in 2017. The widespread critical acclaim was not supplemented or supported by many members of the Wenvoe Page Turners, as the comments below show (written in a similarly “innovative” and “original” style as the novel itself!).

“Worst book I’ve ever read” Sylvia “Not a book for me” Sandra “I gave up” May “Very refreshing” Helen “Funny and amusing” Tess “Inaccessible” Lynne “Wonderfully original” Tony “I didn’t enjoy any moment of it” Jenny “I didn’t like the style of writing or the subject” Babs

A mixed review for this award winning novel which resulted in 2 scores of 9 and 4 scores of 1, with an average of 4. Everyone did agree that the cakes provided by Babs were worth a perfect 10.

 

 

Introducing Thursday Walkers

The “Thursday Walkers” are an afternoon social walking group who meet monthly. The walks are organised by Bert and usually cover some 5 miles with a cut-off point for those undertaking a shorter route. They also include a visit to a coffee shop either during or at the end of each walk.


The photograph was taken during a visit to the Parc Slip Nature Reserve Tondu and shows the group sitting on the monument to the 112 men and boys who died following an underground explosion at the coal mine on 26 August 1892. In total some 112 stones have been used to create the monument.
The mine, which commenced operating during the 1860’s, was closed in 1904, but was re-opened as an opencast mine from the 1960’s to the 1980’s.
After landscape restoration work, Parc Slip became a nature reserve in 1999 and is managed by The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. The reserve has a number of paths for visitors to take walks which are well sign posted. There is an excellent coffee shop in the reserve and Trust volunteers’ are usually on hand to give advice etc to visitors.
Colin

 

 

Sheena Crossley – Cardiff Parks Department

President Madeline welcomed everyone to the meeting. A special welcome was extended to our visitor, Carol Atkinson, who is retiring as our WI Advisor.
We held a minute’s silence in memory of Eira, who sadly passed away. Eira had been unable to attend monthly meetings for some time due to her failing health. We have missed her and will continue to do so as we remember Viv and all Eira’s family.
Sheena Crossley was our speaker on this occasion. Sheena’s involvement in horticulture has included working for Cardiff Parks Department, lecturing in Pencoed College, broadcasting on Radio Wales and organising school workshops. We all thoroughly enjoyed Sheena’s humorous talk, whilst showing slides of beautiful colours in lovely gardens, many of which were local, such as Dyffryn and St Fagans. “Gardens of Wales” was certainly a way of brightening up a dark winter’s evening.
After refreshments the evening continued with WI business. An invitation had been received from Sully WI to attend their coffee morning on Saturday, 3rd November. Members chose their menus for the Christmas meal to be held on Monday, 10th December at 12.30pm in the Wenvoe Arms. Names were collected for our Carol Service on Thursday, 13th December at 7pm at Wenvoe Church.
As agreed at the meeting, on Sunday, 11th November, Madeline placed a wreath at the Wenvoe Memorial, on behalf of our WI, to remember all those who gave their lives, plus all those who have suffered, physically and mentally, as a result of war.
Our next meeting, on 6th December at 7pm in the Church Hall, will be our Christmas Party. It would be greatly appreciated if all members could bring along a plate of food (sweet or savoury) for the buffet.
The President and Committee would like to wish all members and their families a Happy Christmas, with peace and good health in 2019

 

 

WENVOE CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR

 

WENVOE CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR

The Wenvoe Christmas Craft Fair took place on Sunday 18 November and was a rip roaring success. This was the best turn out we have had so far for any of our fairs and a good time was had by all. Thank you to all our trusty helpers who manned the refreshments, made the refreshments, sold raffle tickets, distributed fliers and posters and helped set up and clear away.

The raffle raised the grand total of £409 for the Ben MacDonald memorial fund raiser which has now been paid in. Thanks again to Kate and Jon Hadley for suggesting that the money raised go to Ben’s fund instead of going to Romeo. It was lovely to see Ben’s family on the day and we hope that they can take some comfort from knowing how much support they have in the village.

Thank you all again.

Glenys and Mike Tucker

 

 

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