Category: Community Groups

April Events

 

We were delighted to have Wenvoe school choir come to entertain us on March 29th.The children from classes 8-10 sang beautifully and we had a very enjoyable afternoon. The children were then each given an Easter egg.

Rosemary Chaloner gave us an interesting talk on April 5th on WW.I. nursing .It was not considered right for women to be near the front line, but as the war continued they became needed to deal with the terrible injuries sustained .

On April 12th ,members brought along an array of food for our Easter party,and after tucking in ,we drew the extra large raffle ,thanks to Shirley. Best Wishes were expressed to Chris on her Eightieth Birthday.

We look forward to our May programme, particularly to the long awaited return on May 17th, of the very amusing Lorna Pearson.

New members and visitors always welcome.

WENVOE SPRING CRAFT FAIR

WENVOE SPRING CRAFT FAIR

Proudly presented by Wenvoe Craft Workshop

SUNDAY 14 MAY 2017 10.00am – 4.00pm Community Centre

FREE ENTRY

Come and join the fun! We have a lovely selection of crafts and crafters at the Wenvoe Spring Craft Fair.

There will be Glass art, Wood and Slate art, Jewellery, Felt items, Plants and garden advice from the Village Gardener, Ceramic art, Book folding, Greeting cards, Family trees, Driftwood and Beach art, Textile items, Wall art, Sock Monkeys, Paper and Card art, Floral arrangements, Memory Bears, Hand embellished plaques that can be personalised while you wait, Laser cut wood, Button art, Preserves ( proceeds of sales to go to the homeless), Cakes and cookie mixes (for you to make at home) and lots more.

We have beautiful, fragrant hand made candles and Reed infusers from Marc at Cartref a Gardd, Cathy Farr( a local author) selling her children's books (and one adult book) at very reasonable prices.

The Eccentric Gin Company will be selling their locally distilled Gin and giving taster sessions.

Nicola will have her mobile Potters wheel for those who would like to 'have a go' or you can paint a ready made pot and you really should not miss out on a delicious ice cream from Tricycle Treats' 1940's style 'stop me and buy one' ice cream Tricycle. The flavours are amazing!

There will also be refreshments available – hot and cold drinks and homemade cakes and biscuits at knock down prices and a raffle with seriously good prizes, the proceeds of which will be donated to the Wenvoe Wildlife Group and the Wenvoe Playgroup.

If you miss this one you'll have to wait until November for the second annual Wenvoe Christmas Craft Fair so be sure to attend!

April Walks

 

Margam Park:- We parked next to the lake just outside Margam Park and made our way along the main track towards the deer park. Marshals stood near a stream, there was a run across the park and the runners were expected to go through this stream not once but twice; good job we were only walking!

We followed a woodland edge emerging onto the Ogwr Ridgeway walk and entering more open countryside we saw people doing the run. One circuit involved carrying a tyre uphill and over a high A frame before returning downhill. Continuing upwards, more obstacles appeared including a water slide (that looked good fun until you slid off the end onto rough ground) and a high-sided box. Far below we could see the starting point.

As we climbed we turned back to see Port Talbot steel works in the distance, a herd of deer were outlined on the hill in the foreground. There were a number of places where food had been put out for the deer and invariably nearby were ‘deer toilets’ trudging through one of these was not a pleasant experience!

Turning right we entered the forest to the north of Moel Ton-Mawr and spotted frog spawn aplenty – in any available water. Below was a clearing in the woodland where scrambler bikes raced, we stood well clear when they passed us . We continued in the forest for some time turning west northwest to cross the Ogwr Ridgeway walk.

We were almost at the high point of our walk as we emerged to the edge of the wood, a keen wind blew and it started to rain heavily. Icy needles hammered into exposed skin and many of us put up umbrellas for a bit of shelter. As the rain stopped we made our way into the wood for lunch but there was no shelter from the wind; it was like winter again.

Now we were making our way, on good tracks, generally downhill and westwards to Craig Cwm Maelwg and southwest to Crugwyllt-fawr. There were good views of the steel works and we could clearly see flames as well as great plumes of steam, one of which seemed to be the face of a plump faced man. At one point a large amount of hay was piled with old farm machinery. Loose hay was caught in wire and blew in the strong wind making an unusually picturesque fence.

Our track led to a farm and a friendly woman chatted to us . We headed uphill to the ruin of a chapel, and then down to the cars passing spring daffodils and primroses. [The walk was 8.2 miles and 1350ft. Map 165/166]

Tylorstown Tip:- It was a glorious sunny day. The ancient parish of Llanwonno is thought to date from the 6th century when St Gwynno founded the church here. We set off making a quick visit to the grave of Guto Nyth Bran (Griffith Morgan), he was able to run 7 miles to Pontypridd and back before the kettle boiled. Every New Year’s eve his legend is celebrated in the Nos Galon race from Mountain Ash.

We headed southwest through woodland to emerge into open countryside with Tylorstown tip (an old mining spoil tip) standing proudly to our right. We headed to it and a few people opted to wait at its foot while most of us climbed to the summit. Here we were joined by scrambler bikes roaring up its steep sides. The views down the valleys were excellent. As we descended, one of the scramblers followed us down a steep gully and we scrambled up the side out of his way.

Now the group continued in a north-westerly direction through woodland to Carn y Pigwn where we turned east to arrive at the river feeding the Clydach reservoir. Followed the river southeast and gently downwards to the reservoir where we stopped for lunch. Continuing down the valley we could hear water below us and took a slight detour to descend to a waterfall (Pistyll goleu); very refreshing.

Climbing back to our path we took the track along the course of the river now travelling northwest until we found a footpath on our right leading directly to the road back to the cars (and the pub): some took a short cut along the road while the rest of us continued into St Gwynno forest turning southeast in the direction of Mynachdy.

There were wind turbines on the hill and we had some fun taking photos with the blades apparently emerging from people’s heads. We passed a farm with sheep and new born lambs as well as young bullocks, goats and a llama. We climbed past fields with expectant ewes and ewes with their lambs.

Now it was a short way back, passing above the official scrambler site, to the cars where our friends greeted us. [We had walked 8.25miles and 1400ft. Map 166]

May Walk Programme

 

Thurs 4th May:- A circular bluebell walk from Twyn-yr-Odyn with some stiles approx. 5 miles. Bert.

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Sat 6th May:- Parc Seymour, Wentwood Forest. A 7¼ mile walk. Mike (152/OL14).

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Sat 13th May:- To be advised. V’Iain

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Sat 20th May:- Tretower. A 7¾ mile walk. Ian (OL13)

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Sat 27th May:- Llanbracach and Ystrad Mynach. 8 miles. Ian (166)

March Report and Schedule

The president introduced our speaker Peter Cox to our March meeting. Peter is a former employee of G.C.H.Q-a British Intelligence and Security Organisation, responsible for providing the British government and the armed forces with information to keep our country safe. We were given an intriguing and interesting insight into the work at G.C.H.Q, touching on the story of Geoffrey Prime, who was a former linguist at G.C.H.Q who in 1982 was jailed for seven counts against the official secrets act. He had been interested in all things Russian, especially communism and was fluent in the language. There are several interesting social events for members in the coming months as follows:

April 19th – Dinas Powys fashion show with the Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

May 17th – Link Meeting at Sully and one at Wenvoe Community Centre on June 16th.

June 21st – Garden Party at Margam Park.

 

Our Table Top event is on May 6th, at 10.30 at the Community Centre. We would appreciate donations for the tombola or raffle prizes which can be brought to our April or May meetings

Our next meeting at the church hall on April 6th and Stephen Allen will talk about “Care in the Community”. Visitors are welcome.

Event in box. WI Table Top sale, Saturday May 6th, 10.30 Community Centre. Admission 50p, to include coffee and biscuits. There will be a raffle.

 

 

 

 

 

History of a Wenvoe Farmer – Part 2

 

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TOWYN WILLIAMS – CONTINUED

Towyn went to Rhoose Primary School and joined the school choir which came second in an Eisteddfod in Cardiff. After 12 months in Rhoose School Towyn moved to the Grammar School in Barry. He left when he was 14 – Towyn said he did not so much as leave, he just stopped going and it was the happiest day in his life. Towyn worked at home for his father at Ford Farm and at this time he became interested in bell ringing at Llancarfan church until he became less keen when the Vicar suggested that he came to church!.

In June 1946 Towyn saw an advert in a London paper inviting farmworkers to work on the land in Canada. Encouraged by the stories of Towyn's parents, on September 8th he sailed for Canada on the S.S.Moralgia with his friend Jim Bryer, They travelled by train to London, flew from Notrtholt, put down in Shannon then to Gander in Newfoundland. Stopped for 6 hours for an engine change then to Toronto. The long last leg was without food or drink supplied – there were no Air Hostesses on this long and tedious journey.

Towyn worked on a dairy farm near Lyndsey, Ontario, before moving on to a lumber camp with Jim. They worked with all nationalities, including indians.. A day's work would be to walk three miles through three foot of snow, cut down 60 trees using a cross cut saw – no chain saws then.Jim and Towyn had Xmas dinner on a farm about 80 miles from the lumber camp. To return they caught a bus to Whittin about 15 miles from the camp. They decided to walk hoping to get a lift from a passing motorist. They were out of luck.When they were within a mile from the camp they heard and saw a pack of wolves behind them. Not daring to stop they kept going. Later the older men at the camp told them if they had stopped to rest that would have been the 'end of them'. They were so tired and frightened that it took them a week to recover.

Jim continued to work at the lumber camp until 1938 when he came home to work on a farm near Swindon. Towyn stayed on in Canada moving out west to Saskatchewan. The following Spring Towyn left Ontario to work on the Priaries in Saskatchewan He worked on the Homestead that his father had left 25 years previously. The Homestead now belonged to another family. Everything here was big. Huge tractors were used to plough fields a mile long and it was difficult to keep awake while discing and ploughing.

Towyn had the chance of a trip home on a cattle boat, from Montreal to Manchester. Living conditions onboard were primitive. His quarters were at the stern of the ship and it was quite peaceful – when the propeller occasionally stopped ! There were 250 cattle on board, heifers in calf to be placed on farms all over the country.

In September 1950 Towyn married Audrey Taylor of Leach Farm near Carmel Chapel. They lived in a wooden bungalow just up the road from Ford Farm where Towyn continued to work for his father.

In 1953 Towyn took on Ballas Farm, Wenvoe where he stayed for the next 30 years bringing up his family – three girls and a boy. By 1978 Towyn, tired of milking 120 cows a day, decided to make a change. He sold the herd and bought Whitehall Farm near St. Lythans. Whitehall Farm brought a new adventure open to the public – Pick your Own fruit. He planted raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries. red and black currants with a back-up of potatoes and broad beans. This is what Towyn and Audrey did for the next 20 years finally concentrating on stabling and feeding around 15 ponies. At almost 80 he remained the 'hands on' farmer very attached to his old tractor.

Towyn's interests outside of farming included membership of the 'Glamorgan Flying Club'.After obtaining his pilot's license around 1960 he flew a number of single engined aircraft including a Tiger Moth. The cost when he started was £3 an hour and when inflation rose to over £20 an hour, and with the price of milk falling something had to give.

In the late 70's Towyn's brother, Edward, was exporting various breeds of horses to New Zealand and asked Towyn to help to look after 50 horses on a cargo plane. Towyn eagerly accepted the opportunity to meet up with his son Gareth who was working there at the time. The flight took him via Anchorage in Hawaii to Auckland, New Zealand. Towyn enjoyed flying as a passenger and flew across the Atlantic 39 times visiting Canada, U.S.A., Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain , Portugal, Poland (a farm visit) and Ireland. He had also sat in Concorde, been up in a balloon, and flown a helicopter with an instructor.

Towyn's varied and interesting life came to an end peacefully at Whitehall Farm on 14 August 2016 at the good age of 90.What a fascinating life!

 

 

Allan Jenkins (February 2017)

 

 

 

March Book

 

 

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

by Rachel Joyce

Rachel Joyce first introduces Queenie Hennessy in her debut novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, when Queenie writes to her old friend Harold, with whom she has had no contact for 20 years, telling him that she is dying of cancer. Harold replies that he is coming to see her and embarks upon a 600 mile journey on foot.

Following the success of that novel, Rachel Joyce had the brilliant concept that Queenie’s character and story had not been fully portrayed and thus, the book she describes as a companion novel was written.

Queenie tells her story of life and death as she awaits Harold’s arrival, whilst being cared for in a nursing home in Berwick upon Tweed run by nuns. She recounts her life with portraits of her childhood and her days as a Classics Scholar in University. When taking a new job she meets Harold, a married man with whom she secretly falls in love. Queenie’s sudden departure following the tragic death of Harold’s son David, for which she partly blames herself, results in her journey to Berwick upon Tweed, where she lives for the next 20 years creating her Sea Garden.

Between these recollections of previous years, life in the hospice is brilliantly portrayed. We are enthralled by the characters of Queenie’s fellow patients and the nuns caring for them, including imaginary characters who were a manifestation of the morphine induced haze in which Queenie was living her final days.

The Page Turners all agreed that the book was well written and extremely descriptive although some enjoyed it more than others. Following what was generally considered a slow start, the majority found that we warmed to the story, which was sad, funny and thought provoking. The scores ranged from 6 to 8.5 and averaged out to a score of 7.

 

 

 

 

Opera and Gardens

 

 

Our next speaker was Lynne Plummer who introduced herself as Sybil’s friend who blathers on about music. The talk that followed was anything but blather and gave us an idea of “Behind the Scenes at the Opera”. Lynne had worked at Covent Garden as a researcher producing “Talking Notes” for people whose sight was impaired. This involved meeting the folk behind the scenes and so as the talk unfolded we were able to see what an extraordinary job these people did.

The format of the talk was to hear a clip of an interview, followed by part of an operatic aria and then Lynne would elaborate on the interview.

We heard from Conductors, Wig Makers, Costume department, Production managers amongst others. We learnt how scale models are built of the sets so that any problems can be ironed out before the full scale set is built and how sloping stages can present problems for opera singers who often have difficulty as special shoes have to be worn to prevent them from slipping.

The Costume department must have been a fascinating place to visit and to see how the various distressed effects are created. The starting material has to be of the best quality to ensure that the costume will stand up to the rigours of many performances but it also has to flow correctly so that it looks good on stage. Also fabrics have to be dyed and this is a department in itself. The wigs that performers wear are made from Eastern European hair and each strand of hair is put on separately.

While all this work is going on behind the scenes the Chorus are busy rehearsing often for three hours in the morning and afternoon and the rehearsal schedule can include 2 or 3 different works at the same time. Another very important consideration is the set lighting which can produce very dramatic effects but has to be perfect as performers don’t want to be blinded by extraneous lighting

A feature that all the operas have in common is a book in which the music is written on one side of the page and the movements are written in pencil on the other side. This book is kept forever.

Thank you Lynne for a very different talk and showing us opera in a new light.

 

It was a great pleasure to see Anthea Guthrie in Tuesday Group once again. Anthea is one of the highest awarded garden designers in the UK having won six gold medals from the RHS and exhibited at Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows. She is also a very experienced cruise ship speaker and botanical guide.

Her talk took us to many places around the world from the Caribbean to the Falklands and from Spain to Brazil.

Accompanied by beautiful photographs on the big screen the talk began with a whacky statue in Lisbon followed by Menorca and Amsterdam where small gardens were enhanced by pots of plants spilling out onto the streets for all to enjoy.

In Spain we saw the largest palm tree as well as badly managed water features that were green whereas in contrast Villa Carlotta in Italy demonstrated how to get a water feature right.

The famous fountains in the Peterhof Palace in St Petersburg showed continually running water which was piped in from 15 kilometres away.

Whilst in Russia we saw “dachas” that are seasonal or second homes for city dwellers. These could be a shack or a cottage but were in colonies with garden plots around your neighborhood as recreational getaways for the purpose of growing food in the small gardens. These were not unlike our allotments.

We also saw formal gardens in Sweden as well as Summer Houses with grass roofs, papyrus in Egypt and cacti in Lanzarote. Busy Lizzies grew in profusion in the shade in Brazil whilst the only proper garden to be seen in the Falklands was in the Governor’s House.

During the whistle stop tour Anthea dropped in a couple of tips for our gardens such as ‘make friends with foliage when you choose your plants’ and if undecided about what will grow well in your garden – take a stroll around your neighborhood to get some ideas.

She also suggested planting bulbs under rose bushes that will flower when the roses are just twigs.

Our thanks once again to Anthea for taking us on this floral tour of the world in about 45 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

More February Events

 

Our speaker on February 22nd was Mr David Bray ,who gave us a humorous talk on his experiences of collecting rubbish, and of the odd and comical characters he encountered during his many years in charge of Cardiff Waste collections.

 

Our next meeting was on St David’s Day, when we held a social afternoon. Betty asked questions about Cardiff and we recalled many things long forgotten. We then enjoyed our cuppa with Welshcakes and Barabrith.

 

On the 8th February Annette Bracey visited and showed us exercises to improve breathing and posture, this was followed on the 15th with a talk by Lilian Charles who told us of the origins of all our well known nursery rhymes.

 

Our programme for April starts with a talk on WWI nursing by Rosemary Chaloner on the 5th, followed by our Easter party on the 12th. There will be no meeting on the 19th, and Lynne Tippett will be with us on April 26th to tell us of her work as a writer.

 

Wishing all our members a Happy Easter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twmbarlwm

 

Twmbarlwm

The day dawned misty but the weather forecast was ‘clear by lunchtime’ as we left Wenvoe. We started in Fernlea near Risca, climbing some steep streets and walking past allotments. We found the route to the footpath was blocked so headed back the way we had come to take a detour through housing (and more very steep roads) and 2 children’s play areas. Skirting a new development we headed into countryside and northeast towards Pant Yr Eos reservoir.

On reaching a minor road we turned northwest in the general direction of Twmbarlwm. The flattened bodies of 8 frogs were spotted along a ½ mile stretch of the road no doubt caught by local traffic during their migration to breeding sites. As we climbed visibility decreased until we were in a thick fog. Now we were totally reliant on maps and GPS as we could see no more than about 50 yards. Spotting stiles across a field was impossible but a good track was clear once we arrived at Twmbarlwm Common. Twmbarlwm was invisible so we walked slightly further than necessary along this track now heading north. We turned west along another track, suddenly a dark shadow loomed over us in the fog. We had been walking uphill all morning and now we followed an excellent path which spiralled up Twmbarlwm.

Twmbarlwm is an Iron Age hill fort, which lies at the heart of the territory of the Silurian Celts. With commanding views over the Bristol Channel it must have played a large role in the 25 years of war which the Silureans fought against the Roman invaders. The impressive earthworks were constructed around 500BC, long before Rome invaded. The raised circular mound is a ‘motte’ built during the 12th or 13th century by the next invaders – the Normans. It must have supported a timber built castle, and the rest of the wider enclosure would have been the ‘bailey’ to protect the horses and live stock of the soldiers.

The magnificent views (on a good day you can even see the two Severn bridges) were totally hidden by the fog, so we admired the stonework in the footpath and walked to the highest point. Descending we headed northwest and ate our lunch when we reached the road where the ‘Raven Walk’ (a 12 mile 3000+ft circular walk) crossed our route. As we sat, a raven cawed high up in a tree – he was barely visible but stayed until we resumed our walk.

Now we shared a short but steep section of path with cyclists. Through Coed Medart we took a good track and as we continued to descend suddenly came out of the fog and could see the valley below us. The cycle track crossed our path and some daredevil cyclists came careering down the hill and disappeared out of sight down the opposite slope – bit too exciting for me. One cyclist had hit a rock and his front tyre had a deep ‘v’ stamped into it – he had his bike upside down and was attempting a repair.

Our return journey was a pleasant meander down good tracks in a southerly direction until we reached the Brecon and Monmouth canal.

This stretch of the canal is the ‘Crumlin Arm’ and runs for 16km from Cwmcarn to Newport. Opened in 1796 from Crumlin, it was worked until the 1940s. Over Greenmeadow bridge lie the shattered bodies of a number of miners who died in the Blackvein colliery disaster of 1st December 1860. An explosion of firedamp (an explosive coal gas found in mines) and the effects of afterdamp(a suffocating gas left after an explosion of firedamp) killed 142 men and boys working the rich vein of steam coal known as the Blackvein. Many of the dead, however were taken by their families to be buried in their home towns – in England. Locals refused to work the Blackvein as the pit had a reputation for high levels of firedamp, the lethal price of the prized steam coal.

The elegant curved bridges crossing the Crumlin Arm were built to withstand the gentle clip clop of horses’ hooves rather than the rumble and thunder of heavy motor vehicles. Afraid that the bridges would collapse, the Great Western Railway Company which took control of the canal in 1880, installed large diamond shaped warning signs to stop overweight vehicles in their tracks. Darran Bridge and others on this section of the Crumlin Arm now have extra protection having been awarded the status of ‘listed building’.

Cwmcarn houses a visitor centre built on reclaimed colliery land in the 1970s. It is known for Forest drive, bicycle trails and panoramic views and has become a tourist attraction.

An easy walk along the canal covered the final stretch, allowing our tired muscles to recover a little. Arriving back at the cars we had covered 8miles and 1500ft. Map 152

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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