Category: Community Groups

Thicker Than Water

BethanBookWenvoe resident, Bethan Darwin, has a new novel out. This is Bethan’s third novel, and came out on 18 August 2016.

It is called Thicker than Water and is set both in 1926 and present day. The 1926 story is about Idris, a miner from the Rhondda who is disillusioned by the collapse of the General Strike and decides to emigrate to Ontario, Canada. Just before he leaves, his sister in law Maggie has a favour to ask of him.

The present day story is about corporate lawyer Gareth, who lives in Penarth and has a pretty good life – his own law firm, a high flying wife who is also a corporate lawyer, and four children. But then he gets instructed to do some legal work for Canadian clothing company Perfect which is considering opening for business in Wales and things start to change for Gareth.

Bethan has lived in Clos Llanfair, Wenvoe for ten years. Her husband David Thompson grew up in the village. Their children Caleb 17 and Megan 11 attend Bro Morgannwg school in Barry

Bethan and David are both solicitors, and work together in a small firm in Cardiff. Bethan also writes a column every fortnight for the business section of the Western Mail and regularly reviews the newspapers for various programmes on BBC Radio Wales.

She says “It’s a bit of a juggle writing novels round a full time job and a family. I often joke that as a result I’ve got a big bum and a dirty house!”

You can find Thicker than Water and Bethan’s other novels in libraries or online. If you prefer to buy books in a bookstore, they will be able to order them for you if they don’t have them in stock. Bethan warns that there is some plot related sex in her books, but also plenty of history and gardening.

She will be discussing Thicker than Water with Jamie Owen on his radio show on Sunday 28 August from 11am.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

by Mohsin Hamid

At a cafe table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man talks with an uneasy American stranger. As the sun moves across the sky and shadows become darker, he begins the tale that brought them to this ominous meeting. This is a first- person novel where the narrator, Changez, establishes an enticing and gripping hold on the reader as he reveals his life story to this American.

We learn that Changez is a highly educated Pakistani who was top of his class at Princeton in America. He worked as a financial analyst for the prestigious firm of Underwood Samson in New York. But after a disastrous love affair and in the wake of September 11 Changez finds his position in his adopted country is not viable and he returns disenchanted to Pakistan..

Opinions by the Page Turners were unanimous.

 An eerie quite powerful story.

 There is a menace there and something is about to happen, and soon..

 It was an exciting novel written well and containing good language.

 There is tension as the novel unfolds and keeps the reader guessing and gives the novel depth and power.

 It was a seriously good book.

 The author has captured a particular reality.

 A great read.

 

It was good to have a book at last that everybody in the group felt was a good read, and one that we would recommend. The score was a 9.

WI news

SEPTEMBER NEWS UPDATE

There was no August meeting for Wenvoe WI. However seven members joined Dinas Powys at their August meeting and enjoyed a fish and chip supper and a beetle drive. Congratulations to Phyllis who won the prize for the highest score. On August 22nd fifteen members enjoyed the skittles evening at Dinas Powys rugby club.

Our first meeting after the summer break will be on September 1st at 7pm.

Please remember that all future meetings will be held at the church hall unless otherwise advised. Our speaker on this occasion will be Elin Jones from Ty Hapus which supports people living with dementia and we will handover our fundraising cheque to her. Anyone who wishes to hear more about the work of the organisation will be very welcome.

Leisure Group Update

LEISURE GROUP UPDATE


Leisure Group recommences on Sept 7th at our new venue ,the Community Hall. Leisure Group was first formed in the 1980s,in the Village Hall and was for both men and women, who met for a chat and some light entertainment. Over the years it has become ladies only and the age group now is 50 plus.


We still meet weekly and have a variety of speakers, we have the occasional quiz or game of bingo afternoon teas and celebrate special events. Members pay an annual fee of £6 and a weekly subscription of £1.


To celebrate our move to our new venue,and the start of our Autumn session, we are holding a musical afternoon Members of the Cardiff Live Music Club will be coming to entertain us on their keyboards.


So ladies,why not come along on Sept 7th and enjoy the music,meet with friends, and learn what our forthcoming Autumn programme has in store. We welcome visitors and new members.

43rd Anniversay

petanque01This year is the 43rd anniversary of the formation of the Club de Pétanque de Pays de Galles co-founded by Chairman, the ubiquitous jazzman, Mike Harries and the President Claude Faurie as well as the late Sid Richards as Treasurer.

The club was originally the biggest individual sporting club in Wenvoe and at that time the one and only Pétanque club in Wales!

Started one year before the formation of the governing body; The British Pétanque Association.

Thanks to prominent club members such as the Bosley family, the Triggs, the late Bruce Gully, Griff Taylor, Paul Harvey, Stephen Davies, Bill Cook and many others.

The club created in 1976 was made of up of purpose built professional pitches at the Playing Fields. This was to be the start of fame and success for this Village club with various Press, Television and radio interviews.

It all started with a game organised by Mike Harries and his brother in 1973 taking on 'The Rest of the World', this was followed by a colourful competition against the French Rugby supporters on a very cold Sunday in February, the match being played in the car park of the Village Hall which was not yet tarmaced.

In 1981 the club with to the first Pétanque open tournament of the Isle of Wight, performing well by reaching the Semi-Finals

June 1980 was a memorable year for the Wenvoe players with the Seventh National UK Open Championships being played on our pitches and featuring 250 players. The team featuring Chris Trigg, Griff Taylor and Claude Faurie again reached the Semi-Finals only to be defeated by a French team of semi-professionals.

And so on to the present day where the Wenvoe Pétanque Club is still going strong with members involved in the Welsh League competition and raising a Charity money each year for sound causes.

We all look forward to the celebrations of the club on August Bank Holiday this year and the continued future success!

For all info contact the Club Secretary Bob Pugh on 029 20593051 or 07746 217118

 

 

The River Severn

At what point does the River Severn become the Bristol Channel? Mr Peter Finch gave us the answers on June 22nd in an interesting talk on the Severn estuary and its surrounding coastline. We learnt of many facts we were unaware of and how he was stopped by security guards when attempting to walk the South Wales coastal path

On the 29th June Polly Davies, an American lady, now a Welsh resident, gave us an insight into the life of Calamity Jane. She formed a comparison between her and Annie Oakley, who was a real lady, whereas Calamity was completely opposite with a dubious reputation. We enjoyed a strawberries and cream afternoon on July 6th, followed by a few games of Bingo

A regular visitor to us, Mr Clive Sims, brought along his lovely piano recordings on July 13th.This time the composers he spoke of were Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Felix Mendelssohn. We listened to his recordings of their best known melodies and also tunes made famous by Paul Robeson

There will be no meetings during August and we will restart on Sept 7th at our new venue, the Community Hall

Waterfall Country

 

Waterfall Country

 (OS map OL12)Pontneddfechan is a former silica mining hub and sits at the confluence of the rivers Mellte and Nedd Fechan. Silica mining took place in this area from the 18th century to the mid 1960s. Because of its high resistance to heat, silica was used to make ‘fire bricks’ used in the construction of kilns and furnaces for the copper, steel and iron industries. Although silica can be converted to silicon – the material used to create the tiny circuits which power computers – the mines had closed before global demand for pure silicon took off, and it is now mostly manufactured in China.

AUG IMG_0395We arrived at Pontneddfechan on a misty morning and took a footpath after passing one of the local hostelries and soon found ourselves following the river Nedd Fechan on its western bank. It was immediately obvious that there was plenty water in the river as we could clearly hear the water rushing on its way. Hopefully this promised full waterfalls but a little worrying as we were hoping to cross the river further up. The footpath had clear signs of once carrying a railway and no doubt this would have brought silica from the mines.

Waterfall country is an area of deep valleys, rocky gorges and ancient woodlands. The footpaths are well marked but on a wet day some of them were quite slippery and as usual there were warnings ‘Danger Rivers in this area can be cold, deep, fast flowing’. Even with the persistent rain the valley was beautiful and we enjoyed many ‘minor waterfalls’. We soon reached the confluence of the Rivers Pyrddin and Nedd Fechan.

We followed the river Pyrddin in a north westerly direction, hoping to reach Sgwd Gwladys and Sgwd Einion. We reached Sgwd Gwladys (Lady falls), which was in full flow from a 6 metre drop. Below the waterfall the river enters a deep pool and then widens out with shingle areas making it possible for us to cross the water (somewhat tentatively in the faster flowing areas). We continued along the river Pyrddin and soon came to the place we would have to cross the river again in order to reach Sgwd Einion Gam. The river was wide and deep in places, with fast flowing water and very little prospect of a crosing place. The men walked along the bank and into the river but couldn’t find anywhere we’d all have been happy to cross so we had to save Sgwd Einion Gam for another day.

# AUG fs IMG_5357Legend has it that Gwladys, a daughter of Brychan, 5th century king of Brycheiniog, fell in love with Einion after whom a waterfall is named Sgwd Einion Gam. Although she could never be with him in life, in immortality their spirits still flow together merging in the pool below Sgwd Gwladys.

Our path took us back to the river Nedd Fechan where we saw a sign indicating a silica mine a short distance away. We were heading along the Elidir trail towards the Horseshoe Falls. On arrival at the falls, most of us walked out across slippery rocks to look upriver at the Lower Sgwd Ddwli. A select band elected to walk along the edge of the river to reach these spectacular falls; whilst the rest of us awaited their return.

# AUG fs IMG_5339Continuing the path led us above Upper Sgwd Ddwli where we spotted some splendid fungi growing along a fallen tree. At Pont Melin fach, a picnic spot, we stopped for lunch beside a now gentle river, thinking how lovely it would be on a sunny day. From here we headed across the bridge and on to Comin y Rhos. We were in the clouds now and could see little of our surroundings. The area had waist high grass, plenty of water underfoot and it was difficult to see signposts in the mist but our excellent map readers kept us on a steady route and we negotiated it successfully.

# AUG fs IMG_0950Heading south we continued across boggy ground until we reached the golf course near Pontneddfechan. At last, solid mown grass to walk on but still visibility was low. Having been surrounded by cloud, mizzle or rain all day we were all feeling very damp when we arrived at our starting point having covered 7.5 miles and climbed 1000ft. (Map OL12). How nice it would have been to do this walk on a summer’s day, but this was mid July. What would it be like in winter?

The Seamstress

 

by Maria Duenas

Aged 12, Sira Quiroga was apprenticed to a Madrid dressmaker. As she masters the seamstresses’s art, her life seems to be clearly mapped out – until she falls passionately in love and flees with her seductive lover. But in Morocco she is betrayed and left penniless. As Civil War engulfs Spain, Sira finds that she cannot return and so turns to her one true skill – and sews beautiful clothes for the expat elite and their German friends. With Europe rumbling towards war, Sira is lured back to Franco’s Nazi friendly Spain. She is drawn into the shadowy world of espionage, intrigue and betrayal.

Opinion was unanimous on five counts – the writing was naïve, the story was predictable, overlong, disjointed (could have been 2 separate stories) and totally implausible when Sira progressed without a qualm from seamstress to spy.

There were three plus points – it was clever the way the story interwove real characters with fictional ones, the historical research was detailed and enhanced the story, it was a page turner.

Mixed feelings, not one of our better reads. A few enjoyed it and would recommend it as an easy read. Most of us didn’t. The score was a 6.

July Meeting

At our July meeting we were saddened by the news that Olwen had passed away earlier that day. She had been a good and faithful member of our institute for many years but due to ill health had been unable to continue with her membership for some time and she has been sorely missed. We held a minute’s silence in her memory.

Viv Truran was our speaker for the meeting and she brought along some items for us to try to guess their age and value. Included was a cup and saucer from 1840 and a Christian Dior brooch from 1960. We enjoyed the challenge. On times we were quite close and sometimes our estimations were way out.

WI business began with feedback from our successful tea party. This was followed by details of forthcoming events-coffee morning hosted by Barry Highlight WI on Tuesday 2nd August and a harvest supper with Culverhouse Cross institute on the 10th October.

There was enthusiastic discussion regarding the opportunity of owning a banner for our institute. More details will be available at the next meeting.

To end the meeting we all enjoyed strawberries and cream .Raffle winner-Lyn.

No meeting in August but some members will be joining Dinas Powys on the 2nd and 22nd August.

NB All future meetings, unless otherwise stated will take place at the Church Hall.

At our next meeting on 1st September and Elin Jones from Ty Hapus, the day centre in Barry, which gives support to people living with dementia.

Wenvoe Castle

Wenvoe has a castle which is over 600 years old; it is not really a typical castle but rather a very grand house with some architectural features which gave it the appearance of a castle. It is an important and historic building and something of which we can be proud. The first record of a castle in Wenvoe was in the 1500’s and that was somewhere to the west of St Mary’s church, possibly in the area of Church Rise. There is no further information about that early fortification, though at the time it was recorded as being “badly decayed”. It is said that it was destroyed by Owain Glyndwr.

Fast forward a couple of hundred years to 1762 when a survey of the estate of the Thomas family showed a floor plan of a “long rambling building of irregular design” and that is where Wenvoe Castle Golf Club is located. One writer at the time wrote that “Wenvoe Castle is not at all worth seeing!”.

The Thomas family were leading gentry in the county for over 150 years. A family with a chequered history which at first amassed wealth and significance, but as often happens this turned from affluence to extravagance. After ambitions of being Members of Parliament and grand landscapers they were forced to sell off parts of the estate to cover their losses.

 

AUG castle

By 1769 the family could not carry on and the estate was put up for sale. It was finally sold in 1774 toMr Peter Birt for £14.000. Mr Birt had made his fortune from coal and canals in Yorkshire and had made enemies there among the woollen traders, so he felt it was time to move to pastures new.

In 1776 Peter Birt engaged stone masons and labourers and demolished the Thomas mansion, rebuilding in the same place a large mansion house with castellated battlements. The architect for this was Robert Adam. Adam was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), the country's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. Much of the original stone from the Thomas’ mansion was used in the new building but additional Bath stone was brought in from Cardiff docks. At one stage over 30 masons were engaged on the building. By the end of 1776 the roof was complete but the interior was so grand that it was not finished ten years later.

The castle has been variously described as “one of the finest houses standing anywhere in Wales” while another said it was “an extremely large but uninspired castellated mansion”. In appearance it had a long three storey south front. On either side there was a long low wing ending in a three storey pavilion with a smaller two story pavilion half way along each wing. The entrance was on the North side, facing Wenvoe village.

Over the years the Birt family married into the Jenner family and so the estate came into the hands of Robert Jenner in 1800. We know that in 1887 Mrs Laura Jenner, the widow of Robert Jenner was living in the Castle and she employed a large staff for a single lady. The family were rich because they derived a royalty, or income, from all the coal passing by train through their lands between 1890 and 1920. In the early 1900s the estate employed ten labourers, seven gardeners and a further twenty three beaters, quarrymen, masons and painters. In 1903 Mrs Jenner organised an outing for the estate workers and eighty people went to Bristol from Wenvoe station to visit Bristol Zoo.

The castle was mainly destroyed by a serious fire in 1910 and the remaining building was demolished in 1930. All that survives is the east pavilion together with the stable block, which is attributed not to Adam but to Henry Holland an architect who was working at Cardiff Castle in the late 1770’s.

1n 1936 Wenvoe Castle Golf Club opened, but during the war much of the golf course was ploughed to produce cereal crops, while the Club house became an officer’s mess. Since the war the golf Club has flourished and the Club Secretary Nicola Sims welcomes new members, especially from the village.

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