December Report



WOMEN’S INSTITUTE


December Report


Wenvoe WI has been particularly active this month. We held our Christmas Party on the first Thursday evening in the Church Hall, where festive buffet prepared by the members was served. Also, we had a seasonal Quiz, followed by a rendition of an alternative version of ‘Cinderella ‘written by R. Dahl, a nostalgic poem penned by one of our members, as well as a raffle.

On the 7th, we held our annual Christmas Lunch at the Wenvoe Arms where we all enjoyed the convivial atmosphere and dined on traditional Christmas fayre. Many thanks to Jenny and her team for an excellent repast and the usual warm welcome.

Lastly, on Monday 12th we held our Christmas coffee morning in the Church Hall, where we all enjoyed tea/coffee, mince pies and Welsh cakes as we were entertained by one of our members who played carols and seasonal songs on her accordion. Also, we held a quiz and an extensive raffle.

Our next meeting will be on 5th January at 7pm in the Church Hall, when we shall be holding our annual, ‘Bring and Buy’ – one ladies’ junk is another’s treasure! New members are ensured of a warm welcome.

I take the opportunity to wish readers seasonal greetings and a Happy New Year.

Jan Young (President).

 



Thursday 15th December Walk

 



THURSDAY WALKERS


Thursday 15th December

Thursday 15th December. A walk around Cardiff Bay. About 6 miles. Please note that this is a morning start so that we can have a light lunch/cake at a coffee shop. Meet at the Village Hall at 10.00am. This is a chance for us to share a longer time for Christmas greetings and refreshments. Transport can be shared. Many thanks, Bert. Tel: 029 20594418
All are welcome but you participate at your own risk.

 



November 2022 Book Choice




“The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield

What a lively discussion about this tale!

Synopsis

Everybody has a story.

Angelfield House stands abandoned and forgotten. It was once home to the March family. Now Margaret Lea is investigating Angelfield’s past and its mysterious connection to the writer Vida Winter. Vida’s history is a tale of ghosts, governesses and gothic strangeness.

Fascinating, manipulative Isabelle; brutal, dangerous Charlie and the wild untamed twins, Emmeline and Adeline.

What has Angelfield been hiding? What is the secret that strikes at the heart of Margaret’s own troubled life? And can both women ever confront the ghosts that haunt them?

Our Review

Well! Here are some of the comments in our discussion, we agreed that we would remember it was Halloween and that it was a FAIRY STORY.

Disturbing story beautifully told. Bizarre and unbelievable. Feat of construction of a huge cast of characters. Well crafted and descriptive. Didn’t enjoy. Love her writing. Descriptive and drew you in. Compelling with a fascinating twist. And so the debate went on ……

This is an example of the beauty of the language for me:

“Bones?” said Miss Winter. She was paper-white and there was an ocean in her eyes, vast enough to drown all my fury.

“Oh”, she said.

Oh. What richness of vibration a single syllable can contain. Fear. Despair, Sorrow and resignation. Relief of a dark, unconsoling kind. And grief, deep and ancient”.

Our score was a resounding 8. I think that can stand as a recommendation so how about giving The Thirteenth Tale a go and let The Page Turners know what you think.

Sylvia Harvey

 



Colourful Trees And Lake Views



LIVING WITH CANCERSTROLLERS


 

Spirits were not dampened by the autumn rainfall at Cosmeston; the colourful trees and lake views would brighten anyone’s day. The living with cancer strollers chatted happily as they made their way around puddles. Hot drinks for all at the end of the walk…not an ice cream in sight!

 



Solar Photovoltaic Panels

 



WENVOE FORUM

Considering tomorrow today


Solar Photovoltaic Panels

We wish you a Happy Christmas and may the New Year bring you good fortune. Let us all hope that 2023 is the turning point for addressing climate change; let us all take action and create change. This month Forum member Ken looks at Solar Panel installation.

 

Solar Photovoltaic Panels

If you ever considered Solar Panels to be an unreliable investment with a long payback, think again! The current price of energy means that you will have to pay a lot and you can choose whether you want to keep paying for all your electricity or use at least some of that money as an investment with a typical simple payback of around six years and free power thereafter. This paper identifies potential pitfalls so that you can take care.

The rise in prices for energy have resulted in havoc for the solar energy market with large numbers of suppliers being inundated with enquiries and orders. Some have simply stopped considering new enquiries because they already have enough work until spring. Many entrepreneurs have recognised the opportunities of this market and started or bought small businesses to quote for supply and fitting of solar panels and related equipment but I wonder how many of these will fail, as do most new small businesses, within the first few years. Customers risk price increases before installations are completed and the lack of assurance that the supplier will exist to provide any follow up.

For most new customers, the potential purchase of solar panels is comparable in size to that of their car but there the similarity of transactions ends. For cars, the market is awash with product information and comparisons and innumerable registered dealers backed by the car manufacturers. For Solar Panels every request for information seems to result in a sales person making their assessment of what you need and giving a quote which may include product brochures but little opportunity to compare and assess anything more than total cost and a payback calculation that is totally dependent on the assumptions made by the sales person.

The general assumption that your current annual consumption is a good basis to identify the number of solar panels is not good enough unless you really use the same amount of electricity every day. Check your electricity bills and note the amount used (in KWH) each month. Identify reasons for peaks and troughs and whether they should be included in forecasts of the future.

Typical usage will be highest in the winter and unfortunately that coincides with the period in which the solar panels produce the lowest amount of power. It is not worth quintupling the number of panels in order to cover January, but simply doubling the number needed to cover June will cover March to September and make a good contribution in the other months.

 

Free solar power is not the only benefit of installing solar panels and a battery. The battery can be charged with relatively very low cost electricity overnight and that has clear benefits in the darker 4 months. So choose your electricity provider on the basis of both day time and night time tariffs and what you can get for exporting your excess power.

Before you contract and pay a deposit, investigate whether the company is one you want to rely upon and whether any deposit would truly be covered by any guarantee scheme. It took me a long time to recover my deposit from a company that was not a member of the scheme stated in their contract.

The author has no financial interest in any related business and readers are welcome to address any questions on this subject directly to Ken @gwenfo.forum@gmail.com putting Ken Solar Panels in the title box.

 

To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the Gwen Fo account @ https://www.facebook.com/gwen.fo.1 and then jon the Wenvoe Forum @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/635369267864402

Some further information and updates, blog site https://wenvoeforum.wordpress.com/. Any Wenvoe community member is welcome to join the Forum meetings, via Zoom, which are normally held 19.00 on the second Thursday of each month. E-mail gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join.

 



 Neath Canals 

 Neath Canals 



This is an easy walk in the Vale of Neath, following the Neath Canal and back along the Tennant Canal.

The river Neath is known to have been navigable to Neath town bridge for sea going ships since Roman times. The Neath canal was preceded by several smaller canals connecting industrial sites to the river. In 1790 it was decided that a canal from Pontneddfechan to Neath would be of public benefit. Construction started in 1791, one of the building contractors was imprisoned over financial irregularities in 1794, and it was completed in 1795. For the first 60 years of its existence the canal prospered and in 1845 a £100 share was worth £350. As much as 200,000 tons of coal was carried annually, as well as iron, ironstone, fire/clay bricks, silica, lime, gunpowder and building stone. The opening of the Neath and Swansea junction canal (Tennant canal) in 1824 led to traffic being diverted, as Swansea had better shipping facilities. When the Vale of Neath railway opened in 1851, canal trade dwindled and in the 20th century the canal closed. It was maintained for the supply of water to industry, but navigational structures (locks) were abandoned and became derelict.

Restoration began in 1974 with the formation of The Neath and Tennant Canals Trust. Both canals are owned by private companies who have lost their income from selling water so there is little money for maintenance, and they are wary of others working on the canals because of insurance liabilities. The Trust is limited to work approved by the canal owners which is often just litter picking. They want to see a master plan created which would preserve the canals and promote them for well-being and tourism.

It was a wet day and we set off in full waterproof gear. As we began our walk along the Neath canal, we puzzled over what looked like a dog’s kennel on the opposite bank of the canal – a cheap duck’s house? Then we walked past a huge gas depot – every type of canister and gas you could imagine.

South of Tonna is the Neath canal Depot where there was a smithy, workshop, wood seasoning shed and sawpit as well as the lock keeper’s cottage and stables. In its heyday it would have been extremely busy with lock gates being built and repaired, boats maintained and horses which towed the barges being cared for. Some of the buildings are still standing. The man living in the cottage obviously has a sense of humour as there were several figures on the land past the house including skeletons and large cats sprawling on tree stumps. Ducks and geese swam peacefully on the canal.

Soon we arrived at the 13th century, church of St Illtyd. The last time we walked here we saw a bride arriving at the church by barge. Sadly, this would be impossible now as the canal is overgrown and not navigable.

The present St Illtyd church is built on the site of a much older church and probably the location of a hermit’s refuge. The tower of the church is Norman but the actual church dates to the time of St Illtyd, centuries before the Norman conquest. St Illtyd’s was the parish church for nearby Neath until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. The present church was rebuilt in 1859. CADW restored it in 2005/6, the final part of the restoration being to paint the outside of the church white with a solution of lime and tallow just as they did in the Middle Ages.

At Tonna we saw the river Neath. The canal passed through several tunnels, and we walked along what felt like narrow paths at its side. One of the tunnels was quite long so very dark on this cloudy day. Another had an ornate metal bridge over it and fascinating reflections of the ceiling and sides in the water.

After this our path became narrower until we came to an area where there were several small bridges across the canal, a rusted-out barge, and some derelict locks. Here we crossed to the Tennant canal. We planned to lunch here, but the pool was overgrown and the ground wet. Someone explored and we went to a small beach on the river Neath with an excellent view of the Aberdulais aqueduct, viaduct and lockhouse. The river was full, and we watched the water swirling around the arches and the weir as we ate. In 2020 Storm Dennis damaged the aqueduct overwhelming the low arches but the Inlands Waterways Association with the help of the Neath and Tennant Canals Trust formulated a plan in 2021 to save the aqueduct.

The weather was a bit brighter now and the remainder of the walk was delightful with reflections of trees in the canal and leafy walkways.

Walk 6m 170ft. Map OS165



The Life of William Price



WOMEN’S INSTITUTE


The Life of William Price


On September 1st Wenvoe WI met for the first time in this year’s programme.

Our speaker for our October meeting was Mr Dean Powell from Llantrisant. Dean gave us a most entertaining account of the life of William Price – the founder of cremation. By all accounts Mr Price led a spectacularly colourful life to the end of his days.

In complete contrast, our November meeting comprised a demonstration of ‘How to Wrap your Christmas Presents’ by Mrs Yvonne Randall. Our members were mesmerised by Yvonne’s simple, yet amazing demonstration of how to transform ordinary wrapping paper into a parcel that looked quite magical and different.

We have a busy time ahead, commencing with a visit to what used to be ‘Blooms’ in the middle of November for some Christmas shopping. Then we have our Christmas Party on 1st December, a Festive Lunch on the 7th December at the Wenvoe Arms, and our Christmas coffee morning on the 12th December in the Church Hall.

We hope to ‘kick start’ the New Year at our January meeting, when we will hold our usual ‘Bring and Buy’ meeting – a chance to declutter and get rid of all the unwanted Christmas presents and ‘junk’.

May I take the opportunity to wish everyone a truly Happy Christmas, and to say that new members are always most welcome. Wenvoe WI meets on the first Thursday of each month in the Church Hall.

Jan Young (President)



The Heart is a Lonely Hunter



OFF THE SHELF


“The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” by Carson McCullers


Carson McCullers’ first novel is known as a modern-day classic. To an extent it mirrors her own background of growing up in a poor mill town in the Southern United States.

The story tells of the lives of some of the townspeople and how they all gravitate towards a deaf mute called John Singer. They each confide in him with their problems and aspirations. There is Biff Bannon the local café owner, a teenage girl Mick Kelly who dreams of making something of herself, Jake Blount a political activist and the town’s African-American doctor Benedict Copeland. This doctor, despite his efforts and position in the town, is unable to change the residents’ attitudes of racism.

John Singer is patient whilst they offload their problems; they are completely unaware that he has his own pain, mourning his friend Spiros Antonapoulos, who has been banished to an insane asylum. McCullers, writing beautifully, portrays a sad collection of hopeless characters; yet there is something haunting about this book which most of us found to be food for thought and a good read. We gave it a score of 7.5.

Tricia Coulthard



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