Category: Readers Articles of Interest

Film Reviews “Palestine 36” And “No Other Land”

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

FILM REVIEWS “PALESTINE 36”
AND
“NO OTHER LAND”
(TOGETHER WITH SOME FAMILY INVOLVEMENT)

Further to my recent WO article on how conkers played their part in the creation of the state of Israel,

I now bring my further insights on the conflicts that ensued through the medium of family photographs and cinema films.

Palestine 36 is in essence a fictionalised account of the events during the Arab revolt against British colonial rule in Palestine in the 1930s. It was put out on limited cinema release at the end of 2025 but is currently available to stream on a number of platforms.

The film embodies a reflection of real-world issues faced by the people within Palestine – both then and now. The film unfolds within a divided society that balances between strife and hope, illustrating the day-to-day realities encountered by its characters.

Centred around a small community in Palestine, and the hard-line Christian Zionists in the British administration and army, the film provides a view of political struggles.

It challenges viewers to consider the impact of political decisions on individual lives, urging contemplation of empathy, coexistence, and the potential for reconciliation. By shedding light on personal stories amidst political narratives, the film humanizes a conflict often reduced to headlines and statistics.

In conclusion, and through the lens of the 90 years since, the British Mandate does not present a good optic. On the whole they failed to preserve one of the central tenants of the Balfour Declaration, namely, that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities.”

No Other Land is a Best Documentary Feature Film Oscar winner in 2024 co-produced by the Palestinian National Authority with assistance from sympathetic Israelis and the Norwegian Film Institute. The film was recorded between 2019 and 2023 and shows the destruction of a Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank, which had been resisting displacement after an Israeli “firing zone” was declared on their land. The sub-text appears to be an excuse to remove these Palestinians in order for a Jewish settlement to be established. Again, this film is available for streaming on a number of platforms.

My interest and trying to avoid “taking sides” in these ever present intractable events, is as a consequence my late father-in-law “GWC” being a Regular soldier stationed in Palestine in 1936. He left many photographs. Some show the aftermath of terrorist bombings (he was in the Royal Engineers and tasked with clearing the debris). Others were of the main religious sites – Jewish, Muslim and Christian. The ascribed texts are the words he wrote on the backs of the photo prints.

 

Tony Hodge

 

The Birch Bark Cross

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

THE BIRCH BARK CROSS

I am not sure if this story really happened to me.

A few years back I lived in a small village called Wenvoe between Cardiff and Barry. Wenvoe itself used to be a big farming estate back at the turn of the 19th to early 20th century. I used to take my dogs for a walk through Wenvoe Woods on a regular basis up to the Horse and Jockey Pub and have a cheeky pint without the Mrs knowing about it (am sure she knew).

I was walking in the woods one sunny day with my two dogs (a Pomeranian and a King Charles). My route took me through the “Orchid field” (It is managed as a traditional meadow with an annual mowing to encourage the sort of wildflowers that are fast disappearing from our landscape).

At the top of the field, there is an old bench which I headed to for to sit down with the dogs. I was half dozing off with the sun shining on my face, when I felt a shadow standing before me. I looked up from the bench to see the shadow of a man wearing a brimmed hat. The light was shining behind him, giving him a glow like form. “Hello” the figure said. I put my hand to cover my eyes, “Hello” I said back.

There was no sound of traffic and all I could hear was Crow cawing about five times. The man said, “Nice dogs you have got there”. The dogs where around the man’s feet rolling around. The man said, “My name is Thomas Jones”. I said, “Like the singer”. “Who?” said the man.

The man had what looked like a felt suit and hat and looked quite old fashioned in appearance. He turned to me and said, “I am the local Woodsman for Wenvoe Woods. I live at the back of Ravenswood Farm”.

“Oh” I said, “I moved to the village about three months ago”. The man put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a long strip of bark of a tree. As I watched his hands move with subtle dexterity, The man produced something out of the bark. “This is for you” said the man and handed me the bark he had being working on.

The man said goodbye to me and gave the dogs a rub on their heads. He headed towards the shrubs to the right of me, but the sun shone straight into my eyes. When I adjusted to the light, the man had disappeared as quickly as he appeared. I looked down at my hands and saw that the man had left me a freshly made cross out of the bark. I stuck the cross into my pocket and carried on to the pub.

I was talking to some of the old locals about what had just happened to me and they all started laughing. One local said, “You’re very blessed, you have just met old Tom.” The local man went on to tell me that Tom was the woodsman for the Wenvoe estate over a hundred years ago.

The old local said “Did he give you a Birch Bark Cross.” He then took me over to plaque on the wall with a dark cross inside of it. The local said ” There’s only two in the village; one in here and one in St Marys Church in the village.” He said, ” They are both around one hundred years old.”

When I got home, I put my hand in my pocket and took out the cross, it had turned a dark colour and looked very old and brittle. I still have it in a box on the wall in the house.

This is a fictitious story, so don’t go looking for any crosses.

 

 

Competing In the Crufts Obedience Championships

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

COMPETING IN THE CRUFTS OBEDIENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Two local canine residents Eva and Asher Heath have made their dog mum very proud as they both won championship dog obedience classes last year which meant they were invited to compete in the annual Crufts Obedience Championships in 2026. They can often be seen training for competition at Station Road playing fields. Eva is Asher’s mother and qualified for last year’s Crufts, but she now returns there after becoming an Obedience Champion. Eva and dog mum, Carolyn (of Greave Close), are the only team from Wales competing. Asher is competing for the first time and is the youngest dog to do so.

 

The Vernal Equinox And The Porthkerry Witch

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

THE VERNAL EQUINOX AND THE

PORTHKERRY WITCH

Along with St David’s Day, St Patrick’s Day and Mothering Sunday, March brings the vernal equinox, celebrated in both Christian and pagan traditions. In 2026 it occurs on March 20 at 10:46 a.m. marking the astronomical start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and bringing nearly equal lengths of day and night worldwide. In Christianity, Easter is linked to the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox. In pagan traditions Ostara (named after a German goddess) is celebrated honouring fertility, rebirth, and new beginnings.

Through the ages, Ostara has been celebrated by witches holding rituals and performing spells that focus on growth, abundance, and new beginnings. For most of the Middle Ages the term ‘witch’ meant the local healer, someone who made poultices and medicines and perhaps had charms or spells for healing farm animals. From the middle of the 15th century, things changed with supposed ‘witches’ being used as scapegoats and blamed for everything from bad harvests to untimely deaths. Surprisingly this darker period began with the publication of Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches). Written by a Catholic clergyman, it set out legal and theological theories to endorse the extermination of witches. Based on it, in 1484 Pope Innocent III gave the existence of witchcraft ‘official’ status by issuing a papal bull sanctioning inquisitors and starting a witch hunting hysteria, not fully lessened in Britain until laws against witchcraft were abolished in 1736.

From 1450 to 1700 in Europe alone, about 35,000 people, mainly women, were hanged or burned at the stake as suspected witches. While over a thousand people were sent to their deaths in England, curiously only 5 in Wales appear to have suffered the same fate. In 1579, Gwen ferch Ellis from Bettws in North Wales, was executed for witchcraft. She was a healer but for some reason she was persuaded by another woman, called Jane Conway, to leave an evil charm at Gloddaeth, the home of aristocrat Sir Thomas Mostyn, who died soon afterwards. Gwen was brought before a packed court in Denbigh. Seven witnesses stood against her, claiming her charms had broken bones, bewitched ale, and even stilled a young man’s heart. Gwen was convicted of murder by witchcraft and hanged.

Apart from punishing them, people looked for ways to defend themselves from witches. The National Museum at St Fagans houses a collection of 17th-century witch-related artefacts, featuring “witch bottles” designed to counteract suspected bewitchment. These bottles, often containing pins, nails, and human urine, acted as counter-magic, with the sharp objects meant to break the witch’s spell and cause them pain.

One local story concerns a lady who used to live in a cottage at Porthkerry Park. A rich young man was persuaded to pay her for a love potion, to win over the girl of his dreams. Seeing how old and frail the witch was, his servant pocketed the money and refused to pay her. Angered by the deception she cast a spell over the two of them uttering ‘May these men never leave these woods.’ The two men only got as far as the edge of the woods before turning into two trees. Research has revealed there was a woman called Ann Jenkins known as a provider of potions and remedies, inspected for witch marks by the Cowbridge magistrates. There is no record of the outcome. Official records register Ann Jenkins as being buried in the yard at the church of St Nicholas in Barry, unlikely if she had been proven to be in league with the devil.

 

 

The Cardiff Chain Ferry & Ely River Subway

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

SOME NOTES ON CROSSING THE LOWER REACHES OF RIVER ELY

The Cardiff chain ferry and the Ely River pedestrian subway were two remarkable transport innovations that shaped Cardiff’s docklands, reflecting both the industrial growth of the city and the ingenuity of engineers.

The Cardiff Chain Ferry which gave its name to the nearby Ferry Road, operated across the mouth of the River Ely, linking Penarth Dock with Grangetown. Its origins lay in the rapid expansion of Cardiff’s docks during the 19th century. Penarth Dock opened in 1865, As coal exports surged, thousands of dockworkers needed reliable access between the residential areas of Grangetown and the industrial facilities on the southern bank of the Ely.

The ferry was powered by a small steam engine that wound itself along a submerged chain stretched across the river. The ferry occasionally sank during storms, highlighting the limitations of such technology.

For dockworkers, the ferry was a lifeline. Without it, the nearest crossing was a road bridge at Llandough, nearly a mile upstream. However, despite its usefulness, the ferry was vulnerable to bad weather and mechanical issues. These shortcomings prompted the Taff Vale Railway Company to consider a more permanent solution by the 1890s.

The shortcomings of the chain ferry led directly to the construction of the Ely River Subway, a pedestrian tunnel beneath the river. This ambitious project was approved in 1896, with construction beginning in 1897 under the direction of George Sibbering, chief engineer of the Taff Vale Railway.

The tunnel is about 400 yards long with the 325 yards under the river excavated using a Greathead shield – the same technology employed in London’s underground railways. At its deepest point, the tunnel lay only 11 feet below the riverbed, making construction extremely challenging. Floods during 1897 and 1898 tested the resilience of workers.

The subway was officially opened in May 1900. It had a diameter of 10 feet 6 inches, with a 6-foot-wide footpath and 7 feet 6 inches of headroom. Painted with enamel and cork to reduce condensation, and lit by electric bulbs, it was a modern marvel for its time.

Pedestrians paid a penny toll, cyclists two pence, and prams four pence. Horses were even reported to use the tunnel. Beyond serving commuters, the subway also carried gas, water, and hydraulic lines essential for dock operations.

The subway was decommissioned in 1936 when Penarth Dock closed, but it remained open to pedestrians. During World War II, it was repurposed as an air raid shelter when the docks were requisitioned by the U.S. Navy. After the war, however, neglect and crime tarnished its reputation, leading to closure in 1963 and bricking up of entrances in 1965.

Although both the chain ferry and subway are long gone, their legacy remains embedded in Cardiff’s industrial heritage.

The Ely Subway stands out as a pioneering piece of engineering in Wales. Though closed, it was inspected in 1991 during the construction of the Cardiff Bay Barrage and found to be in surprisingly good condition. Instead of reopening it, planners opted to build Pont Y Werin which now serves as the pedestrian and cycle link across the Ely. This bascule bridge which contributes significantly to sustainable travel was opened in 2010 at a cost of some £4.5 million.

Tony Hodge

The Cat And The Kipper

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

THE CAT AND THE KIPPER

This story takes place in Barry’s West End during the early 1940s, when my family lived in a modest terraced house not far from the docks. My grandfather, Jim, was a Merchant Seaman who travelled the world from Barry Dock. My grandmother, Agnes, kept house and cared for my four-year-old Auntie Ruth and my father, Alf, who was only six months old in 1941.

Most of family life happened in the back room of that little house. The fireplace held a small range for cooking, and a large window looked out onto the yard, where a tin bath hung from a nail on the wall. More often than not, the local black cat, known to everyone as Mr. Tickles, could be found perched on top of it, surveying his kingdom. Inside, a wooden table stood ready for meals, and the steep staircase climbed to the only bedroom. Beneath those stairs was a cupboard that served as both pantry and, when needed, air-raid shelter.

On the day of this story, Grandma had taken the children down the High Street to the fishmonger. Grandad Jim had been away at sea for three long months, and she wanted to surprise him with his favourite tea: kippers with brown bread and proper butter.

Just after three o’clock, the front door opened and in walked Grandad, smelling faintly of salt and diesel and home.

The children rushed to him, and Grandma kissed his cheek before saying, “Jim, sit yourself down. I’ve got your favourite – kipper supper, with brown bread and real butter.” “Oh, that’s grand!” he said. “I’ve been thinking about that for months.”

As the fish sizzled on the range, the room filled with the rich, smoky smell of kippers. Grandma set the bread, butter, and a bottle of Welsh bitter on the table. Mr. Tickles wandered in just then, tail held high and was rewarded with a saucer of milk. Auntie Ruth giggled at the sight of him lapping noisily at the dish.

Grandad had just washed in the sink and was settling himself at the table, leaning over to kiss Grandma as he said, “That looks lovely, love.” But before he could take more than a few bites, the wail of an air-raid siren cut through the afternoon.

“Oh no,” he groaned. “Not now – not when I’m having my tea!” “Leave it, Jim,” said Grandma firmly. “It’ll still be there when the raid is over.” She was already gathering the children toward the cupboard under the stairs. Few houses in the West End had proper Anderson shelters; the cupboard was considered the strongest place in the house.

With a reluctant sigh, Grandad grabbed another mouthful of kipper, snatched a piece of buttered bread, and followed them inside. Grandma lit a small candle, its warm glow flickering over the cramped space. A minute later, the ominous drone of an aircraft passed overhead. Then came a terrifying silence – the kind soldiers called the quiet before the hit. Without warning, a tremendous explosion shook the house. Glass shattered throughout the back room. The candle trembled in Grandma’s hand. The children cried, but she held them tight, whispering assurances she wasn’t sure she believed.

When the all-clear finally sounded, Grandad told them to stay put while he went to inspect the damage. A German bomber returning from a raid in the Midlands had jettisoned a leftover bomb on its way home, likely aiming for Barry Docks. Instead, it fell into a nearby street in the West End. Miraculously, no one in Barry was killed.

Grandad stepped cautiously into the back room. The window facing the yard had been completely blown out. Shards of glass were embedded in the very chair where he’d been sitting minutes earlier. Had he stayed to finish his kippers, he would almost certainly have been killed.

But there was one casualty that day. Mr. Tickles, having seized his chance the moment the cupboard door closed, had jumped onto the table to finish Grandad’s abandoned supper. When the blast shattered the window, flying glass ended the poor cat’s war for him.

Grandad Jim never ate kippers again

 

Our village Repair Café

WENVOE REPAIR CAFÉ

Our village Repair Café has been up-and-running now for 7 months; how time flies! The uptake from locals has been amazing so we thought it was maybe opportune just to compile a little article to support what Repair Café is and what it does….

Repair Café is simply ‘people power’. It is a local initiative powered by local people who care about their locality. There is no external funding and definitely no government or local authority influence; all our money comes from donations. It is about trying to make a very small difference to a huge problem. That problem is excess consumerism and the so-called “use and throw” mentality that prevails nowadays and most of us contribute to.

Repair Café was started in Amsterdam in 2009 by a Dutch environmental journalist named Martine Postma. Its aim simply was to reduce waste, promote a repair culture and strengthen community ties. In 2010 Postma created the Repair Café Foundation, and the idea took off across Europe and then worldwide. As of today, there are more than 2,500 Repair Cafes across 40 countries and it’s growing weekly. There are local cafes in Barry; Sully; Penarth; Llantwit Major; Ely and Cowbridge.

So, its simple objectives are (a) extend the life of everyday objects (b) reduce landfill waste (c) share repair skills and knowledge (d) build social connections within communities (e) encourage sustainable consumption habits.

Our Repair Café here in Wenvoe has really started to make a difference with all 5 of those principles. So, what do we do and how do we do it? Good question!

Firstly, any Repair Café needs volunteers – volunteer fixers to mend the items; volunteer servers to help with refreshments and volunteer coordinators to manage the through-flow of ‘customers’. Who are our fixers? Well in simple terms, anyone and everyone! Most of our volunteer fixers are just folks from our community and further afield who are prepared to simply have a go. Few have relevant skills (although one or two do have expertise) but are prepared to roll up their sleeves, grab a screwdriver, Duck tape or a needle and thread and try their best; nothing more. Anyone and everyone is very welcome to volunteer. If a volunteer has a particular expertise, then of course that is wonderfully helpful with complex fixes like clocks, computers, pedal cycles, electronics and some electrical items but many fixes merely require tenacity and persistence.

Fixes come in all shapes and sizes; there is no common theme. We’ve had fine ornaments, children’s toys, complex gadgets, family heirlooms, garden electricals and historical clocks to name but a few. Our success rate is very good with most items being fixed, but not all; sometimes we do encounter an item which is unfortunately beyond its repairable life. We carry a few everyday consumables like electrical plugs, fuses, super glue, small nuts and bolts etc but we do not carry any spare parts. Due to insurance reasons, we also cannot accept anything which has petrol or gas as its fuel.

When you arrive at the village Community Centre on the morning of the last Saturday in the month you will be greeted by our coordinator who will assess the broken item you have. You will then have to fill in a simple form authorising us to ‘have a go’. You will then take a seat in our café area to enjoy a cuppa and a biscuit whilst you wait to be allocated to a volunteer fixer station. Then it’s down to us to get stuck in and work our magic. Some items are fixable in 10 minutes; others can take quite a bit longer. We’ll assess it and discuss with you what we think. If you then agree we’ll try our best to get the item repaired. Handing back a fixed item is a very satisfying outcome and is a job well done.
So, we will go from strength to strength, but we always need more volunteers. More fixers are especially welcome as we can then repair more things. If you have an interest, skill, hobby or background which could help or you’re just prepared to muck in (like me!) then please do join us.

You can contact me on 07581 192108 or call into the Repair Café and chat to us to find out more.
Martin Thomas

New Wenvoe Author To Inspire Young Readers

NEW WENVOE AUTHOR TO INSPIRE YOUNG READERS

My name is Belinda Batey, I live in Wenvoe and I am a newly published author of children’s books, who is passionate about encouraging imagination and a love for reading among young learners.

I have recently gifted copies of my published children’s books, to Wenvoe Library and Gwenfo School, to support our children and local community.

These books are written to spark creativity, kindness, and curiosity in children, and I hope they will bring joy to your readers and our community alike.

The book titles are as follows:

The Tale of Charlie Corn Cob (age 3-10)

Ted and his Penny Farthing (age 3-10)

Mummy where’s my Dummy (age 3-5)

Scarlet the Snail and her Magic Home (age 3-10)

More detail about all of these books can been found on Amazon.

The “Wenvoe What’s On” Website Treasure Trove

THE “WENVOE WHAT’S ON” WEBSITE TREASURE TROVE

My name is Alan Williams. I am one of the ‘Backroom’ boys responsible for producing the Wenvoe What’s On. My task is to translate or digitize the paper version of the magazine for the online Wenvoe website. I’ve been doing this for ten years. For several years I also designed the colour covers for the Christmas edition, but I don’t do that anymore. They are very time consuming, and I am running out of that valuable commodity.

The purpose of this little article is to promote the virtues of the web version of the magazine. Why? Although this is not as a result of an in-depth survey, in my experience, hardly anyone visits the website.

I want to encourage more people to explore the possibilities of the website. The magazine is a very interesting read and is full of useful and interesting articles, not to mention the ads for local services. Now there is nothing in the current month’s web page that is not in the paper magazine. However, the website magazine is available to everyone with an interest in Wenvoe at the click of a mouse, and that brings me to my point.

The advantages of accessing the website of the What’s On magazine means that every single article that has ever been written for the What’s On in the last ten years is also available at the click of a mouse.

Here is some of the content that is worth exploring:

If you are looking for a recipe, MR GREEDY’S KITCHEN has around two hundred mouthwatering recipes available, and HILARY’S CULINARY CORNER has added around twenty or more this past year. Gardeners will find valuable tips for any season from the vast knowledge base provided by THE VILLAGE GARDENER. Looking for a good read? THE WENVOE PAGE TURNERS and the OFF THE SHELF group have reviewed and rated hundreds of books. I suggest that their opinions are probably more relevant to local readers than professional reviews. THE HISTORY GROUP has given us lots of very interesting stories with a Wenvoe connection like “Wenvoe’s Part in The Battle of Trafalgar.” Who would have thought! And plenty more like that. THE WENVOE FORUM is well worth a browse for its discussions of a wide range of topical subjects. Fascinating facts and information on the natural world, especially those with a local flavour, for instance “Trees in Danger”, have been discussed by NATURE NOTES. THE WILDLIFE GROUP do a fantastic job of managing the various orchards around Wenvoe and their activities and extensive information on wildlife and orchards are well worth a browse.

So, this is my earnest message; please explore the treasure that is the “Wenvoe What’s On” website. Click on wenvoe.org.uk and make my long candlelit hours into the night worthwhile.

About Conkers and Israeli / Palestinian Conflicts

ABOUT CONKERS AND ISRAELI / PALESTINIAN CONFLICTS

(A Brief Summary of Part of an Intractable Problem)

By now local children will have collected their conkers in Grange Park. But let us stop a moment to consider how conkers relate directly to a century of conflict in the Middle East.

It began with a Jewish scientist named Chaim Weizmann. He was born in Russia in 1874 and after a rather colourful early life he was to become a professor of organic chemistry at Manchester University in 1904. By this time, he had become a committed Zionist campaigning for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

(Incidentally, the British government had long been sympathetic to finding a Jewish homeland, and at one time they had offered the Uganda Protectorate as a possibility, partly to offset the ruinous cost of building a railway line through Kenya from Mombasa to Lake Victoria).

Back to Weizmann. Ten years of research at Manchester had led to him inventing a process to obtain acetone by fermenting starchy materials. It is now the start of the First World War, and the armament industry is in need of huge quantities of acetone to manufacture high explosive cordite.

At the beginning of the war, they relied on imported maize for the starch. But when supply routes were cut, Lloyd George, as Minister of Munitions, required that starch should come from closer to home. Weizman proposed horse chestnuts. There were factories at Poole in Dorset and by the dockside at King’s Lynn in Norfolk, producing as much as 90,000 gallons of acetone a year. Children collected the conkers and because the factory locations were top secret the collected conkers were sent to London to be passed on to the factories.

As the process was being kept secret, there were local suspicions that private profit was being made from voluntary efforts of the children. It was said that because so many conkers were collected around the country there were transport problems and piles of rotting conkers were left at railway stations.

Weizmann was thus the man of the moment, but a quid pro quo raised its head. “Seeing that I have helped the war effort, how about the British Government ceding part of Palestine (where the British had some influence) to become a Jewish Homeland? Prevarications ensued, and in 1919 when Palestine was under British control as a Mandated Territory following the defeat of the Ottomans the Balfour Declaration was issued: “His Majesty’s Government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” (Author’s Bold and Underline)

We now know just how well that ideal worked out.

An historical footnote: When the state of Israel was founded in 1948, Weizman became its first president.

Tony Hodge

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