Category: General Interest Articles

Articles of general interest on no particular subject

The Awen Project

THE AWEN PROJECT

Hello, we are The Awen Project! An outdoor, democratic learning community for 11- to 15-year-olds within the lovely village of Wenvoe. It’s a perfect location for us here, as it’s right in the middle of the Vale of Glamorgan. In our community, we choose how we learn and are encouraged to follow our passions. We’re very welcoming to new members and people trying out!

We learn through projects, and this term we’re making a film. Earlier in the year, we explored shot sizes, camera angles, and different film genres. Now we’re in the process of writing the script for our biggest film yet. We even got funding from Taith to travel to Venice by train, with stops in Paris and Milan, to film some of our scenes. We’re aiming to complete it by July so we can present it at a festival this summer!

How to support us:

As well as being a learning community, we are also a charity. We run fundraising events such as our Full Moon Silent Discos and our Wild Banquets. These are fun events for all the family, and we hope you’ll join us for some!

 

Talkin’ About 1960s Vinyl Records

Talkin’ About 1960s Vinyl Records

The overwhelming What’s On readers response to my article on 1960’s poetry – well three people said it was OK (none of which included my wife Jude) – I am delivering on my promise to take a meander through my 1960’s vinyl purchases most of which we still own. Before I go any further, I can hear the readers comments such as ‘I’ve never heard of ‘em’ or ‘They were rubbish.’ This is the idea of my article dear readers – open your mind and let it float downstream. I only kept a diary once in my life for a whole year -1965- which luckily included every record I purchased throughout the year.

In 1964/5 I had a Saturday job in a Stevenage shoe shop. A whole day’s pay was 19 shillings and 10 pence (just under £1). LPs on a decent label cost about 32/6d (about £1. 65p) so that’s why I bought mainly singles! Can you imagine now having to work a day and a half to buy an album. My early favourites were the Downliners Sect a raw rhythm and blues band – their most well-known single being Little Egypt but even that didn’t make the top 50 or the top 500 come to that. It opens with ‘she walks, she talks and crawls about on her belly like a reptile.’ Risque eh? Another two groups I was very excited about were The Primitives and Mal Ryder and the Spirits. The former were another heavy R&B group (now known as freakbeat) who issued three singles as did Mal. My excitement went into overdrive when Mal dropped the Spirits and joined the Primitives for one single. My Primitives singles which I regrettably sold to finance a long family trip are now selling for over £300 each. So, you see I had good taste after all! I later found out Mal was Welsh and became very big in Italy. Not many people know that- or want to I suppose. I liked the Pretty Things too being very envious of Phil May the lead singer’s hair. I did finally get hair like his but 20 years later. I’ve always been at least 20 years behind the times. I am thinking of getting an earring soon or a kaftan! Perhaps change that to 50 years!

But what about the Stones, Beatles, Manfred Mann, Hollies, Tamla Motown, Dusty, Cilla and Aretha et al I hear you shout. Well, my attitude then was I can hear them anytime so I will buy stuff I like that you just don’t hear anywhere. In January 1965 I was watching Juke Box Jury- everyone of a certain age did didn’t they? (If you are younger than about 55 ask your parents about JBJ). They played the Crusher by the Novas. It was voted a big miss, so I bought it. One of my friends said I heard that on JBJ I hoped I’d never hear it again! I did like the Stones too, but I only bought one EP. One of my best friends loved The Animals. NO Stu, do we really have to listen to their 20-minute version of Bo Diddley yet again!!

In September 1965 I started working full time, so I had a little more money. About then, and I have no idea how this epiphany came about, I started reading books about Malcolm X and Michael X and that led me to amongst others Phil Ochs. He was a mate of Bob Dylan and issued LPs called I ain’t marching anymore and All the news that’s fit to sing although I think his best album was Pleasures of the Harbor. I can only play these now if Jude is out! I did buy one LP on the Tamla Motown label – The Great March to Freedom: Dr Martin Luther King Speaks. When he was assassinated in April 1968 a few days later Nina Simone recorded Why? (The King of Love is Dead). I went straight out and bought it! When Nina first performed the song, it was over 20 minutes long but was edited to two sides of a 7 inch single. Considered one of the saddest songs ever written it can’t be listened to without shedding a tear. I can’t anyway.

I do need to return to Bob Dylan with a warning. Jude saw him at the Isle of Wight in 1969 so if you want to shorten your summer just mention it to her when you next see her! I am now a big fan of Bob since Jude and I met but that’s the 70s so beyond the scope of this article. While Jude was watching Dylan, I continued to listen to the sorely missed John Peel with his Perfumed Garden radio show. You didn’t like every track, but you knew sooner or later something would come up you liked. One night he played a tune he described as reminding him of two young girls skipping down a country lane with flowers in their hair. Years later Jude tracked it down for me – The ace and deuce of piping by John Doonan a Northumbrian piper! If you have not read Good Night and Good Riddance How 35 years of John Peel helped to shape modern life by David Cavanagh then do! On the subject of flowers, when I left the civil service after four years, I let it be known I would like an LP or two for my leaving pressie. I received Donovan’s (another fav) box set From a Flower to a Garden and Simon and Garfunkel’s Bookends.

I cannot finish without mentioning David Ackles. His first was absolutely amazing. Try the track Road to Cairo. He had big fans in the shape of Elvis Costello, Phil Collins and Elton John who dedicated his Tumbleweed Connection LP to Ackles.

For those readers who have Alexa in the house here’s your chance to hear some of ‘my’ 1965 purchases. Go on you know you want to! The Crusher (The Novas), Anytime (Riot Squad), You Said (Primitives), 500 miles (Bobby Bare), two Downliners Sect LP’s and their EP The Sect Sing Sick Songs, Here Comes the Night (Them), Why do they treat me like you do (The Freewheelers), Marianne Faithfull LP, Mr Pitiful (Otis Redding), Wolly Bully(Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs), the first Spencer Davis LP, Cara Mia EP (Jay and the Americans), Ian Whitcomb singles You Turn Me On and N N Nervous, Every Minute of Every Day, (Mal and the Primitives) Maria Elena (Los Indos Tabajares), Come on Rolling Stones (paid one shilling so obviously cut price!).

Nigel Billingham

J C Meggitt Story – Post Script

Articles of Interest

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MR J C MEGGITT –

POSTSCRIPT

In the three previous issues of What’s On, we learned how 28 year old Meggitt had come to Barry in 1884 at the start of the construction of the dock and set up a thriving timber supply business. He had involved himself in civic life and did many “good things” for the rapidly expanding town.

We further learned that after his retirement in the 1930s he undertook world wide journeys to over 35 countries and he wrote in depth of his experiences. His writings were published in booklet format by the Western Mail.

These booklets are being reproduced in PDF format to be uploaded onto the People’s Collection Wales website. However, should you wish to read the full text of his journals in advance of them being available thereon, please drop me a text message on 07532 222 381 and I’ll provide you with a copy.

This story is not quite over yet. Barry Library has acquired Meggitt’s scrap book cum photo album covering the period 1912 to 1918. And what a treasure trove it is! Amongst the many items of interest that have been preserved for posterity are:

  • Invitation to the Investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarvon 13th July 1911
  • Photographs of travels to Jerusalem, Cairo and Athens in 1912

  • Photographs of travels to Italy in 1913
  • Clippings from newspapers about Marconi’s early wireless transmissions (1908), the “Great War”, a railway accident at Shrewsbury and other topical items of interest
  • A number of family photographs
  • Photographs of Meggitt and Jones timber yard at Barry featuring women employed during the Great War
  • Photographs of Windsor Road Congregational Church Sunday School on their 25th anniversary in 1915
  • A ticket for a flight in an Avro Biplane 1919

 

And if all of that were not enough, we also have a copy of the history of Meggitt and Jones – Fifty Years – 1884 to 1934 in PDF format.

Tony Hodge

Blooming Wheelbarrow Competition

Saturday 5th July, 11am – 2pm
Wenvoe Church Hall

How imaginative can you be with a wheelbarrow? Blooming Wheelbarrows is a new concept for Wenvoe suggested by Tony Hodge.

Plant up a wheelbarrow with flowers or make a fairy garden or whatever appeals to you. It doesn’t have to be a wheelbarrow, you can use a bucket if you don’t have a wheelbarrow. There will be a small entry fee of £1 per wheelbarrow and 50p per bucket. Open to both adults and children; there will be small prizes for the winners.

Inside the Church Hall there will be hot and cold drinks and homemade biscuits for sale and tables set out for you to have a chat.

If you are interested in taking part please contact Mike on 07704340840 or Glenys on 07922109721 so that we can gauge the level of interest.

Summer’s Here and It’s All Happening In The Vale

SUMMER’S HERE AND IT’S ALL HAPPENING IN THE VALE

The ongoing (until 3rd June) Vale Food Trail has recently brought us a mix of farm tours, cook-ery workshops, tasting events, special exhibitions, live demos and more. If you are disappointed that we are at the tail end of the food frenzy, fear not. This month, the Vale continues to provide events to suit all tastes.

Sunday1June:Welsh National Aquathlon Championships. Produced by All or Nothing Events, the two events planned are a 750m open water swim and a 5km run, across a hopefully sunny not too hot Barry Island. You can find more details on the AllorNothing Facebook page. If you wish to enter you can follow this link:https://www.allornothingevents.com/race-swyd-aquathlon-2025/

Sunday June 8:St Donat’s Castle Summer Fayre. The fayreis set across St Donat’s Castle, Arts Centre, striking outdoor gardens and sea front. The entertainment includes live music and a host of family activities and local traders providing over 60 stalls. There will be the opportunity to indulge in freshly prepared food with a variety of international tastes catered for as well as the less exotic but no less tasty range of British staples like brownies and preservatives. The craft stalls will include a variety of jewellery, wood, glass, ceramics and textiles. There is more. There will be a bouncy castle and family magician ‘Simon Sparkles’ will be putting on a magic show in Tythe Barn. You can also book the following additional activities:

  • 60-minute indoor and outdoor lido pool session (£5pp(– please note the indoor pool is heated but the outdoor pool is not.
  • Archery taster experience – 3arrows plus practice shot (£5pp, ages 6+)
  • Climbing taster experience – 2 climbs plus leap of faith (£5pp, ages 6+)

 

Tickets are £13 per car (for as many people who you can fit in) or £3pp on foot. Last entry is 3.30pm. Dogs are permitted onto the campus grounds, but must be on a lead at all times. You are also welcome to bring your own picnics.

Saturday 14th June: Barry Pride. The event returns to King’s Square and Central Park between midday and 7pm, with a variety of stalls, live entertainment, food and drinks.

Sunday 15th June: Barry Island 10K Race. Barry Island will provide the backdrop for a 10K race, plus a Family Fun Run, Toddler Dash, and competitive Future Challengers mile races. The popular race organised by Run 4 Wales, will take a scenic route with highlights including Whitmore Bay, Romilly Park, Watchtower Bay, Friars Point and the Knap. There will also be plenty of fun and games for spectators to enjoy in the event village on the promenade and gardens. This year’s new lead charity is Cancer Research Wales, and the event will form part of the Run 4 Wales 10K Series. Tickets are available at £32 or £30 for affiliated athletes. For more information or to enter the Barry Island 10k visit: barryisland10k.co.uk

Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th July: GlastonBarry. Looking ahead to next month, GlastonBarry will return to Romilly Park with 22 tribute band providing live music for what is now a well-loved and established part of the calendar.

Tucker’s Ve80 Wartime Plant Sale

TUCKER’S VE80 WARTIME PLANT SALE

On Saturday 10th May we held the Tucker’s VE80 plant sale in and around the Church Hall. Whenever we hold a sale there is always a worry that attendance will be low or the weather won’t be good. We are always well supported by our community, but this time you blew us away! The sun came out and so did all of you. We were so pleased to see you all and were especially pleased to see so many in wartime costume. The total raised for Wenvoe Wildlife Group now stands at £2,122. This was raised from the sale of the plants (many of which were so kindly donated), the raffle, Gareth’s pre-owned garden and sports equipment table, the wildlife table, wartime food, profit from the cakes, takings for drinks, the silent auction for the Spitfire in Flight painting and from Joyce Hoy’s succulents and cacti sales.

Heartfelt thanks go to everyone who donated a raffle prize, to Phyllis, Pam and Sian who donated some wartime food items for sale to add to mine, to everyone who donated equipment and plants, to all our fabulous volunteers who make it all possible, to Brenda for her fabulous accordion playing, to our wonderful ‘spiv’ Tony and last, but certainly not least, to all of you. Mike and I are so very grateful to you all.

 

The Life And Times Of Mr J C Meggitt – Part 2

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MR J C MEGGITT – Part 2

In Part I, we learned how the 28 year old John Claxton Meggitt came from Wolverhampton and established a thriving timber supply business in Barry. Initially this was to supply the timber needed for “false works” in the construction of the Barry Dock and Railway, and subsequently for the construction of the “boom town” that naturally ensued. They also engaged in the business of supplying pit props to the coal mines.

With his brother-in-law, his business became Meggitt and Jones, then subsequently Meggitt and Price. Meggitt was not only a successful business man, but he became very active in both his adopted community and nationally in many spheres of public life. Here are some of those activities:

  • Bristol Channel Timber Importers Association – President
  • Public Administration – Alderman, Glamorgan County Council
  • Barry Local Health Board – Member
  • Barry Urban District Council (Successor to the above) – Its first Chairman
  • Windsor Road Congregational Church, Barry – one of the founders and Superintendent of the Sunday School. Nationally, he was Chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales in the late 1920s

 

In addition, together with his wife, he provided Barry’s first hospital, and if all of the above were not enough he was a Justice of the Peace for the County of Glamorgan for nearly 40 years!

As we have read in previous articles, J C Meggitt became quite wealthy from his involvement in the timber trade. At the age of 70 in 1928, he handed over day-to-day control of the company and set about travelling the world for the next decade. We are fortunate in having detailed accounts of his several voyages. He wrote these as a series of letters to the Western Mail which were subsequently published in booklet format. In these he records how he travelled by sea and rail (on the Tran Siberia railway) to visit and record his impressions of some 35 counties. In the 1931 volume he mentions that his travelling companion was Sir T P Thomas, in the other volumes no companion is mentioned.

Copies of these booklets were presented by Sue Culbertson to the Barry Library and are presently being digitized for posterity on the “Peoples’ Collection Wales” website. Ms Culbertson’s great aunt Doris Gooding (her maternal grandmother’s sister) was head housekeeper to the Meggitt family.

The octavo booklets are as follows:

  • “Impressions of a World Tour” – December 1930 to April 1931”
  • “Japan, Across Siberia, Russia and Germany” – 1935 (including impressions along the way of Yugoslavia; Suez Canal; Aden; Singapore, Ceylon; China and Hong Kong”.
  • “South America (Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina), “Robinson Crusoe” Island (ie Juan Fernández Island), West Indies” – 1938”.
  • “South America, South Africa and the West Coast of Africa”– January to March 1939”.

 

As well as the “touristy” aspects of what he witnessed, being a businessman at heart, he delved deeply into, and commented on the commercial and political environs where he was to stay for any length of time. Thus, these booklets are full of insights into the local economy and the lives of the local populations.

I cannot hope to do any sort of justice to the overall scope of the content of the many places he visited, instead I will provide a few of examples of the topics he covered in depth to give you an insight.

In Australia and New Zealand (1931) he pondered on whether British car manufacturers should produce vehicles better suited to local conditions, and drunkenness and the control of drinking establishments.

In Cape Town (February 1939) he wondered whether the former German Colony of South West Africa should be returned to Germany (No, because of the abysmal treatment they had previously meted out to the indigenous population)

From Valparaiso in Chile (1938) he took an excursion of some 345miles to the Juan Fernandez Islands. It was here from 1704 to 1709 that the Scottish seaman Alexander Selkirk voluntarily exiled himself. Based on the experiences he narrated to Daniel Defoe the novel “Robinson Crusoe” was written in 1719.

The pictures were taken in Chile: at a fox farm and a local mode of transport.

This series will continue with further notes about South America and his impressions of China, Japan, the Tran Siberia railway, Poland and Germany in the mid 1930s together with events surrounding his 90th birthday in 1947.

Tony Hodge

 

Talking About Poetry

Talking About Poetry

The Page Turners article in last month’s What’s On got me running, well ambling I don’t run anywhere these days, to my bookshelf and a half of 1960’s /early 1970’s poetry. I was mad keen on poetry at the time with my favourites being The Mersey Poets – Adrian Henri, Roger McGough and Brian Patten – with Patten being my Number 1. I still have their signed copy of the Mersey Sound issued in 1967. In fact, in yet another recent clear out I came across my massive size poster of Patten’s poem Spring Song. I don’t know what to do with the poster but I can’t let it go. My wife Jude has refused for it to go on display. The poem begins “I thought the tree was rather ordinary until yesterday when seven girls in orange swimwear climbed into its branches.” You get the idea. He did write some children’s poetry books too. Here is his opener from Gargling with Jelly called Squeezes

We love to squeeze bananas.

We love to squeeze ripe plums.

And when they are feeling sad.

We love to squeeze our mums.

It was all groovy and fab in those days with people walking round with flowers in their hair (although not in my village) and as Scott McKenzie and the Flowerpot Men told us going to San Francisco. I did go to Carnaby Street once though! I couldn’t afford any of the clothes so I caught the 60’s vibe by buying a collection of poems called Its World that Makes the Love Go Round. Yes, I have got the title right! How about this one from the collection by Alec Cornwell called Sociological Study 1: After Russell

God came down to Trafalgar Square

Preached Peace to the multitude gathered there

While quoting his sermon on the mountain

Four cops kicked him into the fountain

Saying, as they ducked his head:

‘This guy’s a medieval beatnik red!’

Alongside Patten my second fave was Rod McKuen. I have 7 books of his. Here is a 1960’s title of one of his books Listen to the Warm. Now there’s a 60’s title if ever there was one. His book opens with ‘If you cry when we leave Paris I’ll buy you a teddy bear all soft and gold.’ That got me thinking I could probably do as good as that so when I left home in 1969 to live in Germany and Spain I took with me an A4 empty book which stated on the front ‘Supplied for the Public Service’ below the Queens crown. (I had been an uncivil civil servant!) Two years later I had written over 150 poems. Do you want to read one? Come on you know you do! It’s entitled A Very Simple Request During a Norwegian Prayer Meeting.

See that squirrel on the tree

Happy Happy as can be

See that squirrel on the tree

Make it, Make it, Make it me!

If you have you any idea what it is about let me

know. On second thoughts maybe Rod had something I didn’t have. I have bought a couple of his LP’s at car boots in the past. Let’s put it this way his singing is an acquired taste and proved to be a taste I didn’t wish to acquire. I had thought of compiling a book called 60’s c**p poetry but realised mine were too bad to go in it!

I have to admit to readers in contrast to the above I also loved John Betjeman. It’s not a guilty pleasure because I enjoy reading his poems and I am confessing that fact to What’s On readers. I know lots of people made fun of him but in my eyes he could do no wrong. I love his poem Death of King George V set to music by Jim Parker. Brilliant!

As my eyes glanced along our shelves I counted 7 books of Leonard Cohen’s poems. Now we were, and are, big fans of Leonard. I digress here a bit but I never thought I would see him in concert but he came to the CIA in 2008. What me in tears never! Two hours plus of heaven. It’s time to get our Songs of Leonard Cohen LP out again. Sing along everyone “Suzanne takes you down to her place in the river……

I will call a halt to my meanderings and wanderings through our poetry shelf- and a half. I can hear the What’s On editors saying bring it to a swift conclusion Nige you have waffled on much too long. Before I sign off though I ought to say if there is a popular ground swell of positive comment (i.e. one person) I may do a follow up with meanderings through some of our 1960’s vinyl albums.

So I will finish by sharing with you my favourite poem of all time. Spoiler alert. It’s a bit heavy but I think appropriate for these uncertain times. The poem is by Steve Turner and it is called History Lesson.

History repeats itself.

Has to.

Nobody listens.

As the Wenvoe Page Turners said give poetry – and peace – a chance!

Nige Billingham

 

Book Review

BOOK REVIEW

“Barry Railway: Coal’s Last Burst”

This slim volume by erstwhile civil engineer, local historian and author Stephen K Jones has been produced to serve as an overarching summary to bring together several historical strands. These chart the 1880s development and growth of the Barry Railway and Docks to be the largest integrated coal exporting facility in the world and its gradual decline as the world’s shipping changed its fuel to oil from the 1910s.

Over the decades as the export coal trade declined, the docks saw new purposes as for instance the handling of American war materials in preparation for the D Day Landings, oil and banana imports. And let’s not forget the famous Woodham’s “resting place” where so many redundant steam locomotives awaited their new lives on heritage railways throughout Britain.

Woodham’s “resting place”

All in all, a very useful summary of all that concerns the Barry Docks prior to its re-envisaged status as a major waterside development from the 1990s on-ward. It may be obtained at a cost of £4.50 from the Barry War Museum at the Barry Island Station.

A Revolution Taking Place On Vale Streets

A REVOLUTION TAKING PLACE ON VALE STREETS

Have you ever had the feeling street lighting is not what it used to be? Not surprising when we can trace the history back to 500BC! Today the Vale of Glamorgan Council are well advanced in the latest street lighting revolution. LED streetlights are being installed in all residential streets as part of a £1.4 million investment project that will benefit the environment by reducing Co2 emissions and energy costs. But what are the advantages?

Street lighting seems to have started in China in what is now Beijing c500BC, when natural gas (from volcano gas leaks) was led through bamboo pipes to serve as a fuel for streetlamps. Ancient Romans used oil lamps filled with vegetable oil in front of their houses. They used special slaves, whose only duty was to take care of those lamps, to light them, extinguish them and watch that they always had oil. The first organised method of public lighting was in 1417 when the Mayor of London, Sir Henry Barton, introduced a law that all houses must hang lanterns outside when night fell during the winter months. It wasn’t until 1807 that London got its first gas lit street. Every evening lamplighters, men whose job was to take care of the gas street lights, were lighting the lanterns and every morning they were putting them out.

The Vale’s LED project promises a rather more sophisticated and efficient way of lighting our streets. The high startup costs must be balanced by the longer-term benefits. Over 10,000 conventional street lighting lanterns have been replaced by more efficient LED alternatives. The Vale claims the project will reduce ongoing maintenance and repair costs. LED lanterns can last for 20 to 25 years, or 100,000 hours compared to conventional lighting, which only has a life span of three to six years. LED lights are more efficient. A common problem with older streetlights, which contain mechanical clocks, is that their timing and lighting up times can be put out of sync, either by general power cuts or by insects jamming the mechanism. In both instances the clocks must be manually reset.

The environmental benefits extend to reduced energy consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions. LEDs are free from hazardous materials like mercury, making them much kinder to our planet. Plus, they’re fully recyclable, further tipping the scales in favour of sustainability. When Los Angeles swapped their old streetlights for LEDs, they cut down CO2 emissions by 47,000 metric tons each year. That’s equivalent to taking thousands of cars off the road! Imagine cutting your electricity use by 70%!

The Vale report that a key feature of the new system is that the new lights can be dimmed by 50% between midnight and 6am, when the higher lighting levels are not required due to the lack of pedestrian and road traffic. Many of us have peered out onto the street in the dead of night and felt that the lighting is less vibrant than it used to be, and some have commented on the potential security implications that may result. However, the Vale report that LED lights enhance facial recognition for CCTV cameras.

LED may be the tip of the iceberg. SMART streetlight networks are already being adapted for more uses. The potential is huge. Cities deploy air quality monitors and noise sensors alongside the lighting controls, gathering data to tackle pollution hotspots and excessive urban noise. In Christchurch, New Zealand, planners are exploring using this network to collect and transmit water meter data.

*You can report a street light fault to the Vale of Glamorgan Council using an online form or by telephone 01446 700111.

 

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