Category: General Interest Articles

Articles of general interest on no particular subject

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.

 

Travelling ‘What’s On’

TRAVELLING ‘WHAT’S ON’

Twenty years ago we invited readers of the magazine to take their copy of What’s On on holidays with them and take a picture of it in its new surroundings. We wish to try the event once again. Please provide a picture with at least a brief description of its location; you personally, do not have to appear but a landmark or interesting view would be great. If there is a story behind the picture even better.

Last time, besides travelling around Britain, the magazine visited the States, Europe, Africa, Australia, Nepal, China etc. How far or strange a location can we get a copy to over the next twelve months or so?

The Life And Times Of Mr J C Meggitt – Part 1

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MR J C MEGGITT – Part 1

 

In his article in the April 2024 Edition of What’s On, Steven Jones wrote about certain people who were notable in the early days of Barry’s development. One of these was named Meggitt. Here is the story of that man. J C Meggitt was born in Wolverhampton in 1858 and after leaving school he joined the firm of Shelton and Sons, Wolverhampton in the timber supply trade. His duties included travelling widely throughout Britain seeking business opportunities for expanding the timber trade.

His keen business sense lead him to believe that there were major prospects in south east Wales and to further develop his understanding of this area he joined Alexanders and Co in Cardiff who were at that time the largest importers of timber in the Bristol Channel area.

Whilst thus employed he was a diligent saver as he had ambitions to start his own business, which he eventually did at the age of 26. He posted the above circular just three weeks before the Earl of Plymouth ceremoniously cut the first sod for the new dock on 14th November 1884.

One cannot help but think that the young J C Meggitt had perhaps bitten off a bit more than he could chew. The nearest railway station at that time was at Penarth Dock, some six miles away. The local roads were undeveloped being narrow unsurfaced lanes totally unsuitable for heavy traffic. Some of the gradients were steep and the cost of transporting materials was inevitably high.

At that time only horse drawn wagons were available and in the early days of the venture as many as 30 horses were being used. As an alternative to delivering by road, small coastal vessels into Barry Old Harbour were used but the costs of loading at Cardiff, delays at sea, unloading at low tide and storage of materials near the original Ship Inn proved to be as costly as delivery by road. There was much double and triple handling of materials involved.

The tenacious Meggitt overcame the difficulties and proved to T A Walker, the main contractor for the dock construction, that he “could deliver the goods” at competitive prices and the new business continued to thrive. As it became evident that the Barry Harbour option was becoming increasingly unworkable, Meggitt moved his operations to Cadoxton.

It wasn’t just the dock construction that required vast quantities of timber for “false works”. Hundreds of houses and shops were being built which further increased the demand for timber. Until the new Barry Railway was functional some three years later the struggle with transporting timber persisted.

It is of interest to note that the imports of timber in those early days were from Archangel (Russia), Norway, and Canada. The supplies were negotiated though local agents.

In 1888 he went into partnership with his brother-in-law Mr D Sibbering Jones and the firm now known as Meggitt and Jones opened other depots and facilities in East Moors Cardiff, Gloucester and Aberystwyth from which places they supplied high quality timber to their respective hinterlands. At each of these principal locations, the firm operated large saw mills and the business continued to flourish.

…to be continued.

Tony Hodge

 

The Paget Room 122 Years On!

122 YEARS ON!
THE PAGET ROOM REMAINS A ‘HAPPENING’ VENUE’

Many of us have visited The Paget Rooms in Penarth. This much-loved Vale venue was a dance hall in the 1920s, the Regal Cinema in the 1930s and for the last 60 years or so host to a wide range of events, from drama, concerts, talks and art exhibitions to weddings and community meetings. The Hall, now a Grade II listed building, is still named after Alberta Paget, wife of the Earl of Plymouth, who leased the land to the original developers.

The Paget Rooms has long nurtured local talent and provided a platform for artists, musicians, and performers to showcase their work. It has also had its fair share of star performers. By all accounts the 2022 performance from the legendary Welsh rocker Andy Fairweather Lowe was sensational. Andy has a lot of material to work with being well known as lead singer with Amen Corner with hits such as ‘Bend Me Shape Me’ and ‘Hello Suzy.’ Andy went on to work with many an artist considered ‘rock royalty’ including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Elton John and Sheryl Crowe.

 

 

Perhaps the most famous though, was none other than Tom Jones whose appearance has an interesting background. In July 1965, Tom and his band the Squires responded to a request from the Penarth Round Table and appeared for free in aid of a charity to support two people knocked down and injured by a van in Cogan. In 1972, South Wales rockers ‘Man’ released their fifth album ‘Live at the Padget Rooms, Penarth’ complete with a mistake in the title!

Bringing things up to date, between 2019 and 2023, the Paget Rooms were used as the location of the college hall in the Netflix hit show ‘Sex Education’ starring Gilliam Anderson and Ncuti Gatwa, the 15th and current Dr Who.

So, what’s happening now? Well, the two examples below give a good idea of the variety of events held at the modern Paget Rooms.

On March 27th (7pm – 10pm) the Paget Rooms are featuring the National Theatre Live production of Dr. Strangelove. Seven-time BAFTA Award-winner Steve Coogan plays four roles in the world premiere stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s comedy masterpiece. Tickets cost £10.

April 11th sees a production called ‘3D Drama.’ Theatre Bara Caws present three light comedy/dramas on varying themes. Tickets, including booking fee are £16.50. These are Welsh language productions, although English précis will be available. Some strong language.

Perfumery – Did You Know?

PERFUMERY – DID YOU KNOW?

Eau de Toilette or Eau de Parfum?

While Eau de Toilette contains 5-9% of perfume oil, Eau de Parfum usually contains 8-14%. Eau de Parfums therefore last longer and smell more intense.

Natural or synthetic fragrances?

Perfumes with natural ingredients often smell different in batches based on the source of the ingredients, while synthetic ingredients usually have consistency in their smell and last longer.

Notes and different smell after application?

Perfumes are often designed with top, middle and base notes, and designed to smell differently based on the time after application. For example, some top note citrus scents smell stronger immediately upon application, while a lavender middle note may be sensed after some time from application as the top note evaporates.

Celebrating Three Engineers At Berwyn

CELEBRATING THREE ENGINEERS AT BERWYN NEAR LLANGOLLEN
Richard Roberts, Charles Bayer and Henry Robertson

On the 18 November 2024 a celebration of a Welsh, German and Scottish engineering circle, with local connections, took place with the unveiling of a plaque. The setting was Berwyn station (opened 1865) on the Llangollen Railway where Station Master Ben Jackson welcomed the special train from Llangollen station. The audience were warned that the handover address could potentially be three times as long as normal as this was about three engineers celebrated on ICE Wales Cymru’s first trilingual plaque!

Three engineers  a Welshman Richard Roberts (1789-1864), a Scotsman Henry Robertson (1816–1888) and a German Charles Beyer (1813-1876) who would become partners at some point in their careers, were connected to the locality and railways and locomotives. Richard Roberts was born at Llanymynech, Powys, close to the English border, some twenty miles away from Berwyn. During his early working life, he worked as a patternmaker and is remembered today as an engineer in the field of high precision machine tools who made a major contribution to production engineering and mass production. A prolific inventor, his automatic spinning mule of 1824 was mass produced by his company; Sharp, Roberts & Co., which would later build locomotives designed by Charles Frederick Beyer or Carl Friedrich Beyer, as he was christened. Beyer was a celebrated German-British locomotive designer and builder who is buried just a stone’s throw away, in Llantysilio churchyard. His house; Llantysilio Hall, was completed a few years before his death in 1874. He cofounded and was head designer and engineer of Beyer, Peacock & Co., the famous locomotive works at Gorton in Manchester established in 1854. Locomotive manufacturing continued up to the late 1950s. In 1966, after 112 years of operation, all production ceased with the company building nearly 8,000 locomotives. One built in 1856 for the Royal Swedish Railways, ‘Prins August’ is claimed to be the oldest working steam locomotive in original condition in the world.

Initially this partnership, with Richard Peacock, ran into funding problems bringing the famous contractor Thomas Brassey into the picture. Brassey persuaded Henry Robertson to become a sleeping partner in the venture. Henry Robertson was born at Banff, Scotland, he went to Aberdeen University taking up mining engineering but later concentrating on railway engineering. Sent in 1842 to report on mineral properties at Brymbo, he revived the Brymbo Ironworks and promoted the North Wales Mineral Railway which he would engineer with Thomas Brassey as contractor. Then the Chester to Shrewsbury line, with the Dee and Ceiriog viaducts, followed by the line from Ruabon to Llangollen, Corwen and Bala. At Brymbo he oversaw the changeover to steel production in 1884 as well as being an MP. In 1871, he built Palé Hall, a grand house eighteen miles away, where he passed away in 1888. The Llangollen Railway has a function room named in his honour at Llangollen Station.

Just a few years before the 1860 Act for this railway was obtained, the poet laureate; Alfred Lord Tennyson, was staying at Llangollen. It therefore seemed appropriate to incorporate part of a line from Locksley Hall as a railway motif and to acknowledge Richard Robert’s automatic spinning mule; ‘Let the great world spin for ever …’

Stephen K. Jones

 

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