Category: General Interest Articles

Articles of general interest on no particular subject

The Wenvoe Arms Is Open Again

The Wenvoe Arms Is Open Again

The Wenvoe Arms is open again and this beating heart of the village has pints of ale pouring out again after the long lockdown. We are very fortunate in Wenvoe to have a high-quality village pub which is well run by the landlords Digby and Jennie Rees who have been the tenants for the last four years.

Jennie’s father built and ran the successful Cwm Ciddy pub at Rhoose, and she was brought up in the trade and has been involved in it ever since. She and husband Digby put their experience to good use in making the Wenvoe Arms a superb pub that com-bines tradition with modern innovations. The place was completely refurbished a few years ago and is kept spotlessly clean both inside and out. It has recently been given the highest rating, yet again, by the EHO and Food Standards Agency, which gave it a top rating of 5 for the food safety and hygiene in the kitchen and bar areas. They also received top marks for Covid 19 standards of care.

Lockdown provided challenges for us all, but publicans had added problems with the disposal of beer and food that was unable to be used. Jennie points out that with beer you cannot just pour it down the drain, rather you must consult with Welsh Water who tell you how and when to flush it down the drain. Luckily, Digby saw the problem coming and was able to cancel deliveries just before lockdown which meant less was wasted than might have been.

The lack of clients during the last months has given the landlords time to make further improvements to the outside drinking and eating areas. Surprisingly, there are four separate areas outside each with good, well-maintained tables with seating and umbrellas. The roadside raised patio area is specially reserved for Wenvoe residents and there are six tables there. The lower area next to the war memorial again has tables with seating and is very popular with the regulars and smokers. A hidden gem is the beer garden to the rear which is grassed and surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges giving it a restful atmosphere. The trees there ensure there is plenty of shade on a hot summer’s day. While beyond that is a further area with six tables which will in future have covered shelter so people can eat and drink there in inclement weather.

A new development worth reporting is the building of a pizza shack – yes, the real thing – which has a newly installed wood-burning oven. This is adjacent to the beer garden and will be serving pizzas every evening from 4 – 9 pm. The pizzas are homemade on the premises with a choice of five artisan pizzas available and they will be available to be sold in boxes and eaten anywhere in the pub, outside or in, or else taken away. We hope the pizza shack will have opened by the time that this edition of Wenvoe What’s On hits your doormat.

The Wenvoe Arms has an excellent function room on the first floor which adds greatly to the interior dining and drinking space. The main dining area on the ground floor, which is enhanced in winter with a

log burning stove, seats 60 guests while the function room above can take another 50 or more for a buffet. It is also used as a comfortable meeting and conference room where, for example, Alun Cairns MP addressed the faithful before lockdown.

The food at the Wenvoe Arms receives glowing comments which is not surprising as Jennie and Digby take it very seriously. The food is all cooked from fresh with no “bought-in” meals, unlike many pubs. The menu has had a revamp and lists a wide range of popular pub and gastro type meals. Last orders are as late as 8.50pm which is helpful for those working or visiting later. The wine list is wide-ranging and competitively priced.

The bars are an area of pride for the landlords as there is a great selection of beers and spirits. There are currently five cask, or real ales, available as well as leading brands of lager and cider. Gin drinkers are well looked after too with a selection of premium gins which are served with a choice of mixers. Fever Tree is available among others, and juniper berries can be added as a botanical garnish.

We all need our spirits lifting during this pandemic and what better way to do that than making a visit to your village pub for a drink and meal with friends. They have missed you over the months so you can be sure of a warm welcome by a team who have gone out of their way to keep us all safe and socially distanced.

 

 

Treat Our Masks Like Our Undies

COUNCIL URGES US TO TREAT OUR MASKS LIKE OUR UNDIES

A year ago we couldn’t possibly have imagined that while going about our normal business the wearing of masks would be a common sight. Of course we are used to seeing masks in all sorts of contexts and we seem fairly relaxed about being told to wear them.

Masks have a long and often strange history, particularly in popular culture. In Ancient Greece masks worn by actors had brass megaphones to amplify what actors were saying. When an Indonesian Topang dancer dies, his used masks are never moved from where they were at the time of his death. In the 17th century people believed the plague could be carried by poisoned air or miasma. Plague doctors covered themselves head to toe and wore a mask shaped like a bird’s beak. Perfumes and spices held under the masks were said to neutralise the miasma.

It was not until the late 19th century that masks were being worn in operating theatres. This process was accelerated by their use to protect medical workers during the Manchurian plague of 1910–11 and the influenza pandemic of 1918–19. During the latter the safety measures taken were very similar to those today. The United States for example, closed churches, soda fountains, theatres, movie houses, department stores and barber shops. The amount of space allocated to people in public spaces was regulated. There were however fines against coughing, sneezing, spitting, kissing and even talking outdoors. Some Americans went to prison for refusing to wear masks or not paying fines and a health inspector shot a blacksmith for refusing an order to wear one. All this led to masks becoming unpopular and an Anti-Mask League being formed in San Francisco.

Back in the UK, smog in our industrial cities was a further example of something which led to mask wearing for public health reasons, until The Clean Air Act (1956) began to improve matters.

 

This picture of a Manchester bus during the smog was taken at midday!

As late as 1965, the Beatles wore masks to counter the effects of smog on their way to a concert in the city.

 

While wearing face coverings is not ideal, it has not taken long for the demand for fashionable masks to accelerate. Hello magazine recently ran a whole feature on where to buy a stylish or fun version. You can get one of your favourite band or football team. Maybe you want to make a political point.

 

To help get the message across, Sunderland Council has issued the following advice. “Treat your mask like your undies. Dinnit touch or rive at it, especially in public. Dinnit borrow one from ya marra (mate) or lend yours to them. Mack sure it’s canny tight but comfy. Mack sure it’s the reet way round. If it’s stained or hacky, hoy it in the bin. If it’s damp or foisty, change it! Dinnit go commando!”

 

 

Bring Back Tommy Cooper

BRING BACK TOMMY COOPER

Phone answering machine message – ‘If you want to buy marijuana, press the hash key’.

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I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him 50 quid that he couldn’t reach the meat. off the top shelf. He said, ‘No, the steaks are too high.’

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My friend drowned in a bowl of muesli. A strong currant pulled him in.

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I went to a seafood disco last week and pulled a muscle.

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Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly. They lit a fire in the craft, it sank, proving once and for all that you can’t have your kayak and heat it.

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Our icecream man was found lying on the floor of his van covered with hundreds and thousands. Police say that he topped himself.

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Man goes to the doctor, with a strawberry growing out of his head. Doctor says ‘I’ll give you some cream to put on it’.

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A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet.

‘My dog is cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?’

‘Well’, said the vet, ‘let’s have a look at him’. So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then he checks his teeth. Finally, he says, ‘I’m going to have to put him down.’

‘Why – because he’s cross-eyed?’ ‘No, because he’s really heavy’.

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Ireland’s worst air disaster occurred early this morning when a small two-seater Cessna plane crashed into a cemetery. Irish search and rescue workers have recovered 2826 bodies so far and expect that number to climb as digging continues into the night

 

 

My Trip To Tanzania

My Trip To Tanzania

Hi! Hope everyone’s well.

Just wanted to say a thank you once again to everyone that supported me in the run up to my trip to Tanzania. I came back a month earlier than planned because of the current situation with Covid 19, however the month and a half that I did spend out there was an amazing experience which I enjoyed very much.

 

Whilst on the environmental stage of the expedition, where we were planting trees so that a small village could have sustainable resources for the future, I stayed with a Tanzanian family. Seeing how the ways of life differ first hand has really humbled me and made me appreciate what my life is like. I missed out on the section of the trip where we would have built a sanitation block for a primary school. However, Raleigh International are giving me the chance to return this time next year and finish the expedition, which is great.

Thanks once again, I hope everyone has a lovely rest of the summer.

 

Jacob

 

 

About Brass Monkeys

DID YOU KNOW About Brass Monkeys?

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. However, to prevent them from rolling about the deck, the best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. The ‘pyramid’ was stored on a metal plate called a ‘Monkey’ with 16 round indentations. However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make ‘Brass Monkeys.’ Brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey; Thus, it was quite literally, ‘Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.’

 

Test Your Knowledge

Test Your Knowledge

IT HAPPENED IN AUGUST

1. Glamorous American film star who died from an overdose of sleeping pills in August 1962

2. When Winston Churchill said, in August 1940,”Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”, to whom was he referring?

3. The eruption of which volcano, in 79 AD, destroyed the cities of Stabiae and Herculaneum?

4. In August 1945 the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, what was the name of the plane that dropped it?

5. In August 1896, gold was discovered at Rabbit Creek, a tributary of which Alaskan river?

6. In 1572 thousands of Protestant Huguenots were murdered, by Catholics, in what became to be known as The St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. In which country did it take place?

7. Born on 27th August 1910 as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, she founded a religious order known as the Missionaries of Charity and spent her life working in India.

8. Born on August 30th 1797, which author wrote the novel Frankenstein?

9. In August of which year were the Olympic Games held in Berlin?

10. In 1960 which city was declared to be the federal capital of Pakistan?

11. Born in August 1803, this man went on to become a gardener and architect and designed the Crystal Palace.

12. What is the name of the author, born in August 1819, whose best known novel is Moby-Dick?

13. The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence took place in August of which year?

 14. Born in 1884, Henri Cornet, at aged 19 is the youngest ever winner of which endurance race?

15. In 1305 the leader of the Scottish resistance against England (made famous in the film ‘Braveheart’) was captured and ultimately executed. What was his name?

16. In 1620, which ship departed from Southampton, England on its first attempt to reach North America.

17. Born in 1862, Joseph Merrick became known as what due to his deformities?

18. Who was the English actor who died in August 2000 famed for his roles in several Ealing comedies including ‘The Lady Killers’ and ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’?

19.The building of what structure was started in August 1961?

20. Which US state joined the Union in August 1959?

21. How old was Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, on 4th August 2000?

22. What canal opened in August 1914?

23. The first steamship crossed the Atlantic in August 1818. What was its name?

24. August 9th, 1930, is the birthdate of what cartoon character?

25. In August 1893, the world’s first car registration plates were introduced in which country?

 

Click here for the Answers http://wenvoe.org.uk/?p=8094

 

 

A Visit To A Museum And A Hard Day’s Night

A VISIT TO A MUSEUM AND A HARD DAY’S NIGHT

We had started out rather late as the museum did not open early. It was a small museum on the shore of a Norwegian fjord, and it celebrated the heroism of a local resistance fighter who opposed the Nazi invasion of his homeland in 1940. After a fascinating look around the many and poignant exhibits, we walked with our skis and rucksacks to the nearby jetty where a boat was waiting to ferry us across the cold fjord to the opposite bank.

The crossing in a high-speed boat, provided by the Norwegian Marines, did not take long and we quickly disembarked near a small wooden hut where one of the resistance fighters had spent many weeks hiding during the war. He had frostbite in the unheated hut and to avoid gangrene, which he knew would kill him, he cut off his black fingers with a penknife. We silently paid tribute to such bravery before hoisting our rucksacks, clicking into our ski bindings, and moving off across the fresh snow.

Soon we were pushing our way up the steep hillside through young silver birch trees; they made the going tough. After fighting our way through the dense trees, we were hot and sweaty but at least we could now press on to ascend a distant ridge and drop down to a small village where we were to spend the night sleeping in the gym of a school. After the wood, the ascent steepened and we soon found ourselves in a wide gully down which a stream had been flowing, but now in March, it was just a mass of ice covering the rocks. This required care as a slip would have sent me hurtling down from ledge to ledge to the bottom which was well over one hundred feet below. A couple of us took off their skis while others side stepped up the snow which covered the ice. It was very slow going.

At last, the small party was assembled at the top of the gully and before us was a gentler snowfield that led to the distant ridge. It was now late afternoon and while waiting for the last of the party to catch up we dug a hole in the snow to check on the profile and the stability of the crust. The snow layers looked stable and when the last person arrived, we pushed on to the ridge. The shadow of the skier in front was long now and I realised we were rather late to be on the ridge.

It was downhill from the ridge to the valley below, an easy run on skis and our spirits were high. The maps did not clearly show the best line to take so we skied down only to find that we were at the top of a high cliff. This was frustrating and time-consuming as we had to take our skis off – put the skins back under them which allowed us to ski back up to the ridge. After we had repeated this exercise a few times it was pitch black, and we were navigating with head torches, map and compass. The cold made replacing batteries in head torches difficult as our fingers were frozen.

By about one o’clock in the morning, we were tired and unable to find a suitable route down. It was bitterly cold, and the wind was strong. I decided we had better spend the night where we were, in relative safety. So, we decided to dig two snow holes in the steep bank, each one would take 3 of us. We removed our skis and took shovels and snow saws from our packs and began to dig fast which kept us warm. After forty minutes the small caves in the bank of snow were big enough and we squeezed in, blocking the entry hole with the largest rucksack once we were all inside. The change was dramatic as suddenly there was no howling wind and by the light of our head torches, we settled down like sardines to try and sleep – I was exhausted.

I tossed and turned but being in the middle of the three of us I was probably the warmest. After a few hours, I moved the rucksack from the door and found that dawn was breaking. So, I went out and stood looking at the drop below us and realised how lucky we had been to stop where we did. I tried to make a call on my mobile phone, but my shivering fingers could not hit the keys because of the cold.

Just then I saw a flashing light, a strobe, miles away down the valley. It had to be a helicopter looking for us as we were overdue, but it quickly disappeared. Minutes later a crewman appeared on foot as the helicopter had carefully followed our ski tracks and landed out of sight above us. Wearing a flying helmet, overalls and life jacket he looked like someone from another world. He asked if we were all OK and whether we would need a lift off the mountain? I explained that we were British and fine thank you, but the offer of a lift was too good to refuse.

In a very short time, the six of us were in the big noisy smelly beast and just a few minutes later we landed at the school, thanked the crew profusely, and soon we were asleep in our bags on the floor of the gym. It had been a night to remember.

Kindly contributed by a Wenvoe resident

 

 

Walk Leader’s Adventures

Walk Leader’s Adventures

Boris and Mark urged and encouraged people to “Stay Local” in the early days of the lockdown due to the Coronavirus. As the lockdown is eased and people are actively being persuaded to have a staycation, it seems appropriate to leave Mt Kenya, Mt Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas to describe a more local adventure…on Mt Snowdon.

Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa in Welsh) is the highest mountain in Wales and England (1085m) and can offer views of Pembrokeshire, Anglesey and Ireland on a clear day. On my many ascents, I have never been fortunate to see that far!

The first recorded ascent of Snowdon was by Thomas Johnson in 1639. My plan was to take a group of 15 European students from an English Language summer school to follow in Johnson’s footsteps. The 16-18 year old students had come to a Language school in Shropshire for a month, to improve their English. They did English language activities in the mornings and sports and cultural activities and visits in the afternoon. As the Sports teacher, I decided to offer the students the opportunity to experience Welsh culture and challenge themselves to climb in the wild and magnificent Snowdonia landscape.

An excited and excitable group set off from the Language school. The mini bus was filled with a reverberation of cheerful students making themselves understood in an assortment of languages. On board we had students from Spain, France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Denmark: and they were determined to share their thoughts and communicate!

We arrived at the Pen y Pass car park ready for the 6 hours return journey to the peak and back. We were well prepared: the route had been planned, weather forecast had been checked and the students had appropriate footwear and equipment. Food, water, first aid kits, whistles and insulated foil blankets were carried in small rucksacks. We were ready for any eventuality! Or so we thought!

We set off along the Miners track. The Miners Path was built to carry copper from the Britannia Copper Works near Llyn Glaslyn to Pen y Pass, where it was transported to Caernarfon. Remains of the mining works could be seen as we steadily climbed. The views were glorious as the sun shone down on green grassy hillsides and the water sparkled as we passed by the lakes of Llyn Teyrn, across Y Cob Causeway to Llyn Llydaw. Chatter had changed to a hum as the climbing took its toil on the slope near Llyn Glaslyn. We stopped for lunch.

Mountain weather can be unpredictable and changeable. And change came. What had started off

as a walk under sunny, blue skies changed rapidly as we ate lunch into a “white out”. Thick mist descended upon us and it was impossible to see the whole party even though we were tightly packed onto the hillside above the lake, which was now invisible to us, concealed by the fog. I was anxious and felt apprehensive about continuing as I knew there was a steep and tricky climb ahead, often requiring the use of hands. I was in a dilemma; should I descend?

And then….out of the mist emerged a mountain guide and his sheep dog….He asked if everything was going okay. I explained how I was in a predicament about continuing the climb. The students were keen to continue but not knowing how bad the visibility was up ahead, I did not want to put anyone at risk. The guide then offered to take us to the summit, and return us to the start of the climb. What a hero!!

In very poor visibility, we followed the guide and his dog up the zig zags to Bwlch Glas and reached the summit after a further gentle walk. There was no view of Ireland or Pembroke to greet us, but the students congratulated each other in a multitude of languages and took numerous pictures of themselves with the dog.

As we descended the Pyg track and reached Bwlch y Moch, the mist lifted and we were treated to splendid views down the Llanberis pass. When we reached the mini bus, the guide left us. The students thought I had arranged for the guide and the dog to guide us …..and I am sure their adventure on Snowdon has passed into English Language Schools Folklore.

When we do meet again at Barry Island or Cosmeston on our Living with Cancer walk or Carers walk, I promise that if a mist descends I will get you back to the car park! I hope to see you soon on a walk. Valeways are expecting to restart their led walks in mid August, so check out the programme on their website.

 

 

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