Category: Wenvoe Forum

How Green Are My Valleys?

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

After 27 Years – How Green Are My Valleys?

Wales has a new government elected in an unfamiliar political landscape. This is not going to be a political piece, don’t be concerned, it just seems a good moment to take a look at our green credentials here in Wales not only at our valleys, but mountains, rivers, the sea around us, urban landscapes, post-industrial sites and more importantly what we the people of Wales do to improve or damage our own surroundings.

It’s fair to say that most of the world’s developed societies have used the wonderful resources that the planet and its nature provide as free gifts, contributing to economies built on the growth of wealth. There has been little consideration for the whole picture, the ecosystem. Some types of bees, for example, have been farmed and exploited for their honey but bees in general have no economic value, with their contribution as pollinators disregarded, their habitats destroyed and only recently the impact of their decline on our ability to feed the world’s population acknowledged. It’s been much the same with most of nature’s wonders.

Gradually those who have for decades been warning of the dangers of overfishing or campaigned for the return of beavers to the countryside or those who construct hedgehog highways have made their voices heard and slowly things are changing. Here in 2015 the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act was in the vanguard in making sustainable development a central organising principle for government.

It seems that it has made a difference, household recycling by local authorities in Wales was over 65% in 2022-23, a world leading rate and household carbon footprints fell by 37% between 2001 and 2020. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OEDC) and other international bodies reviewing evidence found that this overarching approach has resulted in improvement in health, education and wellbeing for the people of Wales. The 2015 Act inspired the UN Declaration of Future Generations based on sustainable development.

Currently Wales is considered an exemplar. Let’s hope it stays that way.

A Message from Sian Hops!

Hi – I just want to reach out to all of you fellow hop growers.

Our Hops haven’t materialised yet, even though I have planted my seeds in a pot after following all the instructions. We keep trying with the hope of having something grow when the harvest is due. Usually hop picking is around 5th September or maybe 12th depending on what sort of weather we have this Summer.

So far, it’s cold and windy. We are all hoping for some warmth for ourselves and our plants.

I hope we will have a get together in September and share a drink or two. I will be in touch nearer that date. If there is anything I can help with in the meantime, please let me know.

Sian

P.S. I wish WWO was in colour, for you to see the springlike bright green of neighbours’ hops.

(P.P.S  From the editor of WWO. 

If you know Sian, tell her that her  wish has been  granted.  As readers of this are aware, all the illustrations are in Glorious Technicolour on the Web Version of the WWO)

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

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

Picking out the Positives

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

Picking out the Positives

So many stories, reports, opinion pieces and forecasts clamor for our attention and nag at our emotions. The news, it seems, is always bad and the potential consequences are always predicted to be dire either economically or environmentally and often both. It’s hard not to join in the weeping and the wailing so here is a positive story in the twists and turns of the road to electric vehicle dominance.

As has happened before, the sudden recent turbulence and the exposure of our dependence on the reliability of supply in the oil market, has raised consumer interest in electric vehicles. On previous occasions interest has subsided once the crisis was passed but this time “experts in the field”, policy makers, civil servants and academics suggest that for many consumers, the figures add up and the move to electric vehicles for the private car has passed what has been described as a tipping point in lower and middle income economies with the exception of China where government policies and interventions have been a significant factor.

This tipping point is fuelled by a number of factors with overall cost and convenience of use being high on the list. A 2025 report from BEUC, The European Consumer Organisation, indicated that in much of Europe the lifetime cost of owning electric vehicles was already lower than their petrol/diesel equivalents for medium sized cars and cost savings for 1st, 2nd and third owners would very soon extend to small cars in response to market demand. Improved batteries and the development of the charging infrastructure have given the individual more confidence in their electric vehicle for greater distances travelled. It is also possible to use your EV as part of the household electricity system and smart use of its battery can reduce bills and help make best use of solar power generation if you have it.

As an individual one can feel heartened that it seems likely that now EV purchases are good economic sense for households who can also feel better about their carbon footprint and lower the air pollution not least in the vicinity of their own home. There are of course currently some other factors to address in the transition from fossil fuels to electric cars. The mining of required chemicals is often dangerous and not well regulated everywhere, the effect on local economies based on car manufacture can be badly affected if the transition is not well managed. But overall the transition to electric vehicles is seen as a positive step for the environment.

This article has been informed by a discussion paper from the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics (Elliot, Harper and Nguyen-Tien)

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

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

Transferrable Experiences Save Higher Fuel Bills, and Hops

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Considering Tomorrow Today

Transferrable Experiences Save Higher Fuel Bills

One motivation for taking a holiday somewhere warm while it’s winter here, is that what you save in cash and carbon footprint on not heating and lighting your home, contributes to what you spend on travel. During January we escaped the rain for a fortnight to go somewhere warm and sunny. It was more of a retreat than a holiday, no swimming pool, no fancy cocktail bars and no tourist traps either! In 17 hectares of bush not far from the Atlantic Ocean and close to the equator there is a community that takes paying guests offering them a taste of another culture. The place doesn’t seem to have an official address I don’t know how you post anything to them. Locals who personally know K&A, whose home this is, will respond to an inquiry for directions with a broad smile and point out your path. Those who don’t, shake their head and are apologetic, almost distressed that they can’t help. It’s important to learn to navigate yourself around the area or get the phone number of a TAXI from K before you venture far.

When we got home here, we found that the electric shower in the main bathroom wasn’t working and the electrician couldn’t repair it for at least a week. Now we are fortunate we have alternatives a corner bath that takes a long time and a lot of water to fill or using a shower room downstairs. There is an electric radiator in that room, but it would be very costly to get the room to comfortable showering heat in February. This was not going to keep our fuel bills down!

However, our holiday experience came in handy. In our off-grid, tread lightly upon the earth cultural break we had become accustomed to putting a lidded bucket of water out in a sunny spot in the morning and by the end of the afternoon it was just the right temperature for a jug shower in the private but roofless room created for that purpose. I was amazed at how little water is needed for a thorough wash.

The bucket and jug method worked as well in our shower unit too, but it was not nearly as nice as having the warm sunshine on your skin, bits of the bush curling over the walls and unfamiliar bird noises to try to identify while you pour delightfully warm refreshing water over yourself. But learning about bush showering, upgraded a bit by having proper walls, and adapting it at home, certainly will have saved a hike in our bills. We have reverted to normal now that the shower is mended but the experience really underlines how wasteful we in the UK are with water and fuel. It also reminds us that we can learn a lot from other cultures and different ways of doing things. It seems likely that as climate changes such learning will be important to help us thrive.

The Wenvoe Hops Group

I just wanted to share the information I have had on good authority from our new member Chris Webster. If you have some seeds this is the method suggested for germination.
In February open the seeds and put them on a tissue for 4 to 5 weeks on a windowsill.
In March put them in a fridge for a further 3 to 4 weeks. Once this has happened they are ready to be put into individual pots in the house, keeping them damp, in soil. This should be April time. In May they should start to sprout and then are ready to go outside in pots. If we may have good weather, keep an eye on them regularly giving them water.
We are unlucky this year as our brewer hasn’t got any Rhizomes to share with us.
Hopefully we will have a good year for the hops, even if this year our seeds don’t come to fruition. We hope to celebrate the harvest this September so watch this space.
If you need any help or advice contact: Sian on 07837291362. Or if you want to join the group, of course.

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

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

The BBC Reith Lectures 2025

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

The BBC Reith Lectures 2025

Moral Revolution – Rutger Bregman

As I write we are three-quarters of the way through the BBC Reith Lectures, given this year by Dutch historian and author, Rutger Bregman. If you have not listened to the series, you will find it on BBC Radio 4 website. He presents interesting and challenging ideas that are worth a listen.

At the heart of the message Bregman is conveying is the famous quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead.

When we set the Wenvoe Forum in motion a few years ago now, we weren’t trying to change the world. We were hopefully intending to make a few people think, change a few minds and possibly inspire individuals to consider what they could do to make a better future for Wenvoe and its community. We acknowledged that Wenvoe is an active, skilled and resourceful community, with lots being done by the community for the community. Forum members also avoided projects that were too ambitious and settled for some easier wins to start with, and indeed, over time we have contributed to a few small successful actions, activities and projects.

Rutger Bregman, however, seems to challenge us to do a bit more. Like many of us he finds a vacuum at the heart of leadership, and it seems to me that he urges us to heed the call and make the change. He warns that it takes commitment, energy and resilience. However, maybe we should indeed at least try to tackle something a bit more substantial in scale and impact. Here are some projects that other communities have succeeded in developing:

  • It has taken 25 years! But a derelict industrial site has been developed into a lovely community amenity which includes a hydroelectric scheme. Profits from generation go towards community activities of all sorts, sports, drama etc.
  • Many schemes that use the solar power generated on Community Buildings for community benefit.
  • Car clubs that provide electric cars that are bookable by community members to use.
  • EV charging services – shared to reduce cost for individuals or community charging points.
  • Community composting schemes.

The success of the Wenvoe Repair Café in terms of both the number of volunteer repairers and the number of people who have been trying to avoid scrapping items and bringing them to the café, demonstrates a community keen to address climate change.

So, we will be exploring our next project with optimism in our January meeting. If you would like to be part of it e-mail Gwenfo.forum@gmail.com.

Wenvoe Repair Café – Potential New Service

One of the volunteers has an idea for a new service which, as far as the Wenvoe Café knows, is not offered anywhere else locally … read on

Do you have an old laptop that you have stopped using? Perhaps you are using Windows 10 or an earlier version that is no longer supported and are considering a new purchase. There is a possible alternative. At the Wenvoe Repair Café we are committed to avoiding the sending of electrical items to landfill and have been researching the process of migrating old laptops to the open-source Linux operating system to give them an extended life. One of our fixers is now able to offer advice on the suitability of the system for your laptop and, where appropriate, carry out the migration process for you. With effect from our repair café on 28th February 2026 you can bring along your laptop to see if we can help. As long as you have the necessary power lead and your laptop will switch on and is, at best, not more than 10 or 12 years old, then bring it along and we will see what we can do. Be sure to back up any data that you wish to keep as the process involves erasing the hard drive. We will not be able to deal with hardware problems or replacement parts, but maybe we can save some of these faithful old machines from the skip and possibly save yourselves the expense of a replacement!

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

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

Simple Tips for a Sustainable Season

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

A Greener Christmas – Simple Tips for a Sustainable Season

A forum member points the way to a more sustainable but just as lovely Christmas.
This Christmas, a few small changes can make the season brighter for both people and planet:

• Choose a real tree from a local source, or one you can replant – and compost it afterwards.
• Light it wisely – LED fairy lights use up to 90% less energy than traditional bulbs.
• Wrap with care – try brown paper, reusable bags, or fabric wraps instead of glittery or plastic-coated paper.
• Decorate naturally – pinecones, holly, ivy, dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks look beautiful and are biodegradable.
• Reuse and recycle – keep ribbons, bags and boxes for next year, and recycle cards that aren’t foil or glitter-covered.
• Eat seasonally and shop local – support nearby farms, refill shops and markets to cut packaging and food miles.
• Plan your food shopping to avoid waste – and turn leftovers into creative Boxing Day meals.
• Travel lightly – walk to local events if you can or share lifts to family gatherings.
• Give thoughtfully – consider gifts of experience, local crafts, or donations to a cause close to your heart.
• Compost what you can – peelings and trimmings will soon feed your spring garden.

Wishing everyone in Wenvoe a joyful, sustainable Christmas and a hopeful New Year!

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

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

Seeing Further Ahead Together

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

Seeing Further Ahead Together

The Wenvoe Future Forum was set up in the immediate post Covid period, when life was getting back to normal but there was a feeling that the world had changed and people were more aware of their own actions and their impact. We set out to capitalise on this environment and stimulate discussion and action that contributed to addressing climate change. We feel that we have had some success, generally through working to support other organisations in the village.

Members of the Forum care deeply about Wenvoe’s future — its environment, sustainability, and sense of community. Our aim is simple: to explore practical ways we can all make our village greener, cleaner and more resilient, now and for generations to come. Anyone who shares our aims is very welcome to join us.

In 2026 we are considering being more ambitious in looking to the future and thinking further ahead. We’ll be focusing on community connections – listening to residents’ ideas and gathering thoughts on what sustainability means for Wenvoe. We hope to widen the conversation and orchestrate a rigorous collection of ideas from residents with the aim of exploring whether these ideas large or small can be put into practice.

In the early days of the Forum someone said, “If the people of a community work together the only thing that limits what they can achieve is their imagination.”

If you’d like to get involved — even just to share an idea or a few hours of help — please email gwenfo.foum@gmail.com. If you’re passionate about recycling, gardening for wildlife, saving energy, or simply curious to learn more, we’d love to hear from you. Together, we can make small changes that add up to a big difference.

Message to hop growers and potential hop growers

Thank you to everyone who donated hops this year. It seems to have been quite a good year for hops, certainly for some but for others their hop harvest was poor. If your plants didn’t deliver don’t give up hope as 2026 may be a better year for the hops.

We enjoyed beer and pizza last night at Pipes Brewery in Pontcanna. Simon, brewer of the community beer, Taff Temptress beer hopes it will last for sales up to Christmas and can be purchased in cans to take away. When you purchase mention the Wenvoe Hops group – at the moment still offering 20% off. Steve and I hope to purchase Hop plants and seeds in November as ours has died, so if you want some seeds from us, please let us know. We have one new member who joined this week. If you want to join our Wenvoe Hops group, please contact sianjo@btinternet.com

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

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

Summer Surprise

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

Summer Surprise

Well, we certainly had a really good summer in ’25 and it brought with it for many gardener’s bumper crops. We have a plum tree and a damson tree neither of which had borne any fruit at all before this year, not a single plum or a single damson. But this year we were faced with a huge crop of both and apart from giving lots away we tried to find ways of preserving them for winter and turned to old recipe books. Our problem was that most of the preservation methods use a lot of energy and thus lots of carbon is released. So, it was a challenge to decide what to do.

Top of the list in terms of low carbon was Damson Gin, and fortunately wine making was also amongst the least energy hungry so that definitely was worth a try. Inexperienced as we are, the first batch went wrong and had to be discarded; the second batch seems to be working so keep your fingers crossed for us. Others were chutney and cordial, and I suppose because we would have the freezer on anyway freezing is not so bad.

One not so climate friendly product that I had to try, and which so far looks as though it could preserve our crop through the winter was dried damsons. Basically, these are like prunes but made with damsons, dried for hours in a very low oven. They are delicious, and I have a feeling we will not find out whether they would have lasted the winter.

I am told there are good crops of fruit in our community orchards, so here is a recipe for drying fruit.

How to Dry Apples and Pears

  1. Peel and core the fruit.
  2. Apples should be cut into ¼” (5mm) rings and pears into quarters. If pieces are all a similar size they will dry evenly.
  3. Make a salt solution, about 2 oz (56 g) of salt to each 1 gallon (4.5 litres) of water and put the fruit into it for a few minutes.
  4. Carefully lift the fruit out and pat fully dry with kitchen roll.
  5. Place the pieces of fruit in single layers on a drying tray (a grill pan tray will do the job)and cover
  1. Put into the oven at the lowest temperature you can get – 50°C/120°F/Gas Mark 0 for around 8 to 10 hours.
  2. Whilst the fruit is drying, keep the oven door open a crack to allow moisture to escape (use a wooden spoon) but be mindful of children or unsteady adults
  3. Check that the fruit is dry by pressing 2 or 3 pieces together and, if they feel rubbery and spring back into shape, they are ready.
  4. Remove from the heat source and leave covered for about 12 hours to cool in a dry place with some airflow if possible.
  5. Pack into boxes lined with greaseproof paper or, alternatively, airtight jars or containers and store in a very dry place.

NB There are recipes that dry fruit in the sunshine, but you need to find somewhere clean and airy and I suspect that pollution in the air would damage the resulting confectionary.

Wenvoe Hop Growers

Along with lots of fruit and veg in this very sunny summer of ’25 some of our hop growers had a good harvest this year. The brewing schedule had to be altered and brought forward a week because the hops were ready and would have been past their best had they been left till the traditional brew date. As well as the hops growing well, the group has grown as well with three members growing hops in the allotment. We had a total of 9.7kg, the most ever, which Pipes Brewery are brewing as we speak. I will let the group know when the Taff Temptress Beer is ready to taste.

The member of the group with the most Hops – Sue Hoddell with 2.59kg, second was Eirwen and Phil with 2.56kg then third, a new member Kelly Stevenson with 1.8kg.

If you are interested in joining the group please email: sianjo@btinternet.com

Sian Jones

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

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

A Thriving, Sustainable Community

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

Wenvoe – A Thriving, Sustainable Community

Nestled in the heart of the Vale of Glamorgan, Wenvoe is a shining example of what it means to be a sustainable and connected village. Here, community spirit and environmental care go hand in hand, creating a vibrant and welcoming place for all ages.

Wenvoe boasts three vibrant village halls, each a hub of activity throughout the year. From fitness classes and arts and crafts to community meetings and seasonal celebrations, there is always something happening. Children and toddlers are well catered for too, with opportunities such as dance sessions, Scouts, and other youth activities. These welcoming spaces bring people of all ages together, helping to keep the village lively, inclusive, and full of community spirit.

The Library Hub, not only provides books and resources but also houses a friendly community café. Regular events include a Toddler group; a Wellbeing Group, visits from our PCSOs and much more. Local talks, and day trips are organised from the Hub, helping residents to stay connected and engaged.

Sustainability thrives through the work of the Environmental Group, who care for public spaces, and the Wildlife Group, which manages a nature reserve, four community orchards, and an orchid field, a community woodland plus a wildlife garden in the school grounds. From conservation work to wildlife walks and foraging events, they encourage everyone to connect with and protect local biodiversity.

The Wenvoe Forum acts as a hub for community dialogue and practical action on climate and environmental issues. It brings together residents, organisations, and volunteers to explore sustainable living, share ideas, and shape a greener future for the village. The Forum worked closely with the Community Council during the preparation and launch of the Wenvoe Council Community Plan. It played an active role in promoting the plan to residents, ensuring that as many people as possible were aware of its aims and proposals.

The Wenvoe Hops Group is an initiative where residents grow hops in their gardens and allotments. Each autumn, these are harvested and collected to be brewed into a special village beer in partnership with a local brewery – a symbol of both community collaboration and sustainable, local enterprise.

Education and inclusivity are key pillars of Wenvoe life. Gwenfô Church in Wales Primary School nurtures every child’s talent within a caring, Christian environment where happiness, safety, and respect come first. St Mary’s Church also plays a central role, welcoming all to its Anglican services and village events.

For everyday essentials, the village shop and post office offer a warm welcome and a range of services, while several pubs, restaurants, and the golf club – complete with a thriving croquet membership – provide places to relax and socialise.

The community calendar is always full, with annual village fetes, Christmas fairs, plant sales, a monthly farmers’ market, and a repair café, all of which support sustainability and local enterprise.

To keep everyone informed and included, the monthly What’s On magazine is delivered throughout the village, packed with news, upcoming events, and stories from local groups – a testament to Wenvoe’s commitment to strong communication and a shared sense of place.

What makes Wenvoe truly special is that most of these initiatives are run by volunteers, demonstrating a collective dedication to caring for both people and place. With its mix of nature, culture, and community spirit, Wenvoe is not just a village – it’s a model of sustainable living.

Forum Group

A challenge – When the above article was offered as our regular contribution we felt pleased to live in such a nice place, full of activities and more conscious, on the whole, of the need to adapt to Climate change in small and large ways. However there are no doubt, gaps that could be filled. Let us know what!

Are there any activities that you would like to join in that are not available in Wenvoe, that might be easy to put on. Or is there some service that would make life easier for you or perhaps a practical course that you would like to do. Send us your suggestions. Gwenfo.forum@gmail.com

Attention Hop Growers

It is likely that along with many other crops the hops will be ready early. Simon, the brewer at Pipes has moved the hop picking and collecting dates forward a week to the 5th and 6th of September. Sian and Steve will be at home ready to receive your hops and then just make one environment friendly trip to take them into Cardiff. Many thanks to them for their work in coordinating this every year.

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

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

All This Sunshine!! It Makes You Think.

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Considering Tomorrow Today

All This Sunshine!! It Makes You Think.

Have you seen leaflets like this recently dropping through letterboxes in Wenvoe. They are primarily about installing solar panels and batteries. Is yours maybe, hanging around waiting to be read properly or did you sign up immediately to the scheme. Don’t worry, it’s not a scam, at least I don’t think it’s a scam, it is all part of the attempt to make the UK “Carbon Zero” by 2050. What “Carbon Zero” actually means varies and there is a plethora of terms with slightly different meanings, but the main message is that we need to stop adding carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and remove some that is already there changing our climate and putting the way we live on earth at risk.

Local authorities in Wales have been charged with leading the way towards rapidly reducing carbon emissions and the scheme that is described in the leaflets is one of the tactics that is being used. I expect every house received the leaflet and it would be interesting to know what the initial take up is. The first task is to register for this scheme with no commitment to do anything further at this stage, a small dip of the pinkie into the whole business of changing the energy economy. So far so good and I’ve done that bit. By making it easier, and potentially cheaper through joining the scheme the aim is to encourage householders to invest in the future and step onto the path towards carbon zero. There is also an element of raising awareness, the first time you see such a scheme you may think “Very good but money is a bit tight just now” but it has crept on to your to do list and you may be more receptive next time. I’m an example of this. I’ve wanted to explore solar panels for my house for a while but needing to find a reliable supplier in a newish market is off-putting. This scheme offers local authority vetted suppliers.

The scheme seems to be based partly on the idea of economy of scale, by collecting together customers in a geographical area, companies carrying out the work are expected to be able to deliver more cheaply. Now it seems to me that such a scheme could work very well where there are rows of houses that are similar, as they are in the photo on the leaflet. Roofs facing in the same direction and all the same size will only need one set of planning calculations for several houses, a set of customers that could be described as “low hanging fruit”. However, look around Wenvoe, mostly the house next door is different, a lot of houses have several small bits of roof pointing in different directions many of which are too small for a straightforward array of solar panels.

Whilst any progress toward carbon reduction will be very welcome, I fear that this particular scheme won’t work as well for us as it might elsewhere.

I was very aware that in answering the questions to register with the Solar Together scheme, the information I was giving would be insufficient for any supplier to genuinely provide an estimate of the cost. I will be bearing that in mind when the next phase of the scheme kicks in.

However, it has crossed my mind that if, as I suspect, my house will need its own specially tailored survey and provision, which will be more expensive, there may still be an opportunity to achieve some benefit from economies of scale for solar energy scheme providers through joining together in a community collective purchase arrangement. Is anyone interested? Please e-mail gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you are and we’ll see where it takes us.

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

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

Happy Mayday

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Considering Tomorrow Today

HAPPY MAYDAY

This time of year does seem to be a time for looking forward. Spring, in this part of the world, is definitely here; the trees are well greened up , plants poking their heads up and I am pleased to say the hops in my garden have started their vigorous growth and are looking good and worth a photo even if you can’t see the bright green leaves and dramatic red stalks. It’s a time of year when most days I go out and “persuade” them to wind themselves around the hop twine so that they grow where I want them to, not where they want to go. Fortunately, once they’ve got the idea it’s not a daily task. Sian tells me we now have 17 hop growers in the village signed up to giving their hops to make the beer known as Taff Temptress; the 2024 brew was exceptionally fine. So here we are again looking forward.

In the Islands of Britain, Mayday or Calan Mai or Beltane was the marking of life becoming a little easier for a while. The cows for example were turned out to graze with less work for the farmer. It is a time of traditional celebrations, many of which are now sadly disappearing. You may still come across a Morris Side, who dance in the dawn of Mayday, beer in hand, if you happen to be up and about at 5am! More seldom still do you come across a May Queen or children dancing round the maypole on a sunny afternoon. However as old traditions fade new ones arise and we look forward to the Tuckers Plant Sale. This year it’s a special VE day celebration marking 80 years since Victory in Europe and the thankful celebrations and hope for a peaceful future.

It has always been the Wenvoe Forum’s ambition to get the community to think about the future and the impact that each of our actions has on the future. We have been involved in a few initiatives that have tried to get people thinking and we have supported others to take positive action and run a few small projects and activities ourselves. What we have been less successful in is drawing new members and new voices into the forum. We hope to address that now with a new little project “Wenvoe Wonderings” (or maybe we’ll find a better name). This is to be a podcast of Wenvoe voices. The idea is to hear from people of all sorts chatting about matters of interest or importance to them. One of the farmers might talk about the changes they have seen over the last 30 years and the plans for future change. A recently arrived family might talk about the difficulties of starting a new school. Longstanding residents who no longer live in the village might let us know what they feel they have lost and gained from moving elsewhere. Each podcast would be 20-25 minutes.

If you would like to help with creating the PodCast, learn about informal interviewing, recording and editing sound files, and especially if you already have those skills, please let us know e.mail gwenfo.forum@gmail.com. OR if you have something you would like to say to everyone else in the village then similarly, please e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you

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

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

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