Category: Wenvoe Forum

All This Sunshine!! It Makes You Think.

WENVOE FORUM

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

WENVOE FORUM

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

Wenvoe Repair Café

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

Breaking News! Wenvoe Repair Café

Ken and Martin have been busy!

Following the research we described last month, things have moved quickly. The Community Council gave their support to establish a repair café in Wenvoe and offered the use of the Community Centre. Ken and Martin visited the Repair Café in Barry, and signed up for support (guidance, training and insurance) from Repair Cafe Wales with plans to start with a low key debut. This “soft opening” on March 28th, had to be at the Church Hall because the Community Centre was already booked up. Ken and Martin have recruited and registered local volunteers and have benefited hugely from the experience and systems set up by those who already have active and successful schemes. Hopefully some readers will have been along to the Church Hall and met the local team as well as some enthusiastic volunteers from other repair cafés. At the time of writing one can only speculate what challenges would face the repairers on that first outing. However having experienced repairers on hand should have boosted confidence.

The Community Centre has been reserved for the Grand Opening of Wenvoe Repair Café by Councillor Williams, Chair of the Community Council, on April 26th. Support the development by taking along your items that need fixing.

We do hope you will start bringing items requiring a repair to the café to let the team of repairers and caterers demonstrate and exercise their skills. Three local resident repairers will be supported by three more from Barry and another from Llantwit Major so we anticipate having all the skills necessary for your electrical and non-electrical repairs. You can take along household electrics, small items of furniture, clothes, technology, wooden items, children’s toys, bikes etc. The team don’t promise to be able to fix everything, they know their limits, but if they can effect a repair quickly they will do so while you have a cuppa and wait. The repairs and the refreshments are provided free of charge but donations will be much appreciated; some income is needed to keep running. Overall, by repairing items rather than sending them to land fill we are working towa @ForumGwenfoe

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To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the Gwen Fo 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 gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join

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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

Embracing Locally Driven Initiatives

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

Embracing Locally Driven Initiatives

Actions speak louder than words

The world is changing and we must change too. Environmental change is set to make Earth uninhabitable by humans. Globally, democracy is disappearing, big business and economic markets grab power and communities around the world are recognizing the need to take action to preserve our shared future. Wenvoe Forum is committed to exploring and encouraging action here in Wenvoe that can pave the way toward a more resilient tomorrow. By embracing locally driven initiatives, communities (and that means us!) can not only reduce their ecological footprint but also foster social and economic well-being.

Thirty years ago sustainability was all about fish stocks and the Amazon rainforest. Now it goes far beyond environmental conservation – it’s a holistic approach that integrates economic viability, social equity, environmental stewardship and respect and care for each other. At the community level, sustainable practices are essential for:

  • Resource Conservation: Minimizing waste and optimizing the use of local resources.
  • Resilience: Enhancing the ability to withstand and recover from environmental and economic challenges.
  • Quality of Life: Promoting healthy living conditions, economic opportunities, and community well-being.

The journey toward a sustainable future is a shared endeavour, and every community has the power to drive meaningful change. Through education, collaboration, and proactive planning, we can create resilient communities that not only survive but thrive in the face of future challenges, but it requires action. Each community needs to secure renewable energy, food and water security and waste management and needs to take responsibility for its own resource management.

At a basic level, here are just a few easy, everyday actions we can take:

  • Start gardening: Even a small plot can help grow local produce, reduce food miles. Working on a community allotment creates a space for neighbours to connect.
  • Improve waste management practices: Reduce consumption, reuse or repurpose what might have been waste and finally recycle.
  • Organize Local Clean-Ups: Building practices to keep public spaces tidy and build community pride.
  • Adopt saving tips and tell your friends: like switching to LED bulbs, turning off unused appliances, or organizing an energy-saving challenge.
  • Encourage Carpooling or Bike Rides: Fostering a culture of sharing rides or using bikes to reduce carbon emissions and it might lead to reducing consumption by sharing tools and equipment
  • Set Up Rainwater Collection: Collecting rainwater to reduce water waste and lower utility bills.

Simple measures, community projects and small changes can serve as a starting point and lead to big impacts over time. It is not just about environmental preservation – it’s about being a part of a vibrant, interconnected community that values innovation and cooperation now and will impact on the well-being of our children and grandchildren and future generations and is a good place to live now and in the challenging years to come.

At the Tuckers’ Plant Sale.

Wenvoe Forum members continue to look at ideas for the re-use / re-purposing of various resources. To this end, we’re having a ‘donations/fund-raising’ table @ Glenys & Mike Tucker’s forthcoming VE80 plant sale on Saturday May 10th – in support of the Wenvoe Wildlife Group, and other local charities.

If you’d like to donate any surplus sporting goods, equipment (no clothing, thanks), garden tools, gardening equipment or plant pots etc. (in useable condition) that you no longer use, then we would be pleased to receive them. You can drop off any items between 5th and 10th May with Forum member Gareth Stone (gareth.stone1@btinternet.com) or just bring them along on the day.

Don’t forget that all year round a couple of existing Wenvoe Facebook pages support the idea of reusing existing resources – the Wenvoe Recycling & Reuse Group @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/18704 75136410648 and the Wenvoe Buy and Sell pages, @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/30194691648 39088.

Gwenfo.Forum@gmail.com

Wenvoe Hop Growers

We now have 13 members in the group growing hops in Wenvoe that we harvest together and contribute to the Cardiff Community Hop Growers. Last year most of us had a good crop and the resulting brew Taff Temptress, by Pipes Brewery, Pontcanna was first class and much enjoyed.

However, our main aim has always been to brew a Wenvoe ale one day. We need far more hops, and so far more hop growers, if we are to succeed. One of our newest members has an allotment and has lined up an area for planting hops, so who knows that day may not be so very far in the future.

It’s a good time now to plant the hop rhizomes, or it is possible to grow from seed. The hop vines take a while to fully develop; the first year they are busy building a root network. If you have space to train them upwards, they can be very tall but you can also grow them along the fence and there are dwarf varieties like Prima Donna. Even before they produce a harvest they are quite attractive plants.

Sian Jones looks after the hop growers and if you would like to join in, please contact Sian via e-mail : gwenfo.forum@gmail.com

A Repair Café – what’s that?

Forum member Ken Hansen finds out

The idea behind repair café’s is to reduce the number of appliances, tools and such like that get thrown away and replaced because they are not working and the owner did not know how to mend them. The owner brings them to a place where they can be repaired and has a coffee and a cake while they wait.

It sounded like a brilliant idea but then the good folk that run the Llantwit Major café told me about all that happens behind the scenes; the legal position, insurance, health and safety, volunteer managements and so on, my heart sank. But quickly it lifted again as they also told me about Repair Café Wales, an umbrella organisation that supports and guides those interested in establishing and running a café.

RepairCafeWales.org lists the following advantages to collaborating with them:

  • Access to effective start-up, running processes and procedures
  • Support with start-up funding for marketing materials and equipment
  • Help to identify volunteers
  • Support with promotion, social media and printing
  • A presence on our website with a dedicated page for your repair café

and more. It seemed that a lot of help was available.

Then I saw Martin Thomas’s post on the Facebook page, another like minded resident of Wenvoe. I contacted him and now together we will explore the idea of a Wenvoe Repair café further. If you want to join us e-mail Gwenfo.Forum@ gmail.com marked FAO Ken. “Handy” people will be very welcome.

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To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the Gwen Fo 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 gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join

 

 

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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

Energy Security

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

Why not build into the Community plan , – Energy Security

One of the potentially biggest problems facing us, here in the UK in the next couple of decades is the failure of our power generation and distribution network. The world around us has changed and will continue to change. Our National Grid, which was so efficient when created was designed to carry electricity from large generators to much smaller consumers and cabling, switches, controls etc reflect this structure with safety switches that blow if certain components are over stretched. The future is more likely to see small distributed generators feeding into the central system so the grid is upside down, back to front certainly, in some way, the wrong way round. Now the temptation is to give up and leave such matters to the Government, it is the long term strategic player, or is it? Governments have very short term 4/5 years of secure power to act, whereas the community may be here for generations. Setting Energy Security as a long term aim of the Community Plan informs the direction of travel, opens the way for perhaps a shared bulk purchase of solar panels, it’s a starting point and one which might be achieved.

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To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the Gwen Fo ac-count @ 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

Our Future Health Project

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

“Our Future Health Project

Nearly 2,000.000 people have already joined, how about you? ”

Last month’s Forum article suggested that we as individuals can, given the right help and information, have a substantial impact on our own health. It also touched on bigger scale actions taken by Government at all levels and one such project is Our Future Health. This is the UK’s biggest health research programme ever. As the name implies it aims to collect information now which will improve health in the future. Through working with a mind blowing 5 million people, nearly 7.5% of the population, drawn from all sorts of background, the programme expects to discover and test more effective ways of detecting, preventing and treating disease. There has been much discussion over a number of years about the focus of the health service and the need to invest resources in such a way as to encourage a healthy, long lived population and not just treat the sick. Our Future Health is part of this change.

Diseases often start in the body long before symptoms are noticed, and by the time individuals present to the NHS, the disease has taken hold and has already done damage. Much of the workload for the NHS is treating people who are very sick and we should be very grateful that the free at the point of delivery NHS that we have is there for us in our time of need. How much better it would be if we didn’t reach that crisis point. Detecting disease at an earlier stage means that treatment can begin sooner and is often much less intrusive and more effective. To explore what to look out for at an earlier stage a collaboration between public, private and charity sectors is actively researching on what can only be described as a huge scale.

Our Future Health will encourage individuals to volunteer a little of their time and possibly a small sample of blood. It will be really important that those participants come from all over the UK and from all sorts of different backgrounds so that they represent different ethnic backgrounds, different economic situations, different geographical areas, those who do and don’t have existing health issues etc etc.

The first step is for individuals to set up an account and they will then be able to complete a health and lifestyle questionnaire. Information is provided about how the project looks after data and at all stages consent is required. At any point an individual can withdraw and the data is held in a way that means the individual cannot be identified. The project will bring all of a participant’s health records together and the individual will be invited to attend a clinic where they will donate a small blood sample and complete some questionnaires and tests. Participants receive £10 in recognition of their help. Some of the blood is tested immediately but some will be retained for testing in the future which will be very useful and may shorten the development time of new diagnostic tests, treatments or vaccines. This huge bank of information will be available to researchers in the UK and beyond.

Nearly 2 million people have already joined and much more information is available at website ourfuturehealth.org.uk. This is something you can do to help improve the future for the whole population.

Our Future Health is a charity and company ltd by guarantee and it is supported by UK Research and Innovation, life sciences companies and disease-related charities.

 

Community Planning – Don’t forget that on 23rd November you can come to the Community Centre to talk about the future of Wenvoe and how Local Government, Service providers and the community can set out together joint ambitions for the medium and long term. Setting a long term plan is not easy, sometimes a long term issue is easy to turn into a vision but sometimes it is easier to identify what you don’t want for the future of Wenvoe. Either way, call in on 23rd for a chat.

To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the Gwen Fo ac-count @ 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

Ideas Pointing in the Right Direction

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

“Ideas Pointing in the Right Direction ”

I recently read an interesting blog about a private sector attempt to provide a route to changing the NHS from a megalithic organisation that treats people who are sick and injured into one whose primary task in to keep the population well. The entrepreneurial team have devised a package that offers appointments at which all the latest tech including a full body scan is employed to try to detect any potential problems early, allowing for treatment, lifestyle change or whatever is recommended should take place before too much damage is done. This is not part of the NHS and seems to be targeted at the reasonably well off 30+ age group. At £300 an appointment it is not hugely expensive but well out of reach for the NHS’s biggest client group for whom poverty affects many, many of the determinants of health such as poor housing, unhealthy diets, low paid jobs, etc etc. They will not be in the position to have one appointment, never mind the follow ups every 2 or 3 years that will probably be needed.

Whether these assessments are useful, even for the well off, I don’t know and the Forum is not recommending them, nevertheless; there is an underlying idea which seems to points in the right direction. Intervening much earlier in life and persuading individuals to make appropriate changes could reduce the incidence of so many conditions that are life limiting both in terms of length and quality.

As the Covid pandemic demonstrated so clearly public health is the responsibility of government at all levels using all the tools available from legislation through to advertising and the work of the “Nudge unit” now known as the Behavioural Insights Team. Their combined force would not have succeeded without the willing cooperation of the public. Vaccination programmes that have hopefully defeated smallpox and certainly turned Covid into something we could live with have been worldwide efforts. In the UK the campaign to reduce sickness and death related to tobacco smoking is succeeding but has taken decades so far and if we are to make the changes needed to turn the NHS oil tanker, we the public will have to contribute to our own health not only with our taxes but with actions and fairly swift action too. But what can we, here in Wenvoe actually do?

Some things we can do for ourselves like improving our diet. Let’s use this as an example. It sounds simple and it sounds personal but to achieve it some people need some help. Working families are time poor and it is so easy to fill the supermarket trolley with quick to prepare, highly processed food which is less healthy. If healthy food were to be available on their doorstep it might just make the difference and change their behaviour especially if it were at a reasonable price. For some it’s a case of not knowing what is healthy and what is not and often the information is not clear and as time goes by further research changes the message, so a regular set of health lectures might be useful.

 

But I write as someone in their 70s making a suggestion from my perspective and I acknowledge that what would work for me might not be right for others. If we, as a community, are to see change that will benefit us all then we must all put on our thinking caps and our action shoes.

There is an opportunity to shape an imminent Community Planning Exercise which will undertake its main survey in the New Year. From the beginning of October to the end of the year your thoughts and ideas about what important topics are to be included in the new community plan should be sent tocpe@wenvoecouncil.org.uk. This is a real opportunity to express how you would like life in Wenvoe to be in 5, 10, 15 years time. All aspects of community life can be considered, planning, services, resources, green spaces, ecology, wildlife, environment… Working together it is possible to achieve so much, and it can be fun too, so if you have ambitious plans lets hear them. The results of the last planning exercise can be seen on thewww.wenvoecouncil.org.uk website.

On November 23rd, the Community Council will be bringing together some other organisations for an open day to get the ball rolling on collecting ideas. See the next edition of WWO for more details

IT’S YOUR COMMUNITY!

LET’S HEAR YOUR VOICE!

HAPPY HOP GROWERS – In mid-September,5.55Kg of Wenvoe grown hops were delivered by Sian and Steve Jones to PIPES brewery in Cardiff, where they are already in the brew that will be this year’s community brew of Taff Temptress. The harvest was much better than 2023 so we have great hopes for our hops.

 

 

To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the Gwen Fo 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 gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join.

 

The Village Hop Harvest

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

“The Village Hop Harvest ”

Some readers will know that Sian and Steve Jones coordinate the Village HOP Harvest on behalf of the Wenvoe Forum. Our hops go to join a Cardiff community hop growing scheme that results in a beer called Taff Temptress. If you would like to join the hop growers then please get in touch via gwenfo.forum@gmail.com. Existing hop growers please read a message from Sian about this year’s harvest.

Hi village hop growers,

The hops have been a bit slow but I am sure like us you can see some flowering. We hope that you will be able to pick them on Friday 13th September for Steve to take them to Pipes Brewery on Saturday 14th. The Taff Temptress beer should then be ready three weeks later.

Like last year I don’t think we will have a huge crop but every little helps! We look forward to seeing you all on 13th September.

Sian and Steve Jones

 

To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the Gwen Fo 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 gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join.

 

Firstly, A Big Thank You

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

“The one that didn’t get away”

 

Firstly, a BIG THANK YOU to those that donated unwanted garden equipment, tools and plant pots to our SWAPS table at Tucker’s Spring Plant Sale, earlier in May. Our table quickly became tables, as we were inundated with donations including lawn mowers, hedge trimmers and an industrial tile cutter. Thanks also to the volunteers that helped run the stall and make it such a success. Donations from satisfied “swappers” added significantly to the overall total, with all proceeds going to the Wenvoe Wildlife Group (WWG).

It was a fantastic day, and we chatted about re-using, re-purposing and re-homing ideas with many local visitors. I thought I would share one tale from the day.

The one that didn’t get away…Mrs Sybil Green and her late husband Colin were founder members of the WWG. Sybil met Colin at university. They married after completing their degrees and moved to Wenvoe where Colin advised local farmers. On finding that many of the agricultural queries concerned legal issues, Colin subsequently went on to take a second degree, this time in law, so graduated both as a BSc and an LLB).

Sybil mentioned that Colin had been a keen fisherman in his spare time. She was in the process of tidying her garage and had recently found Colin’s old fishing tackle. A relative had told her that one of the rods potentially had a value. Sybil had been mulling over what to do with Colin’s angling equipment and kindly offered to donate the rod to support the WWG.

Google helped identify it as a Richard Walker designed 10 ft, two-piece Mark IV Avon split cane rod made by B James & Son, Ealing, London. A visit to Garry Evans tackle shop on Whitchurch Rd confirmed this, and that the freshwater rod was in good condition. The helpful folk at the shop put us in touch with a local collector of vintage rods, who lived in Sully. We contacted the collector, Mr Victor Bonutto, who expressed an interest in acquiring the rod and agreed to help identify it further and to value it.

Victor checked the rod and thought it had been made in the late 1950s, early 1960s. Sybil confirmed details of its history and it seems Colin’s grandfather may have bought it new, in Barnstaple, c. 1957, as a gift for Colin’s A Level success prior to going up to university

Victor agreed a purchase price with Sybil and is looking forward to using it, in local ponds, as a member of Glamorgan Anglers. He agreed to help identify Colin’s other equipment and subsequently offered to purchase a 1960s centre pin fishing reel and various floats and accessories. Sybil then kindly donated the total proceeds of the sale to the WWG.

Photo: Courtesy of Mr Victor Bonutto – ttaster@outlook.com: Colin’s rod, reel and floats alongside Victor’s collection of fish exhibitions.

Victor also agreed to find new homes for the other usable rods and reels via his contacts at local game fairs; possibly youngsters just starting out on the hobby. The remainder of the equipment will be re-used / re-homed via the local ‘tidy tip’ at Barry.

The tale(s) continue…Victor shared further interesting personal stories. He had caught his first fish in the Regents Canal, North London, in 1966, the same week as England won the World Cup at Wembley just a few miles away.

He became interested in collecting vintage fishing tackle as a youngster and it had become something of an obsession. He is one of the longest-running ‘fixtures’ of The Game Fair, at Blenheim Palace, having exhibited at the event for over 30 consecutive years.

Victor also collects late Victorian and early 20th century signs, typically produced using enamel on steel creating colourful and hardwearing forms of advertising, with some dating back more than 100 years. He has signs from all around the UK, advertising products including soap, chocolate and whisky. One of the signs in his collection was being used as a manhole cover and another as part of a garden fence. In June 2017, Victor curated an exhibition entitled “Sign of the Times” at the Penarth Pier Pavilion. He also remembers the Fry’s sign that used to be on the side wall of the old shop on Old Port Road. Sybil was able to tell him that this sign is still on exhibition locally in Wenvoe

Victor and his wife are both former Redcoats and met at the Barry Butlin’s resort. They’ve been together ever since.

Sources: Thanks to Sybil and Victor for their input and kind permission to relate their stories. Also, please remember the existing Facebook pages that already support the idea of reusing existing resources in the Village – the Wenvoe Recycling & Reuse Group @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870475136410648 and the Wenvoe Buy and Sell pages, @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/3019469164839088.Finally, a reminder that Wenvoe Forum members are focusing on ideas around the REUSE (including REPURPOSING and RE-HOMING) of various resources. Please keep an eye out for future activities, and join us or send messages on: Facebook: Gwen Fo @ https://www.facebook.com/gwen.fo.1/ and Wenvoe Forum @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/635369267864402twitter @ForumGwenfo

 

 

Intriguing Ideas For Repurposing

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

“Intriguing Ideas For Repurposing”

 

 

A visit to the opticians this morning set me thinking. It was 2019, that I last had my eyesight checked. I do know the recommendation is that you go for a check-up every 2 years. I am sure that there were many more tests and checks carried out today than in 2019 even and reading the bottom line of the chart on the wall is a practice that has completely vanished now, to be replaced by machines that check for other health conditions detectable through your eyes. Thankfully this morning they found only slight changes in my prescription and nothing to worry about. However I did worry a little about “consuming” yet another pair of glasses. As I wear them only for reading/screen work or driving my specs tend to stay in pretty good condition. I do try to reuse frames but sometimes it is not possible and often there is a good reason to buy new ones. With several pairs in various drawers, no longer of use to me, I thought it time to do some recycling/reusing research.

As expected, avoiding using resources unnecessarily, by reusing old frames for your new prescription lenses is the best option. This of course supposes that you can manage without your glasses for a week or two while the new lenses are set in the old frame.

According to US charity “All about vision” around 1,000,000,000 people globally live with vision impairment that could be rectified by a pair of glasses that they can’t afford. Your old reading glasses are very likely to need no more than cleaning up for someone else to benefit from using them. Even lenses with complex prescriptions can be matched with patients by specialists. Opticians and charity shops often belong to schemes to reuse pairs of glasses where they are most needed, so take old ones with you when you have your check up, the optician’s recycling box starts with reuse. Any that can’t be used in this way will be broken down and their components reused or recycled appropriately.

As I was searching up popped information about what to do with your old mobile phone. Much of it was pretty standard recommendations but amongst all that there were some intriguing ideas for repurposing mobile phones. Here’s a few from the list, turn your old phone into:-

  • a security camera
  • a baby monitor
  • a web cam
  • an audio player
  • a GPS device
  • a remote control

 

and if you’ve had enough of those you can always make sure the phone is properly recycled by a reputable recycling company who will ensure reuse of the valuable, scarce components in particular.

And the Keys?

Well, with keys best of all keep them with the lock, then they will always be useful. Except of course, if lock and key are together they are not doing their security job. Inevitably you end up with keys that you have no idea what for. They are mostly metal and can join the metal scrap at the recycling centre, cut off any plastic covers first.

Keys, as symbols of abstract ideas find their way into in lots of creative artwork. How about considering a garden sculpture?

The key to being a successful minimal consumer is awareness and motivation. So here’s a suggestion how about arranging a collection in your street of the unwanted spectacles, or phones and volunteer to get them to the right recycle/reuse/repurpose project.

You will motivate others and repurpose yourself for a short while.

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To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the Gwen Fo 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 gwenfo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join.

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