Category: New Items for March 2026

Latest post for the current month

“The Place of Tides” By James Rebanks

 

“The Place of Tides” By James Rebanks

This book is set on a remote Norwegian island, and the author writes about his time on the island helping Anna, an elderly woman, as she works with a friend, to keep alive the centuries old practice of harvesting the down of the eider duck. This is used to make the traditional and extremely valuable eiderdowns. Rebanks is a farmer and shepherd in the Lake District and had contacted Anna, a woman he had met previously, to offer his help on the island as he was feeling overwhelmed with his own life and decided this may help him to find a way forward. He left his wife and children to look after their farm and spent six months on the island, and he writes about everything that happened from early Spring until early Autumn. He writes about watching Anna and her friend prepare nesting areas and shelters to encourage the eider ducks to return to lay their eggs. The ducks line their nests with feathers which they pluck from their chests to keep their eggs warm. When the ducklings hatch and leave the island, the ladies collect the feathers and meticulously prepare them to be sold. Rebanks gains Anna’s trust and she allows him to work with her to undertake the many tasks that need to be done to preserve a way of life that has been passed down the generations. Rebanks learns the value of routine and undertaking purposeful work and the island became a place of reset for him.

The whole group felt the book was beautifully written and was calming and atmospheric and some felt it was a lesson on mindfulness. Anna lived a simple life on the island undertaking daily routines every day in all weathers; she was a guardian of the eider ducks and the island, battling all weathers and predators. Everything she did was essential to preserve this traditional way of life and the story about it gently unfolds throughout the book. Members of the group felt that there were some areas of the different characters that they would have liked to know about but, in the main, the book was well received and, after voting, we gave it an 8 out of 10.

 

Wenvoe Wildlife Group Birdwatch Results 2026

WENVOE WILDLIFE GROUP BIRDWATCH RESULTS 2026

Thank you to everyone who took part in this January’s birdwatch. The weather was awful, but the number of individual birds seen was 439, which is up by 196! We received 23 returns (six up on last year) and 25 different species sighted (4 down on last year). Below are the results for this year, with last year’s results in brackets.

The top five birds last year and this year remain the same although the jackdaw has jumped from fifth to first equals with the blue tit. The great tit has dropped from 6th to 10th and the goldfinch from 9th to 13th. The blackbird has remained more common than first reports suggested, but the song thrush remains a rare bird in the parish (one sighting last year and one this). As this is only the second year for our bird watch it is hard to interpret any definite trends. However, jackdaws do seem to be on the increase particularly in the centre of the village, as do magpies and wood pigeons.

 

  1. = Jackdaw: 58 (last year 24 sighted. Fifth in the table last year). = Blue Tit: 58 (last year 37 sighted. First in the table last year)
  2. Wood Pigeon: 51 (last year 36 sighted. Second in the table last year)
  3. Long Tailed Tit: 46 (last year 26 sighted. Same position as this year)
  4. Blackbird: 41 (last year 30 sighted. Third in the table last year)
  5. Magpie: 32 (last year 15 sighted. Not in the top ten last year)
  6. Robin: 29 (last year 21 sighted. Same position as last year)
  7. = House Sparrow: 23 (last year 18 sighted. Same position last year). = Chaffinch: 23 (last year 16 sighted. Tenth equals last year)
  8. Coal Tit: 21 (last year 16 sighted. Tenth equals last year)
  9. Great Tit: 20 (23 last year. Tenth equals last year)
  10. Dunnock: 17 (8 last year)
  11. Greenfinch: 16 (4 last year)
  12. Goldfinch: 10 (17 last year)
  13. Feral Pigeon: 9 (2 last year)
  14. Carrion Crow: 8 (12 last year)
  15. Lesser Black Backed Gull: 7 (zero last year)
  16. Starling: 5 (3 last year)
  17. = Collared Dove: 4 (3 last year). = Wren: 4 (6 last year). = Greater Spotted Woodpecker: 4 (3 last year)
  18. = Nuthatch: 2 (2 last year). = Pheasant: 2 (3 last year)
  19. = Song Thrush:1 (1 last year). = Sparrowhawk:1 (zero last year)

 

The species seen last year but not this were goldcrest, moorhen, mallard and snipe.

Once again thank you to everyone who took part. We now look forward to our summer birdwatch in May.
Wenvoe school will be taking part again this year. Let’s hope it is better weather than in January!

 

An Encounter with Tai Chi

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

An Encounter with Tai Chi

Our February outing brought about our biggest turnout in a long while. We set about clearing part of Pound Lane and a great effort by the team was rewarded by an encounter with Sifu An Ni, a Tai Chi instructor, who saw the state we were in and said she could help. So the not so old amongst us wheelbarrowed the elders over the road to a safe place, where An Ni put us through some basic movements.

It can only be described as a miracle! The boys were so relaxed by the end, that some fell asleep while standing. Care in the Community have uploaded a video of the session, to prove what an inspiration these folk are to village life.

A big thank you to An Ni (Annie Bennett)

Our next get together will be at the narrow road on the top of Grange Avenue, 9th March.

School News March 2026 Notes

  Gwenfo School News – March 2026 Notes

GWENFO PRIMARY PTFA

Farmers Market

Sadly, we have been informed by the organisers of the farmers market that due to falling footfall that it was no longer a viable option. We know many within our community supported the small businesses and enjoyed the coffee and fresh produce once a month. It will be a real loss to the village. The stallholders also contributed a small amount to the school each month which meant that we raised over £1,500 over the time the market ran which are much needed funds. The market will continue in Cowbridge every Saturday morning if you would like to continue to support the traders. If anyone has any ideas, links or suggestions please do pop down to the school as we are always open to any ideas that can help support our community.

Thank You!

Huge thanks to the Wenvoe Neighbourhood Watch group who recently made a donation to the school. This will enable us to add security to the site including improved screening to road facing fencing and to install a new security system to our rear gates. We are very grateful for the support.

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

We would like to say thank you to Bruce and the group for your support as ever. Our wildlife area is full of shoots ready to burst into bloom and we have had a bumper crop of apples this year. The gardening club in school sold the apples to their families and we have used the funds to buy more compost and tools for our garden.

 

 

Nicola Starke, Headteacher,

Gwenfô Church in Wales Primary School Tel:02920 593225

 

The Birch Bark Cross

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

THE BIRCH BARK CROSS

I am not sure if this story really happened to me.

A few years back I lived in a small village called Wenvoe between Cardiff and Barry. Wenvoe itself used to be a big farming estate back at the turn of the 19th to early 20th century. I used to take my dogs for a walk through Wenvoe Woods on a regular basis up to the Horse and Jockey Pub and have a cheeky pint without the Mrs knowing about it (am sure she knew).

I was walking in the woods one sunny day with my two dogs (a Pomeranian and a King Charles). My route took me through the “Orchid field” (It is managed as a traditional meadow with an annual mowing to encourage the sort of wildflowers that are fast disappearing from our landscape).

At the top of the field, there is an old bench which I headed to for to sit down with the dogs. I was half dozing off with the sun shining on my face, when I felt a shadow standing before me. I looked up from the bench to see the shadow of a man wearing a brimmed hat. The light was shining behind him, giving him a glow like form. “Hello” the figure said. I put my hand to cover my eyes, “Hello” I said back.

There was no sound of traffic and all I could hear was Crow cawing about five times. The man said, “Nice dogs you have got there”. The dogs where around the man’s feet rolling around. The man said, “My name is Thomas Jones”. I said, “Like the singer”. “Who?” said the man.

The man had what looked like a felt suit and hat and looked quite old fashioned in appearance. He turned to me and said, “I am the local Woodsman for Wenvoe Woods. I live at the back of Ravenswood Farm”.

“Oh” I said, “I moved to the village about three months ago”. The man put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a long strip of bark of a tree. As I watched his hands move with subtle dexterity, The man produced something out of the bark. “This is for you” said the man and handed me the bark he had being working on.

The man said goodbye to me and gave the dogs a rub on their heads. He headed towards the shrubs to the right of me, but the sun shone straight into my eyes. When I adjusted to the light, the man had disappeared as quickly as he appeared. I looked down at my hands and saw that the man had left me a freshly made cross out of the bark. I stuck the cross into my pocket and carried on to the pub.

I was talking to some of the old locals about what had just happened to me and they all started laughing. One local said, “You’re very blessed, you have just met old Tom.” The local man went on to tell me that Tom was the woodsman for the Wenvoe estate over a hundred years ago.

The old local said “Did he give you a Birch Bark Cross.” He then took me over to plaque on the wall with a dark cross inside of it. The local said ” There’s only two in the village; one in here and one in St Marys Church in the village.” He said, ” They are both around one hundred years old.”

When I got home, I put my hand in my pocket and took out the cross, it had turned a dark colour and looked very old and brittle. I still have it in a box on the wall in the house.

This is a fictitious story, so don’t go looking for any crosses.

 

 

March Church News

March Church News

Greetings from the Congregation at St. Mary’s church to the wider community of Wenvoe. If you cannot make it to church, follow our Sunday service online at www.ipcamlive.com/stmarywenvoe.

We thank all who regularly continue to support the Food Bank in Barry with their weekly gifts of dry goods, tinned meats and vegetables and much more. Your gifts can be left in the church porch ready to be taken to warehouse in Barry by Jude and Nigel. Please keep them coming as the need is greater than ever. Diolch.

We have a new curate appointed to the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg with responsibilities for Sully, Wenvoe and St. Lythan’s. Mr David Harrision was ordained Deacon and licenced by Bishop Mary Stallard at Wenvoe during February and has now taken up his duties with Vicar Lyndon as his mentor for the next year. Rev. David is part time and a Non Stipendiary Minister as his day job is teaching. We welcome him as we walk with him on this stage of his journey in ministry in the church. It was a pleasure to meet his wife Kate, who holds the position of Canon Chancellor at the cathedral.

Shrove Tuesday, also known as “Pancake Day” Pancake Day was well marked on Shrove Tuesday with a De Morgannwg Ministry Area event at the Old School in Sully. 50 or more participants from the nine churches within the ministry area, including St Mary’s Wenvoe, gathered for fresh pancakes hot off the grill under the skilful hand of the Revd Denise Maud.

After enjoying their pancakes with either sweet or savoury toppings and lots of conversation, there was a time of competitive dice throwing and mad drawing for the Beetle Drive. In four rounds of play, we saw completed beetles from Sue M, Bodhi J, Mavis H, and a very tall Mahoney grandson! However, when the final numbers were tallied and verified it was the young Tallulah J who had the highest score. The extra prize for the prettiest beetle went to Linda from Rhoose.

In the pancake toss, we had widespread participation from clergy and lay people from Sully, Dinas Powys, Rhoose, and Wenvoe. The clergy contenders (David Harrison, Denise Maud, Andrew Maud, and Lyndon H-H) gave a good show with the Revd Denise coming out on top with a remarkable 27 flips in 20 seconds.

However, it was our young “front-of-house” volunteer, E.M. from Rhoose who took the cup with 28 flips. The evening ended with the draw for a pleasant array of prizes in the raffle raising £100 for Marie Curie. Proceeds from the door were split between The Amelia Trust Farm and De Morgannwg Ministry Area.

Acknowledgement to Chris H.H. for kindly writing the “Pancake” report.

LENT 2026 at St. Mary’s

Lent is a significant season in the year for Christians – a time of solemnity and self-reflection where they confess their failings and resolve to live a more godly life based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. It lasts for just over six weeks leading up to Easter.

Traditionally it was a time of fasting from certain foods such as eggs, meat, fish and fats. Nowadays people might give up a luxury food – such as chocolate. They may also give up an activity such as using social media or drinking alcohol. It is called Lent in English because it is the time of the year when days are lengthening in the northern hemisphere. Like Easter, Lent falls on different dates each year. Christians in different church traditions around the world celebrate slightly different periods of Lent. Some church buildings are made to look plainer during Lent with flowers and other decorations removed.

In most churches, the first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday. Many Christians go to church that day to seek forgiveness from God for what they have done wrong. In some churches, the priest will take some ash and use it to mark a cross sign on the forehead of each person. It is a symbol of their remorse. The ash is traditionally made from burning palm crosses which were distributed on Palm Sunday the year before). During Lent, many Christians use special studies to guide their times of personal prayer and reflection.

Acknowledgment to Google… thank you.

Our Programme for all the Lent services and observances were printed in last months “What’s On” but here is a reminder.

Monday evenings at St Mary’s 4.30 – 5.00pm Meditation and prayer. Usual Eucharist on March 1st (St. David’s Day) and the 18th at 10.00am. Mothering Sunday March 15th Eucharist, PALM Sunday March 29th procession and Eucharist at 9.30am. MONDAY in Holy Week, March 30th Eucharist at 6.00pm in St Bleddian’s. Wednesday in Holy Week Eucharist at St. Mary’s at 10.00am.

MAUNDY THURSDAY 2nd April AGAPE SUPPER incorporating the Eucharist 7.00pm. (Please book your place on the list in church)

The services on GOOD FRIDAY AND EASTER DAY will be in next month’s “What’s On” and also on the church notice board in the porch.

There will an opportunity to contribute to the Easter flowers in church. See notices in Newsletter. Thank you.

Church decorating will be at 10.00am on Saturday April 4th.

Thank you for reading the Church News and every blessing in your Lenten journey.

Parry

 

Competing In the Crufts Obedience Championships

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

COMPETING IN THE CRUFTS OBEDIENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Two local canine residents Eva and Asher Heath have made their dog mum very proud as they both won championship dog obedience classes last year which meant they were invited to compete in the annual Crufts Obedience Championships in 2026. They can often be seen training for competition at Station Road playing fields. Eva is Asher’s mother and qualified for last year’s Crufts, but she now returns there after becoming an Obedience Champion. Eva and dog mum, Carolyn (of Greave Close), are the only team from Wales competing. Asher is competing for the first time and is the youngest dog to do so.

 

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