Category: Nature

A Mix of Two Ancient Cultures

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

A Mix of Two Ancient Cultures

Well, well, well … following last month’s successful Tai Chi session, Tony, one of the elders, asked if he could bring something to the table which he had learnt while on active service in the Far East (Newport Road to be exact). He said this would involve a mix of two ancient cultures and bring warmth and energy to our lives. As a group we encourage folk to bring enlightenment to the fore. But first, our gang master had us cleaning debris from the old part of Walston Road and team member Mr Guest arranged for the Vale to supply a road sweeper to tidy up after we had finished.

When all this was finished, we waited in anticipation for Tony to enlighten us. Right on cue a moped arrived with a large case on the back. The driver then handed out foil cartons of Thai and Chinese. We were surprised, but grateful for Tony’s interpretation of wellbeing.

Our meeting on 13th April will be at the village green and will end with Mrs Phyllis Crump giving a taster session on line dancing, which will be a roaring success with this bunch of cowboys!

Extensive Work Carried Out

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Extensive Work Carried Out

Quite a bit of vegetation clearance has been taking place. John Crockford has cut most of the Upper Orchid Field and extensive work has been carried out in the Community Orchard despite the very wet conditions. Strimming has been done in the orchards and school wildlife patch.

We have projects on the go working with the Beavers, Cubs and infants’ classes at the School.

 

Wildlife spotted by Wenvoe residents include Hummingbird Hawkmoth (pictured), Scarlet Elf Cup fungus, Jelly Ear fungus, various birds in gardens including Pheasant, Goldfinch, Sparrowhawk and signs are appearing of activity by bats emerging from hibernation. Stonechats were seen near the Golf Club – an unusual event.

Year of the Fire Horse

YEAR OF THE FIRE HORSE

It is the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse. Whilst we cannot include Fire Horses in the list of Wenvoe’s wildlife, we do have a couple of species with ‘horse’ in the title. Arguably one of our best-known trees, still visited by adults and children from near and far, is the Horse Chestnut with its popular Conkers. Grange Park has some very fine specimens. Introduced from South- East Europe in the late 16th century, extracts of the fruit are still used for a wide range of medicinal treatments. In the First World War, children were paid to collect conkers from which Acetone could be extracted, and this was used in the manufacture of the explosive, Cordite. In the event, the process was not viable and the factory involved closed in 1918. A particular characteristic of the Chestnut Tree leaves in Grange Park is their tendency to turn brown as early as August, prompting some people to assume Autumn has come early. However, the colour change is caused by the larva of a very small moth which tunnels inside the leaves. Assuming every leaf on our trees has half a dozen caterpillars, mathematicians might like to try to calculate how many larvae there are in Grange Park!

The other species including horse is the Horse Leech, a harmless but large leech up to 15 centimetres or 6 inches long. They used to be seen in the watercourse that ran between the back gardens in Rectory Close and the Grange Estate. However, since the housing development, there is very little flow of water, and we can assume the Horse Leech has disappeared from that location

Fed Up with What Claims to Be Compost

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

Fed Up with What Claims to Be Compost

I am so fed up with what claims to be compost just being a poor excuse for it. Even the expensive stuff for growing seeds and seedlings, needs to be sieved before you can use it to any effect. The wastage from general purpose is ludicrous. The gardener at Weycock Barns is using coir now, which comes in blocks and you just add water. He’s mixing it with Supagrow from British Soil for seed planting as there are no weeds and no wastage. Silvia Davies, one of Wenvoe’s really good gardeners, is using Lidl’s compost, which she says is the best of a bad lot. Best of all, make your own if you have room.

The tremendous amount of rain we’ve had over the winter will have washed a lot of goodness and structure out of the soil unless you had it covered or had a deep mulch on it. The best way to replace this is with manure. If you’re using something like blood fish & bone then only put it where you’re going to plant, or you’ll only be feeding the weeds.

The lawns have taken a battering over the winter. Even the ones that drain well will have moss in them. Any treatment due now should include moss killer. When this has taken effect, you can rake it out. Don’t panic when it looks awful, as this is the only way to start on improvement. Next job is to mix some grass seed with compost and sand then rake it in and water.

The village gardens have had their fair share of pest and diseases over the last couple of years. These include fuchsia gall mite and, unless your garden is sheltered, you will be affected. This affects the ends of the plant, and you will need to cut these off and bin them. The other pest which has caused devastation through the south of the country is the box tree moth. The caterpillars of this moth hide in a web on the bush, and they affect most strains of Buxus. There are some treatments, but you will have weeks of work in front of you and the bad news is that they will return. Even Alan Titchmarsh has taken them out and replaced with yew.

On the allotments there is a lot of growth on show. On inspection they look very vulnerable with their bright green leaves just perfect for a late frost or a hungry mouse or rabbit. Controlling weeds is always a full-time job whether it’s a flower border or veg patch. The late Trevor Case always had a hoe on hand to tackle them on dry days and would leave them to wilt on the soil.

Take care and happy gardening.

Desperate To Go Out into the Garden

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

Desperate To Go Out into the Garden

March brings longer days but not necessarily better weather. We are desperate to go out into the garden and get it ready for Spring. We need to be sowing annuals and getting veg beds ready to plant carrots, turnips, beetroot, peas and broad beans. I’ll be planting some more tomato seeds to replace the ones planted earlier in Feb when I couldn’t wait to get started, then didn’t take enough care of them. Get a couple of pots of French tarragon and leave on the windowsill, this is lovely for fish dishes and will keep growing back when you use it. Hostas will be putting up new shoots now, so will need protecting from slugs. Purchasing copper rings and tape are expensive and not very effective. Sand and ashes will deter the little blighters but best of all are containers with beer in them as they can’t resist it and you can rest assured that they passed away in good spirits.

This month is the best time to prune back the roses and being careful where you prune will give a brilliant display by the end of May. Also, a slow-release fertiliser containing seaweed will help them to be at their best. This type of feed would benefit most shrubs, except for the likes of blueberry, azaleas and rhododendrons which need an ericaceous feed (acid loving). If in the unlikely event the weather is kind enough, we can repair some of the bare patches on the lawn, in my case caused by the jackdaws looking for leatherjackets in the late Autumn. I considered buying nematodes to kill the leatherjackets, but you have to do this annually, so decided to let the birds do it for me. The only way to solve this problem is to add more drainage to the lawn, which is not always good considering the summers we’ve had in recent years as it means more watering. So I will just live with it.

Any early Spring bulbs which are going over will need to be deadheaded, preferably before the seed head forms and then give the leaves a liquid feed to ensure a good show the following year. When the likes of Alex Cooper and Barry Oliver were in Wenvoe school there wasn’t a daffodil out to pick for St David’s Day. Everyone wore a leek and chewed at it which used to stink out the classrooms. They’re both getting on now, but are well which proves the benefit of fresh produce, even unwashed. Nowadays daffs are in bloom on the village green before Christmas.

I know I keep on but just resist those tender young plants on show in the shops and garden centres until the weather improves, think twice buy once.

 

Take care and happy gardening.

Community Orchard Works

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Community Orchard Works

The wet weather has delayed much of the activity we had planned to do by now. The Community Orchard is waterlogged, and the annual cut of the Upper Orchid Field has been delayed by the muddy conditions.

Despite this, the Welsh, Goldsland and Elizabethan Orchards have been strimmed and much of the Bee Loud Glade has been cleared. Mike Tucker has also ‘hedgelaid’ the new hedge we planted in the Glade around 6 years ago. We have also cleared around the Holland Pond which few will be aware of, but which harbours a wide range of wildlife especially newts and dragonflies.

The Upper Orchid Field working party continue to meet there every month and they are clearing around trees, applying preservative to benches and keeping paths clear and tidy. If you fancy joining them the date is published in What’s On and there is a WhatsApp group so that members can keep in touch with each other.

 

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.

The New Year Has Not Been Kind to the Team

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

The New Year Has Not Been Kind to the Team

The new year has not been kind to the team. Most got up to see in the new year, only because they needed a wee or had forgotten a tablet. Their new year resolutions have had a serious impact on numbers at our January meeting, where we cleaned up the border in front of the Community Centre. Our concern for absent members was well founded. Ieuan and Shady had been persuaded by their spouses to join a gym. Not quite sure what they were expecting; it certainly wasn’t the inability to get to the loo unless aided after the first visit. Another bright spark convinced his mate that he should join a slimming club. This has resulted in frayed tempers, no energy and starving. Tony, our thespian, has attempted to resurrect the Temperance Movement by canvassing outside the local hostelry. We didn’t think his heart was in it. After some short and choice words from the clientele he joined them inside and has since ditched his calling for holy orders to last orders. As with every January, this phase will pass, and we will have learnt a lesson. You don’t get this old without doing something right.

A huge turnout is expected at the junction of Walston Road and Pound Lane on 9th February

Our Biggest Wild Animal

Our Biggest Wild Animal

The biggest wild animal we have in the Parish is the Badger and this has been the case for hundreds of years ever since the last wolf was hunted to extinction. But this could all be about to change. The deer is Britain’s largest land mammal, and the species is gradually spreading throughout the mainland. The population is believed to be about 2 million, an increase of 1.5 million in the last 50 years. Deer come in all shapes and sizes with the largest being the Red Deer. However, the species most likely to appear first in our Parish is the Muntjac, shown in the photo. Around the size of a dog it has been spotted in Lisvane so should not take long to spread through the Vale. Although taller than a badger it is not heavier so it could be argued that the badger will continue to be our largest until other varieties such as Roe or Fallow put in an appearance

Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) buck showing tusk

So, is this good news? Many would argue otherwise as deer can cause significant damage to crops and your gardens. They browse on young trees so prevent regrowth and reduce biodiversity. They can be a hazard on roads causing accidents for drivers and damaging vehicles, particularly during the mating seasons when they are more active. Around 350,000 are culled every year but this has done little to check the increase in their populations.

But there is another mammal which could become our largest. Weighing in at up to 200 kilograms – a badger may get to 35 kgs – these can also cause major damage to gardens, parks and other green spaces. Whilst well-established in the Forest of Dean there have been occasional sightings near Cwmcarn. This is about 25 miles away by road – less as the crow flies. Once a common feature in the Welsh countryside and featured in the Mabinogion it is, of course, the Wild Boar.

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