Category: Nature

Our First Wassail

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Celebrating Our Orchards

Wenvoe Wildlife Group will be hosting our first Wassail to celebrate our orchards in the Community Orchard on Saturday 17 January, 11.00 am- 12.00 noon at the orchard, followed by celebrations, singing and storytelling in the Community Centre.

Wassailing is an ancient new year tradition of blessing the apple orchards and to wish them and the community good health for the coming year. Bring a piece of toast if you can (for blessing the trees), a saucepan and wooden spoons to make noise for the tree blessings.

We will meet at 11.00 am at the small patch of land outside the Church Hall and toast the fruit trees there. If the weather is fair, we’ll then walk together over to the Community Orchard for more Wassailing, then back to the Community Centre for warming refreshments. If the weather is unsuitable to visit the orchard, we’ll continue directly to the Community Centre where there will be storytelling and song led by Cath Little, professional storyteller, and a chance to find out more about the Wenvoe Wildlife Group.

This will be a free event for all the family and there is no need to pre-book. Just turn up well wrapped up and in wellies if it’s wet. Dogs on leads will be welcome although they cannot enter the Community Centre.

The Community Orchard is a short walk from the centre of Wenvoe, adjacent to the Wenvoe Playing Fields. The Orchard is nurtured and maintained by Wenvoe Wildlife Group and has around 25 trees including a selection of apples, plums and pears along with medlar, quince and mulberry. The apple varieties include Tom Putt, Claygate Pearmain, Grenadier, Ashmeads Kernel, Ribston Pippin, Bardsley, Bakers Delicious and Morgan Sweet.

We are a community managed wildlife group based in and around Wenvoe, and the group is made up of local volunteers as well as other people who help with our various projects. Our activities involve conservation, hosting visits, leading wildlife and foraging walks, monitoring wildlife and giving advice on local biodiversity.

We look forward to celebrating our lovely orchard with you at this free family event.

Please contact Claire Bottomley on 074455 61389 if you need any further information and keep an eye out for reminders in the Village WhatsApp group.

A Programme for the Coming Year

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

A Programme for the Coming Year

January. Just browse the seed catalogues and, if you do venture into the garden, consider whether you’re going to make things worse by compacting the soil and trampling the bulbs that are doing their best to come up straight.

February. Weather permitting, look out for the crocus and snowdrops brightening up the garden in the last month of winter. Plant tomato seeds and put on the window sill; it’s a good feeling to see them poke through the compost.

March. Now we should have lots of colour in the borders and pots with daffodils and anemones signalling that spring is here. Weeds of course are the first to realise it’s spring and will cover the borders in no time unless we curb their activity. Do not be tempted by the new young plants in the garden centres unless you have a warm place to store these tender plants.

April. Now some of the earlier bulbs like daffs are starting to fade, you need to be deadheading and give them a liquid feed on the leaves to ensure a good display next spring. Tulips come to the fore now with brilliant displays to gladden any heart. The end of April is a good time to purchase annuals from the shops.

May. The greenhouse is full of plants that are ready to go into the garden. Look for a good spell of weather; you don’t want to put them out to get battered by heavy rain and wind in their first few days in the open and ruin your good work. Plant kidney bean seeds now, they’ll soon catch up with some you were tempted to put out early which were attacked by slugs.

June. Patience will be rewarded if you resisted the temptation to put your hanging baskets on their brackets until now. That’s why professional people always have great displays. The gardens and allotments are in full swing now. Allotment folk will be carrying water daily to look after their precious crops while house holders will be wishing they’d installed an extra water butt

July. Controlling weeds and deadheading is the order of the day. In the greenhouse tomatoes are coming faster than you can eat them. You’re afraid to go on holiday as all your hard work in the garden will just shrivel up.

August. Everything is at its maximum now and you’re starting to look like a kidney bean because you’ve eaten so much of this king of veg. The longest bean you’ve kept for the village show has been nibbled by a pest. Start to pick some apples to give the rest of the crops a chance to get bigger. Dahlias are starting to show why we love them with gorgeous displays. The village show is at the end of the month in the community centre.

September. Here we go, it must be Sept as the garden centre shelves and most of the floor space are full of Christmas stuff. If you don’t like it you have to go and look around the aquarium section with only the odd Father Christmas in a fish tank. Plant some potatoes in a spare pot to ensure new potatoes for Xmas lunch. Foxgloves, hollyhocks and Canterbury bells need to go in seed trays now for displays next year.

October. Leaves starting to fall in abundance now. If you can bear it leave the ones on the border, it’s a great mulch and the worms love them. We now buy a load of pumpkins and carve them for the kids, then leave them outside until they’re mushy and try to stuff them in the food bin.

November. A dreary month, but force yourself into the garden to tidy up; you’ll be so glad you did come the spring. Everyone loves a bonfire, so get your hedgehog recipes out in case one has decided to hibernate in yours.

December. Rummage through the shed looking for the Christmas decs and lights, wishing you’d put labels on the boxes, then finding stuff you were looking for in the summer. Give the garden waste collection workers a tip, don’t leave it all over the road. Then cancel your subscription.

January. Start again!

Take care and happy gardening

The Big Garden Birdwatch

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

IT’S THE RSPB AND WENVOE WILDLIFE GROUP’S
BIG GARDEN BIRD WATCH THIS MONTH!

The Big Garden Birdwatch, run by the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), takes place again this year across the whole of the UK from 26th to 28th January.

We would like people who took part last year to take part again and ask new people to get involved too. We want you to share your findings with the RSPB and the Wenvoe Wildlife Group. This enables us to compare last year’s findings with this year and helps us identify which birds are doing well in the parish and which are not. (A summary of last years finding below)

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the numbers of house sparrows locally are declining quite quickly and blackbirds are not such a common sight possibly due to a virus. The Birdwatch will help us to find out more! Will the blue tit be the most seen bird again in 2026?

It’s easy and fun to take part – you simply watch the birds in your garden for one hour and record what you see. It is a great activity that you can do either on your own or with family members, including children. Don’t worry if your bird knowledge is limited as the RSPB has guides on their website to show you the different species.

All you do is count the birds you see in your garden for one hour over the Birdwatch weekend. It doesn’t matter what time of day you do your Birdwatch, but you will see more birds if you do it first thing in the morning. Count the highest number of each species you see at any one time. For example, if you saw four Starlings together and then two Starlings later your final count will be four (not six). If you see one robin 6 times you only count one robin. If you see few birds or none at all, that’s also really useful information for RSPB and the Wenvoe Wildlife Group.

Send your findings to the RSPB by filling in their simple form online. Also please send/give your results to the Wenvoe Wildlife Group via any of the following:

nigelrbillingham@yahoo.co.uk

bruce7@btinternet.com

Post or message Facebook-Wenvoe Wildlife.

Use ‘Contacts’ on our website-http://

wenvoewildlifegroup,weebly.com/

Please include your postcode. This helps us log where the different species of birds are within the parish. The results will be published in Wenvoe What’s On as soon as possible. Thank you.

Here is a summary of last year’s findings.

WENVOE BIRD WATCH RESULTS

January 24th – 27th, 2025

Summary

339 birds were spotted.

29 different bird species were recorded.

17 survey results were submitted.

Top Ten Wenvoe Birds

      • Blue Tit 37
      • Wood Pigeon 36
      • Blackbird 30
      • Long Tailed Tit 26
      • Jackdaw 24
      • Great Tit 23
      • Robin 21
      • House Sparrow 18
      • Goldfinch 17
      • Chaffinch 16
      • Coal Tit 16

Not Our Finest Hour

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

Not Our Finest Hour

Not our finest hour as a group. Heavy rain had kept us indoors in December. After messaging everyone, we had failed to inform Shady Williams who had gone to our rendezvous, despite the weather. Sue (his wife) rang to say he hadn’t returned.

Well, we put a plan of action in place and started our search. A resident of Vennwood Close said he’d seen what appeared to be an action man flouncing about in a puddle. We knew who that was. Big John went to the Knap in search of a lifebuoy, as we knew you had to be careful around large volumes of water. When we got there all we could see was his hat. Distraught and fearing the wrath of Sue, panic set in as we knew she didn’t like him getting wet.

Then came our Christmas miracle. A whimper followed by some not so Christian language. Fishing him out of the stream behind us with his litter picker secure in his clenched fist, he had apparently been washed down the storm drain, adjacent.

Winter Hibernation

WINTER HIBERNATION

Living in Wenvoe we see a pleasing range of wildlife in our garden and in the nearby woods. In fact, we once walked the Great Glen Way in Scotland from Fort William to Inverness and later wrote to the Scotsman newspaper to say that we saw more wildlife in our garden in Wales than we did hiking across Scotland from one side to the other!

Most common are grey squirrels and hedgehogs, though we did have refugee pheasants and like most gardens we saw the odd rat or mouse. In winter we saw little of the squirrels and hedgehogs as they hibernate for winter, retreating to their warm and cosy nests and staying there until the spring.

There is more to hibernation than you may think. Hibernation is really a survival strategy used by many animals to conserve energy during harsh conditions such as winter, by slowing their metabolism, lowering body temperature, and reducing activity.

Hibernation is a state in which an animal instinctively lowers its metabolic rate that allows animals to survive periods when food is scarce and temperatures are low. Unlike ordinary sleep, hibernation involves profound physiological changes: body temperature drops, heart rate slows dramatically, and breathing becomes minimal. In some species, metabolic activity can fall to just 5% of normal levels. This adaptation enables animals to endure weeks or even months without eating. In the Arctic, for example, the Ground Squirrel can hibernate for 7 to 9 months. While in the European Alps the loveable Marmot can disappear underground for 7 or 8 months.

Our Wenvoe hedgehogs can hibernate for a few weeks or several months. During this time their heart rate drops by as much as 90%, but if it becomes too cold, they briefly wake up. This causes their hearts to beat faster and so warm them up before they go back to sleep.

Before entering the state of hibernation, animals must store energy. Larger mammals, such as bears, eat excessively in autumn, building fat reserves that sustain them through winter. Smaller creatures, like squirrels and hedgehogs, often cache food in burrows to consume during brief wakeful periods. Some species also grow thicker fur or develop special behaviours to insulate themselves against the cold.

During hibernation, and to survive without food, in addition to the reduced heart rate, the breathing will slow down greatly and body temperature drops. At the same time the animals undergo chemical changes which manage their waste and maintain muscles. It is a controlled energy saving state, it is distinct from sleep.

We can help these garden animals like hedgehogs and squirrels by feeding them in the winter months partly to ensure they have the fat reserves for hibernation, but also because in winter their normal foods are scarce. So do put out good quality cat food or dog biscuits and plenty of water, but do not feed them milk which is not good for them.

In summary, hibernation is a complex, finely tuned adaptation that enables animals to endure periods of cold and scarce food. By slowing their bodies almost to a standstill, creatures from bears to hedgehogs demonstrate nature’s extraordinary ability to survive in challenging environments

Most Successful Reindeer Sale

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Most Successful Reindeer Sale

A very Happy Christmas and New Year to all our supporters.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

A most successful Reindeer Sale event took place again and our great thanks to Mike and Glenys for their generous support for WWG. This is our main source of funding, and we could not achieve a fraction of what we do without it. Our chutneys and jams, using fruits from our orchards, sold out quickly and we were delighted to hear of other residents using fruit such as Medlars in their home cooking. We have 6 Medlar trees, and they seem to produce an abundance each year – a great little tree with attractive blossom and seems to cope well with our climate.

The weather has conspired against some of our efforts to do maintenance in the orchards but there is always plenty to do if you can spare a few minutes. We were delighted to help the School on their Tree Day and Angela helped several classes with games and project work.

 

 

When It’s Wet To Stay Off The Ground

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

When It’s Wet To Stay Off The Ground

We are advised when it’s wet to stay off the ground. It causes a lot of damage if the soil gets compacted. This causes problems with drainage and restricted plant growth and includes the grass. There is still plenty to be getting on with, starting with trying to make room in the shed. This is for the stuff we are going to throw out from the house in spring but can’t bear to take to the tip. It’s the same ritual every year.

It has been such a strange year with a dry summer and a warm autumn. This has meant we have bedding plants still flowering in November. Pelargoniums are sometimes discarded but an old method of storing them is cut them back, pull up and shake off the soil, dry them out and store root ball pointing up and wrapped in newspaper. Ieuan uses the Guardian newspaper for his, but I’m quite sure the Telegraph would suffice as long as you don’t mind the plants leaning to the right when you replant them next spring. When the rain eventually came it seemed to bring all the insects, that had been waiting in the soil, to life. With not as much to eat in Autumn, they even started eating geraniums which are usually left unscathed. A lot of gardeners were bitten as well. A noticeable absentee from the late summer was the wasp, very few around.

Another piece of advice handed out at this time of year is to up the feeding of our feathered friends. They say it will encourage them to feed on the pests in the garden. I can’t say I’ve seen those little darlings ignore an easy meal to go hunting for the odd insect. What it does encourage is the larger pests (mice and rats) if we don’t keep the area cleaned regularly. If you’re putting apples out for the blackbirds, you will need to quarter them as they won’t peck through the skin. If you leave them whole, you are just inviting Pam Williams to recover them for her apple distribution network. Open feeders will bring in the sparrow hawk, it works like a McDonald’s drive through for these small raptors.

Working in and around the village throughout the year it’s an absolute pleasure to see the way the gardens are kept. I have to mention Mr& Mrs Cottle who always keep theirs in lovely order.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas. Take care and happy gardening.

Chosen By ‘Help the Aged’

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

Chosen By ‘Help the Aged’

The team had a special task today, cleaning around the memorial in preparation for Remembrance Sunday. We were chosen by Help the Aged to try and include some folk who find mixing difficult. Mr Williams (in the tabard) was felt most welcome, along with his carer, Dr Martins (yellow coat). All went swimmingly until a vehicle went past a little too fast. This resulted in Mr Williams chasing it as far as the pub to berate the driver. The carer said that his patient had been knocked over so many times it had left him a foot shorter and with a dislike of thoughtless motorists.

Team elder, Ieuan, will be laying a wreath on behalf of our group. Being a young lad at the outbreak of WWII, he has many memories of the shenanigans that went on in Wenvoe at that time and with a bit of persuasion could even give a talk on this. There may be lawyers involved if some of the families descendants are still around.

This band of good folk will meet on the 8th December to swap our prescriptions. It’s loads better than exchanging presents, as you never know what you’re going to get.

Wishing everyone a lovely Christmas, especially those who help us home after our meetings.

It Was A Cow’s Nest

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

It Was A Cow’s Nest

Our aim this month was to clear the bamboo in the Community cemetery.

While working amongst the dense undergrowth the team discovered what was thought to be some sort of nest. Our British bird expert Martin Snr took a look and failed to identify the object. Apparently Martin’s expertise only covers birds in the Sun newspaper. Thankfully, Ieaun had seen a similar version, only with glass bottles at Topindu farm as a youngster, it was a cows nest. These are a rare sight, although the cow is a common animal in these parts, to find a nest is astonishing. We knew it hadn’t been there long as all the cartons were in date. The Ministry of Agriculture told us to leave it well alone and work elsewhere.

Problem we had was that Gareth had already helped himself to a semi skimmed. He has a long history in the family of devouring rare specimens, turtle poached in milk is one of his favourites. His father scoffed the last dodo!

We took the cut bamboo to the Twyn Yr Odyn allotments, thinking they’d be glad to have them. Nicola & Barry dismissed our wares, saying their beans grow so big they tie them to the mast. They must be American beans.

We will meet on 3rd November to tidy up at the memorial in preparation for Remembrance Sunday on the 9th.

Definitive List Of Welsh Apples

Definitive List Of Welsh Apples

There has been some press coverage recently following an announcement by the National Trust of the publication of a definitive list of Welsh Apple varieties. There are 29 listed. As we have gone to great lengths to plant many of the Welsh varieties in our orchards, we have been considering the list and its implications. In fact although 29 are listed they are broken down into 3 categories. The first category is the Historic list – apples unique to Wales with evidence of cultivation in the country pre-1950. There are 16 of these and include varieties planted in our orchards such as Cissy, Gabalva and St. Cecilia. We have 11 varieties of these.

 

The second category is referred to as Modern which are unique to Wales but introduced by a Welsh breeder or nursery post 1950. One of these is Bardsey which is claimed to date back hundreds of years as it was found in an old orchard on Bardsey Island and sold around the world as such. However, as there is no evidence to support the claim and it was discovered in 1998/9, it is officially post-1950 and thus Modern. There are 5 of these of which we have Bardsey and Machen.

The final category is called Associated and these are not unique to Wales but may have been given a Welsh name and widely cultivated in Wales or the Marches. There are 8 of these of which we have only planted Morgan Sweet.

However, we have another 7 which we understood were Welsh but do not fall into any of these categories such as Afal Wern, Pig Aderyn and Cadwallader. The implication is that these are English apples which were just given a Welsh name. So, this list does help to clarify which varieties are truly Welsh and which were adopted and introduced from elsewhere. To check out the full list go to the National Trust website.

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