Category: Nature

Shady Suffered From Cabin Fever

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

Shady Suffered From Cabin Fever

Inclement weather along with colds and mothers not letting the boys out, stopped the teams work this month. Shady suffering from cabin fever, ventured out with his litter picker. While out, he saw 50p in a drain and wouldn’t let it be. Having got in to retrieve it, a motorist who Shady had reported previously for doing 21mph through the village, spotted him and put the cover back on.

Distraught, Shady phoned us. We got the cover off but had difficulty getting him out because he wouldn’t let go of the coin.

Grateful? Not a bit of it. He lambasted us for not turning up for work because of a little rain. If Big John hadn’t shown compassion, we would have put him back in.

The village green is our next task on Monday 10th March – whatever the weather brings

 

The Wenvoe Orchid Field

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

THE WENVOE ORCHID FIELD

If you don’t know how to find the Wenvoe Orchid Field, take the footpath at the top end of Walston Road (Walston Road is the road up past the village church), at the far end the road swings sharp right down to the Walston Castle. The footpath passes the old Walston Quarry, now filled and being restored, up past the gate used by the lorries providing the ‘clean’ infill material and on into the Orchid Field.

To the left of the entrance is a display board showing the shape of the field and where the different paths lead. Climbing to the top far side of the field there is a footpath exiting the field which leads to the Quarryman’s Stone, a tribute to past quarrymen of the different quarries of the area, the recently installed toposcope and Twyn yr Odyn with it’s recently refurbished public house.

The Orchid Field. known by some old residents as the sledging field when winters were colder, and snowier, belongs to the Vale Council and is being managed by the Wenvoe Wildlife Group. Orchids and many other wild flowers thrive best in poor soil rather than enriched areas, which is why, each year, the field is cut and the material removed rather than being left to rot down and fertilize the soil. Brambles also thrive in poor soil; new shoots grow over the top of last year’s old brambles leading to some dense bushes, these provide refuge for wildlife, but hence there is a constant battle to control them rather than let them run rampant by. pushing growth back towards the perimeter of the field. Black thorn is also a problem in some sections of the field if not kept in check.

The Orchid Field working party meet monthly on the third Monday morning of the month from 9.30am onwards and is always keen to welcome anybody looking to participate in some worthwhile outdoor voluntary work for a few hours (no set working times). You do need to provide your own tools, ie shears, lopper, secateurs etc along with a sturdy pair of gloves.

The field has recently been cut, leaving areas that the machine cannot reach and require cutting by hand. Members often select a certain area to concentrate on clearing over a few months and will return on other days in the month, when they have some free time and the weather is pleasant. What can be better on a nice summer’s day in pleasant peaceful surroundings than enjoying some easy exercise in the great outdoors.

 

 

Wenvoe Bird Watch Results

Summer Garden Birdwatch

After the success of the Garden Birdwatch just completed, we are planning a Summer Garden Birdwatch run along the same lines as the Winter Birdwatch but potentially including our summer visitors such as Swallows and House Martins. It will take place between Sunday 18th May to Sunday 25th May. This is a purely Wenvoe-based initiative. Full details will follow in the May issue of What’s On.

In the lead-up to this we have organised a Bird Walk which will be of interest to both complete beginners and more experienced wildlife watchers. This will take place at Goldsland Farm on Saturday 3rd May starting at 9.30. It will be led by Rob and Linda Nottage who have knowledge of both birds and other wildlife and will be an ideal opportunity to find out more about local fauna and flora. No dogs as we shall be going into sensitive areas.

To help our feathered friends we have put up around 15 nest boxes around the village from boxes for Robins and the smaller songbirds to Tawny and Barn Owls. These are in a variety of locations including the Village Green, Grange Park and the churchyard. Thank you to Mike Tucker for installing the boxes. And next a number of Swift and Swallow homes will be going into Goldsland Farm which should be visible on the Bird Walk. And, finally, Nigel Billingham has asked if you could drop him a line (nigelrbillingham @yahoo.co.uk) when you see your first Swallow, House Martin or Swift. You never know exactly when they will appear because the weather can affect their journeys from different parts of the world.

Happy Birding!

Orchard Maintenance Courses

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Orchard Maintenance Courses

Two successful Orchard Maintenance courses have been held; one at Goldsland and the other at the Welsh Orchard, Maes y Felin. A number of our members attended but there were also plenty of keen orchard enthusiasts from elsewhere. The courses are run by the local Nature Partnership team, and we benefit as many of our fruit trees are pruned in the process. Mike Tucker ‘laid’ the hedgerow around the Goldsland Orchard in the traditional manner and although only planted a few years ago it is already supplying the local wildlife with berries and fruit.

February included Nestbox Week. We erected, around 12 boxes, mainly thanks again to Mike Tucker. Of these, several were Owl boxes.

Sian has strimmed and brushcut the Wild Orchard and with the trees steadily maturing, are hopeful of good crops of Cherry, Crabapple, Bullace, Wild Pear, Cherry Plum and Chequers.

 

 

 

 

 

This Month for Early Spring Bulbs

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

This Month for Early Spring Bulbs

This month early spring bulbs and ornamental quince will be in bloom. The quince would have been in flower since last October and will continue to flower for months. When we were pupils of Wenvoe school, a long time ago now, there never seemed to be any daffodils to be had for St David’s day, we made do with leeks which we all ate before going to the church. This winter we had daffs in bloom before Christmas on the village green.

Hardy annual seeds can be sown directly in the ground now, remember that these plants like poor soil, so don’t waste fertiliser on them. Please don’t buy tender plants yet, unless you have a warm place to keep them. These young plants will have been grown in perfect conditions, so a sudden change in climate will either kill them, or at best stunt their growth. It is always better to wait and let the garden centres or nurseries look after them until the weather warms up a tad. Tomatoes and chillies need a long growing season to get the best out of them and can be sown under glass or on a windowsill now. If you sow lupins this month, they will flower this year given favourable conditions. When putting young plants out in the garden, it’s a good idea to cut the bottom off a plastic pot and put over the top of the plant to protect from wind and cold, even if they are hardy. It will give them a better start. Mr Crump’s trick to protect his plants from late frosts is to put an upturned plastic pot over the plant then a bigger one on top of that so there’s an air pocket. This works brilliantly and with the cost of plants it is well worth the time.

On the allotments there is always a lot of activity at this time of year, with soil preparation and seed sowing taking place. Plants that were brought on at home will be planted out under cloches at the end of the month. Beetroot is ok to sow now as it germinates at lower temperatures, along with peas and broad beans. Also give kale a go. It’s one of those plants you can keep picking the leaves off and it regenerates. Early potatoes are sown now and there always seems to be an argument on whether they need to be chitted or not. Whichever way you prefer to plant them, just be sure that when they start showing you protect them from any late frosts by putting some soil up over them. As always, there is plenty of advice to be had on the best methods from the likes of Colin and Bernard. If you are feeling brave you could ask Lewis, as long as you’re prepared to listen to heavy metal, which he insists does his plants a power of good.

Take care and happy gardening.

 

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

 

80th Anniversary Of VE Day

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

80th Anniversary Of VE Day

This year sees the 80th anniversary of VE Day. May 8th 1945 was the day the war in Europe officially ended. I’ve been thinking of plants to grow to remember that time. As we know most gardens, parks and open spaces were turned over to produce vegetables and there was little room for flowers. Some flowers and weeds stayed long in the memory of people of that time. Rosebay willow herb, or fireweed as it was known during the war, grew in abundance on bomb sites, as it loved ground that had been subject to heat. Ragwort was also prevalent. These plants brought in the hawk moth and multiple insect life. Which in turn became breeding grounds for redstarts and wheatears, which had never been recorded in London before. The leaves and roots of deadly nightshade were collected from the countryside to extract atropine, a drug used in eye operations. The late Noel Williams, of Walston Close, remembered collecting foxgloves to aid the war effort as a teenager for its digitalis. This powerful drug was used for regulating heart rhythm.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands took refuge in the United Kingdom during the war, she remembers the daisies being in bloom when her country was invaded. To her it always represented hope and resistance. Food became so scarce in her country during the war that tulip bulbs were a regular source of nutrition. The capital city of Canada is a riot of colour in the spring with millions of tulips in bloom. The Dutch still send 20,000 bulbs each year. These flowers serve as a tribute to the unique friendship between the people of Canada and the Netherlands which developed during the Second World War. Thanks to the authors for these extracts and of course google.

Reading about what was produced on allotments at that time it seems little has changed on the growing side of things except that broad beans were considered a waste because the varieties then had no resistance to blight. Modern hybrids, make for heavier yields of most veg today. They also give us a longer growing season, unless you have a plot at Twyn yr Odyn, where the weather can be a little inclement on occasion.

Take care and happy gardening.

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

 

Nest-boxes for Swifts and Swallows

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Nest-boxes for Swifts and Swallows

By the time you read this the first of two Orchard pruning courses should have been held. We were delighted to host these as it means that some of our trees get a bit of professional TLC. We were also pleased to hear that the Welsh Ornithological Trust has given us a grant to install nest-boxes for both Swifts and Swallows. This will take place at Goldsland Farm. If you have not yet copied your Big Garden Birdwatch results to us it would be good to hear from you. We would hope to publish our local results in the next issue of What’s On. And, finally, the first of our new programme of nest-box installations has taken place thanks to Mike Tucker. This is clearly visible as you drive or walk past the Village Green

 

Shady Didn’t Return On Time

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

Shady Didn’t Return On Time

Our first assignment of 2025 was to tackle an untidy area adjacent to the Walston Castle, identified by one of the team. A couple of traffic cones kept us a little safer from the traffic, which to be fair behaved well. You get the odd one who’s in a rush, which is like a red rag to a bull to Shady, who gets so irate and this ends up in confrontation. To keep Shady out of trouble, we asked him to put up a nesting box donated by the wildlife group, well away from any traffic. When Shady didn’t return on time we set off to find him. He was seen standing on a box, nailing the nest box to a tree, apparently for flightless blue tits. Because of the notoriety surrounding Shady, he insisted his profile be removed from the photograph

 

Wildlife Camera of a Woodcock

Wildlife Camera of a Woodcock

Those who follow our Facebook page, Wenvoe Wildlife, will have seen a clip from our wildlife cameras of a Woodcock in a patch of woodland near the village. With only one previous record in the Parish the bird is rare and classified as RED, i.e. threatened with extinction. It also has Protected status in the UK. Although a wading bird it spends much of its time in woodland as with our example and is mainly nocturnal. Most of the birds that breed here are residents but we often receive large numbers of migrants from Finland and Russia in the winter. In Spring and Summer male birds perform a display flight known as ‘roding

Very Blustery Weather

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

Iery Blustery Weather

A good turnout considering the very blustery weather. The work party set about clearing the debris from the footpath on Tarrws Lane. Shady, as always, took his litter picker and was removing rubbish on the road, when a gust of wind got hold of him and he went flying past us at a rate of knots. Fortunately, Shady grabbed a tree branch.

The problem was trying to get him to let go. Big John suggested we leave him there as a windsock. Martin said we ought to wait until the wind subsided. It all ended abruptly when Ieuan found Shady’s bankcard and invited us to the pub, at which point Shady fell on him.

The team wish you all a successful 2025 and next month will be putting up bird boxes donated by Wenvoe Wildlife Group, weather permitting

 

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