The Official Wenvoe Homepage
LIVING WITH CANCER STROLLERS
Blue Skies At Cosmeston
Waterproofs were not needed as the strollers gathered under blue skies at Cosmeston. Signs of Autumn were everywhere…fallen, golden leaves, red berries and bushes bulging with blackberries. Sweets were also in abundance as two birthdays were being celebrated!
“Perfect” by Rachel Joyce
Rachel Joyce wrote the bestselling novel of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, so the Page Turners had high expectations for another of her novels, “Perfect”. Perfect tells the story of two 11-year-old boys who plot to save their mother after she has a car accident; an accident she is not aware of. Class divisions, mental health, emotional abuse are some issues running through the book, culminating in a terrific twist at the end. Some Page Turners thought the book was a slow, unhappy, dreadful story with characters they couldn’t warm to or like. Others thought Perfect was a tragic, moving , well written novel with many characters who found themselves to be victims of their circumstances. It was scored a 6…so far from Perfect. What are your thoughts?
October Church News
Greetings to you all from the congregation at St. Mary’s Church.
First a correction to the September Church News. The refurbishment of the Church Hall has been funded by the donations from members of the congregation who wish to see the hall restored to encourage more use from the community. To date the lighting has been replaced with LED strip lighting. The lobby has been redecorated, the reveals to the windows in the hall repaired, the Gents Toilet refurbished, the next phase will include the redecoration of the main hall and kitchen/storeroom, by Alex Reynolds’ company at no cost to the church. Thank you, Alex. Sound absorbing panels are to be fitted to the walls to lessen the noise factor when the hall is in use. The wood block floor is to be restored to its former state and with the addition of new curtains at the windows, the church hall will once again be a more welcoming place than previously. So, a big thank you to all who have contributed to the work with donations or practical help in sorting out the storeroom and helping with the hard work, it will be worth all your efforts.
Pilgrimage to Ewenny Priory and Merthyr Mawr
On Saturday 4 October you are invited to take part in our pilgrimage, starting at Ewenny Priory at 10.00am and proceeding via St Bride’s Major to the church at Merthyr Mawr. At each of the churches we will pause to pray and look around. We will finish with a pub meal at around 4.00pm. You can take part by walking (total distance about 7 miles), following by car, or by joining in the prayers at home. More details from Lyndon lyndontssf @outlook.com or David Kennedy kennedy dcf64@aol.com
The celebration of the Harvest took place on September 28th. We were pleased to welcome Alison Price who took part in the Eucharist service. Alison is an active member of the church and has led the Pebbles group for many years. She is currently undertaking her training for the ministry and has begun the final stage of her studies and practice experience during the month. To wish her well there were refreshments following the service and she was presented with a gift from the congregation.
The church was decorated with flowers and displays of the donated food items for the Food Bank were placed in the windows. Many thanks for the recent donations to the Food Bank. The weekly items placed in the boxes in the porch are well received. Items most in need are tinned meat products, tinned vegetables and potatoes, sugar, jams and peanut butter and toiletries. Many thanks for the continued support of the needs of the Food Bank.
A celebration of the Harvest at St. Bleddian’s church at St. Lythans will be held at 3.00pm on October 12th. “Come ye thankful people come”. Regular worship in the church is now limited to Festivals in the church’s calendar, so it is a joy to maintain the round of worship in this ancient church. All are welcome to join us and refreshments
will follow the service.
The Chattery continues to meet in the Church Hall on the second Thursday of the month and is well supported and the FREE raffle is always a time of much hilarity. This is an opportunity to meet in a safe warm place, especially during the coming Winter months, to catch up with news and chat to old friends with the latest news. The modest charge of £2.00 includes the free raffle ticket. All are welcome. The next date will be on October 9th at 10.30am. All are assured of a warm welcome.
200 Club. Renewal letters have been sent to all subscribers to the 200 club, The proceeds from the subscriptions are a major source of income for the building fund, which is used to keep the fabric of the church building in good order. Each share costs £12 for the year, half is used for prize money and half for the Building Fund and prize draws are monthly. Please consider joining if you have not already done so; new shareholders are always welcome. And to those whose support is gratefully received perhaps taking out an extra share this year, in addition to those already held, will help us to make more of a 300 club. Thank you.
The Inaugural Ministry Area BBQ Saturday 7th September. Representatives from the Ministry Area gathered at The Vicarage in Rhoose for a BBQ hosted by the Rev. Denise Maud. The weather was fine and the company enjoyed meeting up and making new contacts thank you Denise, Andrew and their two children for making us all so welcome.
Remembrance Sunday 9th November. Our traditional service of remembrance will be held at 10.00am in church followed by the silence and laying of wreaths at the Village War Memorial.
Quiz Night. Those of you who obtained your tickets for a quiz hosted by Ray Harris, enjoy the evening and do support the raffle in the half time interval. All monies raised go towards the refurbishment of the Church Hall.
It is good to share our news of St. Mary’s with you and maybe one day we will see you in church where a warm welcome awaits.
Parry
DESIGN A FESTIVE COVER FOR OUR CHRISTMAS EDITION
Each year, readers eagerly anticipate the Christmas edition of What’s On, known for its vibrant and festive cover design.
We are inviting creative individuals to design the front and back cover for this year’s edition, which will go to print on or around November 20th.
If you’re interested in contributing your artwork and would like more details, please get in touch with any member of the WO team or email wenvoe whatson@gmail.com.
We look forward to hearing from you.
What’s On Team.
AVE ET VALETE TO WENVOE
I am writing this on the day before we move from Wenvoe to Dinas Powys, surrounded by boxes of all shapes and sizes. My wife Isobel has decided it is time to downsize from our five-bedroom house to a bungalow, so we are on our way.
We have very much enjoyed our 15 years in Wenvoe, and have found Clos Llanfair a pleasant and convivial community, always quick to help one another. I have enjoyed worshipping in St Mary’s, not often enough, but I have always been made welcome there.
Wenvoe is fortunate to have a shop, post office and pub which together with the church make for a perfect village. The Wenvoe Arms is a great pub, and I hope it continues to flourish. I want to thank the kind man in the Springfield stores who kindly kept a copy of the Sunday Times for me.
We have walked in all directions, and we especially enjoy the cross country walk to Dyffryn Gardens, where we stop for a coffee before heading home. The woods around Wenvoe are full of wild garlic which heralds the arrival of spring, and we have made garlic pesto with success.
It has been very useful having a great choice of supermarkets near us. To avoid the chaos and delays at Culverhouse Cross I am always happy to drive to Lidl, but my wife will happily battle with the traffic to reach M&S.
Mike Tucker is a stalwart supporter of all things in Wenvoe, and I am sure we are not alone in being grateful for his community spirited work.
Wenvoe What’s On has been eagerly awaited each month and we are grateful to the team that has produced this very useful magazine over the years.
I was brought up in St Andrew’s Major so we are going off in that direction again and leave you with all good wishes.
Alun and Isobel Davies
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
TUCKER’S VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS REINDEER SALE AND CAFE
Saturday 15th November 10.00am – 4.00pm
The 7th annual Tucker’s Christmas Reindeer sale and cafe will take place on Saturday 15 November from 10am to 4pm at Wenvoe Church Hall. This year we have a Victorian theme, and we would love to see people in Victorian costume. There will be some traditional Victorian food for you to buy on the day. There will be tables inside the church hall for you to sit and enjoy a tea or coffee and maybe a homemade slice of Glen’s usual cakes or brownies.
As well as the antlered stars of the show there will be some lovely things to buy and a festive atmosphere to get you in the Christmas mood with the church hall decorated in Victorian style. We will be joined by our good friend and talented crafter Trevor with his lovely Christmas houses and decorations. There will be other local crafters joining us too and we will give more information about this in the next issue of Wenvoe What’s On so watch this space.
We will be holding a raffle with some excellent prizes including luxury food hampers, a home baked and decorated Christmas cake, some interesting bottles and some items that would make ideal gifts for adults and children. Once again, profits from this will be donated to our charity of choice, the Wenvoe Wildlife Group. The man in red will be appearing with his sleigh which will offer an excellent, free photograph opportunity. The reindeer will be sold outside where there will be gazebos decorated in Victorian Christmas style and Victorian festive music will provide the backing track to the whole event. Why not join us and pick up a reindeer and some Christmas spirit! These have become collectors’ items so start making a list of people who deserve one as a gift. Bring a friend and have a festive catch up. We look forward to seeing you there.
COULD THE AIRPORT BE FLYING HIGH AT LAST?
Many of us love to use Cardiff Airport, especially with the time and cost implications of flying from other airports like Bristol or Heathrow. With a ten-year plan of major developments, we will hopefully see a positive transformation in the airport’s fortunes.
Major investment
A major factor in the plans is a significant government investment of over £200 million in the next decade. The aim is to improve infrastructure, expand airline services and upgrade passenger facilities. The strategy aims to increase passenger numbers and grow the airport’s role in the regional economy. The hope is to boost passenger numbers from 0.84 million in 2023 to 2.3 million over the next decade and create 2,000 jobs. We can also look forward to the development of new routes, including to key global hubs.
There have been several improvements already. A new security checkpoint with advanced
technology has been installed, which has speeded up screening. The new technology allows passengers to leave liquids under 100ml in their hand luggage, meaning the screening process should be quicker. It also means passengers can leave laptops, tablets and mobile phones in their hand luggage as they pass through security screening. On the business side, a new base for European Cargo, launched in October 2024, has utilised the airport’s 24/7 operating status and grown its freight business. Huge cargo planes have been flying in from as far away as China.
New routes
Airlines have already responded to the airport’s revitalisation by significantly expanding their services. TUI is making a major investment by basing a fourth aircraft at the airport for the Summer of 2026, creating 48,000 additional holiday slots. The idea is to increase flight frequency on popular routes to destinations like Tenerife, Turkey and Majorca. Gran Canaria will also get more flights and the new flights will align with Marella Cruises’ winter programme in Gran Canaria onboard Marella Voyager, with its cruise packages available for the first time from Cardiff. They plan to add new services to Hurghada, Egypt, and Faro, Portugal next Summer. An exclusive route to Fuerteventura will launch from December. Other airlines are following suit. From this Summer, Ryanair is operating its largest-ever programme from Cardiff, with an 18% increase in departures and extra flights to Dublin and Malaga. Vueling have taken up the challenge and expanded its service to Malaga.
Ambitious long-term plans
The plans have not been without controversy. There may be environmental objections to some of the planned developments. Bristol Airport has launched an ongoing legal challenge in the Competition Appeal Tribunal to Welsh Government subsidies. In a statement they said, ‘Bristol Airport welcomes competition, but this must be on a level playing field to avoid market distortions.’ The Welsh Government have stated their intention to defend the new subsidies. Success is likely to prove vital in the longer term. The aim is that by 2040 a new airport terminal will be built along with a multi-storey car park and new cargo terminal. A key focus is improving access for passengers and businesses. The airport is planned to be integrated with the Metro network, including bus links from the train station and a new road link from the M4 at Junction 34.
