Category: News

Things Are Starting To Grow

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

Things Are Starting To Grow

A cold start to March held back seed sowing, unless you had some form of heat to help germination. Now with longer days and a little more warmth things are starting to grow and seedlings catch up quickly. Patience is always the best way forward to get things done. With young plants we have to be aware of their needs, by protecting them from cold nights and most importantly, be very careful with watering. Too much and they will rot in the trays or too little and they’ll wilt. Try to check on them each day, it will be worth the effort.

Snowdrops, crocus and daffodils are the first to go over. A few steps now will guarantee a good display next year. As soon as the flowers die back, cut them off or they will try to set seed which will take energy away from the bulb. Do not cut back the foliage until it dies back, the leaves are where the bulb gets its nutrients from to store energy for next year.

Weeds will, without doubt, be growing faster now than anything you’ve planted so keep on top of them, or they will smother any young plants or older ones given the chance. Mulching around the plant is a good way to suppress weeds but only if you put it down at least 3” thick. Old compost is a good mulch, better still, if you see any of the tree surgeons working around our community, ask them for the stuff they are chipping, it’s perfect and they will be glad for you to have it. If you feel that you must buy some, get a few bags of bark from British soil in Wenvoe. Don’t buy that scrulch from garden centres, it’s only straw and an expensive waste of time and money. If you want straw, buy a bale from a local farmer or Arthur Johns in Cowbridge. Honestly, just lay cardboard down on the soil, with some old compost on top and the job is done.

On the allotments, Bernard has put up a tent like the ones you see on crime dramas when a body has been discovered. It must be a new method he has worked out to get a better crop of something and he’s not willing to share it yet. It’s not anything sinister, as you can hear radio 4 being played from inside. The site is looking great with freshly dug ground and gardeners busy planting their young crops. All early potatoes are in and trays of young veg under cloches. Do not even contemplate planting runner beans yet, you need to wait for the ground to warm even more for this tender king of crops to have a fair chance, remember patience is key.

Don’t forget to come along to the Tuckers Wartime Plant Sale on 10 May in the church hall. There will be a good selection of plants, wartime recipes to sample, a good quality raffle. More details can be found elsewhere in this edition of the Wenvoe What’s On.

Happy gardening.

Report from the Hub April 2025

WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB

Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com

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Report from the Hub

April 2025

New books are in the Library again!

You are Here, David Nicholls : Marie and Michael find themselves alone on the most epic of walks and on the precipice of a new friendship

Long Island, Colm Tobin : “It occurred to him that he really wanted to ask if she had thought much about him over the years”

The Life Impossible, Matt Haig : A beautiful novel full of life affirming wonder and imagination.

Mr Einsteins’ Secretary, Matthew Reilly : Hanna Fischer is catapulted into a new and extraordinary life, as a secretary, a scientist, a sister and a spy.

The Sience Factory, Bridget Collins : A delicately woven novel with an utterly original premise, it ensnared me from the very first page.

Children’s Fiction

The Case of the Poisonous Pigs, Nick Sheridan : Three unlikely detectives, one big mystery.

Report from the Hub

Along with the other Vale libraries and Community Libraries, our Hub has been designated a warm space, so come on in for a warm, coffee and a chat.

Our monthly leaflets are available in the Hub for a full monthly list of activities.

 

Reminder: The Library no longer takes second hand jigsaw puzzles, books or magazines due to lack of space.

Please remember, that with increasing reliance on technology, we are happy to assist with accessing information on-line. Help is also available from Citizens Advice, Age UK and One Stop Shop.

Look out, coming soon. Easter Chicks and Dinosaurs (with chocolate egg) at a cost of £1.50 each

Our Library’s Spring Raffle will take place in May 2025 – watch this space!

 

Future Activities

 Cuppa with a Coppa – will meet on a Wednesday in April 2025 at 2 pm in the Hub TBA

 Wellbeing Group – will meet on a Friday in April 2025 between 2 pm and 3 pm in the Hub – TBA

 Our talk in May is ‘Wonderful things about bees’ by Professor R Rickard. Tickets will be available after Easter in the Hub.

 

Very Early Notice

Hay Festival 2025 dates: 22 May – 1 June 2025

Programmes have been sent for so will be available in the Library for perusing. Keep watching for further information in What’s On.

 

 

Tucker’s Plant Sale

This year’s Spring Plant sale is creeping nearer and nearer. It falls very close to the VE80 anniversary which is on 8 May. This commemorates the 80th anniversary of the cessation of fighting in Europe. Fighting would rage on in Japan until surrender came on 15 August 1945 which finally ended WW2. The usual array of plants will be on sale outside the church hall and Gareth will once again run a donations/fundraising stall where you can donate sporting goods or garden tools and equipment surplus to your requirements that can be sold to raise funds for the Wenvoe Wildlife Group. There will be hustle and bustle inside the church hall too. The hall will be decorated inside and out with celebratory bunting, there will be music from the era playing inside and there will be a chance for visitors to buy a sheet of ‘ration tickets’ which they can use to sample some food made from typical wartime recipes. There may be some under the table brownies and cakes available too but don’t tell anyone about that. Penalties are hard for Black Marketeers, but rumour has it that we will be joined by a local ‘spiv’ on the day!. If you wish to dress in clothes sympathetic to wartime we would be delighted.

There will be the usual raffle but running parallel to that will be another raffle which will have prizes which would have been treasured during wartime restrictions. You still only pay once but every winning ticket gets a prize from each table. There will be posters and information sheets around the walls. Glenys recorded older residents talking about their memories of WW2 in 2020 for planned celebrations for VE75 but Covid stopped that so there will be some transcripts for people to read on the day too. You may even like to have a go at ‘pin the cigar on Churchill’.

As usual the proceeds from the raffle and some proceeds from the plants and refreshments will go to our charity of choice which is the Wenvoe Wildlife Group to help enable them to carry out the much-needed work they do in and around our village. We would love to see as many of you as possible on the day and hope you will join in with the spirit of the occasion. Mark your calendar!

 

Working With Forest School

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Working With Forest School

The Group are delighted to be working with Forest School to hold a series of three junior workshops for those aged 7- 11. The first takes place on April 6th at one of our orchards and runs for three hours with a variety of different activities. Places are limited and must be booked with further information on our Facebook page. Further workshops are planned to take place in June and August. The project is funded with money raised at the Tucker’s Plant and Reindeer events.

After the Upper Orchid Field was cut by John Crockford members have been working to clear invasive Bramble and Blackthorn around the perimeter of the site. If you see some old-fashioned hay ricks around the field, Annie and Nicola have been raking up the dead grasses and there was a great turnout on Ian’s working party session including Ian, Pat, Roger, Judy, V’iain, Jane, Carys and Debbie.

Following the donation of £100 by the Wildlife Group to the School for books, Nigel and Jude met with the children to hear which books they had chosen and why.. It was great to hear their enthusiasm over their selections.

 

 

 

Book Review

BOOK REVIEW

“Barry Railway: Coal’s Last Burst”

This slim volume by erstwhile civil engineer, local historian and author Stephen K Jones has been produced to serve as an overarching summary to bring together several historical strands. These chart the 1880s development and growth of the Barry Railway and Docks to be the largest integrated coal exporting facility in the world and its gradual decline as the world’s shipping changed its fuel to oil from the 1910s.

Over the decades as the export coal trade declined, the docks saw new purposes as for instance the handling of American war materials in preparation for the D Day Landings, oil and banana imports. And let’s not forget the famous Woodham’s “resting place” where so many redundant steam locomotives awaited their new lives on heritage railways throughout Britain.

Woodham’s “resting place”

All in all, a very useful summary of all that concerns the Barry Docks prior to its re-envisaged status as a major waterside development from the 1990s on-ward. It may be obtained at a cost of £4.50 from the Barry War Museum at the Barry Island Station.

“This must be the place” by Maggie O’Farrell

“This must be the place” by Maggie O’Farrell

The plot of this book is a love story between Daniel, a professor of linguistics and Claudette, a famous film star, who has decided to vanish from public gaze.

Each chapter is like a short story, introducing a new, believable character. By the end of the book, they have become entwined with the central pair. A variety of issues- alcoholism, severe eczema, infertility, severe stammer, separation from children by a divorced wife, stress of being in the public eye, are vividly described , as we meet this large cast of characters.

Although the story begins in a dilapidated, isolated farmhouse in Donegal, the characters take us to Bolivia, Sweden, Paris, Brooklyn, China, India and London. We cared about them, as they dealt with bitter divorce, secrets, remorse, miscommunication, grief and love.

Readers loved O’Farrell’s ‘rhythmic flow of language’ . ‘Beautifully written dialogue’ and ‘quirky writing’.

The time switches and large number of characters created a problem for several readers. But they felt that for this book was worth making the effort, to take notes, or reread chapters (or the whole book).

Score was 9 out of 10

“War” by Bob Woodward

OFF THE SHELF

“War” by Bob Woodward

IBob Woodward’s War is a deep dive into the first Trump administration’s approach to national security and military strategy. An award-winning investigative journalist, Woodward’s meticulous reporting provides an insider’s perspective, relying on extensive interviews and documentation.

Despite being a political and military-focused book (an unusual category for our book club), we found it surprisingly accessible and engaging. Woodward’s narrative style makes complex topics easy to follow, even for those unfamiliar with military affairs. War not only delves into the military and national security decisions of Trump’s first administration but also offers a broader comparison of Trump’s presidency with that of Joe Biden. His portrayal of key figures, from Trump to generals like James Mattis and Mark Milley, adds a human dimension to the high-stakes decision-making.

The book primarily focuses on the later years of Trump’s administration, particularly the unorthodox approach in his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, military decisions, and national security issues, while also touching on the transition to Biden’s leadership. It provides critical insights into the leadership style, decision-making processes, and policy approaches of Trump’s first term—elements that could shape his return to office. For example, War details the resistance Trump faced from generals, advisors, and even his own staff. This explains why Trump in his second administration is determined to surround himself with loyalists rather than career officials who challenge his decisions. Even though it falls outside our usual genre, War was an eye-opening and easy read. Woodward’s storytelling keeps the complex political and military manoeuvres engaging, and his comparisons between Trump and Biden provide ample discussion points. Whether one agrees with all of Woodward’s conclusions or not, War is a thought-provoking and well-documented look at previous history. Overall, we appreciated the book’s clarity and insight, and it sparked some great discussions about leadership, strategy, and the current challenges of modern warfare. While not our usual pick, War proved to be an easy yet thought provoking read. We rated the book 9/10

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