Category: News

Travelling ‘What’s On’

TRAVELLING ‘WHAT’S ON’

Twenty years ago we invited readers of the magazine to take their copy of What’s On on holidays with them and take a picture of it in its new surroundings. We wish to try the event once again. Please provide a picture with at least a brief description of its location; you personally, do not have to appear but a landmark or interesting view would be great. If there is a story behind the picture even better.

Last time, besides travelling around Britain, the magazine visited the States, Europe, Africa, Australia, Nepal, China etc. How far or strange a location can we get a copy to over the next twelve months or so?

Railway 200 And The 250th Anniversary Of George Overton

RAILWAY 200 AND THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF
GEORGE OVERTON

This year is being celebrated as the year of the railway – RAILWAY 200, a nationwide celebration marking 200 years of the modern railway, from the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) of 1825 to 2025, and inspiring a new generation of young pioneering talent to choose a career in rail.

Royal Mint £2 new coin to celebrate 200 years of the modern railway © Royal Mint

Hang on you may say – didn’t Wales celebrate the bicentenary of steam locomotion in 2004? Yes with the historic run of Richard Trevithick’s Penydarren locomotive. It was however, the first leg of a journey that George Stephenson and others would take forward and result in the birth of the modern railway 21 years later

South Wales figures strongly in this journey starting with that famous run of 1804 on the Merthyr Tramroad, on which the world’s first working steam locomotive ran in 1804. Then there was the first passengers carried by a railway on the Swansea and Mumbles Railway in 1807. And with South Wales based engineer George Overton (1775-1827) carrying out surveys between Stockton and Darlington, his 1821 survey enabled the Stockton & Darlington Railway to obtain its first Act of Parliament

Who was George Overton? Well he was one of Wales’ most important early civil engineers, who for the latter part of his life, lived in the village of Llandetty near Talybont-on-Usk. Overton’s early work focused on the development of tramroads and infrastructure for horse-drawn trams, of which he engineered many such early railways in South Wales. He constructed the Llwydcoed Tramroad in 1802 for the Aberdare Canal Company. His tram bridge in Robertstown near Aberdare is the second oldest surviving iron railway bridge in the world. In 1803, Overton became a partner in the Hirwaun Ironworks and built the Hirwaun to Abernant tramroad between 1806 and 1808


George Overton’s iron bridge at Robertstown, constructed in 1811 to carry the Llwydcoed Tramroad over the river Cynon near Aberdare. ©Stephen K. Jones

Nearer to what would become his home was the Brinore Tramroad, which linked the Brecon and Monmouthshire Canal at Talybont-on-Usk with the Tredegar iron works and Trefil limestone quarries. Around the time of that line, 1815, he bought Llandetty Hall which is right behind the Brecon and Monmouthshire Canal, fitting in with the work he was doing on the Brinore at the time. Today, the wharf associated with the tramroad at Talybont is still known as ‘Overton’s Wharf’ and walkers can follow the route of the Brinore Tramroad along a right-of-way for 8 miles to Trefil.

Overton would spend much time on his Stockton and Darlington work, which occupied him from 1818. His second survey was used by the S&DR to submit a Bill that received its Royal Assent on 19 April 1821, its first Act of Parliament. It was also on that date that George Stephenson, with another engineer, met with Edward Pease at his home in Darlington. Despite his personal connections, and that he had himself subscribed £2,000 to the SDR, Overton found that he did not have the full support of Pease.

Stephenson would persuade the S&DR to adopt steam locomotion on part of the proposed line for goods, Overton’s opinion was that the line should be built as a tramroad and operated by horses because he believed that locomotive haulage was fraught with problems, a view that probably stemmed from observing Trevithick’s run in 1804: ‘… I have seen Trevithick’s Engine heading trains 20 years ago…’. He would have witnessed the breaking of the brittle cast-iron plates of the tramroad by the weight and unbalanced motion of the steam engine.

Overton’s tomb at Llandetty Church on the 250th anniversary of his birth, 16 January 2025
© Stephen K. Jones

His final project was Rumney Railway, a plateway from the Rhymney Ironworks to the Monmouthshire Canal tram road, which opened shortly after his death. On this was the Bassaleg masonry viaduct, built over the Ebbw River in 1826. It remains the oldest operational railway viaduct in the world. It is hoped that a commemorative plaque to George Overton will be placed this year on the canal towpath close to Llandetty Hall and the churchyard where he is buried.

Stephen K. Jones

A Sun-Filled Cosmeston

LIVING WITH CANCER STROLLERS

A Sun-Filled Cosmeston

 

 

A sun-filled Cosmeston met the strollers this month. Coots, robins, moorhens and swans were also enjoying the springlike weather. A lovely day for Linda to celebrate her birthday and thanks for the homemade shortbread!

 

Curry & Chocolate Cake

There are one or two simple recipes that every cook should include in their repertoire. A good quick standby curry that isn’t expensive or hard to make but always delicious! The other is a chocolate cake, the ultimate comfort food in my opinion….

Curry

Ingredients

1 medium chopped onion

25g margarine or own choice fat/oil

1 medium apple, peeled and sliced

1-2 heaped tsps. curry powder (for mild curry)

2 large tomatoes (sliced) or medium tin of tomatoes

1 heaped tbsp flour

½ tsp sugar

Pinch of salt

55g sultanas

½ pint stock (or cube and boiling water)

400-450g cooked leftover meat or fish

Method

Fry the onion in the fat/oil until transparent. Add the chopped apple and cook until soft. Stir in the curry powder and the flour followed by the tomatoes and stir until it thickens.

Season with salt and sugar. Add the stock and the sultanas and simmer slowly over a low heat for about 30 mins, stirring occasionally.

Add the meat or fish and allow to heat thoroughly.

Almost any kind of left overs, meat or fish can be added.

Try diced beef, lamb, prawns, flaked cooked cod or diced potato and carrot for vegetarian meal.

 

 

Easy-Peasy Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

175g soft butter or margarine

115g caster sugar

4 tbsp golden syrup

175g self-raising flour (sifted)

2 good tbsp cocoa powder (sifted)

Good pinch of salt

3 eggs beaten

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/360F/Gas 4. Mix together all the ingredients using an electric mixer or elbow grease and wooden spoon! Add a little milk if the mixture seems too stiff. Divide the mixture immediately between two 7 inch greased sandwich tins. Bake for about 30 mins.

When cold, sandwich with filling of choice i.e. butter cream and icing sugar frosting.

Butter cream

140g butter

280g icing sugar

1-2 tbsp milk

¼ tsp vanilla extract.

Beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add half the icing sugar, 1tbsp milk and vanilla extract and beat the mixture until creamy and smooth. Beat in remaining milk to loosen mixture if necessary.

 

The Life And Times Of Mr J C Meggitt – Part 1

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MR J C MEGGITT – Part 1

 

In his article in the April 2024 Edition of What’s On, Steven Jones wrote about certain people who were notable in the early days of Barry’s development. One of these was named Meggitt. Here is the story of that man. J C Meggitt was born in Wolverhampton in 1858 and after leaving school he joined the firm of Shelton and Sons, Wolverhampton in the timber supply trade. His duties included travelling widely throughout Britain seeking business opportunities for expanding the timber trade.

His keen business sense lead him to believe that there were major prospects in south east Wales and to further develop his understanding of this area he joined Alexanders and Co in Cardiff who were at that time the largest importers of timber in the Bristol Channel area.

Whilst thus employed he was a diligent saver as he had ambitions to start his own business, which he eventually did at the age of 26. He posted the above circular just three weeks before the Earl of Plymouth ceremoniously cut the first sod for the new dock on 14th November 1884.

One cannot help but think that the young J C Meggitt had perhaps bitten off a bit more than he could chew. The nearest railway station at that time was at Penarth Dock, some six miles away. The local roads were undeveloped being narrow unsurfaced lanes totally unsuitable for heavy traffic. Some of the gradients were steep and the cost of transporting materials was inevitably high.

At that time only horse drawn wagons were available and in the early days of the venture as many as 30 horses were being used. As an alternative to delivering by road, small coastal vessels into Barry Old Harbour were used but the costs of loading at Cardiff, delays at sea, unloading at low tide and storage of materials near the original Ship Inn proved to be as costly as delivery by road. There was much double and triple handling of materials involved.

The tenacious Meggitt overcame the difficulties and proved to T A Walker, the main contractor for the dock construction, that he “could deliver the goods” at competitive prices and the new business continued to thrive. As it became evident that the Barry Harbour option was becoming increasingly unworkable, Meggitt moved his operations to Cadoxton.

It wasn’t just the dock construction that required vast quantities of timber for “false works”. Hundreds of houses and shops were being built which further increased the demand for timber. Until the new Barry Railway was functional some three years later the struggle with transporting timber persisted.

It is of interest to note that the imports of timber in those early days were from Archangel (Russia), Norway, and Canada. The supplies were negotiated though local agents.

In 1888 he went into partnership with his brother-in-law Mr D Sibbering Jones and the firm now known as Meggitt and Jones opened other depots and facilities in East Moors Cardiff, Gloucester and Aberystwyth from which places they supplied high quality timber to their respective hinterlands. At each of these principal locations, the firm operated large saw mills and the business continued to flourish.

…to be continued.

Tony Hodge

 

Very Wet, Windy…But Exhilarating

Exhilarating Stroll Around Barry Island

 

A very wet, windy…but exhilarating stroll around Barry Island prior to Storm Eowyn (or maybe it was during…) for an amazingly intrepid, well soaked, happy group of walkers…that’s my version of the walk anyway!!

If you would like to join us, we meet the last Thursday of the month at 10.30am, Barry Island Station.

 

And Later

Rough Seas And Grey Skies!

A Gavin & Stacey train, a Shelduck and a helicopter
were some of the sights at Barry Island on the Carers
stroll….distractions from the rough seas and grey
skies!

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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