Category: News

Annual General Meeting

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Annual General Meeting

The Wenvoe Neighbourhood Watch AGM will be held at 8.00pm on Wednesday 8 February 2023 in the Community Centre. Any Resident is welcome to attend. Reports will be received and officers elected for the coming year.

Crime Nationally

A national Crime and Security survey took place in Autumn 2022 in England and Wales. It was an online survey resulting in just over 25,000 replies of which only 263 were from Wales. Whilst caution should be taken in interpreting results from such a survey, there was some interesting information.

30% think the police in their area do a good or excellent job.

23% of respondents had been a victim of crime in the past year. Of these the type of crime experienced was:

  • Street harassment 36%
  • Criminal damage 24%
  • Online crime 16%
  • Vehicle theft 15% (items from a vehicle or the vehicle itself)

 

Figures for burglary were interesting in that only 12% had been subject to burglary in the past year yet 63% worried about becoming the victim of a burglary.

Perception of crime levels also varied. Locally, concern centred around fly tipping (73%), speeding (73%), burglary (67%), and car crime (66%). Similar topics are reported at Co-ordinators meetings in Wenvoe. At a national level concern was about arguably more serious crimes, for example, terrorism and modern slavery.

Alan French

 

January Report

JANUARY REPORT

Welcome to this month’s report on the activities and events that have taken place in our churches during January. The first Sunday of the year just happened to be New Year’s Day, and the congregation in St. Mary’s were offered a musical treat following the service when Rob Lloyd our organist played J.S. Bach’s “New Year Chorale”. What an uplifting piece of music, composed to celebrate the arrival of a new year. To watch Rob’s hands, co-ordinating with his feet on the pedal board, was simply amazing and the resulting sounds were wonderful to hear and appreciate, resulting in a round of applause from all present.

The Feast of the Epiphany was kept to commemorate the visit of the three Magi, or Wise Men, to present their gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh to the infant Jesus. The crib will remain until the feast of Candlemas, which brings the Christmas season to an end for this year.

The Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday February 22nd, with a Eucharist and Imposition of Ashes at 10.00am at St. Mary’s and also at St. John the Baptist in Sully at 7.00pm. It is during this service that the congregation are marked with a cross on their forehead with the words “from dust you came and to dust you will return”. It is a reminder that we are mortal and that our lives will end at a time chosen by Almighty God. During Lent we shall be discussing the words written in the Catechism, as a reminder to us all of our preparation for Confirmation, and the promises made so many years ago. Lyndon’s sermons will echo this theme and there will be an opportunity to discuss points raised after the service, should any of the congregation wish to stay behind. Lent can be used in many ways as not only an opportunity to give something up, but also take on aspects of our faith which we may not have given much thought to since the heady days of our own confirmation by the Bishop.

An evening informal Eucharist and discussion group will be meeting in Sully on Wednesdays at 7.00pm. Look out for details in the church newsletter.

On Mothering Sunday on March 19th there will be an opportunity to join with our Ministry Area of De Morgannwg to attend the service of Choral Evensong at the Cathedral. This is very appropriate to be at the mother church of the diocese on this day. Expressions of interest will be sought with a view to providing transport to and from our churches nearer the time. The morning services will be at the usual time and maybe there will be flowers, to give Mums and others, to mark the specialness of the day.

We all know only too well how our household bills have risen as a result of the war in Ukraine and the cutting off of the supplies of gas from Russia has increased the cost of heating our homes. The church is not immune from this and the rising cost of other bills to keep the church functioning is a real worry for church officers, trying to balance the books at the year end. The church survives solely on the income that comes from the offerings on the collection plate, the scheme of Giving Direct via our bank accounts, donations, fund raising and our precious reserves. Our largest outlay is the monthly payment to the PARISH SHARE to the Diocese, to cover the salary of the incumbent and other expenses in the financing of the diocesan policies. So the question we need to ask ourselves is this….When did you last review your weekly giving to the work of the church? Since COVID and the lockdowns we are seeing fewer people at our worship, yet the bills keep rising for a church that is in every sense a church for the community at large. The church door is open to all, at most times and Vicar Lyndon welcomes enquiries about donations, large or small, to help today’s generation to hand the building on to the future generations yet to be born. As a Church we have good reason to be thankful to the many generations who have gone before us. Through their good Christian stewardship and generous legacies they have provided for the mission and ministry of the Church over many centuries, the fruits of which we continue to enjoy today. So another question we can ask ourselves is Have I made provision in my will to help foster the work of the church after my days? Congregations in every church are commended to remember their spiritual home to help the work of mission and ministry by leaving a Legacy which can make a vital difference in maintaining a church that can be used by the whole community when the needs arise.

Looking ahead, the arrangements for Holy Week and Easter will be announced in next month’s What’s On. Following that we will have the celebrations for King Charles III’s coronation. In June we hope to run the OPEN GARDENS in WENVOE scheme which was so successful a few years ago prior to COVID. This will be a good fund raiser for church funds organised by Glenys and Mike Tucker.

Thank you as usual for reading the church news. There is always a welcome to join our services. The church door is not a barrier, it is the means of joining a warm loving community ready to greet you.

With every Blessing

Parry Edwards

 

Oxfam Shop Penarth

OXFAM SHOP PENARTH

Regular readers of What’s On will know that I have been volunteering with the Oxfam shop in Penarth for the last 13 years. My responsibility along with two other colleagues is the music section which includes vinyl records, sheet music, small musical instruments (working or broken), pre-recorded cassettes, gig posters, programmes, fanzines and tickets, CDs and old music magazines. Even shellac 78’s (that break easily) if anyone remembers those!

Vinyl records have become increasingly popular in recent years and the shop sells records of all genres-pop, rock, folk, jazz, easy listening, punk and classical. Vinyl is welcomed in all formats – LPs, singles and 12 inch.

The shop with its impressive music section has built up an excellent reputation for selling good quality second hand records and other music related items at fair prices. In the last financial year approximately £17,000 was taken in the music section which goes towards Oxfam’s work across the world.

My colleagues and I research all the donations to ensure that any donations that are received achieve the best possible price.,

Caroline Mumford the shop manager, said “Everyone at the shop has been very grateful to those Wenvoe residents who have made music donations over the last few years. We could not offer our loyal customers such a choice of records and make so much money without your help. Unfortunately at the moment our saleable donations have run really low. So we are appealing to anyone who has music related items that they no longer use to consider donating them to Oxfam here in Penarth”.

If you are a music fan please pop into the shop when you are in Penarth and have a browse around. You never know what you might find!

I live in Wenvoe so I can pick up any donations you may have from your house. Alternatively if you prefer you can contact the shop at 8 Windsor Road, Penarth to arrange a pick up. The shop number is 029 20706358. My number is 07895 157629.

Thank you

Nigel Billingham

Place-Names Derivation – LLAN

THE DERIVATION AND MEANING OF PLACE-NAMES

We’ll now look at some common elements in Welsh Place-names.

LLAN

The most common element by far in Welsh place-names is the word ‘llan’. If you were to look at a book of place-names, you would see that there are over 400 places in Wales which begin with the element ‘Llan’ – an incredible number, I’m sure you’ll agree, in a country the size of Wales!

The original meaning of ‘llan’ was an enclosed piece of land on which produce was grown. It is derived from the Brythonic word ‘llann’ and the earlier Celtic form ‘landa’. By the 12th Century it had developed to mean an enclosed piece of consecrated land – often surrounding a religious building. It developed further to convey the extended land around a religious building – much like a small parish. Nowadays, the word ‘llan’ refers to the religious building itself – the church. You’ll also find many place-names containing this element in Scotland, Cumbria, Cornwall, Brittany and over Offa’s Dyke, in Herefordshire for example – evidence of the widespread existence of the Celtic language.

In most of the ‘llan’ place-names, this element precedes the name of the saint to whom the church is dedicated. It is a feminine noun and the rules of Welsh grammar dictate that words following a feminine noun will undergo a Soft Mutation – i.e. the initial consonant softens. We see this phenomenon in such place-names as Llandudno (Tudno), Llanberis (Peris), Llangadog (Cadog), Llangollen (Collen), Llandeilo (Teilo).

Only 9 consonants undergo this softening – all others are used in their original form Llanisien (Nisien), Llansadwrn (Sadwrn), Llanidloes (Idloes), Llanelli (Elli).

Not all ‘llan’ place-names include a saint’s name. As there are so many places in Wales based on this element, it can be useful to include a geographical element – as in Llandaf (on the river Taf), Llangefni (on the river Cefni), Llanfaes (in a ‘maes’ – meadow), Llangoed (in the ‘coed’ – wood), Llanuwchllyn (uwch – above, llyn – lake), Llanfynydd (on a ‘mynydd’ mountain), Llangwm (in a ‘cwm’ – valley).

Some names include a number rather than the name of one saint – Llantrisant (three saints), Llanddeusant (two saints), Llanpumpsaint (five saints).

The next time you’re travelling around Wales perhaps you can work out the meaning of the ‘llan’ villages through which you drive.

Next month: Aber, Bryn, Cwm, Pont.

Ann M. Jones

 

 

More Tornadoes Per Square Mile In Britain

THERE ARE MORE TORNADOES PER SQUARE MILE IN BRITAIN THAN IN THE USA !

While the stormy weather has been a major talking point in the village so far in 2023, we can at least be thankful that we have been spared the more devastating weather events witnessed in the past. A good example is the tornado which swept through South Wales in 1913.

In fact, although we might imagine them to be incredibly unusual weather events, tornadoes are more common in the UK than you might think. On average we can expect 33 every year. Thankfully they are usually nowhere near as destructive as those in the USA. We are also better prepared than we were in days gone by. The Vale has an official project plan aimed at preparation for the impact of climate change and the ever increasing risk of flooding in many of our communities. As a lead Local Flood Authority, the Vale has a statutory duty to investigate, log and report all instances of flooding. Fortunately for us, the Vale has also been proactive in dealing with the impact of the stormy weather, sending a team to deal with the recent flooding on the Old Port Road.

Such planning had not unfortunately taken place when one of the most devastating weather events hit South Wales on October 27th,1913. Just days after hundreds of miners were killed in Britain’s worst mining disaster at Senghenydd, a tornado struck large parts of South Wales, causing widespread devastation. The Met Office confirmed that the tornado was the same power and severity of those more regularly experienced across the Atlantic in the United States. The South Wales event was in fact a “moderately devastating tornado” (T6 on the TORRO scale) which means that the winds were, at its worse, in excess of 160 mph.

A tornado is defined as a violently-rotating column of air which spins around and upwards, similar to the action of a cork being pulled from a wine bottle. The 1913 tornado began over Devon in the mid-afternoon, as warm air from the Mediterranean struck a cold front blowing down from Iceland. As it progressed, it swept 11 miles through areas such as Trefforest, Pontypridd, Cilfynydd and Abercynon. The impact seems to have peaked at Edwardsville. There, the English Congregational Chapel was wrecked and the pews swept against the west wall. Nearby, a hayrick weighing several tons was carried for a mile and, near Pontypridd, half a ton of brick chimney was carried several hundred yards.

During the tornado six people lost their lives. One of those killed was Francis Woolford, of Edwardsville, captain of Ton Pentre football club, after being transferred from Swindon FC for £25. Woolford , and the trainer, Walter Breeze, were walking to the station on their way home and were a short distance ahead of the rest of the team. Woolford was dashed against a wall, fracturing his skull, while Breeze was lucky enough to get away with a broken rib. Another fatality, Thomas John Harries, a 52 year old miner from Cilfynydd was thrown 300 yards by the winds and was found the next morning in a nearby field. He left a wife and three children. As well as the lives lost and the scores injured there was extensive damage to property estimated to be equivalent to around £3million today. Worse still, a few days later the insurers refused to pay out, presumably because the tornado was considered an act of God.

 

An Unexpected Night With The Ayatollah Khomeini

AN UNEXPECTED NIGHT WITH THE AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI

I woke up on a bunk bed in a concrete shack in Chelgerd, a small town in south-west Iran. We were a group of British ski mountaineers who were training in the Zagros mountains for a ski ascent of Damavand the highest mountain in Iran with a summit at 5610 metres, quite a lot higher than Mont Blanc at 4810 metres.

We were down south to get fit and acclimatised for the attempt on Damavand the following week. The Zagros mountains extend over one thousand miles and are an effective border between Iraq and Iran – or historically between the Ottoman and Persian empires. Alas, the mighty Persia was rather run down in 2002 as the country was still suffering economically after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. So, the ski resort we found ourselves in was very run down with horrendous roads, broken down ski lifts of 1950s vintage, and poor communications.

None of this was in my mind as I stumbled out of bed to find breakfast. This was not difficult as we were now following local customs and breakfast was laid out on a large white sheet on the floor at the end of the bunk beds in the small common area we shared. We tucked into a modest meal of naan bread, soft cheese, jam and tea. Soon we were outside with our rucksacks and clipping into our mountain skis. We were going to climb up to a high hut at Chal Mishan, 3850 metres, to spend the night and off we went. The hut was deserted so we had some porters who were engaged to carry our food and cooking equipment up the mountain. They were on foot in the deep snow which made progress very difficult for them.

After a couple of hours of steep ascent on ski, using skins under our skis for traction, I found that the wet snow was sticking to the base of my skis which stopped them gliding along. So, I did the standard thing which was to continually bash the ski with my stick to dislodge the snow. Unfortunately, my stick suddenly broke and was useless, which is not ideal on a high mountain. By this time, it was snowing hard and with a strong wind. The group pulled up together for a chat about the conditions and we felt that it would be dangerous to go on, so we agreed to take our skins off our skis and ski back to the base camp. We were all relieved to be skiing down now, but after just a couple of turns I was hit hard by a wall of snow that appeared over my left shoulder – it was a serious avalanche. I was rolled over and over again and again. It was like being in a washing machine with me, my skis and sticks rolling head over heels beneath the snow. I thought I might die. I tried to keep breathing but the snow was in my mouth and up my nose. I was using my arms in a fruitless attempt to swim to the surface but in truth, I did not know which way was up. When the avalanche hit, the wind was howling, and the snow was blowing.

After what seemed an eternity the moving mass of snow came to a stop I was buried below the surface.

I was breathless, exhausted, but thrilled to be alive. I felt I was lying on my back and was pleasantly surprised to see light above me through the snow, so I knew which way was up. At this point, my right arm was trapped under me and was very painful. But I could breathe as the snow was fresh and loose. I lay for some minutes getting my breath back and waiting for the others, with their electronic trackers, to find me and dig me out. Surprisingly no one came and I wondered if we had all been buried. I was beginning to get cold, so I decided to self-rescue and using my left arm dug up to the surface which was only a few feet above me. Moving more snow I sat up and looked up at the sun and blue sky. In a few minutes, I had been swept down hundreds of metres from a snowy ridge to a sunny spot below. I stood up and could see no one. My skis had been torn off but I had my rucksack so I could survive the night. My worry was a second avalanche so I decided to move on foot as fast as I could in the deep fresh snow. As I started, I saw one ski tip glinting in the sun so climbed back up to retrieve it. Then I set off downhill and caught sight of two of our Iranian porters and together we carried on down. One of the party arrived on skis and told me that some others had been hit by the avalanche, but no one else had been swept down the mountain and buried.

We soon came to the tree line and a track in the forest which we followed. We knew that we could not get down to our valley base at this slow walking speed but were unsure what to do. Luckily, we came across a small stone building in good condition which looked as though it belonged to the local water company as there was a dam nearby. The door was locked, but the padlock was no match for hungry men with ice axes and soon we were inside. There were two or three small rooms, all clean and tidy so the porters set up a stove and prepared a meal. I took some serious painkillers, washed down with sweet mint tea, and stretched out my sleeping bag on a good quality carpet below a large framed picture of Ayatollah Khomeini.

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