Category: News

Remaining In a Vacancy

We remain in a vacancy at the present moment, and during January we had to revert back to booking places in church for our Sunday morning worship.

We are finding our way in the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg, and have produced our first quarterly Ministry Area magazine. At present it is only online, but we hope to be able to print hard copies for those of the congregation that are not IT minded.

Our representative on the Ministry Area council (MAC) will be Jude Billingham, who will report back to the local church council, the decisions arrived at and will present any local concerns that need to be addressed, by the council on our behalf.

Jude has kindly allowed me to include the items she wrote in the latest MA Magazine here:

Ministry Area Connections: St. Mary’s Church Wenvoe

We said farewell to Rev. Jonathon Ormrod, our parish priest for the last seven years in the Autumn. Jon, as he wished to be called had accepted the position of Priest in Charge of the church of St. Martin’s in Worle, outside Weston super Mare, and we wish him and his family every blessing in his work there. During his tenure here, together with the parishes of St. Lythan’s and Sully, much has been achieved. Under his shepherding, the congregation has swelled, our “Pebbles” group has grown, and during the past 18 months with the COVID-19 virus, he has been a rock to so many people, and he leaves the parish of Wenvoe in a better state than when he and Sheonagh arrived. Jon did not wish for any “fuss” when he left, no presentation was his wish, for he realised that in today’s uncertainty of the rising costs of living, he would rather people give to far more worthy causes than his leaving for another parish. So, it was with a final tea party at Sully (with a simple gift of a new Preaching Scarf) and his final services on the 30th October he bade us farewell. Those of us who were able to join him in his investiture in Worle were pleased to see him wearing his new preaching scarf!

The parish is now in the care of the Area Dean, the Rev. Andrew James of Dinas Powys, who with our assistant curate the Rev. Kevin Barry, will be the Ministry team until we enter the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg on the 1st January 2022. During this time other priests have been welcomed in to lead services until a new Vicar is appointed.

The Harvest Festival service took place and was well attended within the Welsh Government’s recommendations. At that time there was no need to book places to attend services, but the sanitizing of hands and the wearing of face masks remained mandatory. Singing was allowed and it was great to include the Pebbles group helping to lead the worship once again. The appeal for tinned or dry goods brought in a huge response and was taken to the Food Bank in Barry. A collection for the Christian Aid Harvest appeal was also taken which amounted to £326.00.

In the run up to Christmas we held the carol service in St Mary’s Church. This was a scaled down version of previous years, but still very moving with hope for the future. The midnight service was sparsely attended welcoming in Christmas more quietly, but enjoyed by those present. The Christmas Day service was at St. Lythan’s and the following St. Stephen’s Day was at Wenvoe. Thanks to the visiting priests who made this possible.

Christmas Appeal: Sully joined Wenvoe to take a Christian Aid collection for the Christmas Appeal. This year they featured how they could help women in obtaining clean water. The example was a woman called Adut in Southern Sudan who had no choice but to give her children dirty water to drink. Their water supply came from the local river where cows and goats drink and where villagers wash. With help from Christian Aid they now have a pump for clean water from an underground water source. With further funding other villages can have this too. The collection raised £116 and this has been sent to Christian Aid.

Donations to the Vale foodbank have continued from Wenvoe and Sully throughout 2021. Additional Christmas goodies were readily donated. Many thanks to all who donated for this Christmas Appeal and to those who give regularly.

Alongside foodbank donations many gave generously to the ‘Big Wrap’. This initiative helps families in the Vale who are experiencing difficulties to provide gifts for their children. This year the Big Wrap decided to concentrate on collecting for teenagers as other organisations often provide gifts for younger children and the older ones miss out. This proved quite a challenge! However, many thanks for all the imaginative ideas and gifts which filled the car boot, with an additional £312 to enable the Big Wrap to provide gifts.

A number of Faculty applications have been submitted to the Diocesan Advisory committee (DAC) for work we wish to undertake in the future. They are for the new lighting scheme, the disposal of 2 pews, the removal of the “snail creep” mortar within the porch and for the restoration of the reredos at the altar. These are on display on the church door, for inspection and comment.

Our curate the Rev. Kevin Barry, was priested by Bishop June in a ceremony at St. Peter’s church in Dinas Powys. on the 30th January. This church is the largest in the MA and to accommodate all who wished to be present it was decided to move the event from Wenvoe. This means that Kevin will be able to celebrate the Eucharist in our churches without the need for a visiting priest.

The church is open in line with the Welsh Government regulations. A warm welcome to all.

Keep safe and wear your mask.

Parry Edwards

 

 

Advent Windows Great Success

ADVENT WINDOWS

A St. Mary’s initiative for the whole community

Wenvoe Advent Windows 2021 was a great success. This is the second year residents volunteered to decorate a window on a given date in Advent, so that a new window was lit up each night from 1st to 24th December.

There were different themes including Santa’s workshop which opened the windows on 1st and other Santa scenes, snowmen, angels, nativity scenes, winter wonderlands, mousemas! village panoramas, stars, a story of a Christmas Mouse in the telephone box and even a portrayal of the film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. Gwenfo School took an active part in providing 2 displays. The first included life size reindeers pulling Santa’s sleigh at the school and then a silhouette of the Nativity scene in the Church grounds on Christmas Eve. At this final lighting up we took the opportunity to invite children and their families to join us in singing carols to herald in Christmas Eve. Fortunately the rain that had been incessant all day stopped and it was a magical moment as families gathered with torches to see the nativity and to sing together.

Many thanks to all those who took part. There were many comments about ‘what I would do differently next year’ or ‘I have got a new idea for next year’. We wait to see what 2022 brings!

Jude Billingham

 

 

The Trouble With February

THE TROUBLE WITH FEBRUARY

February has long been at the centre of attempts to create a workable calendar. The fact it has 28 days can be traced back to ancient Rome. The Roman’s first lunar calendar was just 10 months long and did not even have a January or February, because the Romans didn’t think the period was important because it had nothing to do with harvesting. Eventually, Rome’s first king, Numa Pompilius (753–673 BC), decided to create a new calendar based on lunar cycles. This calendar was based on a 355 day year and introduced two new additional months – January and February. Even numbers were considered unlucky but if the new calendar was to work then one month would have to have an even number of days. February was chosen and given 28 days, all the rest had 29 or 31. The new calendar was constantly undermined by priests who had the power to remove a month from the calendar year. If they didn’t like someone elected to office the priests would shorten his term by leaving a month out!

To sort out the mess, in 45BC, Julius Caesar commissioned an expert to create a sun-based calendar similar to the one the Egyptians used. The Julian Calendar added a little more than 10 days to each year, making each month 30 or 31 days long, except for February left with 28 days. However every four years, now known as a ‘leap year’, February was given an extra day. Caesar was delighted. Not only was the new calendar named after him, but he chose to name July after himself as well. Not to be outdone, on becoming emperor Augustus Caesar named August.

By the 16th century, because the earth does not travel around the sun in exactly 365.25 days, Caesar’s calendar got way out of sync. To solve the problem, Pope Gregory VIII introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582. This calendar got things in sync again but controversially involved moving dates up 10 days.

In 1752 there was widespread opposition to plans to bring our calendar in line with that of Europe. Ordinary people were alarmed by the changes to festivals, Saints days, birthdays and the dates of wage payments and trading contracts. Some came to the conclusion that the government were stealing 11 days from their lives. There followed the so called ‘Calendar Riots’ with popular cries of ‘Give us our eleven days back’ by protesters.

An Act of Parliament implemented calendar reform on Wednesday 2nd September, 1752, with the next day declared to be Thursday September 14th. The new calendar meant that New Year’s Day, previously on March 25th, now fell on January 1st. Interestingly, to avoid losing 11 days of tax revenue, the official start of the new tax year was changed to 5th April. A further change, prompted by a small leap year issue, was made in 1800, moving the date to 6th April where it remains today.

Not everyone was unhappy about the introduction of the new Gregorian calendar. According to one tale, a certain William Willett, keen on a joke, wagered that he could dance non-stop for 12 days and 12 nights. On the evening of September 2nd 1752, he started to jig around the village and continued all through the night. The next morning, September 14th by the new calendar, he stopped dancing and claimed his bets!

 

 

Mudiad Meithrin Clwb Cwtsh

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Mudiad Meithrin Clwb Cwtsh

Mudiad Meithrin Clwb Cwtsh sessions for Welsh learners are doing online sessions from week commencing 10th January 2022 and they are open to anyone who wishes to learn Welsh with a strong emphasis on learning Welsh with or for their children. Online sessions will be on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for the January term. If anyone would like more information, Please email Emyr at: emyr.williams@meithrin.cymru

 

 

 

 

Xmas Bus and Train Services

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Christmas & New Year Public Transport Service Arrangements

For information, please see below the finalised guide to public transport provision for the Vale of Glamorgan over the forthcoming Christmas and New Year 2021-22 holiday period.

Please refer to the service providers own websites for the latest current timetable information.

 

Use this link to view Table of Schedule Services 

 

 

New Vegan Deli in Barry

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KARRY’S DELI

Wales’ First Plant-Based and Vegan Deli Has Opened in Barry

A Vegan Deli which recently opened in Barry has already proven popular.

Karry’s Deli, on Park Crescent, is one of Wales’ first all-plant-based-products delicatessen; there is also a vegan deli in Aberystwyth as well as a few cafes in Rhondda, and Cardiff and the Vale.

The business was opened by Karry Meyrick, who is from Barry but has spent many years travelling the world, carrying out philanthropic work such as teaching children English.

The 41-year-old business owner said: “I really wanted to own something of my own. During lockdown I read lots of articles and saw lots on vegan and plant-based food, but there didn’t seem to be this in the area. People are becoming more conscious of the environment, their health and what they’re eating. In lockdown people have become more aware of their diet. When Rudy’s Vegan Butcher opened in London it did really well; I thought it would be amazing to have that in Barry.”

When Karry’s Deli officially opened its doors in August, some products sold out within just three days, including many of their cheeses made with cashews. The garlic and herb cheese is proving to be ‘an absolute winner’.

“It’s been lovely and it’s such a friendly street,” added Ms Meyrick. “So many people have come in and thanked me for opening or said they’ve been waiting for something like this; it’s a nice feeling to serve the community. The steaks sold out fast and our cheddar and black pudding did really well too.”

Ms Meyrick describes herself as an ‘accidental vegan’ due to cutting out most of her meat and milk consumption on her travels.

“You don’t have to be 100 percent vegan, or even classify yourself as “vegan”, to eat plant-based food,” said Ms Meyrick. “I think if everyone reduced their meat consumption the world would be a better place – just try one thing; you never know you might like it.”

 

 

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