The Official Wenvoe Homepage
FROM OUR ROVING PHOTOGRAPHER
Helen Morgan, who lives in Gwenfo Drive, was seen clearing weeds from the pavement on Old Port Road. She has to work on her own though, as she is just too young to join the environment team!!
These two sprightly Wenvoe men have 140 years between them. Dave [left] and Barry still like to show off their skills and have no intention of putting their feet up.
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THE STORY OF THE MISSING £5 NOTE
Chippenham George worked for the Post Office and his job was to process all the mail that had illegible addresses. One day just before Christmas, a letter landed on his desk simply addressed in shaky handwriting: ‘To God’. With no other clue on the envelope, George opened the letter and read.
Dear God,
I am a 93-year-old widow living on the State pension. Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had £100 in it, which was all the money I had in the world and no pension due until after Christmas. Next week is Christmas and I had invited two of my friends over for Christmas lunch. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with. I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. God, can you please help me?
Chippenham George was really touched, and being kind-hearted, he put a copy of the letter up on the staff notice board at the main Fareham sorting office where he worked. The letter touched the other postmen and they all dug into their pockets and had a whip round. Between them they raised £95. Using an officially franked Post Office envelope, they sent the cash on to the old lady, and for the rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of the nice thing they had done.
Christmas came and went. A few days later, another letter simply addressed to ‘God’ landed in the Sorting Office. Many of the postmen gathered around while George opened the letter. It read:
Dear God,
How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me? Because of your generosity, I was able to provide a lovely luncheon for my friends. We had a very nice day, and I told my friends of your wonderful gift – in fact we haven’t got over it and even Father John, our parish priest, is beside himself with joy. By the way, there was £5 missing. I think it must have been those thieving fellows at the Post Office.
George could not help musing on Oscar Wilde’s quote: ‘A good deed never goes unpunished’
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TUCKER’S CHRISTMAS REINDEER EVENT
The local community was treated to a really lovely day on Saturday 20 November when Glenys and Mike invited everyone to spend time with friends and neighbours at their Christmas Reindeer event.
Preparations had been underway for many months and a group of volunteers worked with Mike and Glenys throughout the day to make sure that this was again a success.
Joyce Hoy was one of the first at the venue for a very important role. Assisted by Mike, she marshalled Randolph’s extended family into their positions ready to catch the eye of people who were eager to select their favourite reindeer and give them a new home. Some people were returning for a third year and wanted a special reindeer to add to their collection. Knowing all the reindeers’ individual characteristics, and understanding that need for a perfect match, Joyce was at hand to advise
Wenvoe crafters supported the event and there was an opportunity to buy good quality Christmas cards, decorations and gifts. Raffle prizes had been generously donated. Charities and local groups will all have benefitted from peoples’ kindness.
The warm and welcoming atmosphere at Venwood Drive and the appearance of Santa, unexpected at such a busy time for him, meant that people were in no hurry to leave. And, there was a very tempting variety of delicious homemade cakes to take away to have with a cuppa later.
The £1,221 raised from the sale of the reindeers, the raffle, cakes and jams will be donated to the Wenvoe Wildlife Group in order to support the many on-going projects that we read about regularly in the monthly ‘What’s On’ update.
Glenys and Mike would like to thank all of the people who supported the Christmas Reindeer Sale and made the day such a success.
A very special ‘thank you’ on behalf of the village to Glenys and Mike for hosting the Christmas Reindeer event. You created such a lovely day and the money you have helped to raise will have a lasting impact on the continued hard work of the Wildlife Group.
Wednesday 15th December at 7.00pm
Carol Service at St. Mary’s Church. This to be an ‘inhouse’ service for all those who wish to attend, but we are NOT inviting participants from any organisations to take part.
December 19th at 3.00pm
Carol Service at St. Lythans Church.
December 24th
5.00pm Lighting of the last Advent Window at St. Mary’s Church with carol singing around the cross.
11.30pm Eucharist with Carols at St Mary’s Church.
December 25th at 8.30am
Said Eucharist at St. Lythans
December 26th (St. Stephens Day) at 9.30am
Eucharist at St. Mary’s Church.
At all services we follow the Welsh Government rules of sanitising hands, the wearing of masks and social distancing. There are no services online.
Farewell To Jon And Sheonagh
A large tea party to say farewell to Jon and Sheonagh was held at the Old School in Sully on the afternoon of October 30th, followed on the Sunday with Jon’s last services in the three parishes. It was an emotional occasion spiced with many humorous asides and a series of wonderful tributes from members of the congregations. There was also a truly wonderful video presentation from Gwenfo Church in Wales school entitled ‘Farewell to Vicar Jon’ set to music. Jon was presented with a leaving gift of a new black preaching scarf, replacing one he had lost in recent months. It is generally thought that his seven year ministry among us was a most successful one, and he will be a hard act to follow. Preparations for our new priest have begun with the preparation of a profile of the churches in the new Ministry Area of De Morgannwg, including the three churches the new priest will be responsible for. He or she will be known as a Team Vicar in the Ministry Area, and will be licenced across the nine churches being brought into being by the Bishop’s Decree on 1st January 2022.
At that point we will lose our status as a parish and will be known as St. Mary’s Church in the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg, with a devolved church council to look after the day to day running of the church and its financial responsibilities. This will be the last church news to bear the title of ‘Parish’ and the Bishop’s Decree will rob the Diocese of our parish status that even King Henry VIII failed to do in the 16th century. I have no doubt that we will continue to refer to the Parish of Wenvoe, despite the ruling from Llandaff.
The other major event during November was the marking of Remembrance Sunday with an outdoor service at the Wenvoe War Memorial. A procession from St. Mary’s to the War Memorial met the crowds of people who had gathered, while the Vale Brass Band played solemn music. The Wenvoe Scouts and Beavers were on parade with their 
banners flying in the breeze. The leaves falling from the large beech tree was very reminiscent of the poppies that fell from the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance in the Royal Albert Hall the previous evening. The keeping of a solemn act of worship at the War Memorial is a highlight of the year, as we remember not only the men who lost their lives in WWI but also those in WWII and the many wars and conflicts since then, together with the many civilians who died as a result of enemy action in our towns and cities. The Royal British Legion celebrated its centenary this year and the number of wreaths and tributes were the largest in recent years.
On Armistice Day, the senior class from Gwenfo School met at the War Memorial to observe the 2 minutes silence and a short prayer service took place. They were introduced to the outline figure of ‘Tommy’ purchased by the Wenvoe Community Council as a reminder of the caring nature of the Legion in looking after the survivors and the injured and their families in the past 100 years. There is also now a QR code where you can log in with your smartphone to reveal details of all the names of the fallen inscribed on the large upright stone. The War Memorial is now classed as a Listed Structure for its unique design reflecting the huge amount of quarrying in the Wenvoe area; stones from the Alps Quarry were used in its construction.
St. Mary’s Church is now the responsibility of the Rev. Andrew James Tel No. 029 20512555 where all inquiries should be directed. All services are being covered by a rota of retired priests up to the end of December when fresh arrangements will be made. The weekly newsletter is being produced giving details of the Sunday services in church. There are no midweek services planned at present, and the Christmas Carol service will be a scaled back version on Wednesday December 15th. The Christmas services are detailed on page 4.
The solemn season of Advent starts on November 28th and the Advent Windows will begin to be lit up from 1st December. The final display at the church will, weather permitting, be followed by carol singing.
Christian Aid Week. A very positive result UK wide with an income of over £5m! This of course includes our ‘walking’ and donations which came to £326.20p from our three churches. Plans are going ahead for 2022 and I have been invited to a Zoom call to find information about the next theme.
We continue to support the Barry Food Bank with collections and deliveries on Thursday mornings. The Big Wrap will be going ahead during December with the emphasis on gifts for teenagers, as they consider that the younger children are already well provided for. Cash donations can be given so that the organisers can buy the things that teenagers need. Please use the letter boxes at the Church Hall and the church porch clearly marked Big Wrap. Christmas goodies are also welcome for the food bank to bring a little festive cheer to those who are finding it difficult to manage this year.
As for the future, the setting up of the Ministry Area will not affect the pattern of services in church. The work on the tower is planned for Spring. A new and exciting lighting scheme has been selected for St.Mary’s using a recent bequest. We look forward to a new priest who will be given a great welcome, and will continue to reside at the Rectory. So much to look forward to.
A happy and blessed Christmas to all readers and a Happy New Year – Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.
Parry Edwards
ADVENT WINDOWS
A St. Mary’s initiative for the whole community
We are delighted to invite you to view the Wenvoe Advent windows again this year. The windows will be decorated from 1st – 24th December, lighting up from 5pm until 9pm. Each evening an additional window is added until all 24 windows are displayed. They begin at 29 Venwood Close (5:00pm), and the Telephone Box (5:30pm). The final window is at St. Mary’s Church on 24th December with help from Gwenfo School. If the weather is fair it is planned to have some carol singing outside the church when the church porch is lit. Please bring lanterns or torches.
All the windows will be numbered and can be viewed from outside the property. Most are within walking distance; however, 3 may need transport (see map below for details). You may need a torch if walking to number 12. Torches are also needed to read the display in the phone box.
We hope you enjoy the windows. We are very grateful to all who are taking part in decorating their windows and inviting us to enjoy them. Maps are available in Springfield Stores, The Wenvoe Arms and the Church Porch.
LIST OF WINDOWS TO VIEW
1st December (a) 29 Venwood Close
1st December (b) Telephone Box, Walston Road
2nd December Springfield Stores
3rd December Wenvoe Arms, Old Port Road
4th December Cresta, Burdon’s Hill
5th December 71 Walston Road
6th December 73 Walston Road
7th December 52 Walston Road
8th December 4 Greenwood Close, Twyn-yr-Odyn
9th December 4 Venwood Close
10th December 9 Walston Road
11th December 15 Old Port Road
12th December 4 Station Terrace
13th December 40 Walston Road
14th December 3 Tarrws Close
15th December 12 Walston Road
16th December 38 Burdons Close
17th December 13 Gwenfo Drive
18th December 24 Old Port Road
19th December 15 Grange Close
20th December 2 Grange Close
21st December Pinetrees, Walston Road
22nd December Gwenfo School
23rd December 6 Walston Road
24th December St Mary’s Church
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THE ADVENT WREATH AND CANDLES
The Advent wreath first appeared in Germany in 1839. A Lutheran minister working at a mission for children created a wreath out of the wheel of a cart. He placed twenty small red candles and four large white candles inside the ring. The red candles were lit on weekdays and the four white candles were lit on Sundays. Eventually, the Advent wreath was created out of evergreens, symbolising everlasting life in the midst of winter and death. The most common Advent candle tradition involves four candles. A new candle is lit on each of the four Sundays before Christmas. Traditions vary but the four candles traditionally represent hope, faith, joy and peace.
