Category: News

Passing Time In Lock Down

PASSING TIME IN LOCK DOWN

Although we are all trying to return to some form of normal life there are those of us whom still seem to have plenty of time to fill at home with time to read books, watch films, or listen to audio tapes etc.

Over the last six months, with so many free hours, we must have come across some titles, authors etc we may never have thought of watching, reading or listening to. Did your family even discover new games to play?

Why not share your finds with others with a brief description, (no need to leave your name.) Using Netflix, Amazon, Catch Up, Kindle, eBooks, Audible, etc others should be able to locate the recommended items to enjoy themselves.

Audiobooks

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – This is a book I wouldn’t have attempted to read, but Audiobooks made it much more appealing. as I could listen while doing jobs around the house.

The story is set in Cephalonia at the beginning of World War 2. Dr. Yaniss lives with his daughter in a small village, life goes on as normal. Until one day, Corelli leader of the Italian invasion force is billeted with the Dr and his daughter. Corelli falls in love with his daughter, who is engaged to the resistance leader Mandras. Their love grows and dreams are lost, when the Italians surrender to the Allies.

Elephant Moon is another Audiobook I enjoyed..

Based on a true story set in Burma in the World War II. The story is of a class of orphans trying to escape from Burma before the Japanese invade. Lots of twists and turns in this story, which is is a tale of great courage

The Pants of Perspective. A travel tale. Anna McNuff ran the New Zealand 3000 kilometre Te Araroa trail which stretches from the furthest point south to the northern tip of north island. A witty, colourful and at times painfully raw account.

Films

Waking Ned – Based in a small Irish village two friends discover their friend has died of the shock of finding out he has won the lottery. How do you convince the claims inspector that the village could claim the prize. Enjoyable comedy.

The Green Book – The true story of an Italian- American bouncer who becomes the chauffeur for a world-class black piano player. In 1962 they tour the deep south during the racial charged period. A moving story.

 

 

Play Area on Grange Field

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Play Area on Grange Field

As we can all now see we have a lovely park for the children.

However, a Watch Co-ordinator has noticed that older children, some of whom come from outside the village, are using and abusing the equipment. We recommend that should anyone see the park being misused they please call our Community Police Officer, Sion Summers, on :- 07970 008935 (he works shifts) OR call 101 .

The Police are aware of the issues and are driving past when they can.

 

 

 

They Think It’s All Over

They Think It’s All Over

They think that it’s all over, this virus put to bed

“Don’t listen to the science, it’s party hard instead!

We’re young and fit and in our prime

The old and frail have had their time.

So we’ll all flock to the beaches, Go drinking in the park,

We’ll litter lots of beauty spots and party after dark”.

I pray that it’s all over and Corona’s put to bed,

But fear has not ended, simply waiting to rear its head,

With Winter fast approaching, dark days and nights descend,

This vaccine can’t come soon enough, to bring Covid an end.

Please learn the lockdown lessons, our heroes’ selfless acts,

Just take the time to ponder and listen to the facts.

Stop the sacrifice of many, being squandered by the few,

So that, they’re lucky, the young can grow old too!

 

Beverly Mackintosh

 

 

The Wenvoe Arms Is Open Again

The Wenvoe Arms Is Open Again

The Wenvoe Arms is open again and this beating heart of the village has pints of ale pouring out again after the long lockdown. We are very fortunate in Wenvoe to have a high-quality village pub which is well run by the landlords Digby and Jennie Rees who have been the tenants for the last four years.

Jennie’s father built and ran the successful Cwm Ciddy pub at Rhoose, and she was brought up in the trade and has been involved in it ever since. She and husband Digby put their experience to good use in making the Wenvoe Arms a superb pub that com-bines tradition with modern innovations. The place was completely refurbished a few years ago and is kept spotlessly clean both inside and out. It has recently been given the highest rating, yet again, by the EHO and Food Standards Agency, which gave it a top rating of 5 for the food safety and hygiene in the kitchen and bar areas. They also received top marks for Covid 19 standards of care.

Lockdown provided challenges for us all, but publicans had added problems with the disposal of beer and food that was unable to be used. Jennie points out that with beer you cannot just pour it down the drain, rather you must consult with Welsh Water who tell you how and when to flush it down the drain. Luckily, Digby saw the problem coming and was able to cancel deliveries just before lockdown which meant less was wasted than might have been.

The lack of clients during the last months has given the landlords time to make further improvements to the outside drinking and eating areas. Surprisingly, there are four separate areas outside each with good, well-maintained tables with seating and umbrellas. The roadside raised patio area is specially reserved for Wenvoe residents and there are six tables there. The lower area next to the war memorial again has tables with seating and is very popular with the regulars and smokers. A hidden gem is the beer garden to the rear which is grassed and surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges giving it a restful atmosphere. The trees there ensure there is plenty of shade on a hot summer’s day. While beyond that is a further area with six tables which will in future have covered shelter so people can eat and drink there in inclement weather.

A new development worth reporting is the building of a pizza shack – yes, the real thing – which has a newly installed wood-burning oven. This is adjacent to the beer garden and will be serving pizzas every evening from 4 – 9 pm. The pizzas are homemade on the premises with a choice of five artisan pizzas available and they will be available to be sold in boxes and eaten anywhere in the pub, outside or in, or else taken away. We hope the pizza shack will have opened by the time that this edition of Wenvoe What’s On hits your doormat.

The Wenvoe Arms has an excellent function room on the first floor which adds greatly to the interior dining and drinking space. The main dining area on the ground floor, which is enhanced in winter with a

log burning stove, seats 60 guests while the function room above can take another 50 or more for a buffet. It is also used as a comfortable meeting and conference room where, for example, Alun Cairns MP addressed the faithful before lockdown.

The food at the Wenvoe Arms receives glowing comments which is not surprising as Jennie and Digby take it very seriously. The food is all cooked from fresh with no “bought-in” meals, unlike many pubs. The menu has had a revamp and lists a wide range of popular pub and gastro type meals. Last orders are as late as 8.50pm which is helpful for those working or visiting later. The wine list is wide-ranging and competitively priced.

The bars are an area of pride for the landlords as there is a great selection of beers and spirits. There are currently five cask, or real ales, available as well as leading brands of lager and cider. Gin drinkers are well looked after too with a selection of premium gins which are served with a choice of mixers. Fever Tree is available among others, and juniper berries can be added as a botanical garnish.

We all need our spirits lifting during this pandemic and what better way to do that than making a visit to your village pub for a drink and meal with friends. They have missed you over the months so you can be sure of a warm welcome by a team who have gone out of their way to keep us all safe and socially distanced.

 

 

Treat Our Masks Like Our Undies

COUNCIL URGES US TO TREAT OUR MASKS LIKE OUR UNDIES

A year ago we couldn’t possibly have imagined that while going about our normal business the wearing of masks would be a common sight. Of course we are used to seeing masks in all sorts of contexts and we seem fairly relaxed about being told to wear them.

Masks have a long and often strange history, particularly in popular culture. In Ancient Greece masks worn by actors had brass megaphones to amplify what actors were saying. When an Indonesian Topang dancer dies, his used masks are never moved from where they were at the time of his death. In the 17th century people believed the plague could be carried by poisoned air or miasma. Plague doctors covered themselves head to toe and wore a mask shaped like a bird’s beak. Perfumes and spices held under the masks were said to neutralise the miasma.

It was not until the late 19th century that masks were being worn in operating theatres. This process was accelerated by their use to protect medical workers during the Manchurian plague of 1910–11 and the influenza pandemic of 1918–19. During the latter the safety measures taken were very similar to those today. The United States for example, closed churches, soda fountains, theatres, movie houses, department stores and barber shops. The amount of space allocated to people in public spaces was regulated. There were however fines against coughing, sneezing, spitting, kissing and even talking outdoors. Some Americans went to prison for refusing to wear masks or not paying fines and a health inspector shot a blacksmith for refusing an order to wear one. All this led to masks becoming unpopular and an Anti-Mask League being formed in San Francisco.

Back in the UK, smog in our industrial cities was a further example of something which led to mask wearing for public health reasons, until The Clean Air Act (1956) began to improve matters.

 

This picture of a Manchester bus during the smog was taken at midday!

As late as 1965, the Beatles wore masks to counter the effects of smog on their way to a concert in the city.

 

While wearing face coverings is not ideal, it has not taken long for the demand for fashionable masks to accelerate. Hello magazine recently ran a whole feature on where to buy a stylish or fun version. You can get one of your favourite band or football team. Maybe you want to make a political point.

 

To help get the message across, Sunderland Council has issued the following advice. “Treat your mask like your undies. Dinnit touch or rive at it, especially in public. Dinnit borrow one from ya marra (mate) or lend yours to them. Mack sure it’s canny tight but comfy. Mack sure it’s the reet way round. If it’s stained or hacky, hoy it in the bin. If it’s damp or foisty, change it! Dinnit go commando!”

 

 

How Not To Climb A Mountain In Africa

How Not To Climb A Mountain In Africa

I’ve so enjoyed reading about Lynne’s successful mountaineering exploits in recent editions of ‘What’s On’ that I’ve decided to (figuratively) put pen to paper to tell you about a spectacular failure.

I have to take you, dear reader, back to East Africa where Lynne had her successes on Mounts Kenya and Kilimanjaro before she went further afield to the Himalayas.

The failed adventure in which I was initially a willing participant was to scale Mount Meru, a more modest 4,562 meters high lump of a collapsed former volcano which is located in northern Tanzania, a distance of some 70 kilometres from the aforesaid Kilimanjaro which peaks at some 5,895 metres.

 

At this point some background context would be useful. The year is 1964 and the country, then called Tanganyika, had gained independence from the British a year or so previously. I was with a group of some 40 young people. A week or so previously we had arrived at an agricultural training school in the town of Arusha, to spend three weeks on an intensive Kiswahili language learning course prior to being dispersed across the new nation as volunteers engaged in diverse development related activities.

Mount Meru, some 20 miles distant, loomed large behind the school. Of course we were all young and enthusiastic and all equally determined to pack as much of Africa as possible into our time there.

The plan was apparently simple, and we were advised by our teacher it would be as follows: be driven to the foot of the mountain on a Saturday morning, walk up towards the summit all day following a track through the lush tropical forest, find a hut to stay the night and on the Sunday morning strike off to the summit on the now gravelly / rocky path.

So, on that fateful Saturday morning we all set off aboard the school’s ex-army canvas sided flat bed lorry with a lot more enthusiasm than we had suitable equipment or preparation.

The first bit of the ascent was easy as we ambled through the coffee plantations on the lower slopes as we exchanged our newly learned greetings of “Jambos” and “Habari ganis” and “Habari za kazi” with the farmers tending their coffee vines on their “shambas”. Leaving the farms, the ascent started to get steeper and the surrounding vegetation somewhat denser, but we were following a sort of path and the spirits were high.

Then we found to our dismay that we were no longer following a path. But what could go wrong? As long as we kept ascending we would be going in the right direction! Remember, the forest was fairly dense and we didn’t really have a clue as to the direction we should be going. Apart from “up”. But as we progressed “up”, we would be met by a steep “down” into one of the many ravines that radiated out from the peak. And so on and on until both darkness and exhaustion overtook us without the possibility of reaching either the elusive hut or indeed any other semblance of shelter.

So, somewhat dejected, we decided to do the best we could to spend the night in the forest, lulled into a fitful sleep by serenading sounds of Africa all around us, only to be sharply awakened by various scary and unidentified animal noises.

We survived the night and next morning we started to retrace our steps back towards civilisation, up and down again across the steep ravines. Eventually we emerged from the forest into the coffee growing “shambas” to be greeted by the farmers with a cheery “Habari za safiri?” (How is the journey?). East African polite convention dictates that a negative answer is not given to such a request for news and the correct response is always “Nzuri sana” (Very good indeed). Whereas, under our breaths, we were actually saying “Mbaya kabisa” (As bad as it can get)!

So, late that Sunday evening we returned to the school, footsore, tired, starving, but happy in the knowledge that in our first week in Africa we had not only been lost in the forest, but we had been able to practice some of our newly acquired Kiswahili in real life situations!

As an end piece I would add that a year or so later I did climb to Gilman’s Point on Kilimanjaro as part of a properly resourced “expedition”. On reaching that summit I had never been as cold and tired as I was that day, nor in my subsequent 55 years. In those days before the onset of climate change there was certainly a lot more snow and ice on the summit than is present today.

A further footnote. In preparing for this piece, I did a bit of googling and found the following:

Mount Meru is a serious three to four-day trek and although it is often used as a practice run by those hoping to summit Kilimanjaro, the smaller mountain is actually the more technical. A guide is mandatory on every trek and there is only one official route up to the summit. The route is well marked with huts along the way offering simple, comfortable beds. Unofficial routes on the west and northern sides of the mountain are illegal. Acclimatization is important, and while you won’t need oxygen, spending at least a few days at altitude before attempting the climb is highly recommended.

Well, in the light of this, we never stood a chance did we?

“Time Traveller”

 

 

Bring Back Tommy Cooper

BRING BACK TOMMY COOPER

Phone answering machine message – ‘If you want to buy marijuana, press the hash key’.

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I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him 50 quid that he couldn’t reach the meat. off the top shelf. He said, ‘No, the steaks are too high.’

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My friend drowned in a bowl of muesli. A strong currant pulled him in.

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I went to a seafood disco last week and pulled a muscle.

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Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly. They lit a fire in the craft, it sank, proving once and for all that you can’t have your kayak and heat it.

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Our icecream man was found lying on the floor of his van covered with hundreds and thousands. Police say that he topped himself.

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Man goes to the doctor, with a strawberry growing out of his head. Doctor says ‘I’ll give you some cream to put on it’.

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A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet.

‘My dog is cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?’

‘Well’, said the vet, ‘let’s have a look at him’. So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then he checks his teeth. Finally, he says, ‘I’m going to have to put him down.’

‘Why – because he’s cross-eyed?’ ‘No, because he’s really heavy’.

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Ireland’s worst air disaster occurred early this morning when a small two-seater Cessna plane crashed into a cemetery. Irish search and rescue workers have recovered 2826 bodies so far and expect that number to climb as digging continues into the night

 

 

My Trip To Tanzania

My Trip To Tanzania

Hi! Hope everyone’s well.

Just wanted to say a thank you once again to everyone that supported me in the run up to my trip to Tanzania. I came back a month earlier than planned because of the current situation with Covid 19, however the month and a half that I did spend out there was an amazing experience which I enjoyed very much.

 

Whilst on the environmental stage of the expedition, where we were planting trees so that a small village could have sustainable resources for the future, I stayed with a Tanzanian family. Seeing how the ways of life differ first hand has really humbled me and made me appreciate what my life is like. I missed out on the section of the trip where we would have built a sanitation block for a primary school. However, Raleigh International are giving me the chance to return this time next year and finish the expedition, which is great.

Thanks once again, I hope everyone has a lovely rest of the summer.

 

Jacob

 

 

About Brass Monkeys

DID YOU KNOW About Brass Monkeys?

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. However, to prevent them from rolling about the deck, the best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. The ‘pyramid’ was stored on a metal plate called a ‘Monkey’ with 16 round indentations. However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make ‘Brass Monkeys.’ Brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey; Thus, it was quite literally, ‘Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.’

 

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