Category: News

December Church Activities

 

A Blywthyn Newedd Dda – a Happy New Year to all Readers.

The first Sunday in December was Advent Sunday; the beginning of four weeks of solemn preparation for the greatest event the world has known, the Birth of the Saviour in a stable at Bethlehem nearly 2000 years ago. It is also the first Sunday of the churche’s year, so we are already in the year 2020. As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, Christians the world over are looking forward with hope in their hearts for a continuing peace and prosperity for all peoples, of all faiths and creeds.

For the Church in Wales it also marks the centenary of its own birth, away from the Church of England. There was much talk and discussion about the dissolution of the four Welsh Dioceses away from the Church of England in the early years of the 20th century, and the necessary measures, the Welsh Church Act of 1914, were put on hold with the outbreak of WW1 in 1914. With the ending of the war, the movement to break away was once again agreed upon and so the Church in Wales was created with its own Archbishop the Very Reverend Alfred George Edwards, who was Bishop of St Asaph at the time in 1920.

How did these changes affect the Parish of Wenvoe are not very clear. Our Rector at the time was Rev. George Herbert Jenner who, with advancing years, retired from the parish in 1924. The years following the ending of the war were years of financial hardship and Wenvoe had never been a rich parish with any endowments. Mrs Laura Jenner of Wenvoe Castle still had the right to appoint a priest here, so the church just got on proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel, and we now enjoy all that earlier generations of church going folk in Wenvoe left for future generations.

As I write this preparations for the celebration of Christmas are well advanced and we look forward to the “Pebbles” children giving their presentation of the Nativity story in church. Once again a Christmas Card, giving all details of the services in St Mary’s and St Bleddian’s has been delivered to all homes in the parish, and Christmas Edition of the parish magazine “Connections” is full of good cheer for the festive season

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 200 Club continues to be successful in raising much needed money for the building fund. The Christmas Draw of winner numbers was drawn at the Church Hall following the Community Carol service on 18th December, when great fellowship was accorded with mince pies and mulled wine, courtesy of Wenvoe Community Council.. The 200 Club has donated £1,800 to the St. Mary’s Building Fund for this year.

The work in hand for 2020 will be the plastering of the lower walls adjacent to the altar, and the rear of the organ console and in February we are due to have the historic floor tiling in the church restored and cleaned. This work will add to the beauty of the church interior and will be as when the tiles were laid sometime at the middle to end of the 19th century in the major restoration of church that took place under the guidance of the Jenner rectors.

The Christmas Chattery

The Christmas Chattery on Thursday 12th December 2019 was a huge success in spite of the awful weather. The church hall was packed with people and we almost ran out of chairs and cups! There was a lovely friendly ambience with lots of chat and laughter. The hall looked very smart with Christmas decorations kindly gifted by the reindeers.

Grateful thanks to everyone who supported us, as in addition to the most enjoyable social occasion, £292 was raised for the church building fund.

The highlight of the raffle was the amazing Christmas cake creation from Glenys Tucker which was won by a lucky resident in Vennwood Close.

Don’t forget that the Chattery meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month when you will find a warm welcome – but fewer people!

Happy New Year to all our readers

Parry Edwards

 

 

Village Hall Raffle Results

 

The Village Hall Management Committee would like to thank everyone who kindly donated prizes to this raffle and to the people who support us by the buying and selling of the tickets. All money raised through the raffle contributes to the on-going insurance, maintenance and daily running costs of the Hall which is primarily for the use of the villagers.

We thank you all and wish you Good Health and a Happy and Prosperous New Year

 

People With Power Get Away With It

People In Power Get Away With So Much

 

By now I’m sure you’ve all heard about the scandal surrounding Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein and a trafficked 17-year-old. Prince Andrew has since stepped down from royal duties, but he’s not been completely cut off from the royal family. His family has refused to comment, and that in itself is evidence enough of his guilt. But Prince Andrew isn’t technically being held accountable for his actions; whether the allegations made by Virginia Roberts are true or not, Prince Andrew still maintained a friendship with Epstein. Yet, because of his status, he’ll stay on the palace payroll and soon this story will be buried.

It happens all the time. People in power get away with so much because they have the power and the money to make it go away. They become infamous, but that also keeps them in the spotlight for longer and further enhances their fame. Think about Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky; that’s all she’s ever known for, whilst Clinton maintained his beloved status as President. Lewinsky should never have had the affair with Clinton, yet she wasn’t the one that was married with a child. She wasn’t the President. But because of her lack of status and power in the debacle, she’s been vilified for her involvement.

There are plenty of actors who fit the infamous role; who’ve gone on to gain more roles possibly because it adds to the press of the project. When famed director Woody Allen was found to have been part of the many Hollywood big leagues to sexually abuse hundreds of people, some actually came to his defence. One of those being Scarlett Johansson, who’s surely used to controversy by now.

Johansson was first caught up in controversy when it was announced she would star in Ghost in the Shell, an English language adaptation of the popular Japanese manga comics. It was argued by many that Johansson’s role should be recast and played rather by an actor of Asian descent, as the series, and the character are Japanese. The problem was further exacerbated by Screencrush publishing a report noting that Paramount and DreamWorks had tested a post-production visual effects technology which was said to make Johansson appear more Asian. Although Johansson has stated she would never play a character of another race, she did have the option to drop the project and allow the studio to find a more suitable fit for the character. Ed Skrein, who was originally cast as Ben Daimio in Hellboy stepped down from the role after educating himself on the origins of the character, stating he didn’t want to ‘obscure ethnic minority stories and voices in the arts’ and noting, ‘I feel it is important to honour and respect that’ (the character was later recast with Daniel Dae Kim as Daimio).

Yet Johansson’s reputation seems untarnished. She was announced as the highest paid actress of 2019 and has two major films coming out within the next few months. However much I love Marvel, and although I believe Black Widow is long overdue, I’m aware that Johansson’s career should have

suffered a knock for the comments and controversies she’s been in the headlines for. Her status is continuously growing and she gets away with the comments she makes, even when they are comments which anger many.

In turn, Marvel have rehired James Gunn for the third instalment of Guardians of the Galaxy after his own allegations of sexual assault came to light. To an extent, it feels as though Marvel had set a stopwatch between firing Gunn and rehiring him for the amount of time they thought it might take for people to forget the allegations against Gunn. To an extent, it worked, and many have praised Marvel for reinstating Gunn’s title as director for the franchise. Again, a celebrity not being held accountable for their actions and rather being rewarded for their infamous controversies.

We hold celebrities on a pedestal in our society and it’s become incredibly damaging, because having money and status these days seems to exempt you from being held accountable for your actions.

There are plenty of working-class people who have had to suffer long sentences in prisons for crimes the rich are able to pay their way out of. Between the college admissions scandal in America when Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were held accountable (for which Huffman served 12 of the 14 days she was sentenced to prison) and the Brock Turner case (for which Turner – who was convicted of three charges of sexual assault – was sentenced to only six months in jail following a $150,000 posted bail), the rich and famous get away with a lot.

Being held accountable for our actions is important. Arguably from the track record, more important for the rich and famous. Yet, if you have enough money and enough power, you can make anything disappear. The fact that scandals make celebrities infamous but somehow also richer is disgusting. Being a celebrity or having more money than you know what to do with shouldn’t exempt you from the law. If you make a mistake, you ought to be reprimanded and suffer like the rest of us.

Celebrity culture is far more corrupt than I think we often remember. Though that doesn’t mean that millionaires deserve a cop out clause.

They should pay their dues like the rest of the world.

By Tirion Davies

 

 

Are You Making A New Year’s Resolution?

Are You Making A New Year’s Resolution?

The tradition of New Year’s Resolutions has a long history, with people from many cultures across the globe making promises at the start of each year. Babylonians made promises to their gods that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts. The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named. In the medieval era, the knights took the “peacock vow” at the end of the Christmas season to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry.

If you are thinking of joining in, here are some ideas based on the top 10 most common New Year’s Resolutions:

  • Exercise More
  • Lose Weight
  • Get organised
  • Learn a new skill or hobby
  • Live life to the fullest
  • Save more money
  • Quit smoking or drink less
  • Spend more time with family/friends.

 

If you need more inspiration for this year, how about this advice from Billy Connolly ‘Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that, who cares … He’s a mile away and you’ve got his shoes.’

Interestingly, your enthusiasm for New Year’s resolutions may depend on your age. Recent research suggests young Brits are by far the most likely to make them, with more than a third of 18 to 24 year olds intending to do so, while only 15% of those over 65 will bother. On the plus side research shows that Americans are more likely to give up on their resolutions than we are.

So how likely are you to be successful with your resolutions?

A study of 3,000 people by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail! People apparently have more success with small and measurable goals like ‘lose a certain amount of weight in a week’ rather than a more general resolution to lose weight. Pauline Wallin, PhD, psychologist and author of ‘Taming Your Inner Brat’ advises people to develop a realistic plan, build in imperfections and focus on small victories along the way. But beware! Recent research has discovered that the second Friday in January is the day when we are most likely to falter. So this year if you do make a New Year’s Resolution be wary of ‘Quitter’s Day’ Friday 10th January

 

 

Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators Meeting

 

Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators met on October 23rd and items from the discussions include:

New Co-ordinators are in place in Is-y-Coed and Grange Close.

Establishing the Watch in new housing areas: The Grange now has an adequate number of Co-ordinators to cover the whole of the estate.

St Lytham’s Park has 2 Co-ordinators. This is not enough for the whole area. The role of a Co-ordinator is to keep eyes and ears open to be aware of unusual activity or anti-social behaviour in their locality. If such problems are noticed the Co-ordinator can report to the police or our Wenvoe Watch Secretary/Treasurer (contact details below).

If you live in St Lytham’s Park and are interested in helping to deter crime in your locality, would you consider becoming a Co-ordinator?

If so, please contact our Secretary/Treasurer Jackie Gauci on 07876 207843 or jackie.gauci47@gmail.com

 

Twyn yr Odyn: The row of houses adjacent to the former quarry, Greenwood Close, are now being occupied and it is hoped a resident will offer to become Co-ordinator for the road.

‘Nextdoor’ website: The establishment of this website was noted. It was felt the website is a useful venue for the exchange of information and the promotion of local businesses and does not affect the activity of the Watch.

Reports from Co-ordinators

  • South Wales Police give local information about reported crime in Wenvoe on their website. Details are at: www.police.uk/south-wales/ W5000654/crime/
  • Burglaries or attempted burglaries were reported for Wenvoe Garden Centre (twice), Greave Close and Wenvoe Cattery.
  • Fly tipping had occurred at Burdon’s Hill.
  • The nuisance of dogs fouling the Wenvoe Playing Fields was noted and brought to the attention of the Clerk to the Community Council.

 

Alan French

 

 

1 … 88 89 90 91 92 … 124