Category: News

SUDDEN SINKING

SUDDEN SINKING

 

At sea things can go wrong very quickly, as Barry Dock and Penarth lifeboat crews found out on 12th June

Kath Fisher couldn’t sleep. Tossing and turning, she thought: ‘Is this an omen that something’s about to happen?’. At 1.15am her lifeboat pager went off.

Volunteers all around Penarth and Barry Dock shook themselves awake and headed for their lifeboat stations. It was a Mayday call; an emergency at sea where life is at risk – a fishing boat, with two onboard, was taking on water at a notorious local black spot off Lavernock Point.

Penarth crew were first on scene in their fast agile Atlantic 91 Class lifeboat and crew member Matt Church took a salvage pump onto the yacht to try and pump out the water before taking the yacht under tow. They’d be back home in bed in no time.

However luck was not on their side and the flooding quickly overwhelmed the salvage pumps capability and within a minute the yacht had sunk beneath them whilst still under tow, a very dangerous situation for the 2 fishermen, lifeboat crewman Matt and the crew of the towing lifeboat. Kath, aboard the Penarth lifeboat, quickly realised the danger and cut the tow rope enabling the lifeboat to do an immediate U turn to help the 3 people now in the water. It all happened so quickly that the two fishermen hadn’t had time to inflate their lifejackets so Matt, now a casualty himself, struggled to keep himself and the two others afloat. Kath, realising the situation jumped into the sea along with fellow crew member James King to support the casualties.

Within moments support thankfully arrived with the large well-equipped Barry Dock All-Weather Trent Class lifeboat “Inner Wheel II” along with a Coastguard Search & Rescue helicopter. Barry Dock lifeboat Coxswain Martin Bowmer immediately set off a flare illuminating the entire area supported by the massively bright helicopter searchlight. However the situation called on all his skill and experience in charge of the 18 tonne lifeboat as the three casualties had drifted into very rocky, shallow water. With only a metre of water beneath his keel in unpredictable coastline in pitch black seas he carefully used the Trent’s immense engines to keep his lifeboat steady allowing his crew to safely haul colleague Matt and fishermen Jason and Andy aboard. The immediate danger had passed and all 3 were taken into the Trent lifeboat’s wheelhouse to be warmed, reassured and assessed for injuries. Meanwhile Martin then turned the lifeboat around, powered up her twin diesel engines and headed back to Barry Dock to hand over the casualties to waiting Paramedics. By 2.30 am the emergency had passed enabling all the volunteer crew members to return to their stations on Penarth Esplanade and at Barry Dock respectively. After a detailed debriefing and a washing and checking of all boats and equipment both crews ‘Stood Down’ and civilian life returned with crews returning home to their much deserved beds.

Thankfully both fishermen received a clean-bill of

health by A&E staff.

This story is testament to the skill, dedication and training of the RNLI volunteer crews and the wonderful boats and equipment of the RNLI around the entire coastline of the UK and Ireland

Story summarised with kind permission of the RNLI from the ‘Lifeboat’ magazine issue 625, Autumn 2018. Credited to author Miréad Dane

 

 

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

 

The Armistice was remembered at the church and the Village War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday. One hundred years from the signing and coming into force of the Armistice in the Great War, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918, we remembered the young men of the village who did not return from the battlefields of Belgium and France. Remembrance Sunday dawned with heavy rain, but soon the clouds cleared and we were blessed with brilliant sunshine as we gathered from church for the Silence and Laying of Wreaths at the war memorial. There was an exceptionally large crowd of people, both in church and those waiting while the Vale Brass Band played suitable music as the procession, headed by the cross bearer and choir, followed by the Beavers and Scouts made their way for the second part of the day’s commemorations. Wreaths were laid by the Churchwarden, the Scouts, Wenvoe Community Council, and Wenvoe School. The words of “The Fallen” and “The Four Epitaphs” were read by Mr Philip Morant and the services were led by Parry Edwards, the Licenced Diocesan Reader at St. Mary’s.

The day’s commemoration also included the Royal Air Force, which had celebrated their centenary on the 1st April this year, and we remembered how people reacted to the peace and the effects on lives from the events of the previous four years. It was said that given the enormous rate of fatalities and casualties, that no family in Britain was left untouched by the conflict. Money taken at the collection in church was this year divided between the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and the Royal Air Force Benevolent fund, and cheques for £150 each have been sent on to them.

A thank you to Ray Harris who devised the service, to Isis printers for printing it, to the Vale of Glamorgan under their Music Director Colin Thomas for playing the hymn, “Reveille” and “the Last Post”, to the Wenvoe Community Council for providing the sound system, to the Church social committee for the teas/coffees after the service, and lastly to the people of Wenvoe who turned out in such good numbers to be present, to remember the fallen, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

The Christmas Chattery on November 8th was very well attended with many from the village and friends meeting up for a coffee and chat. The morning gathering raised £287 for the church building fund.

The COMMUNITY CAROL SERVICE at St Mary’s takes place at 7.00pm on Wednesday the 19th December, followed by mulled wine and mince pies at the Community Centre, hosted by the Wenvoe Community Council. This is now a well established date in the Christmas Season with readers invited to take part from village organisations.. O COME LET US ADORE HIM.

Details of the Church Services over the Christmas period can be found elsewhere in ’What’s On”. A Christmas Card giving all the times is being distributed around the homes in the parish.

VISION 2020 is the name for the project in hand, of building an extension to St. Mary’s church. As reported in last months “What’s On” due to the sudden death of our architect Richard Dean, it was necessary to find another architect to take on the work. A recent meeting of the PCC has invited Michael Placeman of Sutton Davies Architects to take on the design of the proposed extension and also to be our own church architect. A preliminary meeting has already taken place and we await revised drawings and ideas of how we should proceed. Watch this space.

CHRISTIAN AID APPEAL with a contribution from EU. The treasurer reported on the amount we raised from the recent “Scarecrow Festival” which came to £700, This amount is increased 5 fold by the EU as their support of the work done by Christian Aid throughout the world. This amount included a donation from St. Lythan’s and Sully church sent their contribution separately.

Following the recent visit of our new architect, who was asked to examine the church floors that are covered by carpet, it was discovered that the underlay and carpets are soaking wet with condensation. They have to be taken up as the Victorian tiling underneath is being damaged, with staining and a white salt deposit growing as a result of the damp conditions. It was resolved to remove the carpeting in the New Year. The reason for the inspection was the plan to lower the Chancel Floor to a gradual slope, eliminating the Chancel Step, which is considered to be a hazard (Health and Safety and all that). The plan also includes under-floor heating, taking away the standing radiators. A Faculty for the work is being submitted to the DAC for approval.

Blessings to all readers. Have a Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year.

Parry Edwards

 

 

MIDNIGHT MASS

 

MIDNIGHT MASS

Christmas Eve Service at St Mary’s Church Wenvoe

This will be my fifth Christmas as Priest in Charge at the Parish of Wenvoe. During this time we have always celebrated the First Communion of Christmas (commonly known as Midnight Mass) with a service starting at 11.30pm on Christmas Eve. This will definitely continue to be the case this year in 2018. However, several people have mentioned to me that this service is too late for them to attend. I thought it would be interesting therefore to conduct a Straw Poll to see if people would prefer this service to be at 9.30pm in future years. A copy of the voting form is shown. If you usually attend this service, or if you would like to attend this service in the future, then you may wish to pick up a voting paper from St Mary’s Church, Wenvoe during the services on 23rd, 24th and 25th December and to return them by 30th December to the boxes provided in Church. We will then look at the results to see what would be the best timing of this service in future years.

 

With thanks and blessings for Christmas

Jon – Priest in Charge

MEMORIES OF CHRISTMAS PAST

I was brought up in a mining community where, following the 1926 strike until well into the Thirties, there was quite a lot of poverty. Perhaps you would like to know what Christmas was like when I was a little girl.
People had very little money to spend on Christmas, which in those days was completely different from what it is today. There was not the preparation and buying from October onwards. A week or two before Christmas day we would start making our own streamers from bits of coloured paper; mostly we would make paper chains. The majority of people were quite poor, so we didn’t have as many presents as children have today. For instance we didn’t get anything from Aunts & Uncles because every family could only afford a little extra for food. We just got one present from Father Christmas and our stocking.
Dad’s relatives had a farm in Ireland, so we were luckier than a lot of families as they always sent us a goose; they would put it on the overnight boat & we would get it off the train from Fishguard the following morning, Christmas Eve. Our local grocer would take his horse and cart to the station and collect parcels off the train and he would come around the streets delivering. We children would be quite excited, dancing in the road, waiting for him to arrive.
Mam & Dad would tell us to hang up our stockings beside the big open fireplace and then we would go to bed. They would then take out what money they had managed to save and go to Tonypandy shopping at 10 o’clock. The shops would still be open and they would be able to pick up bargains and some luxuries to eat. When they finished their shopping they would go to midnight mass, so by the time they walked home it would be 2a.m.
Gran lived with us and it would be her job to feather, clean and prepare the goose and stuff it ready for the oven.
Of course we were always awake very early Christmas morning, to delve in our stockings and see what Father Christmas had brought. We usually had an apple, an orange, a couple of nuts and one small present. We didn’t feel hard done by because we had so little, as everyone had the same, and it was more than we normally had; so Christmas still had magic about it.
About 7o’clock we would walk with Dad to the ‘Bakehouse’. People had no central heating so on a very cold morning we would feel we were in wonderland seeing all the different intricate patterns Jack Frost would leave on the windows.
We didn’t have gas or electric cookers in those days. We had a black grate with an open fire and a small oven beside it, which would take a long time to warm. The ‘Bakehouse’ as we called it was the local bakery; they made bread and cakes. On Christmas Eve the women would take their Christmas cakes to be cooked slowly during the night. Then early Christmas morning the men would take their fowl in its roasting dish & for sixpence (old money) Mr James, the Bakehouse owner, would cook our goose for us, so we could use our fire and oven for cooking vegetables.
We would then go to mass and Father would give all us children an orange or a few sweets as we came out. I suppose that when we got home from church we would have our Christmas dinner but I don’t really remember much about eating everything; else was too exciting.
After dinner we would play games or Dad would do Irish jigs or he would play his melodeon for us to dance to the music. All the excitement of Christmas was just the same as it is today. You see there will always be a spirit of Christmas if you look for it.
We would all go to bed very tired, but very happy.
Today one of my fondest memories is the excitement of walking that 300 yards or so on a crisp early Christmas morning, with Dad, taking the goose to be cooked. The delicious smells from the Bakehouse would greet you long before you reached it.

25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

 

In 1988, as part of a youth club community project, Vic Reed the youth club leader, encouraged local young people to take on the role of publishers, printers and distributors of a “What’s On” publication; a previous single sheet of information had originally been produced by a, short lived, local group of Venture Scouts.

Vic constructed a printing room within the Wheelright Shop, adjacent to the Church Hall. Using stencils and Rono printing machines, along with plenty of black ink, a small monthly magazine appeared for the next five years until Vic moved from the village.

A small team consisting of Eileen Callely, Marilyn Case, Colin Jenkins, Ann Miller and Ian Moody agreed to continue publishing a village magazine. They changed the design to an A4 format and had the journal printed professionally. The first 400 copies rolled off the presses and were distributed in October 1993. Now a quarter of a century later with a ‘New Team’, plus one old stager, we are printing over 700 copies of our 25th Christmas edition.

It is thanks to all of you out there who supply the many various interesting items of text each month, and our 39 dedicated distributors, that the magazine has survived these many years to arrive on your doorstep at the start of each month.

 

‘The Team’ (see below) wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very article productive New Year.

 

 

 

 

SCAM WARNINGS

 

SCAM WARNINGS

Watch out for these fake TV Licensing emails

We’ve seen a sharp increase in reports about fake TV Licensing emails claiming to offer refunds. The emails state that the refund cannot be processed due to “invalid account details”. The links provided in the emails lead to phishing websites designed to steal personal and financial details.

Always question unsolicited requests for your personal or financial information in case it’s a scam. Never automatically click on a link in an unexpected email or text.

Watch out for these fake Netflix emails

We’ve seen an increase in reports about fake Netflix emails claiming that there’s an issue with your account, or that your account has been suspended. The email states that you need to “update” your account details in order to resolve the problem. The link in the emails leads to genuine-looking Netflix phishing websites designed to steal your username and password, as well as payment details.

Always question unsolicited requests for your personal or financial information in case it’s a scam. Never automatically click on a link in an unexpected email or text.

For more information on how to stay secure online, visit www.cyberaware.gov.uk

Telephone scams

There have been a string of scams taking place locally asking people to make payments over the phone for a number of things including utility bills, the list is endless. The scams are committed using many methods, one of which is using a gift card.

A number of concerns have been reported recently whereby vulnerable members of our communities have attended at local stores to purchase iTune gift cards in large denominations.

Regardless of the reason for payment, the scam follows a certain formula: The victim receives a call instilling panic and urgency to make a payment by purchasing iTunes Gift Cards from the nearest store. After the cards have been purchased, the victim is asked to pay by sharing the 16-digit code on the back of the card with the caller over the phone.

If someone attends at your store to purchase gift cards in large denominations and you feel they maybe scammed please call 999. We need your help in protecting our vulnerable members residing in our communities.

 

 

OXFAM PENARTH VINYL STOCK HITS ROCK BOTTOM!

 

OXFAM PENARTH VINYL STOCK HITS ROCK BOTTOM!

The Oxfam Shop in Penarth continues to receive an amazing response to the vinyl records it has for sale in its shop. We now have a good number of regular customers who come in to the shop looking for records to add to their collection. The down side to this is that we regularly run out of stock to price up and put on display! Are you having a clear out before Christmas and have some vinyl records you no longer play or want? If so, we would love you to think of donating them to the Oxfam shop in Penarth. We are interested in records of any genre whether they be LP's EP's or singles. We guarantee to get the best possible prices for any records you donate. As I live in Wenvoe I can pick up any of your donations. We would also be delighted to accept CD's, cassettes/tapes, DVD's, sheet music, music books and old musical instruments whether working or not. You can either ring the shop to arrange a pick up or direct with myself. Thank you. Oxfam Shop Penarth: 02920 706358 or Nigel Billingham Oxfam Music Volunteer 02920 594708

 

 

 

Change

If you’re unaware as to who Brett Kavanaugh is, I’m sure you’ve not glanced at the news recently. The Supreme Court nominee, accused of attempted sexual assault, who despite the odds, became a Supreme Court Justice and proved that in America, when a woman accuses a man of sexual misconduct, she is the liar. A pattern we have unfortunately seen repeated time and time again.

Dr Christine Blasey Ford had received “actual threats to her safety and her life” before appearing in front of the Senate judiciary committee to testify against the then-nominee Kavanaugh. Despite numerous witnesses to the attempted assault, including a high school friend of Kavanaugh’s who is alleged to have been present in the room during the attempted assault, Ford’s accusation was dismissed as being ‘politically charged’ by many. But the theme of dismissing sexual assault claims as ‘lies’ or ‘opportunistic’ isn’t new, and neither is it uncommon. The world has a problem believing a claim of sexual misconduct, and I don’t know why. According to a 2015 report by the National Sexual Violence Resource Centre, the prevalence of false reporting sexual violence in the United States is only between 2% and 10%. Considering that the report also states, “a study of eight U.S. communities, which included 2,059 cases of sexual assault, found a 7.1% rate of false reports” why can’t we believe the people who are brave enough to come forward to speak about their trauma?

Three women including Ford came forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. There is no excuse of ‘it was a mistake he made once’ (an incredibly weak excuse at that – rape is rape, attempted rape is no different; that’s not a mistake, that’s a choice to violate someone) Kavanaugh had a pattern of violating women. And still, the highest court in America took his side.

In 2017, Brett Kavanaugh was on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and ruled against a 17-year-old undocumented teenager who was attempting to obtain an abortion. Jane Doe, who did not want her identity revealed throughout the case, arrived in the

United States without her parents and was taken into the U.S. Custody. She was pregnant and was aiming to exercise her constitutional right to obtain a legal abortion; this right extends not only to United States citizens, but also foreigners within the US. Kavanaugh had delayed her ability to obtain a legal abortion and claimed that the government should not facilitate her abortion, but at 15 weeks pregnant, her window was closing. Kavanaugh stated “she is pregnant and has to make a major life decision”, but his action in ruling against her plea seems to claim that he believed having an abortion was more life altering than having a child which would have been unwanted, and a child Jane Doe would have been unable to financially support. Jane Doe eventually obtained the right to legally obtain an abortion within the United States, but it was she who gained much of the backlash for the decision, not those who voted against her. A tweet by Teen Vogue columnist, Lauren Duca stated “It seems to me that when Brett Kavanaugh attempted to deny a 17-year-old immigrant an abortion, he believed that the decisions you make as a minor ought to have lifelong consequences. Let’s treat him the same way”.

Let's treat him the same way. The old 'boys will be boys' line is dated and inexcusable. Kavanaugh's actions in the attempted sexual assault when he was a teenager doesn't mean he can't still be held accountable for his actions now. Jane Doe will be seen as the immigrant who got rid of her baby, and yet Brett Kavanaugh's attempted sexual assault and the many claims which have also come to light have been dismissed and he now holds a position of power high enough to be influential in cases such as his in the future. And you know which way he'll vote then. America's poor judgement seems sewn into its history; a man who was accused of rape is now their President, their history of gun violence is unchanged and they are breaking their own record year after year with the worst mass shootings in American history. It's shocking that a man like Kavanaugh could go through such a heavily-followed case which included numerous allegations of sexual misconduct and still be awarded with one of the highest seats at the table. It's shocking. But it's not surprising.

From the Harvey Weinstein story of last year, to the MeToo campaign, to the Kavanaugh case, the world has proven that barely anyone believes those who have accused others of sexual misconduct. We typically believe the accused, and I’m sick of it.

I believe her. I believe him. I believe those who have come forward with their stories. Sexual misconduct is a matter which shouldn’t be taken lightly. But it’s a topic where we have consistently let down those who must fight to even be heard. Please let it stop.

By Tirion Davies

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