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Thurs 3rd Aug:- Vale. Circular walk based around Porthkerry, approx. 5 miles. Bert
Sat 5th Aug:- To be advised. V’Iain
Sat 12th Aug:- Talgarth and the Witches Pool. 8 miles. Ian (OL12)
Sat 19th Aug:- A walk near Dinglestow. 7.5 miles Mike (OL14)
Sat 26th Aug:- North of Ystradfellte. Fan nedd and Ffan Llia. Around 6½ miles. Ian (OL12)
This is not a formal club, but only an opportunity to walk in company: but you come at your own risk.
We had no set book this month, so we all chose a good read, some very successfully, others not quite so.
The one 10/10 was by Rohinton Mistry “A Fine Balance” – an exceptional novel about India during The Emergency. (We as a group had read this author’s “Family Matters” and had loved it)
Several highly recommended 9/10s:
“Four Seasons in Rome, On Twins, Insomnia and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World” – a delightfully funny memoir by Anthony Duerr (chosen because of the group’s recent unanimous admiration of Duerr’s novel “All the Light we Cannot See”).
“The Golden Hill” by Francis Spufford – rich in language and history. Compulsively readable.
“Exposure” by Helen Dunmore – a spy come love story. Thoroughly enjoyable.
“Human Croquet” by Kate Atkinson – a gripping surreal mystery. Wonderfully written.
A 7/10, and recommended.
“The Reader on the 6.27” by Jean Paul Didierlaurent- a very enjoyable quirky read.
“Murder at the Vicarage” by Agatha Christie – part of a mammoth task to read all Christie works. Enjoying so far…
Not quite such successful choices were:
“The Power” by Naomi Alderman – (science fiction) not particularly enjoyed, nor recommended .
“Death of an Avid Reader” by Francis Brodie – not enjoyed.
We return to concentrating on one book next month.
We have managed to get all four of our sites accepted as having achieved the Green Flag standard so The Upper Orchid Field, Community Orchard, Elizabethan Orchard and now the Welsh Orchard will be proudly flying their Green Flag pennants. To put this achievement in context we are the only village in the county to have a Community Green Flag the others being 3 in Barry and 2 in Cowbridge. We have more than towns like Merthyr and Bridgend and Newport has none. This is down to the support of the Vale of Glamorgan Council who own two of the sites, the Reader family who own and help us to look after the other two; the members of the Wildlife Group who maintain the sites and those of you who visit and respect them. We are aiming for 5 next year.
Year 3 children from Wenvoe Primary School came to the Community Orchard on a nature ramble. They hunted for insects and wildlife in the grasses and the pond and spotted a number of different species. They also looked at the bee hotel and learnt about how important these kind of wildlife habitats are for insects, birds and small mammals. The children took a few apples and some herbs back to the classroom to try, to see how the apples are different from the ones they get in the supermarket. They also looked at the pumpkins which are growing well, ready for them to pick for Halloween.
We mentioned the Rooster challenge a few months back where you follow a set of 5 clues which can be found on the noticeboards on the Upper Orchid Field, Community Orchard, Elizabethan Orchard, Goldsland Farm and Wild Orchard. The challenge has been completed so the first prize has been awarded but a runner-up prize is still on offer so why not have a go. Next correct entry gets £10 in garden vouchers.
There is quite a bit of fruit coming along in the orchards. The photo shows a still young apple tree but with over 100 fruit on it. It is an adopted Welsh apple tree known as Afal Coch Cynnar, originally Devonshire Quarrenden. This was first introduced in 1676, is very good for bees and other insects and tastes of strawberries.
The highlight of the month, must be the arrival of our new Bishop of Llandaff who was enthroned in the Cathedral on the morning of July 22nd, where a large congregation from all over the Diocese had gathered, including many from the Diocese of Salisbury, where Bishop June had been Dean for over 13 years. In the Diocesan Magazine “Croeso” Bishop June writes of her joy about becoming the Bishop of Llandaff and she is described as being “a leader with clear vision, a pastoral heart, and a strategic mind” She also writes “The prospect of living in South Wales is just terrific because I am already rooted through my family in this part of the world. And it won’t take me long to fall in love with the diocese of Llandaff” We look forward to a time when we will be able to welcome her to Wenvoe.
The Parochial Church Council met during the month, where it was reported that a site meeting of interested parties from the diocese, the local authority and CADW had taken place to view the planned extension to the church. Their report back, raised a number of issues which have been referred back to our architect for comment and further discussion. Other reports to the council meeting included the final result of the recent Christian AID collection in the combined parishes of Wenvoe, Sully and St. Lythan’s. The excellent result the Wenvoe 200 club is making towards the repair and upkeep of the church building. FAIR TRADE AND TRADECRAFT sales continue with the majority of sales in the church coming from the Chattery. Concern was expressed of the threat to the Fair Trade “kite mark” being challenged by some of the major food stores. This not only weakens the Fair Trade message, but also weakens the good practice with third world partners in ensuring continued development. The Social Committee reported that while they had had a few quiet weeks the Chattery continues to meet monthly, in an enjoyable social and friendly get together, and that the planning of the September “Scarecrow Festival” is well in hand.
Members of the church congregation took part in the recent “Village Clean Up”, despite the wet conditions on the day. Litter seems to find its way in to the most obscure corners of the village verges etc. and these events are well worth while in bringing the community together in a common cause.
On the same day, in the same wet conditions, the “Great Outdoors” session of Messy Church took place in the school grounds. Reports back suggest that the rain made very little difference as some of the activities involved lots of water and that a change of clothing was essential. A big THANKYOU to all who arranged the afternoon’s programme and to those Mums. Dads and children who turned up. The next session will be on October 21st ..look out for details nearer the time.
The joint Parish Magazine “Connections”, which is available in church on the 1st Sunday of the Month priced at 50p, is being made available to the congregation in St Mary’s, from the September issue for £5.00 for the year. Names and money in an envelope please. This will give a better indication of the number of magazines we need allowing some extra copies for casual purchase.
Forthcoming events are the “Scarecrow Festival” and the “Harvest Festival” both on the weekend of the 23/24th September. See you there.
Greeting to all our readers, a warm welcome awaits you in St. Mary’s.
Parry Edwards
Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators met on June 29 and items from the discussions included:
We have continued our efforts to encourage Residents of The Grange estate to become active in the Watch. In March letters about Neighbourhood Watch were delivered to the occupied homes in the estate and personal contact has been made where possible. These have resulted in 5 responses from residents, all of whom are concerned about safety in the estate but so far, no co-ordinators have come forward. We propose to contact the final homes when occupied and are prepared to contribute if any wider initiative occurs.
We are disappointed that the PCSO nominated for Wenvoe has changed so often recently and is rarely seen in the village. This appears to be a problem in other parts of the Vale and is not confined to us.
In conjunction with St John’s Ambulance, a scheme has been introduced in other parts of the country to train residents to become voluntary “First Responders” who could give simple first aid in an emergency until the ambulance service arrives. The Vale Neighbourhood Watch Committee intend introducing a similar system in the Vale and we wish to contribute. Training would be offered to Watch Co-ordinators.
Unsolicited fliers from rogue traders are being pushed through letterboxes in the Vale and they are usually put out for recycling immediately. However, an incident has occurred in the Vale where an elderly person replied to such a flier and eventually lost a large sum of money. The Vale are collecting evidence to enable prosecutions to be made. If Wenvoe Residents receive this type of flier would they please keep it and inform their Watch Co-ordinator who will pass it on to the Vale.
Concern was expressed about the safety of Residents using the Cardiff to Barry bus stop at the Beefeater (formerly the Walston Castle) roundabout. It is extremely difficult to safely cross the road to and from the bus stop. We were told that the Community Council had raised the matter with the Vale and action was expected.
Alan French
Circumnavigation of Partrishow Hill
We started in Llanbedr on a sunny and humid morning, parking near the church and walking a short stretch of road to turn right onto a river side footpath . We climbed in a south easterly direction and followed a path across the road at Gudder, travelling east parallel to the road through Dyffryn which we could see below us. After reaching Llwyn-on we turned left onto a road towards Pen-y-bair. At this point many of us realised that we had been lulled into false expectations by the walk description thinking that circumnavigating a hill would be easier than climbing it. True we were going around the hill but places en route were higher than Partrishow hill!
At Pen-y-bair we turned north towards Partrishow crossing a small stream. We came upon a holy well where people had left offerings and soon after arrived at the remote mountain church of St Issui, Partrishow. Knowing that we had a climb ahead of us we took a short stop here and found a Duke of Edinburgh group with the same idea.
St Issui was a 6th C saint and this church was dedicated to him in about1060.The inscription on the font(circa 1050) reads ‘Menhir made me in the time of Genillin’. A figure of ‘Time’ on the wall is a skeleton bearing an hourglass, scythe and spade. There is also a beautiful oak Catholic rood screen dating from 16thC, one of the finest in Britain.
After some light refreshments we set out to tackle the hill which would take us to the highest point of our day, taking a path that led us towards Crug Mawr(550m). After touching the trig point we relaxed over lunch admiring the 360o views. It was amazing, the day was so sunny and clear it was as if we could see forever. Lunch was slightly longer than usual to allow us to enjoy 
peace and quiet of this special place.
Now we headed along Blaen-yr-Henbant continuing in a south westerly direction and skirted the next hill at 498m before starting to lose height quite quickly as we turned south towards Hen Blant. From here we followed a stream for a while and descended to Llanbedr village. Here we crossed the Grwynne Fechan river and returned to our starting point.
A lovely walk, with good paths, on a glorious day we had enjoyed fantastic views of the surrounding hills, including Sugarloaf, almost all day and walked 8.2miles and 1550ft. Map OL13
The Llanfrynach Horseshoe – a Wenvoe walkers sponsored walk in aid of prostate cancer
As this was a sponsored walk we were promised sponsorship and paying to participate. Five people set out from Llanfrynach but a 6th person joined us later after watching the Lions play the All Blacks. We parked as recommended outside the public toilets, provided by the local community they were spotlessly clean, supplying not just soap and water but also hairspray and air freshener in the Ladies. The village itself is very pretty – full of small terraced cottages with pretty front gardens.
From the off the route was uphill, south along the along a lane then after crossing a stream we headed up the hillside in a south easterly direction, at this stage it was pretty steep! We crossed Clawdd Coch, followed a path which kept us below the top of Bryn, and proceeded along Gist Wen in a south westerly direction.
Luckily the weather was excellent for walking – warm (about18oC) but with a good breeze to keep us cool as we climbed. Once we reached the ridge we could see cloud clinging to the tops of the mountains, Pen y fan occasionally coming into partial view as the clouds shifted.
Continuing to climb we came to a junction of paths, Gist Wen meets 3 other paths – Graig Fan Las ahead, and 2 others heading east and south west. All of a sudden we were amidst several groups of people and then as we proceeded south west, we came across a sign ‘Brutal Events’ and saw many more people going in the opposite direction to us, including one man who 
looked as if he was on his last legs. Talking to some of them we discovered they were on a 50 mile walk!
Passing along Craig Gwareu we crossed the Beacons way and our path gradually turned to a northerly direction past Craig Cwm Oergwm and on to Fan y Big (719m).
At times we were surrounded by cloud which wafted away to give beautiful blue skies and then came back, occasionally shielding us from the sight of a steep drop. The paths were excellent, having been reinforced with stone to protect the surrounding land.
Continuing Northeast the route took in Cefn Cyff, the going was easier as we started to descend. Clouds dispersed and the views were clearer but still extensive. As the gradient increased across grassland at least one person (me!) adopted a zigzag route to save their knees. We used a short stretch of road at Rhiwiau and then resumed our north easterly progress back to Llanfrynach via Tynllwyn and Maesderwen, walking through fields of long grass. We thoroughly enjoyed our refreshment at the local hostelry and sat for longer than usual recovering from quite a hard walk. At the end we had completed 10.5 miles and 2200ft. Map OL13.
A big Thank you to everyone that sponsored us £500 was raised for prostate cancer.
Everyone was welcomed at the meeting by the president, especially new members, Pat and Zena. The effort and hard work by members in making the Link meeting such a success was much appreciated. Names were taken for our summer lunch at the Aubrey Arms, Bonvilston on 4th August at 12.30 pm. Final plans were made for the charity afternoon tea on 14th July at 2.30pm.
Barry Highlight WI have invited our members to their coffee morning on 22nd July and several members expressed interest.
As a result of ill health our speaker for the meeting was unable to be present but members had a social evening with strawberries and cream.
As there is no monthly meeting in August so the next monthly meeting will be on 7th September at the Church Hall when the speaker will be Keith Moger and the subject will be the History of Cardiff hospitals. Visitors are very welcome.
WALSTON CASTLE
2nd and 3rd of September
We will be hosting a Real Ale festival. This is the 2nd one that we've hosted. Last year's proved to be a wonderful success, where the site raised over £700 for Great Ormond Street children's hospital.
The festival this year will be held over two days this time and it is a pleasure to see the high level of community spirit the event ignites in the staff, the regulars and our Wenvoe neighbours. There will be a bouncy castle and face painting for the kids, and traditional pub games, pub skittles, live music and a great selection of local and established Real Ales.
The event has encouraged other Beefeaters to try similar events throughout the South West and Wales as they attempt to mirror our success and word has spread. CAMRA has now recognised our festival and it will appear in their magazine as an event of importance.
On the same date, we are hosting a car boot sale between 10am and 5pm on the 2nd and 3rd of September (the same day as the festival) and the car space is £5 per car per day and the proceeds will also go to Great Ormond Street.
