Month: April 2018

Trelewis and Govilon

Trelewis

Heavy rain overnight, which continued as we drove up the A470, suggested that we were to get a thorough soaking and trudge through mud for much of the walk. How wrong we were, the rain was light as we left the cars in the Taff Bargoed Park and soon stopped completely. We followed a solid path north along a full Bargoed River. Geese, ducks and swans were enjoying the water. An attractive insect hotel had been built on the side of the path.

On the edge of the river were fishing platforms which we didn’t step onto as we could imagine sliding across the slimy wet surface straight into the river. Wild fishing was established here in 2012 by the Environment Agency Wales (partly funded by the European regional development fund).

In 1994 mine water containing iron salts flowed from two of the disused mineshafts of local mines via a culvert into the river, staining it orange for many kilometres. Reed beds using more than 100,000 individual reeds were planted, creating one of the largest reed beds in Europe. The effect is amazing we could see bright orange water replaced by clear flowing streams. The reed beds while forming a natural filtration system provide habitat for mammals, birds, amphibians, insects and invertebrates.

Continuing north we reached the Bargoed Rock climbing centre.

Soon we left the river and turned west across moorland. We contoured around a hill and headed south. Just after Pen-heol-Adam farm was a solar farm and we decided to stop for lunch as the views were good and a comfortable bank beckoned. A tar macadam track took us through the centre of the vast solar farm and we noticed little hatches in the strong metal fencing for letting small animals through, though there was evidence that they just burrowed under it wherever they wished.

On reaching Hendai farm we headed across farmland, towards LLancaiach Fawr, and encountered our first real mud of the day (the stuff that clings to your boots and makes them heavy). An amazing tree had a strange shape and a ladder of fungus grew on its trunk. Crossing the road at Llancaiach Fawr we headed to Llancaiach village and re-entered the Taff Bargoed Park following the coal seams which we had seen a couple of months ago.

Eight miles walked and an 800ft climb we felt extremely fortunate to have had excellent paths and a dry day. Map 166

 

Govilon

We set off from Wenvoe on a misty morning and were pleased that it brightened up as we drove north of the M4 towards Abergavenny. Parking near the tramway at Govilon, we started out in sunshine and soon passed Govilon station, now a private house but decorated with railway memorabilia – including London Midland and Scottish railway company signage, dated August 1924, promising a forty shilling penalty for trespass.

Soon we moved onto farmland heading generally south. The fields were full of ewes with their lambs and overhead we spotted two buzzards and a kite.

Climbing steadily towards the Blorenge we took a track passing Garn ddyrys farm and leading to a road where we found an imitation blue plaque for the farm attached to a stone. Crossing the road we took a footpath which contoured around the north of the Blorenge. This wide grassy track degenerated to a narrow rough path as we passed close to woodland. Large machinery was clearing some of the trees and loading huge tree trunks onto the back of trailers.

Lunch was taken on a comfortable slope above the wood with the sun beating on our backs for the first time this year.

Continuing we could see Sugarloaf and later Skirrid in the distance. After Pen y Craig farm we followed a stream downhill through Glebe wood to the Brecon and Monmouth canal at Llanfoist. A sign at the bottom stated ‘access to the towpath is only through the tunnel’. The sound of thundering water passing through this tunnel was somewhat off putting, especially as the ground looked really wet. Entering we found the tunnel was a good height and totally safe, the water flowing in a separate channel. Emerging we could see Abergavenny ahead of us. Now we were to take a gentle stroll along the canal back to Govilon to complete the walk. But we were disappointed to find that the towpath was closed for embankment repair between Llanfoist and Govilon. Luckily the tramway was nearby so we were able to follow that back to Govilon. Once again we spotted birds of prey soaring above us and passed a wharf with a number of boats.

We drove to the Horseshoe Inn, Mamhilad for refreshment and enjoyed sitting in the sunshine and watching sheep on the hillside. A glorious day, with lots of spring flowers and a lovely walk covering 7miles and 1100ft climb. Map OL13

 

 

 

April Report

 

Our Easter celebrations began with a memorable Palm Sunday procession from the Church Hall, complete with music from pipe and drum and singing “Make way, make way for Christ the King”. This was our way of re-enacting Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem, where he was greeted with palms and garments strewed on the ground. The only thing missing was the “ass the foal of an ass”..so maybe next year – who knows. (Jon take note). With our palm crosses blessed and held high we began that journey into Holy Week with special services, the Agape Supper, the Good Friday services where at the children’s service in the morning they decorated a bare wooden cross with daffodils in bud which had opened by Easter day itself. As in previous years the church was beautifully decorated with flowers and Easter lilies donated by members of the congregation in memory of loved ones, no longer with us. A special thank you to all who prepared the church for the most important service in the church’s calendar.

Another major event in the church’s year is the Annual Vestry Meeting, where the Parish Report is presented to the congregation as an account of what has taken place during the year. It is also the time when the Churchwardens and Officers of the Church and Sidespeople are appointed. This year we have had a change of wardens, Jenny Ford has stepped down and was thanked for all the work she has done in her years of office, and Carol Wyllie has been appointed as Rectors Warden, Sandra Dicks was re -elected as People’s Warden. The compilation of the Parish Report falls on many shoulders, covering all aspects of the happenings in the Church’s Year, and thanks go to Jenny for taking on this task as she prepared to hand over her work to Carol.

The main item in the report is the Incumbent’s Report, where the parish priest gives his take on the events during the past year. Thanks were given for all the willing help Jon has received during the year and he in turn thanked many people for their support and willingness in preparing the church for the wide range of services we now have week by week. Jon then read his report to the 9.30am Eucharist congregation on the 3rd Sunday of Easter when the Commissioning of Churchwardens, the PCC, Officers of the Church and Sidespeople took place.

The Building Committee recently met with our newly appointed Architect, Richard, with a site meeting to discuss the proposed drainage scheme in the churchyard along the South wall of the Nave, and East wall where there are two table tombs dating from the 18th century were considered to be in the way of adequately draining the proposed “French drains” into the “soakaways”. After much discussion and exchange of views, and an inspection of the internal wall adjacent to the Altar, it was decided not to proceed with an additional faculty as walls appear to be dry. There was a collective sigh of relief as this would have put a strain of our available building funds, and the enormous amount of permissions needed to move gravestones and even exhumations.

The churchyard is looking at its best, despite all the snow and cold winds, we experienced during March, this is due to the work Mike Tucker has put in since he started work in January. During a recent visit from our Archdeacon, she was not very happy with all the lovely daffodils planted in the graves, as in her opinion, they are not suitable according to churchyard regulations. Long may they remain there I say.

The PCC has had a response from Wenvoe Community Council to the ongoing saga of the sycamore tree, near to our churchyard boundary wall and have offered to lop some of the overhanging branches, this will be up for discussion and response at the next PCC meeting in May.

Lent Lunches and Agape Supper – An item in the in church weekly newsletter in April is worth sharing with our wider number of readers….. “Grateful thanks to everyone who contributed to making this year’s Lent Lunches and Agape Supper a success. To all who worked hard setting out the hall, making and serving delicious homemade soups, then of course washing up. Also thanks to everyone who supported the lunches and gave a total generous donation of £396.95 to Christian Aid.”

A timely reminder… the annual Christian Aid Appeal will be launched with a “Big Breakfast” on Saturday 12th May in the Community Centre. The following week will see the house to house collections. Please give generously to this appeal, so many people far worse off than we are really depend on the support they are given from your giving.

Thank you for taking time to read this.

Parry Edwards

 

 

Vale of Glamorgan Walking Festival

 

A number of residents joined the Wildlife Group walk last year as part of the Vale of Glamorgan Walking Festival. This year it takes place on Thursday 17th May starting at 10.30am from St Marys Church and proceeding via the Elizabethan Orchard at Burdons Hill, then on to Goldsland Farm to look at the Watercress Beds and other initiatives, returning via St Lythans and the Welsh Orchard. No booking necessary but the walk is 5 to 6 miles so be prepared for that distance and bring lunch. 40 walkers from all over South Wales joined us last year and we hope to repeat that success again this year.

Work has concentrated on getting the wildflower beds ready for their annual sowing of seed. The patch in Grange Park has been given a thorough going over with a rotavator and many substantial tree roots removed. Seed has been donated to the Vale of Glamorgan Council for the Alps roundabout and to the group that looks after Old Hall Gardens in Cowbridge. A limited number of small seed packets will be given away at the Craft Fair on Sunday 20th May. If you get a packet note that these are annuals and should be sown onto bare soil, not into grass.

Despite some pretty poor weather over Easter a number of youngsters successfully completed the Easter Egg Trail on the Upper Orchid Field which now looks a lot tidier having been cut and baled by John Crockford. A second cut will take place in the Autumn – we are grateful to the Community Council for their support which has helped to ensure that the field has a future as one of the last wildflower meadows in the area.

Judging for the Green Flag awards takes place on 2nd May and we have five sites entered, the newest being the Wild Orchard at St Lythans.

 

 

RHS ‘must do’ List for May

 

RHS garden 'must do' list for May

1. Open greenhouse vents and doors.

2. Earth up potatoes and plant any remaining.

3. Plant out Summer bedding at the end of the month. As long as Derek the weather man gives his ok.

4. Water early in the morning and late at night to get the most out of your water. Recycle water where you can.

5. Regularly hoe off weeds. Best done in dry weather as they will die off quicker.

6. If you can manage it, mow the lawns weekly.

7. Watch out for late frosts. Protect young plants.

8. Check for nesting birds before attempting any hedge work.

9. Lift and divide clumps of Daffs and other spring bulbs.

10. Watch out for Viburnam beetle and Lily beetle grubs.

This may not seem to ring true but it's time to sow next year's Spring bedding, including Pansies, Wallflowers and Daisies. This needs to be done by July to be certain of flowering next Spring. Any winter bedding can be sown as well.

We can remove faded Spring bedding to make way for Summer plants. Divide Hostas as they begin to grow and plant out Dahlia and Canna lily when we've had the last of the frosts.

Apply a liquid feed to Spring bulbs after they have flowered. You can dead head them but don't touch the leaves as you need to allow them to die back.

Lawns have taken a hammering over winter and and will take a while to recover, especially those in shaded areas. A couple of people have had their lawns relaid which could be a regular theme unless you improve the soil that you're laying the turf on. As with most things it's all about the preparation. Seeding or turf laying towards the end of May can be a struggle due to the drier weather as you have to keep the soil moist. Mr Darlington (who must be an expert on lawn care) cuts his grass throughout the year at least once a week, always uses an edging shears and, to be fair, his grass is immaculate. If you use one of those edging spades then once a year should be enough and then use an edging shears. Otherwise your lawn will start to shrink.

2017 saw a marked increase in infection from insect bites. If the bite or sting doesn't clear up in the time you would expect it to, increases in size or becomes very red and inflamed you should seek medical attention quickly as it could be Cellulitis which can lead to Sepsis. Be safe and cover up.

The Wild Life Group will be present at the Wenvoe Spring Craft Fair on May 20th (the proceeds for the raffle at this fair goes to the Wenvoe Wildlife Group so come and along and buy your tickets). They will be able to give you lots of information about the tremendous work they do in the area and places to visit. One member of their Group, Gwyndaf Breese, (probably the best wood worker you will ever see) will be showing his work on a table at the entrance on the day. The Village Gardener will also be in attendance on the day so if you have any questions I'll point out some of Wenvoe's best gardeners to advise you.

Most gardeners love to share their knowledge and none more so than Clive Phillips. Clive can be found having lunch most days at our local garden centre [Pughs]. All of the staff know him so he'll be easy to find. Honestly, a more approachable man would be hard to find.

Although the work to improve the pavements through the centre of the village took away some of the floral Spring display, the show of daffodils have been wonderful. If previous years are anything to go by we can look forward to some beautiful gardens around the village .

Take care and happy gardening.

 

 

Mistletoe Growing in Wenvoe!

 

The discovery of a small plant of Mistletoe growing in a front garden in Wenvoe was quite notable as it is only the second recorded for the Vale of Glamorgan. That is not to say that there will not be some growing elsewhere but if it is, it has not been officially recorded. Whilst the Wildlife Group have been trying to get mistletoe to grow on apple trees (so far unsuccessfully) this one turned up on a Japanese Maple. Mistletoe is often associated with Apple trees and therefore orchards and a drive through Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire will reveal many old orchards covered in it. A survey in the 1990s found it growing principally on Apple but also Lime, Hawthorn, Poplar, Maple, Willow and Crab apple. In fact between 70 and 100 trees and shrubs can act as host. Walking around the Brecons near Tretower we found a large area of Hawthorn heavily infested with it.

Everyone has their own theory on how birds help to spread the seeds of Mistletoe but research indicates it varies with the bird. The Mistle Thrush, hence its name, swallows the berries whole and secretes them in a half-digested berry pulp. Most fail to germinate but any landing on a branch stand a chance of getting established. By contrast the Blackcap separates the seed before swallowing and wipes it off its beak directly on to a branch making it a much more efficient Mistletoe-planter than the thrush. In London the Ring-necked Parakeets have been seen taking the berries so may play a role in spreading it around the capital.

Mistletoe was supposedly sacred to the druids and particularly when found growing on Oak although, if true, this presents something of a problem for the Welsh druids as it is not present in most of Wales, least of all in their final stronghold in Anglesey. It is also very rare on oak throughout Europe. But as the main source for this information was the Roman writer, Pliny the Elder, it may be of questionable validity.

The final question is what sex is our plant as only the female plants carry the berries – watch this space!

 

 

Date Days

Date days to offer families the chance to learn languages, crafts and circus skills in exciting new pilot

Families in the Vale are being offered the chance to do something different together this summer as part of a pilot scheme being run by the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Creative Rural Communities Team.

The team are piloting ‘Date Days’ offering activities for school-aged children and their parents or guardians to try out together. These include French language classes, crafts, cooking, outdoor learning, relaxation, dance, circus skills and even military fitness sessions.

Cllr Jonathan Bird, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Planning, said: “The feedback our Creative Rural Communities team received from residents made clear that children in rural communities need more opportunities to do activities. That’s why we are now piloting this new scheme.

“As well as the chance to try something new, we hope it will offer a break from the stresses of everyday life and allow families to spend some quality time together. It could even be the start of a new lifelong family hobby!”

This project has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020 which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, the Welsh Government and the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

The pilot will run from April until October. The activities will take place in four communities in the rural Vale: St Athan, Wenvoe, Rhoose and Ystradowen. There are a range of activities in Wenvoe including French language classes, Indian / Chinese cookery, circus skills, fitness and teambuilding challenges , forest school taster session and a stained glass workshop.

Families can find more information and book places at www.creativeruralcommunities.co.uk/datedays or via the ‘Creative Rural Communities’ Facebook page.

 

 

John Sheen and Farming in Cameroon

 A talk by John Sheen

Our meetings continued with a talk by John Sheen with the very intriguing title “Five Boys and a Pasty”. It was even more puzzling when John produced several gift bags which were obviously going to play a part in his talk.

For most of his working life John had been a teacher and then an Education Officer in Cwmbran. During this time he had been very active in local theatrical societies and so when he retired from education he spent a couple of years as the manager of the Dolman Theatre in Newport. While at the theatre he was asked by a local Probus group to give a talk and not having a clue what to talk about he decided that he would speak about his childhood. This was the talk we were about to hear and to date it has been delivered some 286 times to a variety of local groups in South Wales.

John was born in 1947 and considers himself to be one of the “lucky generation” or alternatively the “sandwich generation” i.e. those caught between caring for parents and grandchildren. John described his post-war childhood living in Port Talbot in the words of Bill Bryson as “radiantly unsophisticated” as those were the days without a car, fridge and credit cards.

Friday night was traditionally bath night when a dose of Syrup of Figs was also administered. Other memories were sweet rationing, which ended in 1953, liberty bodices,darning socks and turning of worn collars. The front parlour was kept for special occasions such as funerals and Christmas. Some of the remedies that were used such as Friars Balsam, Goose Grease and Gentian Violet were remembered by some of the group. As a special treat John was allowed a bar of Five Boys Chocolate (used as part of the title for the talk).

School day memories included Daps ( Dunlop All Purpose Shoe), Ladybird books which kept their price at 2/6p for many years and the First Aid in English used for the 11plus. Other school memories were the milk and orange juice and the savings stamps one could buy.

The 1950’s were eventful years and John remembered the announcement of the Kings death, the conquering of Mt. Everest and the coronation (pasties were provided for the party), Roger Bannister and the 4 minute mile and the Empire Games.

Other highlights of John’s childhood were day trips to Barry Island and Weston-super-Mare, the Corona man bringing bottles of Dandelion and Burdock and television programmes such as Andy Pandy, Mr Pastry, What’s My Line and Archie Andrews – the ventriloquist on the radio. John then demonstrated one of his favourite childhood toys the Magic Robot. Childhood finally ended when John moved from short to long trousers.

Everyone really enjoyed this talk which was

delivered so professionally which is not surprising as John has the theatre in his genes – his nephew is the actor Michael Sheen and his daughter Caroline has played in musicals in the West End. We hope that John will visit us again with another of his talks.

 

Helen Joy – ‘ Food for prosperity’

On the 10 th April we welcomed back Helen Joy who was going to talk about her experiences in local radio. However, she introduced us instead to ‘ Food for prosperity’ which is a project based in Cameroon in Africa. Through her radio work and her membership of Glamorgan Small Holders Association, Helen had been introduced to Carol Adams who is in charge of the project in Cameroon. The aim of the project is to help the people there to improve their farming and make the most of what they produce.

Helen brought Maurice Price with her. He is a fellow member of the Glamorgan Small Holders Association and he was persuaded by Helen and Carol to join five other people and go to Cameroon. His speciality is animal husbandry and the others comprised an electrician, and experts in charcuterie and preserving fruit and vegetables. They took a lot of cooking materials and what not. It was a special experience for Maurice as he had never been abroad or even on holiday before.

He gave us a detailed picture of life in Cameroon. The people are poor but make the most of what they have, turning old cars into pots and pans and using spare parts for whatever they can. Motorbikes are used to carry everything from the family to coffins!

He was impressed with the way the farmers looked after their pigs.Labour is cheap so farming tends to be by hand and not mechanised. They could produce meat but did not know how to butcher into different cuts and that was what one of the group showed them and another held classes teaching people how to preserve fruit and make jam.

Helen gave reports of their work on her radio programme. It is hoped that more people will go out to Cameroon to continue this work. More needs to be done to improve building and health care. At the moment, life expectancy there is 57.

Maurice enjoyed his first trip abroad especially as he was upgraded to first class on the way back! He has happy memories of hospitable people- he even had marriage proposals!

 

 

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