Month: June 2018

June Activities

A busy month started with the village craft fair where it was good to meet many Wenvoe residents who visited our table which was shared with beekeepers Barbara and Howard. We gave away 100 packets of wildflower seed and 30 tress including Downy Birch, Oak, Ash, Bay Sycamore. The proceeds from the raffle were generously donated to the group and we shall be using the money to produce a leaflet showing the locations of our sites along with a project with the school covering life cycles. Thank you also to individuals who made donations.

In association with Keep Wales Tidy and Wenvoe Primary School we painted a number of Yellow Fish alongside street drains in and around the school. This nationwide campaign which was described in a previous issue of Whats On is aimed at reminding people that anything that goes down these drains goes directly into our streams, rivers and oceans causing potential pollution and poisoning fish and other wildlife. Detergents from cars cleaned on drives and litter commonly contribute to these problems.

The specimen tree walk we arranged at Insole Court as part of its Heritage Open day was well-attended. Led by Chris Powell around 40 trees were identified and described including several champions. Amongst these was Kowhai, Myrtle and a stunning Benthams Cornel. The Loquat is also unusual although you can see one in Wenvoe close to the library. If you have not visited this gem of a house in suburban Cardiff (with a cafe!) it is well worth finding the time. New rooms are being opened up in the next couple of months.

Open Farm Sunday at Goldsland Farm attracted its normal sunny weather along with many visitors thanks to the tireless efforts of the Reader family. Our stand was again shared with Barbara and Howard who talked about bees and beekeeping. We led wildlife and lichen walks and set up a colouring table for younger children. This is Wenvoe's biggest event and needs our full support.

 

 

July Planning Updates

Planning updates.

The following applications have been approved.

• 22, Rectory Close, Single storey rear extension and two storey front extension

• Yr Ysgubor, St. Lythans Road, St. Lythans. Decommissioning existing domestic cesspit and installing either a new septic tank or a new domestic package sewage treatment plant and all associated drainage fields within the confines of the rear garden

• The Croft, Burdens Hill Lane, Front/side extension with raising of roof ridge height and construction of a detached garage

 

If you are interested in obtaining an allotment you need to contact the Clerk to the Council;. Tel. 20591139

The village litter pick-up was attended by approximately 17 people who collected a number of bags of rubbish. It is a shame that within a few days some people were once again dropping their rubbish around the community.

The Church has confirmed they do not wish to accept the Community Council’s offer for the future maintenance of the church hall.

The Welsh Assembly are now indicating that due to shortage of staff and resources it could be another couple of months before a formal decision is made on our grant application for the new library building.

Following a survey of the difficulties created for through traffic by car parking at school times the traffic management division are proposing the introduction of a no parking restriction on the west side of Old Port Road from the school to the north turning to Gwenfo Drive at school arrival and departure times. To help enforce the restriction the area will be included in the traffic wardens’ areas of supervision. This proposal is subject to a legal traffic order which take time to become enforceable.

The Vale are about to alter the local rubbish collection. Households will be limited to two black bags of general rubbish every fortnight. There will be exceptions ie those with large families or who have a large quantity of medical rubbish etc. The aim is to encourage people only to use black bags for items that can not be recycled. The Vale will be consulting the public over how the public would like to see the introduction of sorted recycling which is a requirement being imposed by the Welsh Assembly. Co-mingled recycling is to be phased out. A new transfer station is to be constructed at Atlantic Wharf.

To help meet shortfalls in the Vale budget, car parking charges will be introduced across the Vale at public parking areas. Shopping area car parks will have a free first two hours, similar to a number Cardiff parking areas, and many shopping street areas will be limited to 30 minutes parking.

 

 

July Planning Applications

Planning applications

• Garn Farm, Port Road. Variation of Condition 2 of 1986/00754/FUL to replace with rural enterprise condition under TAN 6. No comment.

• 23, Rectory Close, Proposed first floor side extension to form walk in wardrobe and downstairs utility room, and single storey rear house extension. Council raised no objections to the proposal.

 

 

THE HISTORY OF SCARECROWS

For thousands of years scarecrows have helped save crops from birds and other animals and provided an outlet for human creativity. Scarecrow genealogy is rooted in a rural lifestyle. The Egyptians used the first scarecrows in recorded history to protect wheat fields along the river Nile from quail flocks. Farmers installed wooden frames in their fields and covered them with nets. Then they hid in the fields, scared the quail into the nets and took the bird’s home to eat.

Greek farmers in 2,500 BC carved wooden scarecrows to look like Priapus (the son of the god Dionysus and the goddess Aphrodite) who was supposedly ugly enough to scare birds away from the vineyards and ensure good harvests. The scarecrows were painted purple with one hand holding a club to scare the birds and a sickle in the other for good harvests. As the Romans marched across Europe they followed the Greeks and introduced Priapus scarecrows. Simultaneously the Japanese had scarecrows called kakashis shaped like people. They dressed them in raincoats and a straw hat and often added bows and arrows to look more threatening. Kojiki the oldest surviving Japanese book from 712 features a scarecrow known as Kuebiko who appears as a deity who cannot walk but knows everything about the world.

In Germany scarecrows were made to look like witches whilst in medieval Britain children were used to patrol the crops and wave their arms and throw stones. Later on farmers stuffed sacks of straw, made faces from gourds and leaned the straw man against a pole.

During the Great Depression in America scarecrows could be found across the whole country until after the Second World War when farming began to use chemicals to protect their crops. For thousands of years scarecrows have helped save crops from birds and other animals and provided an outlet for human creativity. Scarecrow genealogy is rooted in a rural lifestyle. The Egyptians used the first scarecrows in recorded history to protect wheat fields along the river Nile from quail flocks. Farmers installed wooden frames in their fields and covered them with nets. Then they hid in the fields, scared the quail into the nets and took the bird’s home to eat.

Greek farmers in 2,500 BC carved wooden scarecrows to look like Priapus (the son of the god Dionysus and the goddess Aphrodite) who was supposedly ugly enough to scare birds away from the vineyards and ensure good harvests. The scarecrows were painted purple with one hand holding a club to scare the birds and a sickle in the other for good harvests. As the Romans marched across Europe they followed the Greeks and introduced Priapus scarecrows. Simultaneously the Japanese had scarecrows called kakashis shaped like people. They dressed them in raincoats and a straw hat and often added bows and arrows to look more threatening. Kojiki the oldest surviving Japanese book from 712 features a scarecrow known as Kuebiko who appears as a deity who cannot walk but knows everything about the world.

In Germany scarecrows were made to look like witches whilst in medieval Britain children were used to patrol the crops and wave their arms and throw stones. Later on farmers stuffed sacks of straw, made faces from gourds and leaned the straw man against a pole.

During the Great Depression in America scarecrows could be found across the whole country until after the Second World War when farming began to use chemicals to protect their crops.

 

 

 

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