Month: September 2018

Caramelised Onion Tart [vegetarian]

Caramelised Onion Tart [vegetarian]

375g ready rolled shortcrust pastry

500g onions, finely slice

3 tbsp. olive oil

few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only

3 eggs

300ml milk 100g ready grated emmental cheese

Heat oven to 190C/fan. Pre-warm a baking tray. Prepare a 23cm fluted flan tin. Roll out the pastry and line the tin. Chill for 10 mins. Blind bake for 10 mins, remove from the oven, remove baking beads and bake for a further 5 mins. until light golden. In a large frying pan add the oil and cook the onions until starting to soften, add the thyme and salt and fresh pepper. Cook slowly for a further 15 mins, until the onions are soft and tinged brown. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, beat in the milk and half of the cheese and some fresh pepper. Spread the onions over the flan case and pour over the egg mix. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and bake on the baking sheet for 30-40 mins until the filling is firm and golden, and the pastry is crisp. Serve hot with buttered new potatoes and green vegetables.

 

 

Christmas Craft Fair

 

The third annual Wenvoe Craft Workshop™️ Wenvoe Christmas Craft Fair is fast approaching. As usual entry is free and there will be a varied selection of beautiful hand crafted items on sale. With Christmas just around the corner, why would you want to miss out? We have some new faces and some familiar ones to tempt you with their crafts and there will, of course, be the usual raffle. This year the proceeds go, once again, to Rally for Romeo – the fundraiser for Romeo Hadley to assist with his ongoing needs. If anyone has a raffle prize they would like to donate please contact Glenys or Mike using the contact details below. The now-familiar tag team of Mike Tucker and Gwyndaf Breese will be manning tables at the entrance to the Community Centre and you can indulge with hot or cold drinks and home made cakes and savouries at the refreshment area. This is always a good community event with a lovely atmosphere and we very much hope you will join us. We would love to see you.

For information please contact Glenys or Mike Tucker on 07922109721, email pukkatucker@ gmail.com or call at 28 Grange Avenue, Wenvoe.

 

 

A Buffalo Called Wenvoe

 

On a recent trip to India, Gary Smith, the Pastor at Vale Village Church bought a buffalo and gave him the name Wenvoe! You may wonder why. Since the church was started they have partnered with the charity that Gary runs who have been working in India since 2005.

Partnering with a Gateway ministry in Rajahmundry, Andra Pradesh, Ignite, Vale Village Church, Message Wales and many other churches and individuals have paid for the construction of more than 25 churches. In addition, they developed a 300+ pupil school for Dalit children. Dalits are the lowest caste in India and used to be called “untouchables”. They are from some of the poorest villages and were it not for the Gateway School many would not have access to education. This English medium school teaches most of the same subjects as in the UK plus Hindi, the Indian national language and Telegu, the language in that part of the country. Since its inception it has produced excellent results.

Six years ago money was also raised to build a children’s home on the school compound. The 25 children housed there are either orphans or “semi-orphans” meaning they have lost one of their parents and the surviving parent is simply too poor to care for them. This is where the buffaloes come in! We are establishing a small herd to provide milk for the children and also possibly generate an income for the children’s home. Gary shared some information:

“When I was visiting this August I saw that there are currently 4 buffalo on the land. Rotation means that only 2 are currently providing milk. Now clearly I am not a herdsman but I tried to understand the facts and this is what I discovered. Each buffalo produces about 3 litres of milk. The children’s home needs 9 litres per day. So with only 2 currently available to milk it meant they were buying milk to meet the shortfall. A quick call home to our church and we decided to gift them one to get them over the current ‘crisis’. In order to ensure this supply remains constant we will need to find a way to provide a further buffalo. In addition they need to pay a stockman. In simple terms an additional buffalo in milk would provide the income for the whole operation. Ultimately we want to raise the funds for a total of 10 buffalo. This would feed the kids, pay the stockman, provide a small income and have capacity for buffalo not to be providing milk.

I discovered a few other things. Milk from cows is not consumed in India. That is because it curdles in the heat and also the Hindus consider it to be a sacred animal. Also because Hindus are vegetarian and Christians do not eat beef there is almost no value in buffalo meat. Meaning male calves are worthless. The most surprising discovery is just how expensive buffaloes are! Wenvoe the buffalo cost almost £1,200! This is expensive by most standards but in India it means the herd is incredibly precious to their owners”

 

If you would like to sponsor a buffalo, the cost is £1,200. Or if you would like to make a part cost donation for any amount, please make a cheque payable to Ignite and post it to 17 Rectory Close, Wenvoe, CF5 6AQ

 

 

September Rouundup

 

 

September has seen the resumption of “Pebbles” returning after their Summer break, and how good it was to see them in church. The All Age Eucharist Service took place in St John’s church, Sully, when Bishop June presided and preached to a packed church. The PCC has met on two occasions during the month to consider and approve the final plans for the church extension we are planning on the North side of the church nave. These are ambitious plans and have the WOW factor in spades, but is still in keeping with the present fabric of the building. These plans were exhibited during the weekend of the Scarecrow Festival and the Harvest Celebrations, and comments for and against were recorded. The aim of this enlargement of the church is to make it fit for purpose in the 21st century, as we reach out into the community, and also to safeguard the continuing use of the building during the week and not only on Sundays.

Richard Dean R.I.P – The church plans were drawn up between Ray Harris and Richard working very close together over a number of weeks. Richard was only appointed our architect this year and we were saddened to hear of his sudden death. We extend our sympathies to his wife and family and know that due to his work with many heritage organisations, he will be sorely missed.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory…Amen

Church Hall Bookings – For many years Eira Jervis has handled the bookings and keys of the hall to those who wish to make use of its facilities. Eira now feels that the time is right to hand over to another, and we give her thanks for the years of service she has given the church over such a long period of time. For the time being Carol Wyllie will be looking after the bookings and she can be contacted on Tel No. 20592655. If anybody would like to take on the role please contact Carol.

The “200” Club – The renewal letters for the “200 Club” have gone out during the month to the 300 plus subscribers to this fund raising scheme. Half of the money raised is placed in the Building Fund to cover the normal repairs and improvements made to the fabric of the church. This over the years has been a tremendous help in financing repairs and new members are always welcome. Please contact Dickon Oliver on Tel. No. 20679108 if you wish to join.

On Sunday 16th September we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the priesthood of Rev. Canon John Oeppen. John presided and preached at the 9.30 am Eucharist service and there was cake and some bubbles afterwards. John and his wife have been regular members of the congregation since his retirement and has often taken our services when Jon is away on holiday. John and Janet are also celebrating their Golden Wedding in November, so the occasion was a double celebration for them.

Congratulations.. and well done thou good and faithful servant.

The church and the church hall have had a “Deep Clean” during the month, we are so grateful for the work the volunteers put to keeping the church clean and tidy, but we needed to get the cobwebs, layers of dust on the walls and on the heating pipes that it was necessary to bring in the cleaning specialists, and a very good job they did. We plan to repeat the exercise every two years. Thanks are also due to Lyn for the care she has taken of the Church Hall on a weekly basis.

The Webb Casey Foundation Trust has made a donation of £150.00 to the “Pebbles” group. From this year’s fundraising, they wanted to help to provide services for our young children in the church. A big thank you for this very kind gesture. The money will go to providing materials for the craft work during their morning sessions in term time.

At a recent meeting of the Parochial Church Council mention was made of Vision 2020, the name chosen for the church extension, and the need to appoint a new architect to take on the plans drawn up by our late architect Richard Dean. A plan to lower the Chancel floor by means of a shallow ramp, to take away the hazard of the chancel step is being drawn up. There is evidence of condensation under the present carpet laid on a tiled floor which will need to be investigated .

The Chairman suggested that this year’s donations from the collections at the following services:-…. 9.30 am Harvest to be given to Christian Aid, Remembrance Service, shared between the Royal British Legion and the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, Community Carol Service and “Waiting for Jesus” to Shelter Cymru.

BBC Radio Wales CELEBRATION recording takes place on Monday Oct 8th with the First Service broadcast on Sunday 28th October which is Bible Sunday and the Second Service broadcast on Sunday 6th January 2019 the Feast of the Epiphany.

Blessing to all our readers a welcome awaits you at any of our services.

Parry Edwards

 

 

Village Show Report

 

The Village Show was held on Saturday 8th September hosted for the first time by the Library in conjunction with the Wildlife Group. Despite the inclement weather the Show was a great success and well supported by everyone. It was a real village event opened by local celebrities Johnny Tudor and Olwen Rees and judged by Wenvoe residents.

There were good entries in many areas but notably far more in the craft category this year to include some beautiful needlework from the Wenvoe Patchwork Group and some very impressive paintings. There were some 200 entries from the Village School and several individual entries in the children’s’ categories with Victoria and Thomas Bellamy standing out as winners. The Limerick competition was as popular as ever. You might think that there was little room for wordplay with the first line: The last time I got on a bus…. However, we received a large number of entries with Gordon Jones coming first.

Due to the unusual weather conditions this summer the apples were plentiful as were the pumpkins with Isobel Davies gaining first prize for her giant specimen. There are still some runner beans and Adrienne French won first prize for hers. Phil Morrant is the man who certainly knows his onions as demonstrated by his outstanding entry in this category. Who knows what next year might bring. We may be tweaking the categories next year so look out in advance for what might be on offer. We intend to put the list on the library noticeboard in the New Year.

Great fun was had from the ‘How well do you know your village’ quiz, and the winner was Steven (Will) Williams. The cutting up of the produce was as popular as ever with the public tasting of the entries enthusiastically received. Congratulations to Gordon Jones who was the overall winner of the Show by far and earned his place on the shield. Well done to all of those who won prizes; please pick up your certificates from the Library.

Many thanks to all who participated, contributed to and entered the show and those who provided such generous raffle prizes. Thanks also to Patsie Hunt who came along at the last minute to provide excellent musical entertainment when the brass band cancelled.

Thanks to all of the volunteers who made the day possible. Also a big thank you to the previous organisers and to Ian Moody who did a lot of heavy lifting and carrying and helped us newbies through the teething process. Extra special thanks to library volunteer Janet Williams who at the last moment devised our very own commuter system, which simplified the process for us (Al’s excellent computer programme being too scary).

Next year we hope to make this an even bigger and better success and we look forward to working on the suggestions already received. If you have anything you would like us to improve on, or would like to get involved with next year’s event please contact us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com

The date of the next Village Show is Saturday 7th September. Please put the date in your diary NOW

 

 

September Activities

 

President Madeleine welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave a big thank you for all the kind thoughts and support she received during a very sad, difficult year.

Catrin, from Wales Air Ambulance gave us a very interesting talk, with slides. Wales obtained its own first air ambulance in 2001 and the very first one was sited at Fairwood Common in Swansea. Now Wales has enough air ambulances to get anywhere in the country within 20 minutes. A fully equipped air ambulance costs £5½ million and it will need a landing space the size of a tennis court.

At the end of the presentation Madeleine gave Catrin our donation to Wales Air Ambulance – the result of our 2018 fundraising.

After refreshment we proceeded with WI business. Culverhouse Cross WI has invited us to a Harvest Supper on October 11th and some members are visiting Sully WI on October 3rd to celebrate their 70th Birthday. Menu choices were available for our lunch on September 10th (to celebrate Betty’s recent 90th birthday) at the Wenvoe Arms. We are pleased to hear that Mair is progressing well after her recent new pacemaker. A big thank you was extended to Pam E. for her time and effort in producing a scarecrow for the festival, to represent the WI.

Next month’s meeting is on Thursday, October 4th at Wenvoe Church Hall. The speaker will be Damian Murray who will talk to us about podiatry. Visitors can be assured of a warm welcome and there is no charge.

 

 

WELSH CLASS IN WENVOE

 

Do you speak some Welsh? Perhaps you learned years ago and need an update/refresher course?

We are a small friendly group just beginning the second year of our Foundation (Sylfaen) course in Welsh as a second language. Our course would suit anyone who has some of the basics, but is not too confident in using all of the tenses and sentence patterns. If you started to learn Welsh and completed Sylfaen 1, the classes would also be excellent for you.

The course is provided by the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Learn Welsh department, and topics covered will include:

Future Tense; discussing plans; Giving advice; should/would; distance, size and weight; comparisons; dates and periods of time.

For further details, or to arrange a free trial lesson, please contact:Barbara Harris, Welsh Tutor 07511 941454

For information on all Welsh courses available in the Vale, please visit: dysgucymraeg.cymru or learnwelsh.cymru

 

 

1 2 3 4 … 6