Month: January 2019

Free Childcare News

Happy New Year to all and I’m sure it certainly will
be. I have been informed that the Vale of Glamorgan
30 hour Free Childcare will be rolled out from April,
so watch this space. We hope to keep you up-dated
with further details as they are known to us. I did
notice that the GEM first announced the good news
in one of their December issues and I have since
been informed by the Vale that this is so.
As mentioned Free Childcare is for the term after
your child is three. 12½ hours is to be used at Local
Education Authority and a whopping 17½ hours to
be used at a Playgroup or Daycare of your choice.
Both parents must be working a minimum of 16
hours per week at minimum wage or in a sole parent
household you must be working 16 hours at
minimum wage.
Wenvoe Playgroup are expanding as to the needs of
the community and are now offering Breakfast Club
from 8am Monday to Friday each week.
For more details on the care we provide please visit
our website www.wenvoeplaygroup.co.uk and view
our Statement of Purpose. Alternatively please call
into Playgroup at the Village Hall any morning
between 9am and 12noon, Monday to Friday.
At this time we have a waiting list and hope to
employ further staff for the Summer Term.
We will keep you posted.

 

 

Guest Speaker Don Llewelyn

It was a great pleasure to meet Don Llewelyn who was guest speaker at our last meeting of the Autumn session. In his working life Don had been a television director, although when leaving art college his interest had been still photography. He had worked in every aspect of television when in 1981 he went to work at the HTV studios in Culverhouse Cross (nicknamed the Taj Mahal).
His first big job there as a director found him following up on an idea that came from America which was to do a programme about an outdoor pursuits competition. This was all new to him and involved using a crew of 12-14 people which in itself was a challenge. There were several unconnected film units that were all over the place and as it was all about sport there was only one chance to film it. As the director he obviously knew the bigger picture and was responsible for every aspect of the final production.
He travelled extensively making programmes from various locations in America to Moscow and beyond. Whilst talking he showed us dozens of photographs on the big screen and this was just a snapshot of the many thousands he has at home. Many of the photographs showed the stunning locations he had filmed including some beautiful parts of Wales. In some instances he showed pictures of well known people he had worked with from Max Boyce to Catherine Zeta Jones. We spent much of the time star spotting.
While filming in America he became interested in the contribution Welsh people had made to America and whilst doing some research he came across a Welsh man called Murray Llewelyn Humphreys. This character turned out to be a top gangster who had created an alibi for Al Capone for the famous ‘Valentine’s Day Massacre’. Don subsequently made a documentary on the subject.
His career had obviously been a fascinating one but he emphasised on several occasions that he had been honoured and privileged to travel the world at other people’s expense while doing a job that he loved and meeting such interesting people along the way. He never considered it hard work.
We are grateful to Don for sharing his many experiences with us and his talk was a wonderful end to what has been an excellent session of Tuesday Group. Many thanks must go to Irene for arranging the speakers and we look forward to resuming once again in January. The programme for the Spring will be published in this edition of the What’s On and new members will always be welcome to join us in the annexe of the village hall at 7.30pm.

 

 

Upgrading Play Area

Exciting news! The Vale of Glamorgan Council will shortly be significantly upgrading the play area at The Grange Park, opposite Gwenfo Primary School, with new play equipment, fencing and surfacing. They want to hear your views and ideas! If you are interested, and would like to discuss any ideas you or your children may have for the play area, there will be a drop in session on Thursday 24th January 2019, 3pm to 6.30pm. You can attend at any time during this period. The Vale’s Landscape Team and Parks Department will be there to answer any questions during this time. Alternatively, if you cannot make this date/time, please contact Charlotte Pugh via email clpugh@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk
In due course there will be drawings and details of a consultation available for a proposed scheme for Twyn yr Odyn play equipment.

 

 

December Planning Updates

 

The December Council meeting was held after the magazine went to print.

The following application has been approved:-

16, Heol Draenen Wen, Culverhouse Cross. Two storey side & rear extension

The appeal against the Vale’s refusal to permit the construction of a new Starbucks drive through unit at Brooklands Terrace retail park has been granted by planning inspector. The loss of car parking spaces will be off-set by using the additional spaces near the Burger King restaurant. Signage directing customers to this area are to be erected before any work commences.

 

 

Happy New Year

2009

Happy New Year

New Year traditions and celebrations vary enormously across the globe. This is perfectly illustrated by countries in Asia. China and India for example are among many countries who celebrate New Year on dates other than January 1, which has been widely used since the official adoption of the Gregorian calendar from 1582. As in the other continents, Asian New Year celebrations reflect a huge range of cultural and religious differences.

The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month. The exact date can fall any time between January 21 and February 21 (inclusive) of the Gregorian Calendar. In the Chinese lunar calendar, following a twelve year cycle, each of the 12 years is named after an animal. Lord Buddha asked all the animals to come to him before he left the earth. Only 12 animals came to wish him farewell, and as a reward Buddha named a year after each one.

New Year is a very important Chinese celebration. Chinese families travel far and wide to be together. In fact, Chinese New Year leads to the biggest movement of people on any one day during specific dates in the year. People carry lanterns and join in a huge parade led by a silk dragon, the Chinese symbol of strength. According to legend, the dragon hibernates most of the year, so people throw firecrackers to keep the dragon awake. 2019 will be the year of the pig.

The Balinese New Year, based on the Saka Calendar is called Nyepi, and it falls on Bali’s

Lunar New Year (around March). It is a day of silence, fasting, and meditation; observed from 6am until 6am the next morning. Nyepi is a day reserved for self-reflection and as such, anything that might interfere with that purpose is restricted. Although Nyepi is primarily a Hindu holiday, non-Hindu residents of Bali observe the day of silence as well, out of respect for their fellow citizens. Even tourists are not exempt. Although free to do as they wish inside their hotels, no one is allowed onto the beaches or streets, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles carrying those with life-threatening conditions and women about to give birth.

In Thailand, a special three-day water festival on April 13–15 marks Songkran, the Buddhists’ celebration of the New Year. Parades feature huge statues of Buddha that spray water on passers-by. In small villages, young people throw water at each other for fun. People also release fish into rivers as an act of kindness. During Songkran, people tie strings around each other’s wrists to show their respect. The strings are supposed to be left on until they fall off naturally.

Europeans of course are no different when it comes to unique New Year traditions. For Italians, new beginning means getting away from everything old and useless, so on New Year’s Eve they throw out of the window their old furniture or other discarded things, like old clothes or dishes. So, if you ever want to spend the holiday there, be careful while walking on the streets, especially in the south, where this tradition is particularly popular.

 

 

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