Month: April 2020

March Meeting Report

March Meeting Report

 

President Madeleine welcomed us all to the meeting. She was delighted to welcome 6 guests – Pauline, Katie, Debbie, Alex, Debbie and Nicola. We certainly hope they will visit again soon.

Our growing WI has 7 new members this year – Pam, Pat, Paula, Diane, Ann, Debbie and Sandra – and we are very pleased to have them in our branch.

The speaker on this occasion was our very own Pam Cockerill. Pam has always enjoyed writing and joined a local creative writing group when her children were young. We heard of her excitement when she had her first paid article published – it was a story about a family camping holiday – and a telegram had arrived to give her the good news.

Over the years, Pam has had various poems and stories published in magazines. Her wonderful ability has enabled her to write books for children and adults. Some examples are “Winter Ponies” (her very first one), “Donkey Rescue” and “The Good Taste Café”. “The Seven Year Hitch” is Pam’s autobiography and is yet another story that demonstrates the wonderful talent of its writer. We all thoroughly enjoyed Pam’s interesting and informative talk about her creative writing journey – clearly the journey of a very talented lady!

After refreshments we carried on with WI business. Glamorgan events were read out and Members signed up for the coffee morning at Dinas Powys on 14th March and the quiz at Culverhouse Cross on 6th April. We are planning a carvery lunch on 22nd April at Dinas Powys Golf Club. Final numbers will be needed at our April meeting.

The date of our Charity Tea will be announced later in the year. Members can begin to bring donated items, ready for the Tombola, to the next meeting when they will be gratefully received. Members were asked to search for any wartime stories ready for the exhibition on the weekend of 8th May to 10th May when we shall be remembering VE Day.

Next month’s meeting is on Thursday, 2nd April at 7pm at Wenvoe Church Hall. The speaker is Rachel Griffiths, talking about “Personalised Medicines”. Guests can always be assured of a warm welcome and there is no charge.

This is an accurate reflection of the meeting. However, developments surrounding coronavirus have since meant that all planned events have now been cancelled until further notice. Take care and we look forward to seeing you soon.

 

 

‘Tombland’ by C.J. Sansom

‘Tombland’ by C.J. Sansom

This month, our book was ‘Tombland’ by C.J. Sansom. This was the seventh in the series of Matthew Shardlake, the hunchbacked lawyer detective.

In this case Shardlake is directed by Lady Elizabeth (the future queen) to investigate the murder involving a distant relative. In so doing, Shardlake, aided by his assistant Nicholas Overton, finds himself embroiled in the peasant rebellions of 1549 and in particular Kett’s Rebellion in Norfolk. Sansom crammed a huge amount of historical information in the book’s 800 pages but contrary to it being a tedious read, it transported us into the 16th century and we all felt that we were alongside Shardlake in his quest.

Sansom’s books were new to most of us and as we enjoyed the book so much, we felt that we would have liked to start with the first book of the series. We gave ‘Tombland’ an overall score of 8/10.

 

 

March Library News

March Library News

 

The Cancellation of Planned Events and Activities: The following events have been cancelled:

Gardeners’ Question Time

Bus trip to Hay Festival

For those who have bought tickets, we will contact you individually.

Easter Raffle: The tickets sold as well as the prizes which have again been generously donated, will be moved to the Village Show .

 

Clwb Clonc. The editor of the Dinesydd visited us last month for a photoshoot. Our meetings are going strong with about ten of us regularly attending on Monday mornings for a lively chat to practise our Welsh speaking skills.

Volunteers: We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new volunteers and Friends of the Library. We depend on the support of the community to keep the library running and to support the events and activities that pay the bills. We look forward to working together again soon.

 

 

This Month’s Parish News

This Month’s Parish News

In last month’s Parish News, we were looking forward to a glorious Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord with colour, flowers, great hymns and full churches. How so much has changed since then. The coronavirus has changed all that, with most of the world’s nations withdrawing from contact with each other as they close their borders in an attempt to combat the virus, and to protect their people from the ravages that we have seen on our T.V. screens for the past month.

The advice from the Church in Wales Bench of Bishops, is that all church services are to be suspended immediately. Baptisms can be held with only 10 persons present. Weddings are all postponed until 31st July 2020. Banns will not be called. Funerals can only be taken at the graveside, with a memorial service arranged later in the year. Confirmation services and Ordination services at the cathedral are also suspended. The Annual Church Vestry meeting has been postponed with all church officers remaining in office until formal elections can be arranged. The children’s ‘Pebble’ group on Sunday mornings is also affected by this decision, as is the monthly meeting of the Chattery.

The financial implications of these guidelines are enormous and church members are asked to maintain their weekly contributions to the work and maintenance of the church. This can be done digitally by the StM appeal or saved up until the time comes when our church will be open again for worship. Although the church may be closed for formal acts of worship, it is a lot more than just buildings. It is a community of believing people who have accepted Jesus Christ into their lives, bringing his message of salvation and hope to the wider world around them.

The church is duty-bound to reach out to all in the community of Wenvoe and elsewhere. The message of HOPE is there in the Gospel readings and the Psalms for all to read, and it is that hope that will carry us through in the days, weeks and months ahead as we self-isolate from the worst of the virus contagion. God Bless us all as we pray for the world and for all around us, especially the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. Please read the letter Jon, our Parish Priest has written on page 4.

However it is not all such negative news, for we have completed the restoration of the historic floor tiles, and they are looking so much better. The painting of the chancel is also complete and the freshness really does show up the condition of the walls in the Nave… another job for the future. The next project is the re-varnishing of the West, South and Priest doors, with the metal work being cleaned and repainted; this will be followed in the summer with more work on the boundary walls.

Within the church, information panels have been set up with photographs, showing the work carried out on the floors, before and after, in an attempt to raise awareness of the costs involved. We appeal for donations to complete the programme of work as detailed in the last church building survey. The church is available for all in the community and the regular congregation have been very supportive in fund raising from the activities such as the Quiz Night and the Chattery. We also encourage those who use the church for occasional services to consider donating in memory of loved ones who may have had a previous connection with St Mary’s in the past.

The Annual Fun Quiz 2020 brought all eyes on the final scoreboard. Grateful thanks to Ian Moody our quizmaster extraordinaire and everyone who supported the sell-out event, especially the Sully contingent who battled through floods to join in! A most enjoyable evening and the excellent sum of £644.37 was raised for St Mary’s Church. Diolch

Future Plans….The many events we had been preparing for in the coming months are now postponed including the VE75 celebrations. Perhaps we should plan for a VE75+1 for 2021. Given the severity of the current situation, we must accept that for the foreseeable future our lives as we have known them are to be put on hold.

Please stay safe; follow the Government’s advice on all health matters. We will get through this. Keep washing those hands. Don’t panic and carry on.

Parry Edwards

 

 

Celebrating Saint David’s Day Etc

Celebrating Saint David’s Day

We celebrated Saint David’s Day with a wonderful Eisteddfod. It was a day of celebrating super competi-tion entries, including home projects – thank you to all for your wonderful efforts. Greaves were the overall winners and Maddie Coles in Year 6 was crowned as The Bard.

Our choir excelled when they sang at a Barnardo’s Concert in Saint David’s Hall in Cardiff. We really were incredibly proud of them all. A massive well done and thank you also to Mrs Jones, who provides so much musical talent and inspiration.

We were extremely fortunate to have had a visit from the Welsh rugby player, Justin Tipuric. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 enjoyed the opportunity to ask him lots of questions.

Netball Success

Well done to our netballers who played in a tournament at Cadoxton and won all 5 of their matches! Well done to Amelia and Maliah who were awarded Players of the Match. Thanks really must go to Mrs Plevey for her time commitment to our netballers – it is hugely appreciated!

Cardiff Museum Visit

Years 5 and 6 visited Cardiff Museum where they en-joyed viewing the art exhibits and also taking part in a sculpture workshop. They were a real credit to school.

Barry and District News visited school last week; keep an eye out in the local news for photographs of our children happily engaging in a variety of activities.

 

 

The Story Of A Steak Sandwich

The Story Of A Steak Sandwich

It had been another long hot day in central Africa, and I was driving a fast RIB – a rigid inflatable boat – down the river Congo at full speed. We were flying across the water, but I was steering carefully between the floating clumps of water hyacinth as we headed downstream to the capital city of Kinshasa.

We had started early, and I had loaded extra cans of petrol on board as it was a long push from our campsite at the side of the river to reach Kinshasa, but the leader of our expedition needed to be there as soon as possible. There were three of us in the small boat and the floor was literally covered in petrol cans. The cool of the morning soon warmed by the inevitable sun and by mid-morning it was baking hot. The metal petrol cans were too hot to touch, but thankfully the Mercury outboard was pushing us along at about 30 knots, so the rushing air was keeping us reasonably cool.

The first few hours saw us speeding along the calm river. Waves or rapids would have slowed us down but here the river was running deep and the surface was flat. The banks here were jungle and the trees really came down into the water, I am not sure if they were all mangrove trees but there are three types of mangrove and we probably passed them all. It was the same on both sides of the river which in this area was a couple of hundred metres wide. We were making good time.

We drank from our water bottles as we didn’t really have time to stop and make a brew of tea. It would have taken too long to gather the wood to make the fire to boil the water. The problem with our water is that it came from the river and it was best to strain it in a muslin filter to take out the animal and vegetable matter that was present. There were about 20 grains of foreign matter in each litre of water. So we strained the water and then put it in our water bottles along with chlorination tablets to purify it and kill any germs. The good news was that the water was now palatable, but the bad news was that it was like drinking disinfectant. But we needed to drink in that heat to stay well.

Our eyes were always sweeping ahead, partly to avoid hitting an object in the river and partly to see if we could catch sight of any wildlife on the banks such as hippos or monkeys in the trees. At the same time, we would look for landmarks to try and pinpoint our position. About the time we felt we were nearing the city we began to see some high-rise buildings poking out on the horizon above the great moabi, iroko, ebony and mahogany trees that formed the jungle canopy.

After another thirty minutes, we came upon the long dirty brown wharves where wood, palm oil and vegetables were unloaded from the river barges. Then further on we saw the manicured bright green lawns of what turned out to be a smart yacht club, with many small and larger boats bobbing on their moorings. Above the lawns was a single storey clubhouse neatly painted and with bright flags flying from an impressively tall flagpole. This seemed to be a sensible place to tie up and find a vehicle to take us into the city and to the British Embassy who were expecting us.

It was about midday and we had been on the river for over four hours and I was starving. Breakfast had been a rotten plastic mug of tea and some dried biscuits and I was looking forward to grabbing a bite to eat wherever we could. Having secured the boat, we walked up to the Clubhouse and were rather conscious of our scruffy appearance in soiled and sweaty shirts and petrol stained cotton trousers below which were wet boots dripping with river water. We must have looked an odd and unusual sight to the kindly barman who stood on the veranda as we approached. He was a Congolese man of about forty who spoke fluent French and was dressed in smart dark trousers with a white jacket, white shirt and bow tie. I briefly explained who we were in my stumbling French as he ushered us through the doors of Kinshasa Yacht Club into the bar area. Coming in from the strong sunlight my eyes adjusted to take in the fine carpet and comfortable looking armchairs around us but more exciting was the bar promising cold drinks and possibly food? I asked, with some trepidation, if there was anything we could eat for lunch to which I heard the immortal reply “Would sir like a steak sandwich?”. As the barman called the order to the chef in the adjacent kitchen, he poured the first chilled larger into a frosted glass and I was at the gates of heaven. The succulent steak sandwich soon arrived – a tender piece of sirloin steak in a fresh baguette. It was delicious and how hard it was to eat slowly. In no time at all the glass was dry and the taxi was waiting to take us to the Embassy – the spell was broken.

Kindly contributed by a Wenvoe resident

 

 

Be A Responsible Dog Owner

 

BE A RESPONSIBLE DOG OWNER

There has been a number of incidents of dog waste not being picked up and dog waste bags being left on the pavements, on walls, hung on bushes, trees etc. Dog waste bags can be placed in any one of the many waste bins around the village; they are not restricted to one of the special dog waste bins. If no bin is available take the bag home and dispose of it in your own bin.

Dog owners are reminded to keep their dogs on leads and off residents property when walking through the village. Concerns have been raised regarding dogs running across residents gardens and even fouling on house lawns. If you see any dog fouling please help by reporting it at; https:// forms.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/en/DogFouling

Wenvoe Community Council recognise the area most affected following resident complaints and are in the process of purchasing a dog waste bin which will be emptied by WCC and not the VoG. This will be on a trial basis and if abused the Dog Waste bin may be removed.

Vale of Glamorgan waste bins are emptied once a week. If any are full you are requested to take the waste to another bin or take it home. Do not leave any additional bags alongside waste bins. Note – The large green bins located in the cemetery are for cemetery waste only and nothing else. These bins have a special emptying contract.

 

 

100 Saplings Donated

Woodland Trust is donating over 100 saplings

We were pleased to hear that the Woodland Trust is donating over 100 saplings for our new hedgerow at The Bee Loud Glade. These will be delivered in the Autumn. A number of people have expressed an interest in the best plants for pollinating insects and we hope to have a handout prepared in the next couple of months on which ones to consider. So far we have planted the Bee Bee Tree (Tetradium daniellii), Buddleia, Gipsywort, Lavender and Purple Loosestrife. Salvias will be going in during March. We were not successful in getting RHS funding for this project but will be carrying on regardless.

The pond at the Farm Orchard is in and very quickly became full of water. It has several aquatic plants placed in it including Iris and Marsh Marigold (aka Kingcups). Wildlife cameras left in the orchard recorded the usual suspects; rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, fox and song birds but also field mice and voles. A Conference pear has been planted along with numerous wild primroses.

The Great British Spring Clean has been postponed until 11th September but we will continue to pick up litter on our sites in the meantime. Hopefully we will see more village-wide litter-picking activities as there is no shortage of waste material to be found once you start looking

 

 

 

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

This well-written novel highlights the African American community in the Southern States and has been chosen by Barack Obama as one of his favourite books.

The story unfolds through the voices of the three main characters: the newly married Roy and Celestial and their mutual friend André, who has known Celestial since infancy. A wrongful arrest results in a long prison sentence for Roy and we see the pair developing separate lives. A series of letters charts the disintegration of their marriage. Celestial finds comfort in André’s support and after three years they become closer. Two years later, Roy’s conviction is overturned. When he returns to see his wife, he has to accept that his marriage has ended.

Despite the inevitability of broken relationships, each character finds a positive way of moving forward and the book ends optimistically. Everyone enjoyed reading this book, finding the people relatable and the subject thought-provoking. A score of 7/10.

Thank you very much Sylvia for hosting an enjoyable evening and providing delicious home-made apricot flapjacks.

 

 

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