Month: October 2022

“Are You OK?” Campaign

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Last month our national Neighbourhood Watch launched an “Are you OK?” campaign against street harassment. Although street harassment is unlikely to be common in Wenvoe we may see it elsewhere. It is usually directed towards women, girls, and gender-diverse people.

Street harassment is on the rise and is often not an isolated incident. We know the long-term impact can harm mental health and change people’s behaviour. Victims often feel guilty, ashamed and blame themselves.

Witnessing street harassment and not safely intervening sends the message to those experiencing it that it’s okay and society normalises it.

The campaign encourages those who see someone being harassed in public to ask the victim “Are you OK?” when they feel safe doing so. Those three little words let the victim know they have support and street harassment is never okay.

Alan French

 

The Vale Biodiversity Team

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

 The Vale Biodiversity Team

At this time of year, you will see a lot of activity around our sites cutting the grass and wildflowers. The Vale Biodiversity team own a seed-harvesting machine, and this is being deployed on the Community Orchard and small meadow at Goldsland Farm. The seed will then be used to create wildflower meadows elsewhere in the Vale. They are also cutting the Lower Orchid Field which runs alongside the Whitehall Quarry access road. This has not been cut for many years and was starting to be invaded by bracken and scrub. The cut will help re-establish the wildflowers which used to include several Bee Orchids. The Upper Orchid Field is also due to have its annual autumn cut under a contract let by the Community Council.

In this month’s Nature Notes the focus is on hedgerows and it is good to be able to report that the hedge-laying course, originally scheduled for last winter, but cancelled because of bad weather, is being rescheduled for the coming winter. The two-day course is being run by the Vale Biodiversity team and will take place on the Community Orchard. Our hedgerow was planted a few years ago (see photo) but is now 2-3 metres tall. Places are limited and more information will be circulated by the Vale and will be advertised on our Facebook page.

 

Village Show and Language Groups

WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB

Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com

Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary

For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com

Village Show

Following a successful village show, we are pleased to announce that Gail Griffiths was the overall winner with Liz Jones second and Ann Daniel third. Given that there were more than 155 entries, the full list of results is available to view in the library Hub along with the certificates which are held there for collection

New Weekly Language Groups

Our language conversation groups are for those interested in learning, improving, or maintaining another language.

These are self-led sessions, free and open to speakers and learners at all levels. Just come along and improve your conversational skills in a friendly environment.

French: Tuesdays 11.00am, commencing 4th October.

Italian: Wednesdays at 1.00pm, commencing 5th October.

If you would like to start another language group, please email us, or call in to the Hub during opening hours.

Getting the most from your tablet/iPad or Smartphone – Book a place at the desk for a free one-to-one session.

New Books

These are just some of this month’s new titles:

Crime and Thrillers:

Good Cop, Bad Cop by Simon Kernick

The Stranded by Sarah Daniels

Fiction

Beach House Summer by Sarah Morgan

The Baker’s Girl by Gracie Hart

A Daughter’s Destiny by Rosie Goodwin

To Fill a Yellow House by Sussie Annie

One Drop by Peter Kalu

You are Here by Eva Woods

Autobiography

The Betrayer by Guy Stanton

Non-fiction

The Musical Child by Joan Koeig

We also have several new English and Welsh

children and teenage titles.

New on BorrowBox.

Borrow eBooks and eAudiobooks are free from your library using the BorrowBox app. or go online to the Vale of Glamorgan library page. Select your reading from this month’s selection of crime and thrillers from jaw-clenching suspense from bestselling author James Patterson, a weird and wonderful mystery from Peter Ackroyd, 1970s detective drama from Lynda La Plante and spinechilling Scandi-Noir from acclaimed author Anders de la Motte.

As Summer Reading Challenge draws to a close, treat your back-to-school children with classroom drama in Enid Blyton’s Naughtiest Girl In The School, magic and mystery in Leigh Bardugo’s wildly popular Shadow and Bone series and a heartfelt tale of a wartime zoo in Phil Earle’s award -winning When the Sky Falls.

Time to try something new? Look no further than Heavily Meditated, the down-to-earth guide from wellness expert Caitlin Cady. A must-listen for anyone interested in the life changing practice of meditation. Anyone who made it to the National Eisteddfod
earlier this year had a brilliant time. There is a list in the Hub showing the most popular Welsh language titles on BorrowBox from the last three months.

September Was A Busy Month

September 2022 News Update

Death of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle

The lowering of the flag to half-mast on the church tower announced to the village the sad news received on Sept. 8th at 6.30pm. Our new, King Charles III spoke most emotionally of the Royal Family’s loss of a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother in his first address to the nation that same evening. He ended his address with the most memorable words: “May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

Looking back, September was a busy month. The work on the Tower has been completed and it is looking much improved. The church grounds have been cleared up of the builders debris. The church clock is back ‘tick-tocking’ away, keeping time and striking the hours, much to the satisfaction of neighbours who are used to hearing the hours struck during the day. The clock face and hands have been affected by the heat waves we have experience this Summer so for now, no further expense needed there.

Plans to welcome our new priest into the Ministry Area of De Morgannwg were placed on hold until a definite date could be agreed on. Eventually the service to License Lyndon was led by the Archdeacon of Llandaff the Rev. Rod Green on Sunday 18th September at 3.00pm. In the meantime Vicar Lyndon and Chris have been settling in and took the opportunity of a holiday break in Mid Wales before they enter into the busy life of the M.A.

The Licensing service for Lyndon was a very splendid uplifting service with superb singing of both Welsh and other hymns. Our three churches were represented with invited guests and clergy from within the Ministry Area. Well done everyone.

Our Harvest Celebration was held on Sunday 25th September and was the first occasion that our new Vicar has officiated. The decoration of the church was markedly different this year to previous years as we decided to use all the contributions to the Barry Food Bank to fill the windows with, dry goods, tinned vegetables, tinned meats etc which the food bank have asked us for. This year they are finding the need is greater than ever due to the rocketing living costs and rising food prices in the stores. So in place of fresh vegetables and flowers we had the appearance of a food store, knowing that there is no waste and all the goods will help those who are not so fortunate as we are. We also held a retiring collection for the Christian Aid East Africa appeal which is ongoing as they face the most disastrous famine in that part of the world.

In the afternoon a BYO picnic in the church grounds was arranged with activities for the children, to give an opportunity for Lyndon and Chris to meet up with as many people who wished to greet and welcome them into our community

Live Streaming of our Services

Further work on the camera system in church has now resulted in 24/7 streaming of a live feed which can be accessed on ipcamlive.com/stmarywenvoe This will mean that the church building is covered should we have an intruder in the premises outside of service times, and that anyone can log in to our services on a Sunday morning. Lyndon’s licensing can now be watched by his family in Canada which will be of great comfort and assurance to them. Some reservations have been raised and further work on the system will try and give the assurances needed to make the congregation comfortable in its use.

Vicar Lyndon has said that he intends to keep the same pattern of services as they are at present, as he tries to get a ‘feel’ of what each congregation needs. However, that is not to say that there won’t be any changes in the future.

Harvest Celebrations at St. Bleddian’s will take place on Sunday 2nd October with the usual morning service at 8.30 am followed by a Harvest Festival Service at 3.00pm.

Thank you for your time reading this. You are most welcome to join us and our new priest Lyndon at any of our services.

God Bless and peace

Parry Edwards

 

Tidenham

 Tidenham

We started at Tidenham Chase car park on A4228; the pedestrian wireworks bridge across the river Wye at Tintern is closed for repair for about 9 months from August 2022. So, the plan was to include the Tidenham tunnel in our walk, a clockwise route taking us south to the tunnel and returning via Offa’s Dyke.

On a cool, bright morning, we entered Poor’s Allotment at the adder gate, a sinuous adder is carved into the wooden gate. The zigzag pattern on an adder’s skin looks like bracken providing camouflage. In the 1800’s it was established as common land on which the people of Tidenham could graze their livestock. More than 200 years of light grazing has preserved the open nature of the reserve, which is an SSSI. It was once the location of a beacon which would carry messages across the River Severn and is now managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.

 

Continuing we crossed Parson’s allotment, which was given to the vicar of Tidenham in 1815 as part of the Enclosure Acts to replace tythes previously given to the church. There is a needle like stone – the Queen Victoria Jubilee Stone dated 1897, hidden from view by summer’s growth. We did see patches of heather, yellow gorse, bright red haws, and occasional glimpses of both Severn bridges.

We joined the Gloucestershire Way and reaching Netherhope, could see the entrance to Tidenham tunnel far below us. We continued south along the Gloucestershire way until we came to a road with access to the Wye Valley Greenway, which runs from Tintern to Chepstow – 5 miles in total. The entrance to Tidenham tunnel was 400yds away.

We passed under a bridge, supported by massive iron girders, and entered the tunnel. Low level lighting can be seen stretching far ahead, but it is quite dark. The tunnel curves so that no daylight is visible and eyes strain to see. As people pass only legs are seen, though children were visible. Eyes gradually adjusted and the walls and roof became clearer. The temperature was cool – a good place to visit on a hot summer’s day. The tunnel is 1080m (1188yards) long and walking through it was exciting.

The darkness is in aid of bat conservation; there are very few bats in the tunnel as it is draughty, but attempts have been made to make it more bat friendly – blocking some of the alcoves, bat boxes on the roof and insulation in some of the roof voids, plus the entrance gates are kept ajar. The bat licence means that the tunnel is open during daylight hours from 1st April until 1st October.

Emerging at the other end, we welcomed the warm air, and our eyes could relax. There is a seating area; railway sleepers and other paraphernalia are evident, a crocodile head has been created, and rails have been left in place to protect the rare fingered sedge.

A quarry towered ahead, and we needed to climb past it to Offa’s Dyke. We took a clear path; one long stretch was extremely steep, and we were grabbing tree trunks to help pull ourselves up by our arms to give leg muscles a bit of help. Some sturdy flights of steps have been installed which give respite but even these are steep. We were relieved to reach the top, very glad we hadn’t tried to descend the path and that we had waited to eat lunch until after the climb. We were all ravenous by now and headed off towards the Devil’s Pulpit, keeping our eyes peeled for a suitable place to stop beside the path. A fallen tree was chosen, and lunch thoroughly enjoyed, whatever it was.

After lunch we had views of the river Wye and Tintern Abbey and a tantalising sign offering ice-cream in a different direction. Keeping on we arrived at the Devil’s Pulpit. Folklore says that the devil preached from this natural stone pulpit to tempt the monks of Tintern from their holy path. He was not successful! Turning back towards Tidenham car park we were delighted to find a good outcrop of fly agaric, the red fungi with white spots. A short walk across fields with good views of the Severn bridges and we were back to the start.

A day of sunshine, good views, woodland, and beautiful trees – lime, sweet chestnut, hawthorn, apple, monkey puzzle to name a few and all the footpaths were well maintained, a great walk.

Walk 7.8m 1000ft Map OL14

We Need More Volunteers!

ADVENT WINDOWS 2022

We need more volunteers!

We are planning Wenvoe Advent Windows 2022 following the success of the last two years. Since September’s What’s On we have been pleased to receive a number of requests to take part. However, we need more volunteers to fill the 24 slots of December.

There will be a new window to see each night leading up to Christmas Eve when of course there will be all 24 on display. The final window will be at St. Mary’s Church.

There is no entry fee, it’s not a competition, and, adults and children can be involved. Participants will be allocated a date when they will light up their window for the first time and continue lighting up each day until 24th December. The windows can be designed and constructed from any media; and will need to be lit from 5.00pm to 9.00pm each evening. All the displays should relate to Advent / Christmas and can be humorous, artistic or topical.

If you would like to participate you need to live in a house that has a window (upstairs or down) that can clearly be seen from the street and you will need to keep the window illuminated each evening after it is ‘opened’ until December 24th.

For more information contact Jude Billingham: on 07516 112897 or judebillingham@ yahoo.co.uk

We would be delighted to hear from you.

This is a St. Mary’s initiative for the whole community

 

Marmalade & Whisky Bread & Butter Pudding

Marmalade & Whisky Bread & Butter Pudding

Instead of white bread, use any leftover fruit bread or croissants

8 slices day old crusty white bread crusts removed

50g very soft butter

4 tbsp Seville orange marmalade plus 4 tsp

300ml full fat milk

284ml pot of double cream

3 large eggs

seeds of 1 vanilla pod or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp golden caster sugar

1 tbsp whisky (plus a little for the cook)

Icing sugar, for dusting

Butter each piece of bread on both sides, then spread 4 with 1 tbsp marmalade each. Pop the remaining

bread on top to make 4 marmalade sandwiches. Cut into triangles and nestle in rows in a large baking tray. Heat oven to 140C fan. Beat the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, sugar and whisky together, then pour over the bread. Leave to soak for about 30 mins. Dot the remaining marmalade all over the top of the pudding and dust with icing sugar. Bake for 45 mins – 1 hr until puffy and starting to caramelise where the bread breaks out of the custard. Serve hot or cold with ice cream

 

White Fish with Spicey Beans and Chorizo

White Fish with Spicey Beans and Chorizo

1tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

small rosemary sprig, leaves chopped

25g chorizo or other spicy sausage chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped

700g jar or carton passata (thick tomato liquid)

410g can cannellini beans in water, drained

200g shredded green cabbage

pinch sugar

4 skinless chunky fillets haddock or cod

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then soften the onion for about 5 mins. Add the rosemary, chorizo and garlic, then fry for 2 mins more until the chorizo is starting to crisp. Tip in the passata, beans, cabbage and sugar, season, then simmer for about 5 mins. Pat the fish dry to remove any water and add to the pan, leaving the tops of the fillets peeking out of the sauce, Cover with a lid and leave to cook for about 3 -5 mins until the fish flakes easily. Delicious served with fresh crusty bread

 

Fruity Pork Steaks 

Fruity Pork Steaks 

4 boneless pork loin steaks, trimmed of any fat

2 tsp Chinese five spice powder

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 large red onion, cut into wedges through the root

4 red apples, cored and cut into thin wedges (Jazz would be good)

2 tbsp red currant jelly

1 tbsp red wine vinegar or cider vinegar

200ml chicken stock (cube)

Dust the pork steaks with the Chinese five spice powder. Heat half the oil in a frying pan and fry the pork for about 3 mins on each side until browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate. Add the remaining oil to the frying pan, reduce the heat slightly and fry the onion wedges for two minutes. Add the apples and cook, stirring occasionally for a further 3 mins. Add the redcurrant jelly to the pan, followed by the vinegar and then the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer rapidly, uncovered for about 8 mins until the sauce is slightly syrupy and the apples are tender, Gently reheat the pork in the sauce, turning to glaze each side. Serve with boiled Basmati rice.

 

 

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