Month: May 2025

May Meeting of Wenvoe W.I.

WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

May Meeting of Wenvoe W.I.

On Thursday 1st May Wenvoe WI met for their AGM at 7.00pm in the Church Hall. The out-going president Mrs Jan Young welcomed members and our Glamorgan Federation Advisor, Mrs. Claire Atherton. The meeting commenced with the usual business as well as the annual financial statement, the secretary’s report and a closing statement and vote of thanks to the out-going Committee by the President. Finally, Mrs Atherton presided over the election of new officers for the forthcoming year.

These will be as follows:

Mrs Carol Charlson – President

Mrs Pamela Ewington – Secretary

Mrs Dedrie Smee – Treasurer

Committee members – Mrs Lyn Hull, Miss Ros Lock, Mrs Madeleine Rees and Mrs Brenda Webster.

Our open coffee morning was held on 1st May where £200 was raised for our charity for the year – Ty Hafan. On 4th July it is intended to visit Ty Hafan and tour the gardens.

Our next WI meeting is on 3rd June at 7.00pm in the Church Hall, when Mrs Anne Lush will speak about the ‘History of Cake and Cake Making’.

All tasters, visitors and potential new members are most welcome.

Jan Young

June Church News

June Church News

Greetings to you all from the congregation at St. Mary’s Church.

The weather forecasters have said recently that this year the month of May has been the sunniest and warmest and driest for many, many years. The rainfall has been light and soon there could be calls to use our precious water carefully to conserve supplies. The churchyard is looking lovely this year with the flowering hawthorns showing an abundance of bright red flowers outside the church porch. However, we are missing the large cherry tree in flower. It is now the site of a carving of a leaping salmon, carved from the trunk by our ever-resourceful Mike who looks after the grounds so wonderfully. We get many complements on how well kept both the church and surrounding grounds are, and St. Mary’s is a real treasure in our village. Shortly we shall be working on the roof to replace some slates that have slipped and also replacing the ridge tiles on the Transept roof. These minor defects were reported in the recent Quinquennial inspection with other works needed to maintain the church fabric in good condition.

VE80 celebrations took place in the church and village over the Early Spring Bank Holiday, more commonly known as the May Bank Holiday. The longest period of peace in our country, was celebrated with the same joy that marked the ending of WWII in Europe in 1945, with prayers and hymns in church on the Sunday, a time of reflection at midday on Thursday, followed by the pealing of the church bells in the evening and the lighting of the Beacon of Hope at the village War Memorial at 9.30pm.

The Village Plant show brought the proceedings to an end, and we have to thank both Glenys and Mike Tucker for how well they organised, with their many helpers, a day marked with lovely warm sunshine. Events like this that make our community such a good place to live, a chance to meet up with other Wenvonians to chat about current news and reminisce over past times.

We continue the VE80 theme with an afternoon concert by the Sian’s Singers on Sunday 8th June at 3.00pm at St. Mary’s Church which will include a singalong of WWII songs. Sian’s Singers are a very talented group, and we are pleased to host them at this time. There is no admission charge but donations to church funds will be welcome, and there will be refreshments in the Church Hall following the performance. All are most welcome as we once again remember with gratitude the sacrifices made by our Armed Forces and the members of the civilian population during the years of 1939 – 1945.

The other big event taking place as I write is the Christian Aid Appeal organised by Jude Billingham and her team of helpers. The climate crisis is ravaging the farms of indigenous communities in Guatemala; your financial support

will help fund vital tools and training so farmers can support their community to escape hunger. Many events took place in the village during the week of the 11th May, the results will be reported in next month’s news.

St. Bleddian’s Church update: Those of us with large gardens know how difficult it can be when the lawn needs mowing, the edges trimmed and the weather can often be against you, well imagine the problem of keeping the churchyard at St. Lythan’s in a pristine condition.

Thanks to volunteers from the Friends of St. Lythan’s the maintenance of the churchyard has seen the grass cut, and a general tidy up done in recent days. The church is not being used for regular worship and is used as a festival church to mark those times of the year when special services are held to commemorate the great days in the church’s calendar. So, a big thankyou to all who have helped while the search for a more permanent gardener is made.

We are so grateful for the regular donations to the Vale Food Bank which appear in the collecting boxes in the church porch week by week. Due to your generosity, we are able to take a considerable amount every Thursday morning, thanks to Jude and Nigel, to Barry, and the staff are so pleased that our contribution to those in need, comes each week on a regular basis.

The items most needed at present are tinned potatoes, rice puddings, tinned fruit, meat products and carrier bags. Thank you, thank you! Your gifts are most needed. Alternatively a cash contribution is also welcomed to save carrying heavy items to the collecting boxes. Please place in an envelope clearly marked “Food Bank”.

It is good to have an opportunity to share the St. Mary’s news with the community. You are all held in our Sunday prayers, and if you need advice and help on family matters, please contact Vicar Lyndon on 029 2280 6018 (confidential phone).

Every Blessing to all readers,

Parry

 

 

Chicken and Sweet Potato Hash & Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast

Try this flavour-packed hash for an easy, protein-packed midweek meal. Chicken mince is coated in delicious chipotle spice for added oomph. Then follow with strawberries with a different twist!

Chicken and Sweet Potato Hash

Ingredients

500g sweet potatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion

400g chicken mince

½ tsp garlic granules or 1 clove fresh garlic crushed

½ tsp dried rosemary

50g chipotle paste

100g curly kale (or Swiss chard, spinach, cabbage)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6.
  2. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 3cm chunks. Toss with 1 tbsp of oil, season and spread out on a baking tray. Roast for 30-35 minutes until golden and tender.
  3. Peel and finely slice the onion. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat. Fry the onion for 6-8 minutes until softened.
  4. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the chicken mince and fry for a further 8-10 minutes until opaque.
  5. Stir in the garlic granules, rosemary, chipotle paste and a good pinch of salt. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Pile in the kale and continue to stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until tender.
  6. Stir through the roasted sweet potatoes. Divide the hash among plates and serve.

Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast

Ingredients

150g cream cheese

1 tbsp icing sugar (plus extra to serve)

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 slices thick white toastie bread

50g strawberry jam

150 g fresh strawberries

3 medium eggs

150 ml whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

10g butter

Method

  1. Put the cream cheese in a bowl with the tablespoon of icing sugar and 1 tsp of the vanilla extract. Stir until well combined.
  2. Spread all 4 slices of bread with the strawberry jam and slice the strawberries.
  3. Divide the cream cheese between 2 of the slices of bread and spread to cover the surface, then cover the cream cheese with the strawberry slices. Cover with the 2 remaining slices of bread, jam-side down like a sandwich.
  4. Whisk together the eggs, milk and remaining vanilla extract and put in a shallow dish.
  5. Heat the butter in a large frying pan. Soak the sandwiches in the egg mixture, turning until they are well soaked, then transfer to the frying pan and fry until golden brown on the underside. Turn the sandwiches over and continue frying until golden on the other side.
  6. Remove from the pan and cut into triangles.
  7. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Report from the Hub April 2025

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

Report from the Hub

April 2025

Our Community Library / Hub

Just four years ago, the corner of our village that now buzzes with conversation, laughter and the comforting clink of coffee cups was little more than a tired terrapin building clinging to the last threads of usefulness. It is today a thriving hub of activity – a modern, welcoming space that has become the centre of our community.

Reborn as a Community Library / Hub, it is run by a team of four directors and powered by the unstoppable energy of 30 local volunteers. But it is far more than just a library, it’s a place where stories are shared, friendships are forged and community spirit is alive and kicking.

Step inside and you’ll find a warm, light-filled space where people come not just to borrow books, but to connect. The coffee bar is always busy and wholly welcoming. It’s the kind of place where you pop in for five minutes and end up staying an hour, catching up with volunteers, neighbours or meeting someone new.

The hub pulses with life thanks to a rich programme of activities. There’s a vibrant Welsh language group that’s helping keep our heritage alive, a supportive men’s group that offers connection and camaraderie and a magical weekly preschool storytelling and singalong session that fills the space with giggles and imagination. But that’s just the beginning. You can improve your French in a relaxed and friendly setting, chat with your local PCSOs over a coffee, or come along to one of the many guest talks that spark lively conversation and learning.

The Hub is proud to be dementia-friendly, creating a welcoming and accessible space for all. And for those looking for a bit of sparkle midweek, the Golden Girls session brings together local women for laughter, support, and a good catch-up – all part of a community that looks out for one another. There’s always something going on. It’s no wonder that the Hub has become a testament to what happens when community comes first – when people rally together to build something lasting, meaningful, and joyful.

From modest beginnings to a flourishing future, our community hub isn’t just a building. It’s ours. And it’s thriving.

Heulwen Davies

New books in the Library

Spy Thriller: Final Traitor by Andy McDermott. The mission comes first, you are a desirable asset. Betrayal is punished by death.

Fiction: My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes

Everywhere she turns, her mistakes are waiting. But might they just save her?

Romance: P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

A bittersweet storyline guaranteed to tug on your heartstrings.

Non Fiction: Richard Beauchamp by David Brindley

Medieval England’s Greatest Knight

Childrens: Mermaid Academy – Harper and Splash. Dive into Magic

Report from the Hub

  • Our monthly leaflets are available in the Hub for a full monthly list of activities.
  • Reminder: The Library no longer takes second hand jigsaw puzzles, books or magazines due to lack of space.
  • Please remember that with increasing reliance on technology, we are happy to assist with accessing information on-line. Help is also available from Citizens Advice, Age UK and One Stop Shop.

Future Activities

  • Cuppa with a Coppa – meets on Wednesday 4th June, at 2.00pm in the Hub.
  • Wellbeing Group – meets on Friday 6th June between 2.00pm and 3.00pm in the Hub.

 

 

Take Time To Sit And Enjoy

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

Take Time To Sit And Enjoy

Hope you are all pleased with your gardening efforts so far this year. As June kicks us off into the main flowering season, especially with geums and the first flush of the roses, don’t forget to try and take time to sit and enjoy it when you can. People who are patient will always get good results. May was so warm that Silvia Davies had planted out her summer bedding by the middle of the month. It’s probably best for all of us to follow her lead as she really does know her stuff. Pelargoniums that were bought as plug plants and kept under glass until the end of May, then planted out, will flourish and give us colour until the end of September. Lupins are coming into their own now. If you bought some that were grown by Barry Oliver, they would have been brought up in what is known locally as Barry time, meaning they will take a while to be at their best but will form a lovely display and with a little care will last for ages. If you haven’t cleared the mess left by forget-me-nots, then you will now be inundated with this annual next Spring.

Mulching the bare soil will help retain moisture and if it’s put on a couple of inches thick will slow weeds down considerably. The dry weather had certainly stopped the slugs’ movement, but as soon as we have rain, they will be out in force so be on the lookout. Beer traps work wonderfully even if they are a bit messy. If you are thinking of planting a climber on a boundary, put it on the north side of the garden. Putting these on the south side, means that your neighbour will be enjoying the blooms.

Allotments at Twyn Yr Odyn have never looked so good according to the old folk (Bernard & Colin). This is a great effort from the allotmenteers, especially the new folk. A lot of effort will now go into protecting the crops from pests and diseases. The police team up there put their runner beans in early. This isn’t against the law, but you do have to be careful of cold nights, high winds and young rabbits, who have no respect for authority. Rabbit stew and beans will give you all the energy you need to keep on digging, according to Gareth Lewis.

Take care and happy gardening

Brecon & Llanthony Priory

Brecon 

This was a delightful walk, we parked north of Brecon and took a footpath through the cathedral grounds. The mixed woodland (oak, beech, hazel and alder trees) of Priory Groves borders the river Honddu, and is about a mile long. Birds sang, the river tinkled, the scent of bluebells hung in the air and the sun shone through the branches as we strode along, heavenly.

We emerged into open farmland where the Pen y Fan range came into view dominating the skyline. Heifers showed interest in us and a local farmer drove towards us apparently to check that the two dogs were under control. Unsurprising, as the next field had a bull and cows with their calves. As we travelled northwest a few footpaths proved a challenge but the many spring lambs in varying shades were entertaining and the views fabulous. At the northernmost point of the walk a missing footbridge across the river Honddu forced us to retrace about 1 kilometre to take an alternative route. So, we stopped for lunch on the edge of a field trying to avoid nettles and thorns as we sat.

We took a road west until we were beside the iron age, Pen-y-crug fort, where we climbed a footpath to the top of the fort. We had superb 360o views of Pen y Fan and other hills of the Brecon Beacons and of Brecon lying to the south-east.

A wide grass path led us down into Brecon near Maen-du well. The dogs paddled in muddy water before a brief foray into a clear stream and the humans looked at the stone building around the well. An excellent day’s walking rounded off with a drink in the sunshine at the pub in Libanus.

Walk 7.25m 1125ft. Map OL12

Llanthony Priory

Another beautiful walk, this time in the Black mountains above Llanthony Priory. As we set off, we realised we were sharing the mountain with a few other people! Lots of cars were parked in a field, with a marquee, a police presence and a ‘Finish

Line’. Longtown Mountain Rescue were holding their annual fund raiser with 850 participants! As we climbed, we saw few people, as luckily, our route differed from the event.

Our surroundings were a pastoral idyll, with lush grass, trees in full leaf and ewes with their lambs. The climb was demanding, and we all took breaks to look at the tiny people and vehicles below and to gaze at the beautiful valleys and hills around us. The call of a cuckoo echoed up the valley and we were all reminded of days gone by when we regularly heard it. The Mountain Rescue helicopter flew up and down the Ewyas valley doing circuits until it eventually landed in a field near the priory just as we reached the ridge of the mountain and Offa’s Dyke path.

We were doing our route anticlockwise, and the event participants were going in the opposite direction. We reckoned they were walking further than us and gave way whenever necessary. There was a feeling of spaciousness along the ridge as the Black Mountains spread away from us. This area is spectacularly beautiful, and we enjoyed superb views with a light breeze and sunshine all day long.

As we turned to start our descent, we looked for a moment at the cairn where we had laid a stone in memory of a fellow walker. It was lunchtime and we took ourselves a good distance off the main path to relax. Everyone started to divert off the path towards us, obviously assuming we were part of the event, even though there was no visible path. One woman asked, ‘Is that real?’ referring to a white horse that was stood stationary behind us, staring at the people. Perhaps she was from Milton Keynes?

Hang gliders took off from the mountain opposite and rode the thermals to come over Offa’s Dyke. We joked that maybe they could give us a lift down the mountain. Now we had a steep descent, the path was clear as bracken had been cut back. Stone markers pointed us to Capel y Ffin as we descended and hawthorn trees heavy with white blossom dotted the hillside, but I had to keep my eye on the path or risk vertigo.

Arriving at the road that runs along the Vale of Ewyas we discovered that the road to Capel y Ffin was closed to all but walkers due to a landslide. We headed towards Llanthony enjoying the warm afternoon and the beauty of the valley.

Jams were inevitable as Llanthony traffic met other vehicles on the narrow road, but we had a cunning plan and headed for the Crown at Pantygelli where the refreshments were excellent.

Walk 7.3m 1300ft. Map OL13

Blooming Wheelbarrow Competition

Saturday 5th July, 11am – 2pm
Wenvoe Church Hall

How imaginative can you be with a wheelbarrow? Blooming Wheelbarrows is a new concept for Wenvoe suggested by Tony Hodge.

Plant up a wheelbarrow with flowers or make a fairy garden or whatever appeals to you. It doesn’t have to be a wheelbarrow, you can use a bucket if you don’t have a wheelbarrow. There will be a small entry fee of £1 per wheelbarrow and 50p per bucket. Open to both adults and children; there will be small prizes for the winners.

Inside the Church Hall there will be hot and cold drinks and homemade biscuits for sale and tables set out for you to have a chat.

If you are interested in taking part please contact Mike on 07704340840 or Glenys on 07922109721 so that we can gauge the level of interest.

Thursday Walkers – A Farewell –

 

THURSDAY WALKERS

– A FAREWELL –

 

In September 1995 I had the pleasure of leading the first ever Wenvoe Walkers group.

At first my walks were demanding and wide ranging. As the years have gone by they have become a Thursday Walk centred around enjoyment of the company of like-minded people AND a coffee at some point. The walk has always been advertised as about 5 miles though often it has been more. That was psychological as some of the group always felt “I can walk 5 miles “but might not have wanted to tackle 7 or 8 miles which they did!

There has also been a comment that Bert’s Thursday Walk always has good weather. Not true. It has rained on 3 occasions! Anyway, I have always said that I only choose the day, it is the Good Lord that decides on the weather.

I had intended to complete 30 years of leading before retiring so my last walk would have been this September. However, I have some commitments over the next months which makes it difficult to fix dates. Therefore, my May Walk, which covered some of the first walk I led, was my last walk as leader. I have thoroughly enjoyed my years of leading and the company of the many people that have accompanied me over the many years.

Best wishes,

Bert

 

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