Month: May 2025

Report from the Hub May 2025

WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB

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

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

Report from the Hub

May 2025

New books are in the Library again!

You are Here, David Nicholls : Marie and Michael find themselves alone on the most epic of walks and on the precipice of a new friendship

Long Island, Colm Tobin : “It occurred to him that he really wanted to ask if she had thought much about him over the years”

The Life Impossible, Matt Haig : A beautiful novel full of life affirming wonder and imagination.

Mr Einsteins’ Secretary, Matthew Reilly : Hanna Fischer is catapulted into a new and extraordinary life, as a secretary, a scientist, a sister and a spy.

The Sience Factory, Bridget Collins : A delicately woven novel with an utterly original premise, it ensnared me from the very first page.

Children’s Fiction

The Case of the Poisonous Pigs, Nick Sheridan : Three unlikely detectives, one big mystery.

Report from the Hub

Along with the other Vale libraries and Community Libraries, our Hub has been designated a warm space, so come on in for a warm, coffee and a chat.

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.

Look out, coming soon. Easter Chicks and Dinosaurs (with chocolate egg) at a cost of £1.50 each

Our Library’s Spring Raffle will take place in May 2025 – watch this space!

 

Future Activities

 Cuppa with a Coppa – will meet on a Wednesday in April 2025 at 2 pm in the Hub TBA

 Wellbeing Group – will meet on a Friday in April 2025 between 2 pm and 3 pm in the Hub – TBA

 Our talk in May is ‘Wonderful things about bees’ by Professor R Rickard. Tickets will be available after Easter in the Hub.

 

Very Early Notice

Hay Festival 2025 dates: 22 May – 1 June 2025

Programmes have been sent for so will be available in the Library for perusing. Keep watching for further information in What’s On.

 

 

Wildlife Junior Workshop A Great Success

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Wildlife Junior Workshop A Great Success

Our first Wildlife Junior Workshop for 7-11 year olds was a great success. Held at the Elizabethan Orchard, it was fully booked and all who booked turned up and enjoyed a sunny session, labelling the fruit trees, painting pebbles and toasting marshmallows. Our thanks to the organisers for making it happen and to Robert Reader who owns the land for facilitating it. Forest School leaders Angela Peterken and Claire Newland of Wild Thymes thoroughly enjoyed working with the local children, helping them to connect with all the natural wonders in the Orchard. For more ideas on connecting children to our natural world take a look at their Facebook page, Wild Thymes. Our second workshop takes place on 8th June.

If you fancy brushing up on your skills at identifying birds why not join our Bird Walk which takes place at Goldsland Farm on Saturday 3rd May starting at 9.30am. Led by bird and wildlife experts Rob and Linda Nottage, the walk will cover 2-3 miles and take in a variety of habitats including fields, orchard and Watercress Beds. Accompanied children welcome as long as they can walk a few miles. No dogs please as we shall be going into sensitive areas, and this is a working dairy farm.

Visitors to the Community Orchard on the Playing Fields will have been dismayed to find our noticeboard and bee hotel have been burnt to the ground by vandals. A police report has been made with the incident number 2500116669. If you saw anything suspicious on the evening of Friday 11th April at the Playing Fields please contact the South Wales Police

 

 

Pull-Up The Forget-Me-Nots

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

Pull-Up The Forget-Me-Nots

Before anything else, pull-up the forget-me-nots, to stop heavy self-seeding and reduce spreading next year. They look awful if you allow them to die back. Treat roses for black spot at the first signs of this disease. Tie in the climbing roses as they put a spurt on, also support the bush roses in readiness for the expected heavy and numerous blooms. Prune the spring flowering shrubs as soon as their blooms fade, to allow for good seasonal growth and flowering next Spring. Trim back the aubrieta after flowering to encourage a second bloom.

Take cuttings of pelargoniums and fuchsia as they will propagate easily at this time of year. We have a nationwide problem with fuchsias at the present, because of fuchsia gall mite. Removing affected parts helps but this is not a cure. Some gardeners have given up on them.

We all know how tiresome weeding is, but it has and always will be an absolutely essential activity. The planting up of hanging baskets is a job for May. These displays will always do better if you can keep them in a greenhouse or covered up at night until the end of the month.

Watering is becoming an increasing problem as we are having longer dry spells, using the washing up water will have no detrimental effect on plants. Placing water butts alongside down pipes, will help enormously towards saving tap water use.

On the allotments, gardeners are busy trying to keep up with the new season’s growth. Barry H has been watering every day to keep his well tendered plants healthy. On another plot first year apple trees are having the blossom removed to strengthen the young trees, which will give a better harvest in the coming years.

Protecting crops is a demanding and essential task especially with young plants and early cropping varieties. Netting is efficient but must be done diligently to stop birds being trapped inside. Mice seem to be the hardest to overcome, they will without doubt eat your strawberries the night before you’ve decided to pick them. Young runner bean plants are a magnet for pests. Other than having 24- hour security, you just need a bit of luck. All the effort is always worthwhile and that’s shown by the folk who love their plots.

Come along to the Tucker’s VE80 Wartime Plant Sale on Saturday 10 May in the Church Hall. Buy some lovely plants, try some wartime recipe food and dress in clothes of the era. And of course, buy raffle tickets in aid of Wenvoe Wildlife Group.

Take care and happy gardening

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