Month: July 2025
August Church News
August Church News
Greetings to you all from the congregation at St. Mary’s Church.
A warm welcome awaits you at our service on a Sunday morning at 9.30 am, but if you cannot make it log on to our website https://www.ipcamlive.com/stmaryschurch. We know many far and wide do log on, including our friends in the Glenburnie Care Home, and we consider this as a part of our mission to spread the Good News of Jesus in the world. Give it a try. You will be pleasantly surprised.
July has been a relatively quiet time in church with many enjoying their holiday at home or abroad. That does not mean our door is closed. We have hosted three funerals during the month. Each one was different to the other in many ways, but the same message is preached, that of hope. For Christians death is not the ending of a life but a beginning to a new life in the glorious heavenly kingdom that Jesus told us all about. It is natural to grieve for the departed, but a new day dawns and life goes on. Think on the words of this well-known Easter hymn
The strife is o’er, the battle done;
the victory of life is won;
the song of triumph has begun.
Alleluia!
The powers of death have done their worst,
but Christ their legions has dispersed.
Let shouts of holy joy outburst.
Alleluia!
Our dearly departed are not forgotten. Week by week we remember their passing a year after the event. We understand that a formal church funeral is not for everyone, and that Direct Cremation is gaining in popularity. Vicar Lyndon is only too ready to advise during difficult times when decisions have to be made to say farewell to a loved one.
The month may have been a quiet one, but there are always housekeeping jobs to be carried out. We have a very large safe in the Tower vestry that holds all our records. These comprise Registers of baptism, marriage and burials for Wenvoe and St. Lythans, service registers, and other misc. documents relating to church activities over the years. Many are facsimile copies of original registers deposited at Glamorgan Archives, and copies provided for use in the parishes. They have now been listed giving the years they cover dating from the 16th century. Parish registers are fascinating records of events many years ago and were authorised by Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister in 1535; there was a great deal of suspicion that Cromwell was bringing in a tax for his master on the sacraments of the church.
Registers began to be compiled for every “wedding, christening and burying” as the Act states. At the beginning the priest or churchwarden obtained a sheet of paper and ruled it into three columns for the three records to be written up. In 1597 a scheme for a “more careful keeping of parish registers” was introduced with entries now made on parchment, and copies were to be made of the old register previously written on paper. Our Wenvoe register appears to have been copied at this time. These loose sheets were then folded and placed in the parish chest, where over the years they were often attacked by mice and damp. Soon these loose sheets were bound into books and later legislation saw the introduction of preprinted register books which are much easier to read. For family history buffs they are an excellent source of historical facts.
Visitors to the church often ask when it was built, and who built it. The stock reply is we do not know, but we can safely say that there was a church on this site back in the 13th cent. Which means that the people of Wenvoe have worshipped here for 800 years and that the ancient Yew Tree possibly predates the building. At some point in time the church was financed by the introduction of a Church Rate levied on the landowners, on individual cottages or fields, the ale house and every farm in the Parish. The actual rate was fixed at the annual Easter vestry meeting and in Wenvoe we have records from 1829 -1870 when the amount of a penny farthing – 5d was levied. The amount raised was used to pay the parish clerk, see to the purchase of candles and coals for the stove, washing the surplice and the purchase of bottles of wine for the communion. Even the killing of polecats appears in the expenditure items. White liming of the interior was a regular feature, as were repairs and cleaning of the churchyard. The amount on the collection plate was not used for the church but went to supporting the poor and aged of the parish. The priest’s stipend came from the Tythe also levied on the parish or from his private means. The church Rate was finally abolished by an act of parliament in 1868, to the great satisfaction of the non-conformists who objected to paying a tax when their own chapels were self-financed by their own membership.
From the Wenvoe record of church rates, one year of 1860 stands out when the amount collected was increased by subscriptions from the wealthier parishioners to £64, 16 shillings, 10d and a farthing. Was that the year that the soaring Gothic chancel arch was raised, to replace the old crude low arch similar to the entrance to the tower?
More news next month of solar panels, alternative means of heating the church and renovations in the Church Hall.
Parry
A Very Windy Friars Point
Wenvoe Village Show
WENVOE VILLAGE SHOW AT THE CHURCH HALL
SATURDAY 6th SEPTEMBER
This is Wenvoe’s own local show and offers an excellent opportunity for some friendly, fun competition. Will your fruit and veg be the talk of the village? Is your baking a triumph? You don’t have to be an expert, you just need to enter. The show is limited to entries from people who live in the Wenvoe community (Wenvoe, Twyn-yr-Odyn, St Lythans and Dyffryn) and children who are residents of Wenvoe or attend the village school.
Entries to be registered at St Mary’s Church Hall between 8.30 and 11 am on Saturday morning (for those who have other commitments on Saturday morning there will be a limited time slot to register entries between 6 – 7.30pm on Friday evening 5th September but this will NOT include culinary entries). The hall will then be closed between 11 am and 1.30 pm. for the judging to take place. The public will be welcome to come and view the exhibits between 1.30pm and 4pm. From 3pm – 4pm there will be a chance to sample the culinary entries for yourself. There will be a good quality raffle, and this will be drawn at 3.30pm. If you have a prize that you could give we should be very grateful.
If you wish to reclaim your entries they should be collected between 4 and 4.30pm but please note that items entered in the culinary categories will be offered for public tasting and will not be eligible for collection unless there is any left at 4pm. Entry fee – £1 for the first entry and 50p for all subsequent entries per person. You may enter as many sections as you wish but the maximum number of entries per person in any one section of a category is two. Items entered in previous Wenvoe Village Shows are acceptable but only if they have previously failed to win a prize. If you would like to help on the day or have any queries, please speak to Mike or Glenys Tucker.
Weather permitting there will be refreshments available outside all day.
The categories are listed below.
Exhibit Categories
A Very Hot Day at Cosmeston
Valeways Walks August 2025
The Sites Are In Tip-Top Condition.
Wenvoe Wildlife Group
The Sites Are In Tip-Top Condition.
Activities this month included strimming the Welsh Orchard, continuing to clear the Upper Orchid Field and working on the Community Orchard. We attended the Playing Fields Open Day but had very few visitors to the Community Orchard – not surprising as the weather 
was pretty miserable. The willows on the Community Orchard are due to be cut back at the end of the month but they will continue to provide a screen at the northern end of the orchard. Most of the fruit seems to be doing well and the Shepherds Bullace is already being harvested by enthusiastic jam-makers. We still get asked where the orchards are so you can pick up a leaflet showing their locations from the Tuckers’ noticeboard dispenser outside 29 Vennwood Close.
We were delighted to hear that our 7 sites had all passed the Green Flag assessment. Another independent vote of confidence in the quality and accessibility of the nature reserves. Thanks are due to the members of the group, landowners and residents who aim to keep the sites in tip-top condition.
June & July Events of Wenvoe W.I.
WOMEN’S INSTITUTE
June & July Events of Wenvoe W.I.
uneIn June we welcomed Ann Lush MBE from Penarth who gave us a very interesting talk about how cakes are used to celebrate occasions throughout the year, along with how they are made. She also told us about the filming of her garden for a future Gardeners’ World programme which had taken place that day.
On July 3rd Viv Truran entertained us again with tales of her travels, gave us some information on antiques that members had brought in and described how she has become an Instagram influencer. This was followed by a strawberries and cream supper.
The following day we visited Ty Hafan, our chosen charity for the year, for a very informative tour around the gardens and hospice, showing us the facilities available for the children and their families. We were also treated to cakes and drinks provided by the volunteer gardening team.
We are not meeting in August but are going out for a meal together.
A member of staff from Ty Hafan will be the speaker for our September 4th meeting and we will be having a raffle as our final fundraising event.
Visitors and prospective members are always welcome to our meetings, which are held in the Church Hall at 7pm on the first Thursday of the month. Please ring 07881853032 for further details
Carol Charlson (President)
Vale Foodbank Update
VALE FOODBANK UPDATE
Thank you to all those in Wenvoe who have donated to the Vale Foodbank, especially those who donate frequently. The boxes in St. Mary’s Church porch are emptied regularly and the contents taken to the Foodbank warehouse each week. There is usually a car boot full and in addition money to donate from those who find it difficult to carry food stuff. If you wish to donate money in cash or by cheque written out to the Vale Foodbank it can be posted in a sealed envelope in the Church porch letter box.
All of the local Foodbanks in the Vale continue to be accessed regularly. In June 292 referral vouchers for help included 399 adults and 201 children. Of these 73 households were referred for the first time. Regular donations ensure the Foodbank can continue to support individuals and families. Unfortunately, the number of donations has reduced; for example in June 18,265 kgs of food was distributed with only 17,216 kgs coming in. As the school holi-days now begin, we are reminded that the require-ments for the Foodbank continues at a pace.
Current items in short supply include; Tinned meat for hot meals and sandwiches, tinned vegetables, long life milk and fruit juice, tinned rice pudding, snacks and instant foods for people who do not have access to cookers.
Jude Billingham
Blooming Wheelbarrow Results
BLOOMING WHEELBARROW RESULTS
A huge thank you to all of you who turned out for the Blooming Wheelbarrow Competition in the Church Hall on Saturday 5th July, despite the wet weather. We had 13 entries, all very different and all very imaginative.
Adult individual wheelbarrow – Tony Hodge
Adult group wheelbarrow – The Bush Trimmers.
Container/small wheelbarrow – Linda Edwards
Children’s wheelbarrow – William, Poppy, Frances and Georgia.
Thanks to all of our stalwart volunteers who make these events possible, and of course massive thanks to all the entrants, whether individuals or groups.
Many thanks to Tony Frost for doing the difficult job of judging and to The Bush Trimmers for giving back their prize to be donated as a prize for the Wenvoe Village Show Raffle. What a lovely lot!