Volunteer of The Year
We were delighted to hear that Mervyn Greenwood was runner-up in the Wales Volunteer of the Year awards judged by Keep Wales Tidy. It is a great achievement, particularly bearing in mind how many hundreds, possibly thousands, of volunteers there are in Wales. The judges commented: 'The application clearly shows the amazing work Mervyn does at Wenvoe Wildlife Group and his passion for the environment and the area'. Mervyn was presented with a certificate from Keep Wales Tidy and vouchers by the Wildlife Group.
Continuing our interest in Lichens we arranged for a survey to be carried out of the Lichens down at Goldsland Farm which we intend to be the basis of a Lichen Trail around the area. This is a very specialised subject and we were very pleased that Tracey Lovering from Plantlife could fit us into her busy schedule. We have now completed the programme of activities and purchases with the generous grant from Tescos. This has provided us with noticeboards, benches, arbours, tools, an orchard, wildflowers, bee hotels, hedgehog homes, nest boxes, raised beds, grass-cutting machines and strimmers, plants, remote cameras – to mention just a few.
This has been our best year for fruit from the orchards including a good selection of apples (possible around 50 kgs), quite a few plums and damsons, a handful of pears and the usual crop of medlars. If you try out any of the fruit let us know what you think – personal preferences can vary but any feedback we get is useful. Our fifth orchard will be planted down at Goldsland soon and we have heard that Dyffryn Gardens is going ahead with their new orchard in the coming months.