Tag: June 2016

The Village Show 2016

Entry for the Wenvoe Village Show are limited to residents of the Wenvoe Community (Wenvoe, Parc y Gwenfo, Twyn-y-Odyn, St Lythans, Dyffryn) and children who attend the village school. Anyone who has regular connections with a village organisation but resides outside the community boundary and would like to submit an entry should contact the organisers. Contact via wenvoescoutgroup@googlemail.com or any of the section leaders.

The maximum number of entries per person in any one category is two. Previously entered items are acceptable if they failed to win a prize previously. Full details will be published in the September ‘What’s On’ 2016 Categories  

Fruit & Vegetable – best examples of,

1.  Apples – 3 cookers
2.  Apples – 3 eaters,  
3.  Tomatoes (standard size)- 3 same type
4.  Tomatoes (cherry) – 3 same type
5.  Other fruit – minimum of 5
6.  Beetroot – three  
7.  Carrots – three  
8.  Onions – three  
9.  Potatoes – three  
10. Runner bean – three  
11. Shallots – three  
12. Chillies – three
13. Any other vegetable – One (unless smaller than a medium sized onion then 3 items should be submitted for judging)

Vegetables – whoppers

14. Runner bean – longest
15. Cucumber – longest
16. Marrow – biggest
17. Onion – largest
18 Potato – largest
19. Misshapen vegetable – funniest shape- a caption must also be provided.

Culinary

20. 4 Scones
21. 6 Welsh cakes
22. Fruit Cake (own recipe)
23. Quiche – own choice
24. Victoria jam sponge 
25. Lemon Drizzle Cake
26. Men Only – Plain vanilla fudge, 8 cubes  
27. Bread (Handmade)
28. Bread (Machine made)
29. Fruit Jam – sweet
30. Fruit jam – bitter
31. Jelly Preserve
32. Marmalade  
33. Chutney (any type)
34. Eggs (home produced) – 3 matched  
35. Homemade drink. Soft or alcoholic – beer, wine etc. 

Craft  

36. Tied bunch of flowers from your garden
37. Best house plant
38. Handwriting (adult) – 1 to 35 of the Village Show categories
39. Needlepoint/cross-stitch etc  
40. Knitted or cross stitch item
41. Painting/Drawing
42. A wooden craft item.
43 Any other craft item.

Photography – unmounted and no larger than 7” x 5”. Do not write on reverse side please.

44. Tree or trees
45. A four legged friend  
46. Water
47. Family  
48. Circular

Children’s Section – all items MUST be produced by the child

49. Home baked – favourite cake.  
50. Home baked – favourite biscuits.  
51. Drawing or painting of an animal.
52. Handwriting – an extract from my favourite story book (about 25 words).
53. Craft – junk model.
54. Photographs – "My best picture taken in the last year". (The picture must have been taken by the child.)
55. Pre-school child – Piece of art or craft.

Limerick      

56. The limerick – first line must be:-  ‘The was an old dog …….. 

Bluebells

It has been a pretty good year for Bluebells and we are well blessed in the parish for the number of woods that are carpeted with them. With over half of the world's population of Bluebells being in the UK it is vital that we look after them but they are under threat from a number of directions. In the past many woods were stripped of bluebells by people selling them on to gardeners although with the current legal penalties on uprooting the bulbs this may have diminished recently. Then there is development either by removing woodland or planting it with conifers as bluebells struggle under the permanent shade of evergreens. However, possibly the major threat is from the Spanish Bluebell which is very commonly planted in Wenvoe.

The two species, ours and the Spanish hybridise easily and the resulting plant is no longer our native bluebell. The two do not have to be growing close together – all it needs is a pollinating insect to fly from one to the other for hybridisation to occur. As we are surrounded by woods with bluebells all of these are at risk from the Iberian interlopers which are well within a short bee flight. So how do you tell them apart?

The native Bluebell is curved at the top and the flowers tend to grow on one side of the stem. The Spanish Bluebell is bigger and more vigorous (which is why gardeners like them) and the flowers grow on all sides of the upright stem. Our native species has a distinct, sweetish scent; the Spanish virtually no smell and the leaves are much broader. The native Bluebell tends to be a much deeper blue colour. Is it an issue?

A survey by Plantlife found that one in six woods in Britain now contains hybrid plants. What can you do to help matters? If you have Spanish Bluebells the only thing you can do is to get rid of them and that does not mean driving out and throwing them out of the car window. That is precisely how so many clumps are appearing by the roadside. They can go out with the green waste collected by the Council as the heat in the composting process effectively kills the bulb and seed. And why not plant the native bluebell? They can be readily obtained online from reputable suppliers and can be bought as bulbs from Garden Centres.

The Wildlife Group has planted quite a few in the orchards that have been bought locally and experience has been that it is better to plant bulbs in late Summer and Autumn than potgrown plants in the Spring as the latter seem to be particularly favoured by small mammals who love to dig them up.  

Library Update

WENVOE COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Users of the Library will be aware that our volunteers are now attending the Library alongside the Vale librarian for most of its opening times. This is to maintain their skills following training a couple of months ago and familiarise themselves with procedures and you, the borrowers. The opening hours remain as always, though the Vale have been unable to provide staff on at at least one occasion so the library has been open slightly less than normal. As a reminder these times are:
Tuesday 1000-1300
Wednesday 1000-1200 and 1500-1700
Saturday 0900-1300


We still need more volunteers, particularly for Saturday mornings. To make the Saturday shift more attractive for volunteers we are going to make it two two-hour slots (9-11 and 11-1), If you are interested talk to the librarian and complete and application form.


At the time of writing there still isn't an agreed date for the Handover. This is also the case in the other libraries similarly affected in the Vale but things are moving, albeit slowly.
Please support the Book Sale on 3rd September in the Community Centre!


Alex McDonald
alexgrattan01@yahoo.co.uk

Pontneddfechan and Penderyn

We started from Craig y Ddinas a towering stone wall which translates as ‘Fortress Rock’. The car park was busy and groups of adventurers were donning wet suits and crash helmets ready for ‘gorge walking’ activities in this area famous for its beautiful waterfalls.

We kept to the southern side of the Afon Mellte as we set off and stayed on the lower path so that we could enjoy the sights and sounds of the teeming water below us. The valley was strewn with bluebells, was sheltered from any wind and felt warm even though the day was fresh.

After a short while we came to a bridge, with an excellent view of the river which led to the Gunpowder works. The Glyn-Neath Gunpowder Works, or Powder Mills, were established in 1857 to produce blasting powder (known as black powder) for use in coal mining and limestone quarrying. The works operated until 1931. It may seem strange to place such a factory in a steep valley but the location was actually well suited to the dangerous process of manufacturing gunpowder.

The site was large and remote, stretching over a mile and a half along the north bank of the River Mellte, with room to create plenty of space between each factory building to ensure that any explosions were localized. Safety was paramount; employees at the works wore leather slippers fastened with wooden pegs over their shoes and boots. Trousers were not allowed pockets or turn-ups to prevent grit to be carried into the works in case it caused sparks.

The river provided energy to turn waterwheels etc. and the raw materials required were sourced in the vicinity and moved upriver on a tram road. This tram road is used today as a level footpath, ‘The Powder Trail’ allowing visitors to explore the remains of the works.

Moving back across the bridge we climbed out of the valley and continued upriver until we arrived above the huge waterfall which is Sgwyd yr Eira – ‘fall of snow’.

We descended the steep and uneven path and a few people walked behind the waterfall to look at the world through a wall of water, very refreshing and exciting. The space behind the waterfall has been created by water eroding the soft rock behind it and there may be loose rocks so it isn’t advisable to stay too long.

As we came to the head of the valley we heard our first cuckoo of the year and as we emerged into open countryside its call became loud and clear. Then the terrain changed and we found ourselves stepping across tussocks in the moor trying not to dip into any of the waterlogged areas or turn an ankle (boots really earn their keep at times like these) but also enjoying some gentle climbing and the sunshine.

After a while we found ourselves in a very boggy area and although most of the group successfully negotiated it someone at the back (yours truly) stepped on a tussock which promptly descended at a rate of knots leaving her with one leg up to the knee in brackish water, and falling forward onto the peaty bog. A nearby friend quickly grabbed her arm and helped her out, one leg now soaking wet from knee to toes and the other knee soaked. As the sun was hot the trousers were soon drying.

The path was easier near Penderyn, although tempted to stop, we walked past the Tavern Llew Goch and arrived at St Cynog’s church. It has a distinctive weather vane that looked like a peacock but on closer inspection is a cockerel.

#a JUNE W1 IMG_4864Lunch was in a nearby field and we could hear a peacock calling. Lunch took a little longer than usual as a certain person changed into spare socks (carried for years but never used before) and spread various items out to dry in the sun. It was a very pleasant spot and our view splendid.

We were now on the final leg of the walk going generally west. Our route took us around Penderyn resevoir and through Trebanog Isaf. Then we came across a bunkhouse with a tap for people to wash their bicycles and next to it a brilliant gate made from old bicycles.

After crossing a very steep gully, with slippery stone – a challenge for many of us, once again helped by friends- and an open area we made our way back to arrive at Craig y Ddinas once more.

A lovely day’s walking, though a bit wet underfoot at times we clocked up 8 miles and 1500ft.

Tuesday Group – Police and Crime Commissioner

There was a change in our programme for our final meeting of the session and instead of the AGM we had a talk from Mike Baker who, at the time, was a candidate for the post of Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales.

Mike was a serving police officer for nearly 30 years taking early retirement because of a spinal injury.He attended university in his spare time gaining a business degree at UWIC followed by a post graduate diploma in law and then qualified as a barrister at Cardiff University. He later qualified as a solicitor and now practices in Cardiff.

As a police officer he was involved in community groups in both Cardiff and the Rhondda and then as a lawyer dealt directly with representatives of the courts, the Probation Service, Crown Prosecution Service and the Victim Support Agency.

Mike then clarified for us the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner, a topic of which we had very little knowledge. These duties include having responsibility to hold the police to account on behalf of the public. This means holding the Chief Constable to account for the performance of the Force Area’s Officers and staff. He would also provide a link between the police and communities, working to turn the desires and ambitions of the public in terms of policing and crime reduction into action.

The Police and Crime Commissioner receives all the funding relating to policing and reducing crime and in consultation with the Chief Constable is responsible for how it is spent, He must also set strategic direction and aims for the police through the Police and Crime Plan. He can also hire and fire the Chief Constable when necessary as long as the relevant legal requirements are met.

Wider responsibilities include responsibility for reducing crime and a duty to deliver better value for money and improve the effectiveness of the police. A lively question and answer session followed and by the end the group felt that they had a much better understanding of the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner.

At the election two days later, Alun Michael was chosen to be the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales.

Playgroup News

For all parents wishing to enrol their children from September 2016, a ‘drop in’ session will be held from 3:30pm on Thursday 30th June.

We have amended our registration to register children from the age of 2 years and 4 months into the setting. For those who will be attending Gwenfo Nursery in September, we can offer extended care either by: walking the children from Playgroup at 12:55 for their afternoon session at Nursery – 5 days per week – Monday to Friday collecting children at 11:20am from Nursery and across into playgroup until 3:15pm on a Monday and Thursday only at this time.

We will send more details of further planned open mornings to be held in September via July and August What’s On.

In the meantime you can keep up to date with all the changes on our website: wenvoeplaygroup.co.uk or for more information email wenvoeplaygroup

Village Whist

We were delighted to welcome three new members this month: Viv, Mike & Lynette. And despite having never played the game before, Mike went on to win first price! Well done! Second gent was Trevor and the winning ladies were Marian, first, and Margaret, second.

Congratulations to all! Hope we see you all back next month.

Leisure Group

On April 20th, Mr. Philip Davies, who has had a lifelong experience in Amateur Dramatics, gave us an interesting talk on the many things that go wrong on stage, such as lights that don’t switch on, and props not where they should be, and the way the actors have coped with the situations.

Margaret called Bingo for us again on the 27th, and on May 4th, Mr. Anthony Walton, talked to us about "The Birds in our Gardens".We saw slides of many of our native birds, some of which are, sadly, in decline.

This was followed on May 11th with a Beetle Drive, which was won by Shirley. We have quite a busy June programme, commencing on the 1st with a return visit by Pam and Cled Lewis, who will recall their holiday in Namibia. This is followed on June 8th by a talk, with slides, by Mr. Alan Salisbury about "The Durango & Silverton Railroad in the Rockies.

We will celebrate the Queen's birthday on June 15th, and on June 22nd Mr. Peter Finch will give us a talk on "Edging the Estuary". Lastly on 29th June Mrs Polly Davies will talk on Calamity Jane.

As always new members and visitors are welcome.