\n\t \n<\/p>\n
\n\t![\"Green](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/SEPT-Sue-Green-Flag-2016.jpg?resize=300%2C225\" "\\"\\"")
The photo shows Sue Hoddell receiving our Green Flag awards at a ceremony for Vale of Glamorgan winners. We have decided that our fourth entry next year will be the Welsh orchard near Maes y Felin. This is our largest orchard and includes fruit trees of Welsh origin. If you would like to be involved with the development of this orchard please contact the Wildlife Group.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tA number of people have mentioned that they are not clear on where our community orchards, woodlands and meadow are situated so we shall be featuring each of them in turn starting with the Upper Orchid Field.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tFirst where is it? Also known locally as the Sledging Field it is midway between Wenvoe and Twyn-yr- Odyn and can be approached by footpath from either end. From Wenvoe go round Walston Road until you come to the sharp turn at the northern end and follow the public footpath and Upper Orchid Field signs through woodland. Cross a road which is used by lorries filling Whitehall Quarry and the Upper Orchid Field is the other side of the gate. From Twyn-yr-Odyn cross the road to the Quarrymens’ Tribute and follow the new public access footpath which brings you into the top of the Upper Orchid Field. There are other footpaths leading into the field if you look at a map but most people use the two described here.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat is it? The Upper Orchid Field is a traditional meadow of 4-5 acres covered in wildflowers, not least orchids, and with a high concentration of wildlife. In Britain we have lost most of our wildflower meadows and with them the insects, birds and small mammals that are associated with them. It is one of very few left near Cardiff. There are paths around the site, noticeboards with information and features such as Molluscopolis where you can find out about snails and slugs. It is owned by the Vale of Glamorgan Council (VoGC) and managed under licence by the Wenvoe Wildlife Group. The licence obliges the Council to cut the field every year but since 2014 it has been a victim of budget cuts and we have relied on the help of local farmer Robert Reader to get it mown. If this was not done it would revert to woodland, scrub and bramble which was very much the state it was becoming when we first became involved just under 10 years ago.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tYou will also hear references to the Lower Orchid Field. As you emerge from the bottom of the Upper Field heading back towards Wenvoe this is the field to your left running alongside the quarry access road. It is also owned by but is not managed by anyone although a hay cut is often taken. There are no public rights of way through it although a path down the southern boundary is often walked.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Upper Orchid Field can be accessed at any time and visitors are most welcome. If you are new to Wenvoe why not wander over and take a look. If you would like to get involved with conservation work either here or at our community orchards get in touch with the Wenvoe Wildlife Group. For more information look at our website www.wenvoewildlifegroup.co.uk or Facebook (Wenvoe Wildlife Group).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Green Flag Award Ceremony The photo shows Sue Hoddell receiving our Green Flag awards at a ceremony for Vale of Glamorgan winners. We have decided that our fourth entry next year will be the Welsh orchard near Maes y Felin. This is our largest orchard and includes fruit trees of Welsh origin. If you would like to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-bu","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3529,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3529","url_meta":{"origin":712,"position":0},"title":"Orchard News for July","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th July 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 We have managed to get all four of our sites accepted as having achieved the Green Flag standard so The Upper Orchid Field, Community Orchard, Elizabethan Orchard and now the Welsh Orchard will be proudly flying their Green Flag pennants. To put this achievement in context we are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6259,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6259","url_meta":{"origin":712,"position":1},"title":"Six Green Flag Awards","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th July 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Six Green Flag Awards Six Green Flag awards was our tally for this year putting us well ahead of any other village in the UK and with more awards than most towns. The Green Flag Award programme is delivered in Wales by environmental charity, Keep Wales Tidy, with support from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Picture2-LR.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15798,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15798","url_meta":{"origin":712,"position":2},"title":"The Sites Are In Tip-Top Condition.","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th July 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for August 2025"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for August 2025","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=424"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12087,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12087","url_meta":{"origin":712,"position":3},"title":"\u00a0Seven Green Flag Awards","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th August 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group \u00a0Seven Green Flag Awards for 2022!! This is a tribute to all involved with the community sites. The landowners - The Reader family and Vale of Glamorgan Council - make it possible. Without the land we would not have the orchards and meadows for everyone to enjoy.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Picture7j-300x242.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4653,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4653","url_meta":{"origin":712,"position":4},"title":"The Orchard Walk","author":"Alan Williams","date":"26th May 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Improving weather has helped us to get out and about and we were very lucky to have ideal walking conditions for our Orchard walk which took place as part of the Vale of Glamorgan Walking Festival. 32 walkers (plus 3 dogs) joined us for the day coming from all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":599,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=599","url_meta":{"origin":712,"position":5},"title":"August 2016","author":"Alan Williams","date":"10th August 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Green Flag Award \u00a0 We have heard that all three of our applications for a Green Flag award have been successful so the Upper Orchid Field, Community Orchard and Elizabethan Orchard will soon be displaying their award certificates. We have not yet seen the results for the rest of Wales\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":713,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712\/revisions\/713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}