Fire in Local Scrapyard

 

A large fire broke out at a metal scrap yard in Neath Port Talbot on Saturday evening. South Wales Fire said it received the first of dozens of calls about 19:20 BST reporting the blaze near the the A465 at Skewen. Three fire engines were  in attendance at the scene but there was not considered to be a risk to life.

images and live footage by Mike Davies

 you tube link

https://youtu.be/OYK-XMue-Ds

What’s Ynysfach W.I been up to lately?

Church Hall ready for St. David’s Day

March began with a trip to Abergavenny for a little retail therapy and a browse around the wonderful indoor market. We set off amid snow flurries and a bitingly cold wind – some of us wondering if perhaps we would be better off staying at home! However we braved the elements and had a thoroughly enjoyable day – shopped ’til we dropped, enjoyed a good lunch and back home in time for tea!

March is also the month in which we take part in the annual skittles competition between four local WIs. Our first match was against Catwg WI and it turned into a real nail-biter! We won the first round comfortably, we narrowly lost the second leg – so all was even as we broke for refreshments. Suitably refuelled we began the final round, all went well up to the last , then Catwg’s last player need to score more than seven to win the game! The first ball missed…….the second knocked three skittles down…….the last ball of the match scored five! Shame,  we had really enjoyed the evening but that was the end of the competition for us for another year. Catwg went on to play Glynneath in the final when Glynneath won the trophy.

Our monthly meeting in March is always our Welsh night when the hall is decorated to celebrate St David’s Day. We had a lovely supper of leek and potato soup made by Maureen followed by Bara Brith and Welshcakes made by members of the committee. We enjoyed a game of ‘handbag bingo’ and some comical Welsh stories read by June. We rounded the evening off with a rousing sing-song which wouldn’t have disgraced the Millennium Stadium!

 

Waiting for the singing to begin

In April we had a trip to the Grand Theatre to see the musical ‘Evita’ which we very much enjoyed.

We were entertained later in the month by Catwg WI who had organised a concert in St Catwg’s Church, Cadoxton , for the local WI groups. The group of young singers called Allegro performed many songs from the shows which we all enjoyed very much, it was lovely to see youngsters really relishing the chance to entertain. All the money raised by the concert was donated to Ty Hafen.

Our speaker at our April meeting was Clare Revera from ‘Out to Learn Willow’. She gave a talk and slideshow describing the ancient craft of willow weaving, an art practised in all countries of the world since forever it seems. Clare also brought with her baskets that she had made including a basket based on an historical design made only in Penclawdd as a cockle asket

 

 

. Following the talk Clare demonstrated how  to make a bird feeder out of willow and we all had a go at making our own. Clare had, of course, made it seem so easy but certainly my piece of willow had a mind of it’s own! We all succeeded in the end with a bit of expert tuition. A very interesting and challenging evening!

Jean Hill with her bird feeder

 

 

On a sad note we have had to say goodbye to two of our members during this period , Betty Harris and Jean Thomas.

Betty was one of our founder members and had been part of the group for almost 45 years, she was great fun and always enjoyed being part of all we did.

 

Betty

 

Jean was a very talented lady, a wonderful quilter, a painter, a singer and she made the most

delicious cakes.

 

Jean

We will miss these two good friends.

Report by Jen Colley (President Ynysfach W.I.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Resolven Young Performers Delight Audience with Latest Show

JACK and  THE BEANSTALK

On Saturday April 2ist, I sat in the audience to watch the latest offering from Resolven Young Performers.  The group has grown over the years and this year they performed their pantomime in Cam Gears Club instead of the Miners Welfare to accommodate the larger cast and what a show they gave us. The lights went low and the stage came to life and it was non stop singing dancing and lots of comedy.

 

The prince and his princess (jack Roberts and Ella Charles ) gave  regal and commanding performances along with their royal entourage along with a most excellent and enthusiastic ‘Silly Billy’ played by Carlie Harris, who interacted with the children in the audience keeping them enthralled .

 

 

Dame Trotty played by Josh Sims entered the stage and the panto really came alive.  Along with her son Jack (Harley herring) who was so full of energy and enthusiasm continuously, and daughter (Casey Sullivan) who was at the end of Dame Trotty’s sharp tongue throughout.  The comedy never stopped and in true panto style the Dame became the focus for the night and gave a performance worthy of any stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then came the wicked witch (Libby Herbert) who both thrilled and scared us with her excellent acting and singing. All this was linked beautifully by the good fairy (Gracie O’Sullivan) who gave an impeccable performance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No panto is complete without a chorus and when you remember that the groups ages span from 3 to 17 it was a challenge to the leaders of the group (Christina James and Chris Edwards) to teach the many scenes dances and songs needed to make this night one to remember and I can vouch that the challenge was met and achieved beyond all expectations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REPORT by DIANE SIMS

Notice of Council Vacancies

RESOLVEN

COMMUNITY COUNCIL

         CYNGOR CYMUNED

RESOLFEN

 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972

 

NOTICE OF VACANCY

IN THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY COUNCILLOR

FOR THE UNDERMENTIONED COMMUNITY WARDS

 

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to Section 87(2) of the Local Government Act, 1972 that casual vacancies now exist in the Office of Community Councillor for the above stated council.

 

If, within fourteen (working) days after the date of this Notice, a request for an election to fill the said vacancies in each community ward is made in writing to:-

 

 

The Returning Officer

Chief Executive’s Office

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council

Civic Centre

PORT TALBOT

SA13 1PJ

 

By TEN electors for each community ward an election will be held to fill the vacancies in the Community Ward(s); otherwise, the vacancies will be filled by the Council.

DEDDF LLYWODRAETH LEOL 1972

 

HYSBYSIAD O SWYDD WAG

YN SWYFDDA Y CYNGHORYDD CYMUNED

DROS Y WARDIAU CYMUNED ISOD

 

HYSBYSIR TRWY HYN yn unol ag Adran 87(2) o Ddeddf Llywodraeth Leol 1972 bod swyddi wag yn bodoli yn swyddfa y cynghorydd cymuned yn y cynghor a enwyd uwch ben.

 

Os gwneir cais, o fewn pedwar diwrnod (gwaith) ar ddeg o ddyddiad yr Hysbysiad hwn, am etholiad er mwyn llenwi’r swyddi wag ym mhob ward cymuned a grybwyllwyd uchod trwy ysgrifennu at:-

 

Y Swyddog Canlyniadau

Swyddfa’r Prif Weithredwr

Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Castell-nedd Port Talbot

Y Ganolfan Ddinesig

PORT TALBOT

SA13 1PJ

 

Gan DDEG etholwyr am pob ward cymuned cynhelir etholiad i lenwi’r swyddi wag yn y ward(iau) cymuned; fel arall, caiff y swydd ei llenwi gan y Cyngor.

 

COMMUNITY WARD / WARD CYMUNED NUMBER OF VACANCIES

NIFER Y

Resolven South 1
Abergarwed 1

 

DATED: 26th April 2018

Ms. C. Payne
DYDDIEDIG:
  Clerk to the Council / Clerc i’r Cyngor
 

Gardening Club Open for Business

Spring has sprung and Tommy Blanchard, Chairman of Clyne and Resolven Gardening Club, has already opened the gardening supplies shed in Clydach Avenue, Resolven (near the blue bridge).

 

 

Tommy is there every Saturday morning between 11 and 12 to serve all customers not just members (though joining the club won’t break the bank —just 50 p!) and the club stocks a wide range of gardening supplies. You can buy almost anything from grow bags to slug pellets, compost to weed killer.  The only thing Tommy can’t provide is ideal gardening weather and he reckons because everything is about a month behind after our harsh winter, we need to be extra careful before planting out.

Remember this a few weeks ago?  A photo of frozen Clydach brook taken near the blue bridge by our RDN reporter Diane Sims

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resolfen History Society’s May Meeting

Report on Resolfen History Society’s April Meeting

 

The meeting began on a very sad note as the recent death of committee member Mrs Jean Thomas was announced. Jean had been ill for some time and had served on the committee for many years. A minute’s silence was then marked in her memory. Our sincerest condolences go to our Chairman Gwyn on his loss.

The speaker this month needed no introduction since it was none other than Resolven History Society member Mr Ken Thomas. Mr Thomas apart from being the dependable projectionist at Brynaman Public Hall for many years,had also made his living as a training officer in the manufacturing industry. He explained that as much of his work involved visiting various manufacturing works which guarded their secrets carefully, he had signed the Official Secrets Act which prevented him from going into any detail. To this effect he had produced a film on the glove industry of the UK,originally in VHS format the film had recently been digitalised. Despite the fact that he had written the script himself he had ensured that any claim on intellectual property had been settled before showing the film publically.

The talk began with a brief introduction to the clothing industry in the UK which was once enormous and had clothed the world, but was now largely a shadow of its former self. The Manchester area alone at the start of the last century employed over a million workers in textiles. Worcester was the centre of the glove industry and at its zenith employed over 50,000 workers.

The glove trade itself is ancient and its roots can be traced as far as the Romans. Gloves are essential in the protection of the hands against heat, cold, blades, filth and disease. It was stressed that the Queen always wears gloves when meeting the public to protect her from being poisoned (a fact which was made so real recently by events in Salisbury). The revolutionary change in the quantity of their production came with the invention of the sewing machine in the USA in the 1860s. It is normally assumed that this innovation was solely the work of Irwin Singer, however the originator of the sewing machine was actually a man named Elias Howe and indeed there was such bitter rivalry between the two, that they were given co-patency of its licence. The sewing machine, whether driven by handle, treadle or water wheel speeded up production though it was still largely a manual skill until the 1960s. The trade for gloves dropped off in the second half of the twentieth century owing to changes in fashion and its footloose nature allowed it to relocate to the cheaper west country of England around Yeovil, where Dent’s remained the sole manufacturer (now sole importer) of gloves in the UK. Owing to foreign competition from Asia no gloves are now produced in the UK, indeed the Glove Guild of the UK ceased in the early years of the present century.

The film itself was a gem and appeared far older than its fifty years. Some of the early handmade preparation could have been placed in the same workshop as the Anglo-Norman names given to the components of a glove. It was obvious that the workers were on a piece rate since they worked with both speed and efficiency. Even then, it was obvious that many of these practices were old fashioned even by the standards of the 1970s and the late introduction of mass production was unable to save it. Nevertheless, the loss of hundreds of thousands of well-paid and skilled jobs done by both sexes was a crying shame. Mr Thomas was of the opinion that the glove industry alongside other manufacturing trades had been sacrificed by Mrs Thatcher in the 1980s in order to gain aerospace contracts with those very same far eastern countries.

Mr Trefor Jones, deputising for Mr Gwyn Thomas gave a vote of thanks to fellow “Brynamanite”, Mr Ken Thomas for a most enjoyable evening.

Report by  Chairman Mr Trefor Jones

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel Jervis Wins Commonwealth Games Silver

What a brilliant race!   Daniel took 3 seconds off his personal best to finish second and win the silver medal in the 1500 metres Freestyle in the pool at the Commonwealth Games in Australia.   He won a great bronze at the 2014 Games in Glasgow, so to complete the set, will it be gold in Birmingham in 2022?  We could all go and watch there!

We are all  really proud of you in the village

Many Congratulations

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annual Duck Race Soon

 

The exact venue for the race is still to be decided (watch this space)  But it will take place on Sat 28th April at 2pm– weather permitting. Tickets are £1. and are available from Church members or Marcia – Post Office. The event is in aid of St David’s Church.

RUTH JONES

Children’s Art Competition– Results and Pictures

 

 

Ynysfach school children recently took part in a St. David’s Day Art Competition sponsored by Resolven Community Council.  The winning pictures were chosen by local artist Garfield Evans –what a task for him!   As you can see from the above drawing, the  standard was excellent  and a good crowd turned up at Resolven Community Centre on Saturday the 7th of April to see the prizes handed over by Council Chairman Trefor Jones, aided by Clerk to the Council Cheryl Payne.

Trefor and Cheryl ready to open the doors

 

Nathan Williams- Reception ( 3rd prize winner)

There were 3 classes involved this time—Reception Class, Year 3 and Year 6.

First prize was a voucher for £20. Second prize was £10 and 3rd prize was £5.

When the first young winner was handed his envelope with money inside he raised a laugh in the hall by handing it straight back to Trefor!  Tempted though he might have been, Trefor didn’t keep it and assured the young man that the money was all his. Another young artist thought she was in the hall to receive a raffle prize and was a little bemused as she didn’t recall buying a ticket!  But she and all the others who took part deserve great praise for their art work.

 

 

List of winners:

Reception 1st Skyla Evans-Howells 2nd Amber Rose Sims 3rd Nathan Williams

Year 3      1st Leon Davies 2nd Neurin Griffiths 3rd Cyran Church

Year 6      1st Lilia Gladwin 2nd Kadie Newth 3rd Iestyn Ace

Lilia Gladwin Year 6—1st prize

 

Neurin Griffithe Year 3 (2nd prize)

 

 

Iestyn Ace Year 6 (3rd prize)

 

Skyla Evans Howells– Reception (1st Prize)

 

Amber Rose Sims –Reception ( 2nd prize)

 

Year 3 artists-Cyran Church (3rd prize) Leon Davies (1st prize)