On a wet and windy morning last Friday members of the Community Council and volunteers arrived to begin the installation of a new garden planted specifically to attract butterflies.

The Community Council had received all the materials and tools from ‘Keep Wales Tidy‘ whose representative Kathryn Brixton also attended to give advice.

The area chosen was the surround of the bowling green adjacent to Vaughan Avenue end so that it was visible to the outside and protected on the inside.

The trellis and raised bed was planted with clematis, and honeysuckle and bulbs and plants in the raised bed are snowdrop, bluebell, wood anemone, lavender, field scabious, meadow cranesbill, wild carrot, kidney vetch,  rough hawkbit.

There were shrubs of dogwood, dog rose, broom, elder and hawthorn which will hopefully grow in the Spring.

The Community Council also received 2 birdfeeders and sacks of birdfeed from ‘Keep Wales Tidy’.

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Thanks go to Cllr Kamila Kulik who was the main organiser of the project, Cllr Alun Morgan, Cllr Aylwin Jones, Roy Gillespie, Gareth Evans, Christine Twaite, and Cheryl Payne.

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Photographs by Hugh Lewis, RDN Team

As we come into Autumn and winter you will find a lot of different
species of birds coming on to your feeders, never let the feeders go empty, as they will not visit again.

I have a regular bird who visits in early/late spring – the woodpecker and on occasions he will bring his offspring to show him the ropes,

It’s a wonderful bird, but to get a photograph of them is not so easy
as they are very shy birds and are always on the lookout, for intruders such as the  Sparrow Hawk.

Images by Mike Davies RDN photographer

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As a key worker and working throughout lockdown, it was lovely to be able to come home from work and go out walking and enjoy the scenery around us on our door step. I was able to walk along the canal, the river and also discover new paths to walk while exploring the wonderful mountains surrounding our village. One of my many hobbies is taking photos, so this was an added bonus, to be able to combine two of my hobbies in one.-walking and taking photos.

 I thought I would share some of my photos with you, as I am aware that some people have been shielding during the lockdown and may not have been able to be out and about. 

Along the canal from Resolven Basin to Rheola

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Walking the Mountains

Along the River

I took this picture of a branch that had snapped off a tree, because it looked just like an angel’s wing.

Lockdown has made me appreciate the beauty of the valley I live in and all the places we have on our doorstep where we can go walking. It has made me look closer and value the beauty of nature around us.

BY NATASHA WILLIAMS

Press Release from NPT Council

Local restrictions will come into force from 6pm  (Monday 28 September).

The restrictions, which will apply to everyone living in Neath Port Talbot, Vale of Glamorgan and Torfaen are:

• People will not be allowed to enter or leave these areas without a reasonable excuse, such as travel for work or education;
• People will only be able to meet people they don’t live with outdoors for the time being. They will not be able to form, or be in, extended households (sometimes known as ‘bubbles’). This means meeting indoors (in people’s houses, in a pub or elsewhere) with anyone you don’t live with is not allowed at the moment unless you have a good reason, such as providing care to a vulnerable person.
• All licensed premises have to stop serving alcohol at 10pm.
• Everyone over 11 will be required to wear face coverings in indoor places, which are open to the public, such as shops, as well as on public transport – as is the case in the rest of Wales. (There are some limited exemptions for people with disabilities and medical conditions – these are the same as for public transport).

The Constitution of the Royal British Legion is such that if a Branch membership falls to less than seven members it has to close, unfortunately the Resolven Branch has now fallen to just six members and the Constitution further states, that there must be a Committee of seven members. Enquiries have been made to increase the membership but despite these enquiries, no new members were recruited and the Branch has now sadly commenced the procedure for closure and is now dysfunctional.

The outgoing Committee are extremely grateful for the wonderful support they received from both the residents and retail outlets in Resolven and District for donating £7125.93 towards the Poppy Appeal during the eight year tenure of the Branch. In addition, the Branch are also grateful to Father Andrew Davies and other Church members who made a very significant contribution to the Armistice Service each year. Finally the Branch wish to thank the Resolven Rugby and Cricket Club for allowing them to use their Club facilities as the Branch Headquarters.

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TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE B4434 : TONNA – RESOLVEN

B4434 will be closed from the junction of Heol Y Glo, near Tonna Hospital for 1.8 km (1.1mls) to Cyd Terrace, Clyne between the hours of 09:30 and 15:00 on the 17th September 2020.

Access for emergency services will be maintained.

The X7 bus Service will not be able to serve Clyne to Resolven between those times.  There will be a Social Services shuttle bus.

Neath to Glynneath Shuttle.

The X7 now operates hourly, hence, in order to meet all journeys in Resolven the passengers from Clyne will need to be at Resolven 10 minutes early to catch the X7 to Neath and the shuttle bus to Clyne when travelling from Glynneath.

Depart Clyne Station to catch X7 at Resolven for Neath.

09:10, 10:10, 11:10, 12:10, 13:10, 14:10, 15:10

Arrive Resolven (John Street) for travel to Neath on X7 (All passengers alight)

09:19, 10:19, 11:19, 12:19, 13:19, 14:19, 15:19 (the X7 departs for Neath at 29 mins past the hour)

(Empty Positioning Journey)Depart Resolven John Street Depart Resolven (John Street) for travel to Clyne Station.

09:20, 10:20, 11:20, 12:20, 13.20, 14:20, 15:20

Arrive Clyne Station

09:29, 10:29, 11:29, 12:29, 13:29, 14:29, 15:29

Depart Clyne to Catch X7 at Resolven by 40mins past the hour to Glynneath.

09:30, 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 13:30, 14:30, 15:30

Arrive Resolven (John Street) to meet X7 at 40 mins past the hour for onward travel to Glynneath

09:39, 10:39, 11:39, 12:39, 13:39, 14:39, 15:39 (the X7 departs for Glynneath at 40 mins past the hour)

Those travelling from Glynneath to Clyne will have to alight at Resolven (John Street) at 29 minutes past the hour and wait 10 minutes for onward journey to Clyne and catch the following shuttle times to Clyne:

Depart Resolven John Street after meeting X7 at 40 mins past the hour for travel to Clyne Station.

09:41, 10:41, 11:41, 12:41, 13.41, 14:41,15:41

Arrive Clyne Station

09:50, 10:50, 11:50, 12:51, 13:50, 14:50 15.50

Shuttle bus Lay over 20 mins in Clyne between 50 mins past the hour and 10 mins past the hour.

Shuttle bus passengers from Clyne will have to wait in Resolven for 10 mins to catch the bus to Neath or Clyne

A simple example is:

The shuttle bus has to leave Clyne to go to Resolven by 9.19am, passengers alight, wait 10 mins at Resolven and catch the 9.29 from Resolven to Neath. Why you might ask? Because the shuttle bus has to leave Resolven to get back to Clyne by 9.30 to collect passengers who might want to go to Glynneath on the 9.40 from Resolven.

Likewise, those travelling from Glynneath to Clyne, there’s a 10 minute wait at Resolven for the shuttle bus.

The shuttle bus will already be waiting for those returning from Neath to Clyne.

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(From Mary Baker in Glynneath)

The coronavirus lockdown was long but it gave my husband Idris and myself, both the time and privilege to be able to sit and watch nature during the 3 months of beautiful weather that we had and which was a welcome distraction from the virus.

From our Bungalow window which faces the mountain, we watch every year to see the first swallows dipping and diving and then we know that Spring is here. It’s amazing to think that these beautiful birds have flown 6,000 miles from wintering in South Africa to the UK. they return to the same nesting site, lay their eggs and nurture their young and then in September, when it gets colder and there are no flies to feed on, they depart with the young for South Africa for the Winter, where they rest and feed on insects to make sure their in tip-top conditions to do the 6,000 mile journey back to the UK in the Spring, to nest and breed again.

Every year a pair of swallows return to a nest up our garden, under the eaves of our garden shed, sadly 2 years ago a magpie ate the young.  My husband Idris put bars across the nest last year to stop the magpie from getting in, leaving enough room for the swallows to get in and out and they had three young. This year because it was hot early in the season, Idris watered the Perspex roof of the shed to keep it cool as the nest is under the roof, apparently swallows mate for life and return to the same nest every year for 3 years! It worked and we had 6 young there this year.

We have spent many an enjoyable hour watching the swallows carrying food back and forth to feed their young, all 6 of them, there was hardly enough room in the nest for them all, we watched the first one feeling his wings and flying across to the shelf on the wall opposite their nest and then the other 5 following, and then a few days later all 6 young flying around the garden with their parents, so May and June kept us occupied.

 Now that September is here the butterflies have arrived in droves, we have 4 pots with what we call a butterfly plant in each of them and each one is covered in butterflies and bees, they are beautiful, so pretty.

 Both my husband and myself are in our 80’s and didn’t venture out during lockdown but nature was all around us and the weather was beautiful right through lock-down which gave us the privilege of being able to sit outside amongst nature, unlike many past years in March and April and even May when we’ve had floods in May and June and even snow in April.  It could have been far worse, this lockdown

BY MARY GITTINS

Many thanks to Mary for a delightful glimpse of nature at its best in the garden she and husband Idris tend and enjoy during these difficult tmes for all of us.

If anyone has pictures and stories to tell of their gardens or walks in our valley please send them to us-we’d be delighted to receive them at:

am@resolvendistrictnews.co.uk