Author Archives: M W

U3A Horticultural Show

For what seemed to be weeks, members of the Gardening Group have been complaining about the weather conditions: wind and rain and heat. The latter two great for growing but the wind can lead to disaster!
As I walked through the door leading into the hall at the NAC I was faced with many empty tables. What could I expect, in the way of entries? Not very much if I was to believe the cry of “I won’t have anything for the show”. I think they were misleading me; the hall was full to capacity. Three or four times I needed to plead for extra tables, two even came from the red room!

The Flower Section

There was such an array of beautiful flowers, scrumptious looking vegetables and very appetising fruit scones and preserves. Fantastic, why did I doubt? It was delightful to receive entries from ‘first timers’. I hope they catch the bug. Returning to the hall after judging had taken place to find you have a certificate against your entry is just the best feeling, especially when it was unexpected. There were fifty entries more this year than last, so my powers of persuasion worked.Our overall winner with the most number of points was, for the third year in succession, Pam Steer, with Ifor Swales a close second. Best exhibit in the flower section with her amazing vase of flowers was Ruth Poole. In the preserve section Viv Scale was awarded Best Exhibit for her delicious mango chutney and with some modesty I have to reveal I had the best exhibit in the vegetable and fruit section for my runner beans!

When the show opened at 2.00pm there was a goodly flow of visitors (thank you for your support) who enjoyed a good look at the exhibits, a cup of tea and in some cases a piece of cake or a biscuit, with much chatter. With a sigh of relief we shall now start planning for next year!

It’s been a long day!

Garden Group North’s Visit to Hilton Court

In July, The Garden Group North met at Hilton Court Gardens, Roch where, before setting off to the gardens, we enjoyed lunch in the Gardeners Rest eatery.

As with all gardens the extensive grounds had changed considerably since my last visit.  The lake, which is the focal point, looked beautiful with the many water lilies in bloom; obviously there are fish because we spotted a heron sitting patiently on the bank waiting for his lunch.

A stroll round the lake

Essentially the garden is one of tree and shrubs but there has been an introduction of some herbaceous plants adding some colour to an otherwise very green look.  As we strolled around the lake we came upon Badger’s Hall a great addition for the children or even for some adults although some were not up to the challenge but they gave it their best shot! 

Colin tries his best!

Before returning to the café for afternoon tea (the Garden Group really doesn’t spend all its time eating and drinking) we came across another feature which one or two of us could not resist as you will see from the photographs.  The weather was kind to us with sunshine and a gentle breeze – indeed, a lovely meeting.

Penny on the swing

Please remember that our horticultural show which takes place the Neyland Athletic Centre, entries are on the day and an entry from and Schedule may be found on the website or alternatively contract me on 01437 766775 or pen.thomas46@googlemail.com.  There are spaces available on the trip to Dyffryn Gardens, near Cowbridge why not join us it is a National Trust property with beautiful gardens and an arboretum and well worth a visit.

Penny Thomas

Monthly Meeting July 2017 – An American Adventure

It is always a pleasure when the speaker is one of our membership.  In July, Philip and Marcia Whitehead related the story of their American trip – undertaken to visit those friends who were unable to attend their wedding earlier in the year. 

Marcia was concerned that we might think we would just be seeing their holiday photographs, but no – with the aid of bullet points she had prepared, and Philip operating the technology, we travelled from one side of America to the other taking in the Grand Canyon. Here we did have some splendid photographs!

With a temperature range from 4 to 84 degrees Fahrenheit this presented a challenge from the clothing point of view and a large quantity of luggage, but our intrepid travellers coped, well Marcia maybe! 

Upon entering the hall Marcia handed each member a slip of paper in order that they might guess the number of miles travelled – the competition was won by Ann Hyslop. A very interesting and informative talk.

Penny Thomas

May Monthly Meeting – The Railways of Pembrokeshire

It has been mentioned that a large proportion of our speakers represent an organisation but on Thursday 4th May Mr David Watts spoke about the railway system, particularly in Pembrokeshire.

David delivered his talk with an element of humour and, as a bit of an enthusiastic rail traveller myself, I found the information he gave fascinating.  He described how coaches were pulled on wooden tracks by horses but within a relatively short time these were replaced by iron rails.  With the aid of maps and diagrams held up by his assistant for the day, Bob Matthews, we were able to appreciate just how many railway tracks there were in Pembrokeshire, although in the main these were branch lines linking villages rather than the larger towns whose stations were on the main line.  Railways were initially a means of freight carriers; from Pembrokeshire many hundreds of rabbits found their way to the metropolis by this means, not to mention milk from the many dairy farms in the County, when milk was transported in churns as opposed to the collections today by milk tankers. 

When finishing his talk David reminded us just how safe it is to travel by rail and, if you book your seat in good time, relatively inexpensive when compared with the cost of petrol. 

February 2017 Monthly Meeting – Humanism

The speaker for the monthly meeting on 2nd February was Mr Howard Jones of the West Wales Humanist Society (soon to be renamed Association) who was introduced by John Baylis.

Mr Howard Jones of the West Wales Humanist Society

Perhaps a controversial topic but should we not also be aware of other points of view and if nothing else we now know there is an alternative funeral to that of a Christian service,

despite one family requesting Harry Secombe singing “The Old Rugged Cross”.  Hedging one’s bets perhaps!