Helping to make Radyr and Morganstown a great place to live and work
Summary of News Items on http://radyr.org.uk
Santa in his grotto
Children from the village and members of Radyr Golf Club met Santa at the annual Christmas Party held on Tuesday 22nd December. Santa arrived in a buggy with his two elves and distributed presents to all the children. This was followed by a tea party and entertainment. A good time was had by all!
As usual trees were lit in Morganstown Granny Park, Lychgate Gardens and in Windsor Gardens by the Festival Queen and her attendants. Children from Bryn Deri went to Morganstown and from Radyr Primary to Lychgate Gardens where they sang carols. They joined together in Windsor Gardens where choirs from both schools sang together. Everyone then moved to Station Road where the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr David Walker addressed the crowd and then switched on the lights. Santa then arrived and was immediately surrounded by young children. Everyone enjoyed wandering around the shops and visiting the many craft and gift stalls. As usual the BBQ and Mulled Wine Bar were busy from the start of the event until it finished. A big thank you to everyone who helped make the event so successful.
After a break of two years, St John Cymru Wales is proud to be able to announce that the Radyr Division is open once again and looking for volunteers.
Radyr Division has a long history of supporting the community and it’s especially exciting to see the division reopening exactly 95 years since the division was founded.
There are 4,000 St John Cymru Wales volunteers across Wales who provide first aid cover to a huge range of events every year and without them, many events like church fetes, fireworks displays, carnivals, rugby and football matches, athletics meets and even events as big as the Six Nations and Cardiff Half Marathon wouldn’t be able to take place. Last year, St John volunteers spent around 215,000 hours attending 4,500 events and treated almost 10,000 people for everything from cuts and bruises to delivering a baby.
St John will be holding an open day in Radyr Golf club on Saturday, 28th November from 10am until 4pm where volunteers from the division and the area will be on hand to talk to members of the community over a cup of tea and a biscuit about the work that St John volunteers do, what is involved in becoming a member and how you can help.
From January, St John will be running a regular training night on Tuesdays from 7pm until 9pm at the Old Church Rooms where new members are always welcome.
To find out more about St John, the work the volunteers do, or to register your interest in becoming a member, see the website at https://sjaw.org.uk/register, or you can contact Aled Treharne at aled.treharne@radyr.sjaw.org.uk or on 01633 533103.
The Remembrance Parade was attended by many local groups. Wreaths were laid by the Lord Lieutenant, Colonel Kevin Davies, representing the Queen, the Chair of the Community Council representing the community and many other local groups. There were many youngsters at the event including representatives of all 3 local schools, the scouts, guides, cubs, beavers and rainbows.
After a short service at the War Memorial an inter-denominational service was held in Christchurch followed by a march past at the war memorial where the salute was taken by the Lord Lieutenant.
(Photos kindly provided by Anne Silver and David Cargill)
Station Road December 2010
Cardiff Council have just announced their plans for the maintenance of roads over Winter. You can see the details of the gritting routes for both roads and footways and also the locations of salt bins on this site.
Please contact the Council’s Emergency Management Unit if you have any comments to make. Their contact details are:
Cardiff Emergency Management Unit, Room 151, City Hall, Cardiff, CF10 3ND
The cast in rehearsal
‘Bonaventure’, an absorbing human drama by Charlotte Hastings, is the next production by the Radyr Drama Society, to be performed at Morganstown Village Hall on 26th, 27th, and 28th November, starting at 7:30pm.
In this play set in East Anglia in 1947, a flood has trapped two prison officials and their prisoner, Sarat Carn, on her way to the gallows for the murder of her brother. In the convent where they take refuge, Sister Mary Bonaventure is convinced of her innocence, but is she guilty or not? The plot reveals what happens over the next few days, with dramatic and poignant interaction, both between the sisters and staff of the convent, and their unusual guests.
With a first-class cast of mainly experienced Society members, but with one or two newer ones, supported by an excellent back-stage team, this is a play well worth seeing and will hopefully add to the list of the Society’s previous successes.
Tickets are available from ‘ener-chi’ and ‘Headway’, Station Road, Radyr, as well as the RDS box office on 029 2084 2585. Prices £9 adult, £8 concession, and £6 students and children.
At a presentation ceremony last night at the Old Church Rooms, the Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan presented the RMA with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The presentation was attended by the Lord Lieutenant and his wife and a number of guests, Mark Drakeford our AM, Antonia Wigley a Vice President of the RMA, Julia Hallinan the Chair of RMCC, Rod McKerlich our County Councillor and Marion Drake. Many long time members of the RMA were also in the audience.
A certificate signed by Her Majesty the Queen was presented to the Chair of the RMA, David Silver, along with the award. After a few short speeches a small reception was held for those attending the ceremony.
PC Huw Thomas is being transferred to Whitchurch area. Our area is going to be covered by a new beat officer, PC Sam Willis. He can be contacted on 07584 883599.
PC Julie Jones can be contacted on 07584 003709
PCSOs Jessica Southam and PCSO Laura Moore are covering our area.
Old Church Rooms : before
Week 1 of the project saw the arrival of containers, closure of the car park and complete clearance of the kitchen down to the plaster behind the tiles with the store cupboard reduced to its timber skeleton. Two store cupboards in the hall have gone completely to make way for the new entrance into the Garth Room. The new lintels are waiting to be installed as the contractors prepare to knock through two feet of Victorian stone wall.
Week 2 saw the start of ground works for the new extension as the work on the Garth Room and kitchen continue.
Week 3 saw the concrete foundations go in, despite the rain. The new entrance into the Garth Room is ready for plastering and two scaffolding towers are allowing decorators to paint that high ceiling. The Weir Room has a big hole in one wall which will become the entrance to its own store room. That store will be in what was the women’s loos. The downstairs loos are being replaced and have been stripped out. The kitchen design is almost done and we will have sleek stainless steel units with fridge and dishwasher.
Week 4 saw the blockwork for the extension starting, despite the weather. The Garth Room is being decorated and the new carpet will be laid next week. The curtains have been dry-cleaned. The kitchen has been ordered and should be in by the end of September. The old downstairs WCs have disappeared to be replaced with two new store rooms.
Week 5 saw the start of the demolition of the old Police Room, progress on the foundations for the new extension, scaffolding go up to repair a leak in the Victorian roof over the Garth Room, progress on the new storage space for the Weir Room, completion of decoration in the Garth Room with a new carpet laid and the cleaned curtains re-hung.
By the end of week 8 the old Police Room is gone, the new extension has roof trusses and Bath-stone lintels to match the existing building. The scaffolding for the roof repair is down and preparations are being made to knock-through into the extension. The kitchen has a new floor and all the walls are newly clad. The new boiler for the Garth Room heating is being fitted.
Week 9 saw more work on the new roof timbers and the first connections between the new extension roof and the existing building. Heating is back in the Garth Room from a new boiler.
At the end of October, the new roof on the extension is closer to being water-tight at which point work on the internal parts of the ground and first floor can really get going. With a few adjustments to make on the kitchen, it will be available soon.
By November 6 the new ceiling lights were in the kitchen and are amazingly bright to match the new lights in the Garth Room. The zip boiler is in too which will give instant boiling water for lots of cups of tea and coffee. From inside the OCR we can now look into the new room on the extension first floor: it’s big! And going to be a lovely room. Foundations for the new entrance have started and continue next week.
At the end of week 14 (November 13) the kitchen is having its final checks and we will be putting back the contents next week. Groundworks for the new entrance are under way and the roof should be water-tight by the end of next week.
Week 15 has the steel frame in for the new entrance and the block work is progressing. The new store room for the Weir Room is being plastered. The roofers start on the extension next week and you can now see the shape of the big south-facing dormer window in the new first floor room.
As we move towards December at the end of Week 16, the Weir Room is being redecorated and the external work is focused on the roofing the new extension and the building the new roof for the new entrance.
As we start 2016, the roof work is complete on the new extension and entrance. The new entrance glass is in place and the new first floor room is being plastered. The Weir and Chain Rooms are back in use and there is heating in this end of the building.
The Garth Room was back in use from September 7. A loo block for users of the Garth Room is on site and has a covered walk-way from the main doors. The kitchen and the rest of the OCR will be closed to users. We expect the new kitchen to be ready by the end of October.
The OCR team meets regularly with the contractor, W&T Building Group, and managing architect, Oriel Design Ltd, to discuss details on lights, heating, colours, new entry mechanisms, and much much more.
Access to the Weir and Chain rooms is still closed and we will be talking to our regular users about possible alternative accommodation.
The building is now not accessible by the public so please call ahead if you wish to see Helena Fox (20 919441).
Click on the photos below to see what has been happening – more photos will appear.
Radyr 11 v Jamie Robinson 11
Radyr Cricket Club commenced their 125th celebrations with a Beer Festival held at the Club on Saturday 25th July in glorious sunshine.
R&MCC is delighted to announce that it is moving ahead with exciting plans to renovate and extend the Old Church Rooms (OCR) in Park Road. This has been made possible through a generous grant from the Aggregate Levy Fund Wales of £130,500 with contributions from the RMA, R&MCC and the balance funded through a loan.
The OCR is managed and maintained by a joint committee of RMA and R&MCC members and this has been a successful arrangement for over 25 years. We have been working together closely on the plans for the building with the aim of bringing it up to 21st century standards and expanding it to provide a new meeting space and a new glass entrance with room to get out of the rain. We will also refit the kitchen to commercial standards and upgrade the lavatories and the heating and lighting systems which will be more energy efficient. The old police room will be demolished opening up space for the new entrance and restoring the Victorian double entry from the building’s old school days. An extension, making the building L shaped, will include the new meeting space and new storage room.
Some of the internal works to the existing building will be done over the school summer holiday so that Park Road Nursery can reopen in September. Use of the building will be severely restricted during that time. The extension and other works will follow and we hope to have most of the existing building back in working order as soon as possible.
The works will take some 20 weeks from the start of August and the OCR car park will be closed for the entire time. We apologise for any inconvenience that that will cause. If you have any questions or want to see the drawings please contact Helena Fox on 20842213 or clerk@radyr.org.uk.
Treforgan WI 2015
Treforgan WI, now a thriving institute, was established in January 2009. At the Annual meeting in May Judy Grundy stood down as President after 5 years. Diana Langmaid was elected as President. The ladies would like to thank photographer Mick Sullivan for our second group photo.
Committee for Treforgan WI
Diana Langmaid President
Maggie Roberts Vice President
Sally Evans Secretary
Angela Hughes Treasurer
Committee members Sue Philpott, Sue Price, Judy Grundy, Anne Silver, Janet Owens, Janet Beach
We meet at 1.15pm at Morganstown Village Hall on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Each Thursday we have an activity on offer: 2 Book clubs (2nd Thursday of the month), 2 Craft groups, a walking group and a lunch group at the Ty Nant (1st Thursday of the month).
Cheque presentation
At a meeting at the OCR on Monday 29th June a final cheque presentation was made to NSPCC for £16000. This represents the total donations by all the organisations in the village. It is thanks to every group for their support of this year’s charity. We welcome our new charity for 2015/16 – Velindre hospital based in Whitchurch. We hope that all the organisations in the village give the same generous support to them throughout the coming year.
Supporters of this year charity include:
Radyr Primary School; Bryn Deri Primary; Radyr Comprehensive School WI, Treforgan WI, Radyr Golf Club, Tenovus, Val Allen(Ty Gwyn Farm) Twinning Fellowship; Christ church, Methodist Church, Radyr Rangers; Radyr Cricket Club, Library, Morganstown Village Hall, Guides and Brownies, Cardiff West Rotary, Ardwyn Singers, Keith John, Imaging 2000, Harry Robinson (Scarlets), Radyr Tennis Club, Arts Council -Night Out, Radyr & Morganstown Community Council, Eyecare and the NSPCC committee.
Our advertisers: Pughs Garden Centre, mgy estate agents, ener-chi, Cicchetti restaurant, QualityCarpets Direct Treehouse agency and our local shops for raffle prizes.
Walkers for Tenovus
A large group of Tenovus supporters assembled at Cardiff Castle to walk the Taff Trail back to Radyr on Sunday 28th June. The weather was wet but fortunately the sun shone shortly after the start. On arrival at Radyr they were all treated to a strawberry tea.
Hanging Basket makers
Baskets have been filled with Summer flowers ready to be on show above the Station Road shops. The team have put them in position above the shops this week.
10 green baskets
We are delighted to announce that the Radyr & Morganstown Association is a recipient this year of the ‘Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service’. This unique UK national honour was created over a decade ago by Her Majesty The Queen to mark the Golden Jubilee in 2002 and to recognise the outstanding contributions that groups of volunteers make to local communities. It has an equivalent status for voluntary groups as the MBE has for individuals. It is an exceedingly prestigious award; in 2014, there were only 111 recipients in the whole of the UK – and only one in Wales. So it is fantastic that the Association has been recognised this way.
The citation for the award reads “Providing a social framework for a growing Community, making Radyr & Morganstown a great place to live and work, and fund raising for an annual Charity.” Of course, the award comes just after the end of a very successful 2015 Festival when a cheque for £10,000 was presented to the NSPCC – an ample demonstration of all the work the Association does. David Silver, Chairman of the RMA, said, “We are flattered and honoured to receive this award which recognises the work of the RMA since its foundation in 1987. We are a hard working group of volunteers who care deeply for the whole Radyr & Morganstown Community and its future. The nomination for the award was made by the Radyr & Morganstown Community Council and we thank them for seeking this recognition for us.”
Executive Committee 2015
David Silver presents the cheque
This year’s May Festival concluded on Sunday 17th May with a wonderful concert given by the Cardiff Ardwyn Singers in support of the Festival Charity, NSPCC. During the concert, David Silver, Chairman of
the RMA, presented Allan Cook with the Ken Innes trophy in recognition of his work this year – and in many past years – in organising the Festival Arts events. He also presented a cheque for £10,000 to the NSPCC, being the amount raised so far.
We thank everyone who came to Festival events and hope you enjoyed them all. Please let us know if you have any feedback on any event – send any comments to rma@radyr.org.uk.
You can read about the Festival in the update pages on the festival website www.rmfestival.org.uk, and see lots of pictures on the gallery page at www.rmfestival.org.uk/gallery
The premises formerly occupied by Christian Aid at 5 Station Road now houses a new estate agent, Thomas H Wood. The refurbished premises will open on Friday 15 May. The business deals with sales and letting for both residential and commercial properties. Contact details will be found in our Directory.
The Festival Queen and attendants
The R&M Festival got off to a roaring start this weekend with very
mixed weather. For the first time in 28 years we had to adopt a ‘wet weather plan’ for the Fete – placing all the stalls under cover either our large marquees or in side the Old Church Rooms. The Parade (this year celebrating ‘South American Carnival’), which precedes the Fete, went ahead anyway in the drizzle, led as usual by David Cargill (in very suitable attire, with sombrero), the Festival Queen and attendants, and Harry Robinson, our local Welsh International Rugby Player. When the Parade reached the Old Church Rooms in a riot of colour and sound (courtesy of Samba Band and Drums), Harry opened the Fete and we were off.
Despite the rain and the slightly cramped accommodation, everyone seemed to enjoy the Fete. The WI sold all their bottles (all proceeds being donated to the Festival Charity, NSPCC); the BBQ ran out of sausages; the NSPCC did a roaring trade selling tea and cakes inside; Imaging 2000 had a magnificent display of photographs, and all stallholders said they were very happy with attendance. The weather restricted the entertainment we could offer but Shine Creative Arts performed wonderfully on the Garth Room stage and the Zumba troupe (who performed outside) showed that dampness was no barrier to energy.
In the evening Cardiff West Rotary put on a splendid concert by the RAF ST Athan Voluntary Band – again enjoyed by all.
On Sunday Radyr Rangers held their usual Festival on the Mound Field and Allan Cook led a most interesting walk around Gwaelod-y-Garth. Even long-time residents of R&M commented he had taken them to places they did not know existed! The evening brought a very well attend Civic Service in Christ Church, where the address was given by the Venerable Peggy Jackson, Archdeacon of Llandaff.
Fortunately, Monday was dry so we were able to have the Festival Crowning Ceremony as usual in Windsor Gardens, complete with Maypole and traditional dancing provided by all three schools and excellent teas provided by Treforgan WI. Councillor Rod McKerlich crowned the Festival Queen, Isabel Morgan and she was supported most ably by her two Princesses, Olivia Skidmore and Amy Westwell. All looked resplendent. Earlier, the well-supported Primary School Fun Run showed the athletic prowess of a wide age-range of runners.
Plenty more to come in a busy two weeks for the Radyr & Morganstown Community.
Bill and Lorna Clarke in 1999
We are sad to announce that Lorna Clarke of 40 Heol Isaf
died at the age of 94, at home, on Wednesday 22nd April. She
had lived in this house for all but the first two years of her long life. Lorna
represented Radyr and Morganstown on Cardiff Rural District Council then
Cardiff City Council for some 16 years until the mid-eighties. For much of that
time her counterpart on South Glamorgan Council was her husband, Bill. Between
them they made a huge contribution to our communities; not least of their
achievements was heavy involvement in the purchase of the Old Church Rooms on
behalf of the community back in1988.
Lorna was involved in many local activities such as Wardens
of Radyr Woods, School Governors and the Gardening Club but her principal
commitment was to Radyr Lawn Tennis Club of which she was Ladies’ Captain, President and Ladies’ Champion on 10 occasions. When the village was smaller
and resources limited, Lorna and Bill were instrumental in helping the club to
survive and finally to grow to its current strength.
Our thoughts are with her sons, Mike and Guy, and the rest
of Lorna’s family and many friends at this time.
There will be a service of thanksgiving for the life of Lorna Clarke in Christ Church on Wednesday, 6th May at 12:00noon. All are welcome to attend.