News

Hugh Johns’ funeral procession in Windsor Crescent near his home.

You can find out more about Hugh Johns at several web sites including

WikiPedia and

Times-on-line

Coffee Morning & Car Wash in aid of the Marie Curie Cancer Centre went very well.

A large crowd at the Eco Fun Day on the first day of R&M Festival 2007.

See Photo Album for this event.

Community Easter Egg Hunt in Radyr woods, with food and wine Good Friday. Over 30 children came with their parents and also Kieran Webster came along to speak with the children about the Easter story and a lovely time was had by all.

Sir Martin Evans, who lives in Radyr, has been awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize for medicine for his work on stem cells.

See the BBC Website for full details.

If you happen to stroll past the Old Church Rooms on a Sunday evening and think that you hear a heavenly choir don’t look up it’s probably coming from inside where the Ardwyn Singers rehearse.

The Ardwyn Singers are one of Wales’ leading mixed vocal ensembles having performed under conductors such as Sir Andrew Davies, Tadakki Otaka and Owain Arwel Hughes. They have performed with such orchestras as The London Symphony Orchestra, The National Orchestra of Wales, and The London Philharmonic and with artists of the calibre of Dame Felicity Lott, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Bryn Terfel and Luciano Pavarotti.

They have also toured extensively both in Europe and America and many readers will remember singing alongside them in the two concert performances at Llandaff Cathedral.

The Ardwyn Singers will be giving a concert at Christ Church, Radyr, on Saturday 29th September to raise money from the 2008 Cardiff National Eisteddfod, which is just 12 months away.

Two sisters from Radyr will be taking part in the concert. Lisa Clwyd is a member of the Ardwyn Singers while her sister, Iona Jones, will be the soloist at the concert. Iona needs very little introduction having sung many times in the two villages. Iona, like so many eminent Welsh singers, is a winner of the David Ellis Memorial Prize at the National Eisteddfod; better known as The Blue Riband. In August she sang in Gounod’s St Cecilia Mass at the National Eisteddfod held at Mold,

When The Ardwyn’s long term Musical Director, Helena Braithwaite retired, they succeeded in attracting another equally distinguished MD in David Leggett. David is Head of Music at Cardiff High School and Organist and Director of Music at Eglwys Dewi Sant, Cardiff. You’ll be glad to hear that Janice Ball, the choir’s delightful and distinguished accompanist will be at the piano.

The concert takes place at 7.30 pm. on Saturday 29th of September in Christ Church. Tickets £10, including an interval drink, can be obtained from Allan Cook 20843176.

Bryn Deri Primary School is a happy place providing a high quality education for its pupils, according to school inspectors. In its 30th year providing education to children in Radyr, Bryn Deri has received high praise following an Estyn inspection in May in which inspectors noted the school as good with outstanding features.

The school was awarded six grade 1s and one grade 2 in the seven key areas inspected.

The quality of teaching (graded 1-5) was marked as good with outstanding features with 39% of lessons judged as grade 1 and 50% as grade 2 which is higher than the Welsh Assembly targets for 2007.

Pupils’ personal, social and learning skills are very good and attendance is also good. There is an outstanding range of extra-curricular activities. The school has been awarded the Basic Skills Quality Mark for the third time, the BECTA ICT award and the Eco School Bronze Award.

Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Bill Kelloway: “I’m always very pleased to hear of Cardiff schools gaining good inspection reports and I’d like to offer my congratulations to everyone at the school for their success in their 30th year.”

Headteacher Diane Moverley said: “We are very pleased and proud of the results of our inspection. It recognises the high standards expected and achieved at Bryn Deri in all areas of school life and confirms our belief that Bryn Deri is a great place to be for both pupils and staff.”

David Silver, Chair of Governors said: “The Governing Body is very proud of the achievements of the school. Whilst Governors, Staff and Parents already knew that Bryn Deri was an excellent school, it is very pleasing that the inspection of the school by ESTYN has come to the same conclusion.”

For the first time, this June, Really Rubbish Partners came together to host ‘The Really Rubbish Show’. The show is targeted at all primary school pupils in Cardiff, with the aim of engaging the younger generation in recycling and the environment, through a lively, entertaining and fun-packed day.

The show aims to raise environmental awareness and to educate children about different organisations and how they play their part in the fight against global warming. Children had the opportunity to participate in a treasure hunt – solving recycling clues to win Really Rubbish Prizes!

For those who sent in their entries to the Really Rubbish Awards, the Show hosted the Awards Ceremony to celebrate good practice in the world of recycling and envionmental values. So it was important to be there to for the announcement of the winners.

Check out www.reallyrubbishcampaign.com/primary for more information.

The show was held at Cardiff City Hall’s Assembly Room on Monday 25th June 2007 from 11am – 3pm. Various activities took place throughout the day, including the Green Exhibition, a fashion show supplied by Adams clothing company, activities on ‘The Green Live Stage’, and much more.

Guaranteed to be an eventful day, all primary schools in Cardiff were invited. Parents of children involved in the event are also attended.

Mr Lansing, a year 6 teacher in Radyr primary won the award for ‘ Really Rubbish Teacher ‘.

CAN YOU DO YOUR GARDEN AND WIN?

Cardiff is now the proud owner of a Gold medal from the prestigious Entente Florale, a Europe-wide competition, in which we competed in 2006. So many people helped to make this possible, and we are very grateful for all your efforts.

However, there’s always more we can do. Come and be part of the good news, by entering your competition into the Cardiff in Bloom gardening competition. There are lots of classes to choose from. So if you want to enter your own front garden, or business, school, church or community building, you can!

If you want help or advice on how to get started, please ring Cardiff in Bloom or visit the website for ideas and inspiration.

Complete Details are available on our website: www.cardiff.gov.uk/bloom

Or ring the office on 20 684000.

At the annual meeting of Radyr and Morganstown Community Council on Thursday, May 24, David Silver was elected Chair of the council for this year.

David has been a member of the council for three years and chaired the Environment Committee last year. He has lived in Radyr for 21 years, is Chair of Governors at Bryn Deri Primary School and is a Governor at Radyr Comp. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Radyr and Morganstown Association.

Thanks were expressed to Sue Philpott, the outgoing Chair for all her hard work over the last year.

There is currently a vacancy on the Council to replace Clive Morgan who has moved from the area. Anyone interested in joining the Council should contact either the Clerk, Helena Fox, on 029 2084 2213.

All meetings of the Council are open to members of the public and are held at 7.30pm in the Old Church Rooms. Meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of the month with the exception of August and December.

Sunday (20th May) marked the end of another successful R&M Festival. It was celebrated as the 20th year. Congratulations to all committee, event organisers and anyone who took part.

Photographs of many of the events have been added to our on-line photo album…

Thanks go to Jane Morris for providing many of the photographs. If you have any good photos of events you’d like to share, let us know!

Saturday May 5th – Old Church Rooms. Radyr to host first ever visit to Wales of the Green Energy Machine.

Too busy to worry about being green? This Saturday Radyr and Morganstown Festival’s Eco-Fun event is happening at the Old Church Rooms. The event combines inspiration on being green with fun. The special guests will be the National Energy Foundation bringing their Green Energy Machine to Wales for the first time.

GEM demonstrates exciting examples of wind and solar technologies, which can assist towards an understanding of RENEWABLE ENERGY and the need to reduce CO2 emissions. The displays include a wind turbine (350 Watts), a solar water heating demonstration and an 800 Watt photovoltaic array with education on climate change and sustainable development.

More about the visit and the day can be found at www.ecofunday.co.uk – a family event with stuff for young people by young people, including live music, geo-sculpture, scrap-art workshop, games and rodeo bull-ride. There’s a cafe with some slow and healthy food too. The message is to ‘Slow down, take a break and get passionate about saving the planet.’

Radyr & Morganstown Association’s Annual Festival fortnight starts Saturday 5th May at 11am at the Ty Gwyn Farm Festival Gymkhana. Watch the horses and riders competing for such events as the Fancy dress competition and egg and spoon race and enjoy a drink and a barbeque with terrific views across Cardiff. In the afternoon you can continue watching the horses and their riders or, if you fancy something different, head down to the Old Church Rooms and join in with the Eco Fun Day.

Watch the Real Radio Eco jingle in production, listen to local bands and visit Radyr’s ‘Clock of the Long Now’. Finally in the evening come along to the concert at Christchurch where the Festival Committee have succeeded in bringing this highly praised tribute to Flanders and Swann.

On Sunday you can join us at Radyr Comprehensive School for the Festival Charity Boules competition organised by the Twinning Association from 1.30pm.

On Monday there is the 25th Anniversary Fun Run at 10.30pm at Radyr Primary school followed by the Crowning Ceremony of the May Queen, Rachel Jones, at 2pm in Windsor Gardens. After the Queen has been crowned she will go on a visit to Dan Y Bryn Cheshire Home, then join other children at Morganstown Village Hall for the Childrens party at 4pm At 6pm Rachel and her attendants Isoble Eddy and Lara Birdsall will be at the Radyr Cricket Club’s Festival Cricket Club.

For those too old for the children’s tea party the Cricket Match starts at 3pm. The teams are Captained by Jason Mohammed of the BBC and Howard Stone of Cardiff Rugby Club and other celebrities.

Radyr & Morganstown Association Festival Draw in aid of the Radyr & Morganstown branch of the NSPCC.

Just to remind you we have some really great prizes to be won in our Festival Draw. They include a £150 Hamper, a Case of Champagne, 3 months membership to the Village Hotel Leisure facility, a £50 voucher for a Millennium Centre show and many others.

You can buy tickets throughout the Festival at most of the events shown in our Festival brochure and if you wish to attend the actual draw it is being held during the interval of the RPMG concert at Morganstown Village Hall on 9th. May. See you there?

If you win a prize but cannot attend the concert don’t worry, as long as you enter your name and telephone number on your ticket we shall ‘phone you the next day and arrange a convenient time for you receive or collect it.

Further details can be found in the Festival Programme.

The Neighbourhood Watch team has set up a meeting which we hope you will be able to attend. This is a public meeting and your friends and neighbours will be most welcome.

We have invited Hilary Doyle to come and speak on the subject of the future of Neighbourhood Watch. A comment at a local symposium states “That Neighbourhood Watch is very much alive, not kicking in its death throws, but disillusioned, frustrated and confused”

Hilary is the Vice-chair of All Wales Neighbourhood Watch and chairs Merthyr Tydfil Watch.

We look forward to a lively debate and an update on current matters in Radyr and Morganstown. A number of successful PACT meetings have taken place and the efforts of the local police are to be congratulated and supported by all our residents.

The meeting will be held in the OCR at 7.30pm on Thursday 26th April 07.

If you have the opportunity to advertise this meeting, a printable version of the poster is available at https://www.radyr.org.uk/nwatch/poster407.pdf

Are you interested in Planning Matters?

Do you want to see the latest planning applications?

The Community Council are now listing the latest planning applications for Radyr and Morganstown on your local website…

A new list of applications is published weekly by Division of Development Control of Cardiff Council who are the authority who deal with these submissions and the Council’s Planning Committee decide which of these to approve.

If you have a query on a planning application you can contact Development Control at City Hall or the Clerk of the Community Council. The Clerk is sent copies of most of the plans for local applications and you are welcome to view them in the Clerk’s office of the Old Church Rooms. Just call ahead for an appointment.

Further details are available in the Community Council section of the website.

If there are any other things you would like to see on our pages please let us know by contacting the Clerk.

David Silver
Vice Chair of the Community Council

It has been a busy and exciting series of events for RTC these last two terms. A team of six leaders and 5 adult volunteer helpers from the 3 churches and 5 young people in year 11 at Radyr Comp. work together to provide up to 40 children with a safe place to have fun, learn values for life, explore life skills and access many fun activities together.

This year we have had craft, games, pop idol, performing arts sessions, team discussions and been on trips to Winter Wonderland, Christmas Caroling, Amelia Adventure Farm.

We also put on a Jazz Cafe with all sorts of live music, fun events, and a car wash to raise money for a project called Edith’s Home working with orphans of Aids in Uganda.

3 teams from RTC have entered the Cardiff inter-youth club 5-a-side tournament being held at the Gol National 5-a-side centre in Cardiff.

Live Music – the OCR Sessions

Throughout November and December The Old Church Rooms played host to some of the fresh, talented bands of Radyr and the surrounding villages. Bands from the local area have been playing to an audience of their friends and other fans of music. A whole range of styles was represented in what was dubbed the “In The Process Festival”.

From the heavier and progressive style of “Lemons”, to the more alternative and lighter style of “Cross Fire” the idea of the series of gigs spouted from Oliver Evenden. “Purple Nurple” set the bar high for the headlining band “Lemons” but they managed to pull off one of the best shows of the festival, finishing with the legendary song “Freebird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The second week was an acoustic night with food and an “Open Mic Night” style. The card was full with bands like “Failure by Design”, “Lemons” and “The Breakawayz”, who covered two classic rock songs, before playing a version of their own song “Sometimes”. Week three was a big night with some strong bands, “Failure by Design”, “Punch Us Pilot” and “Crossfire”. It was a huge show and the highlight for me was “Horizon”, one of Crossfire’s own songs.

The Fourth show brought new equipment, technical problems and a clash with a party for year 11s. “State The Obvious” played many of their own songs before covering the Christmas song “Santa Clause Is Coming To Town” to finish their set. “Lemons” once again thrilled the audience with their highly skilled guitar riffs and melodic bass lines. “The Breakawayz” faced an uphill battle, with no solid fan base in the audience. But it was a strong set including their original song “Breakaway”. The final night involved some impromptu guests along with established bands.

All of the bands would like to thank Radyr Baptist Church for putting on the evenings with us. Thanks also to Old Church Rooms for allowing the bands of the local community to use the hall. The music scene in Radyr is strong and there is more to come in 2007.

You can find some of the bands that performed and details of CDs at the following web addresses:

• http://www.myspace.com/wearecross fire

• http://www.myspace.com/lemonsuk

• http://www.lemonstheband.uni.cc

• http://www.myspace.com/thebreakawayz

The opening night is drawing near and there is a palpable focus (or is it panic!) in rehearsals, as for the 23rd year of its existence the Radyr Parish Music Group gets ready to apply the greasepaint, don the costumes and tread the boards.

This year the residents of Radyr and Morganstown are in for a real treat – the cymbals sound, and horns blast as your neighbours appear as you have never seen them before – willing victims of aesthetic transfiguration! Flowing locks, gowns, and lilies abound – and the women are even more outrageous!

‘Patience’ is one of the most under-rated but charming of Gilbert and Sullivan’s long line of operettas. It satirises a late Victorian fad of recreating Medieval romance and art (think of the interior decoration of Cardiff Castle!) so it has a marvellous array of wildly flamboyant poets, swooning maidens, dragoon guards and Patience – the milkmaid who, through her rustic simplicity, actually exposes the nonsense of the whole ‘aesthetic’ movement and wins our hearts.

The music ranks with Gilbert and Sullivan’s finest and the humour equally so. From the foot tapping jollity of ‘In that case unprecedented’ to the tear jerking melancholy of ‘I hear the soft note of the echoing voice’, this production has been a treat for all involved in its preparation and hopefully that will show through when it is performed.

Production dates: 21-24 February

Tickets (from £5.50-£7.50) available from Sue Thomas, 1b Heol Isaf, Radyr, Cardiff, CF15 8AF (Tel 029 2031 0894).

For further details see www.music.radyr.org.uk

It is twenty years to the month since Sue Philpott became a member of Radyr and Morganstown Community Council. At the end of last night’s council meeting she was presented with a poem especially written by members of the community.

Sue is currently Chair of the Council. This is the fourth time she has held this position having previously been Chair in 1989, 1994 and 2001.

Besides her obvious great interest in local community, Sue is a keen gardener, has a strong interest in environmental affairs and has superb culinary skills, preparing Friday lunch at the Old Church Rooms for the senior citizens of Radyr and Morganstown.

We all look forward to working with Sue for many more years.

David Silver
Vice Chair of the Council

On Thursday 12th October, Reverend Jenny Wigley was inducted as the new Rector of the Parish of Radyr. The service, conducted by the Right Reverend Dr David Yeoman, Assistant Bishop of Llandaff and assisted by the Venerable Bill Thomas, Archdeacon of Llandaff, was attended by 265 parishioners, friends and clerics. It was followed by a reception in the New Schoolrooms. Jenny’s first service in the Parish will be on Sunday, 15th October.

The picture shows Jenny together with (from the left), Bill Thomas, David Yeoman and her husband, Stephen. Her two boys, David and Andrew, are in the front.

Jenny and her family will be moving into the new Rectory being built behind Christ Church when it is finished.