❋Wanted❋
Raffle Prizes

We are still looking for raffle prizes for our Tom Jones Tribute evening.

Any donations and suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Please contact Annis (details above).

Coffee Mornings

Come and join us for some tea, coffee, biscuits and cake. Come in and browse our book collections, chat with friends and swop/buy a plant or two.

See you soon!

Litter Pick

Don’t forget our monthly litter pick please turn up at the Village Hall before our Coffee Morning and Plants & Produce at 10.15am.

Look forward to seeing you there!

1. Coffee Morning, 11.00am,
   3rd May 2022

2. Plants & Produce, 11.00am,
   3rd May 2022

3. Litter Pick, 10.15am,
   3rd May 2022

4. Yoga - Easter Break, please check.

5. Tom Jones Tribute,
   13th May, 2022

6. Defibrillator Training,
   TBA

7. Community Bookshare,
   always open.

Easter Coffee Morning

What a great morning! It was lovely to feel the Hall buzzing again!

What a great turn out!

Thank you so much for all your support and hope to see you all again in May.

Everyone welcome!

Usk Sunday Artisan Market opens

What a wonderful idea by Usk Town Council.

“We hope you agree this is a great opportunity to utilise the former recycling centre for the benefit of our existing businesses and residents alike and return Usk, once again, to its Market Town status.” (Green Top Events)

Easter falls on Sunday 17th April

Easter this year falls on Sunday, April 17th, because that is the first Sunday after the full moon and after the spring equinox.

Easter is an important festival in the Christian calendar. It celebrates Jesus rising from the dead, three days after he was executed.

The History of the Easter Bunny

The strange story of the Easter Bunny.

Why hiding chocolate eggs is connected to the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

New Arboretum in Usk

What a wonderful asset to our community!

The Rotary Club of Usk and volunteers helped to plant over 130 trees in an area by the Athletic Club to create a new arboretum in Usk.

Lots of things to do in the garden in April

Monty Don gives us lots of hints and tips for our garden throughout the calendar year. .

This month Monty Don talks about April.

Edible Flower Spring Rolls

How impressive are these?

Edible flower spring rolls are so strikingly beautiful and make a fabulous addition to any get together.

Most of us will have edible flowers in our gardens to try it out.

Rubbish on Usk to Wentwood road

Please be careful when out driving around Usk. Rubbish had been tipped on some roads.

As the photos show, on the Usk/Wentwood road, there is a lot of rubbish and it has completely obscured one lane.

Thank you so much Phillipa Cherryson for alerting us to this danger and for sharing your photos.
(Saturday 2nd April, 2022)

Rubbish Raglan

Another recent tipping was around Raglan and was spotted by James Peters, “This load dumped on Warrage Road north of Raglan. Calcium Hypochlorite swimming pool chemicals spilling out…” (Monday, 4th April 2022)

Thank you so much James for sharing your photos and alerting us to this hazard. A hazard both to us and the local wildlife.

⚠ Dogs running free on Wainfield Lane ⚠

We have had a number of concerned residents approach us to ask if we could politely ask dog owners to please not allow their dogs to run freely around the lanes, especially on Wainfield Lane.

Large, young, excitable, off lead dogs not only scare walkers but may also find their way into fields of sheep and their lambs, especially in Gwehelog.

Thank you for your consideration, we really appreciate it.

Whilst talking about dogs…

…we have had some disturbing reports of ‘dog poo’ being bagged and thrown into fields of Mums and lambs.

Indeed, our diligent litter pickers picked up a similar smelly package last month.

Please be aware that the fields in and around Gwehelog are peoples gardens… many fields will also be used for hay making. Please respect this and the animals who live there and take your dog poo home with you. Thank you🌷

Tiny baby bird nests in ladies hair

“After one particularly bad (September 2018) thunderstorm, I found a fledgling – a bronze-winged mannikin finch – barely a month old, on the ground,” Bourne-Taylor said. “He was abandoned by his flock, his nest blown from the mango tree…”

“For the next 84 days, the fledgling lived on me.”

Message from a choirboy

A hidden message from an orphanage choirboy pleading not to be forgotten has been found after it lay undisturbed in a church pew for 125 years.

The letter was written by 13-year-old William Elliott on August 11 1897.

Cat rescue on M4

A major operation was launched by the police during rush hour on Wednesday 30th March at 8.00am, to rescue a cat from the busy M4.

Strange metal rings?

Did you know that ‘Barrage Balloons’ played a very important part in the UK's defences against the Germans during WW2?

These giant balloons were around three times the size of a cricket pitch!

The balloons were tied up using the rings and then released where they would restrict German pilot's ability to fly.

Nessie spotted by webcam

Loch Ness monster hunter has caught the creature on camera for the first time this year after spotting two objects “moving parallel to each other.”

Eoin O'Faodhagain’s sighting of Nessie has now been marked up on the official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register (Chronicle Live).

Highway Code rules tightening up

Please be careful on the roads.

People could face a fine for using a mobile phone if you're a passenger under new Highway Code rules.

Drivers who even touch a phone could face a £200 penalty.

If a person is supervising a learner driver and touches their phone, they could face £1,000 fine if caught - as well as six points on their licence.

Speedwatch Scheme, Usk

Five sites have now been approved to operate the Speedwatch Scheme and new equipment has been supplied by Gwent Police to this end.

If you would like to join this scheme, please contact the Scheme Coordinator Tony Kear on 07824 810182

Check your symptoms

Check your symptoms on-line with the NHS Symptom Checker.

Endangered Bat

A really sweet and curious looking bat, not seen in 40 years and feared extinct has been found in Rwanda.

Two Hill's horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus hilli), which haven't been seen since 1981, were found by scientists in the forest at the Nyungwe National Park in Nyungwe (Cover Media).

Rare migrating birds

With winter visitors flying off to new lands and the arrival of summer migrants, now is a great time to keep a look out for rare nesting birds.

We used to hear the rare, beautiful Nightingale song years ago in Gwehelog, hence the name ‘Pant-y-reos’ - ‘valley of the nightingale’.

Contrast Sensitivity

The swirling black and white image contains a series of numbers, but how many can you spot?

The illusion is a measure of contrast sensitivity, which allows us to perceive the difference between objects and their backgrounds.

Defibrillator

Located in the conservatory. Enter the garden via the side gate off the lane.

International Travel