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Editor Cllr. J. Beach
If you have a Mumbles story you'd like us to consider for publication, please use the link on the right to contact us.

Between the 14th and the 18th of September, a party of fourteen Mumbles residents visited the Breton town of Hennebont with which Mumbles is twinned. Twelve of the group were members of Mumbles Twinning Association and two, Councillors Lilian Pritchard and Robert Wilkinson, were representatives of Mumbles Community Council.

     On arrival at 9.30 p.m. we were warmly welcomed, at an informal reception, by the host families with whom we were to stay for the next three days.

     During the visit our time was divided between an officially arranged programme and time spent with the host families.  The official programme included, on the first day, a guided tour of the town, an official reception at the Town Hall and a visit to the nearby town of Lorient.

     On the following days a bus trip was made to the Quiberon Peninsula during which a stop was made at Carnac to view the world famous prehistoric standing stones and cromlechs. We also had the opportunity to visit the  “ forum des associations “ – an outdoor exhibition of the various clubs, societies and charities from Hennebont  at which the Mayor of Hennebont spoke and the Mumbles Twinning Association provided a short musical entertainment.

     During the visit we had glorious, sunny weather – except for the Monday afternoon when a boat trip around the islands of the Gulf of Morbihan had been arranged and it rained!!

     On the last morning representatives of the Twinning Association met their Hennebont counterparts to discuss ways in which the connections between Mumbles and Hennebont could be strengthened. Councillors Pritchard and Wilkinson attended this meeting as observers.

     The visit was a great success for we were able to see much of the countryside and seascape and learn something of the religious, cultural, architectural and social history of the area. Perhaps even more important was the insight into home life afforded to us by staying with Breton families. Our thanks go to all the host families for their warm welcome and their unstinting generosity.

     I would like to thank also the Mayor of Hennebont, M.Gerard Perron, and the Twinning Association of Hennebont for arranging such an interesting and varied programme and M. Pierre Laurent Constantin for his guided tour of the town.

     Finally, no account of a visit to Brittany would be complete without a mention of food and drink!  Apart from the excellent repasts provided by our host families, we had lunch at a Foyer ( where excellent, cheap meals are provided for disadvantaged people), at a pavement seafood restaurant and dinner at a creperie. But perhaps the highlight on the food front was the Farewell Party Buffet, prepared by  the Dames Tartine and accompanied by celtic ( mainly Irish ) songs played vigorously on guitar and violin. It goes without saying that all meals were accompanied by wine.

It was a memorable visit and we look forward to welcoming our Breton friends to Mumbles in 2008.

Photographs by Cllr. J. & Mrs G.Beach

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COUNCIL CHAIRMAN’S VISIT TO CONFERENCE ON WELSH/BRETON TOWN TWINNING AT NANTES. SEPTEMBER 8th & 9th 2007

Roger Beynon, Chairman of Mumbles Community Council, attended a meeting in Nantes, hosted by the Nantes City Council and the Department of Loire Atlantique, to develop the relationship between twinned Welsh and Breton towns, over the second weekend of September.

There are 42 Welsh towns twinned with towns in Brittany. Mumbles is twinned with Hennebont, while Nantes, the location for the meeting is twinned with Cardiff. Representatives from some 20 of these Welsh towns, and rather more Breton towns, attended the conference, which was held in the Prefecture of the Department of Loire-Atlantique in Nantes.

It proved a useful exchange of views on ways of enhancing the twinning relationship between the Welsh and Breton towns. It also helped to highlight differences in the aspects of the twinning organisation affecting each country. Examples were the fact that the French twinning associations receive much more support, financial and organizational, from their respective Municipalities than is the case in Wales. The Breton towns were keen to develop more school to school contacts, temporary one year placements of young professionals in twinned towns, and to generally improve youth involvement in twinning. Welsh towns were keen for cultural and sporting exchanges where feasible. New UK child protection laws were blamed for complicating school and youth exchanges.

Nantes is an interesting large town, situated on the River Loire, which for many years in the last century imported Welsh coal to fuel the local steelworks, whose products were used in the local shipyards in particular. It had a long association with the slave trade, euphemistically known as the ebony trade, and it is estimated that half a million Africans slaves were shipped through Nantes to the French West Indies. The port is now much reduced, as are the local heavy industries. The old port areas are, like Swansea, being redeveloped for office and residential uses.

Delegates toured the recently reopened Castle of the Dukes of Brittany, who ruled Brittany separately from France until 1540. The castle, which is significantly larger than Cardiff Castle, has recently undergone a 12 year long, extremely expensive, refurbishment, and the visitor and museum facilities are state of the art. Nantes is regarded as the capital of Brittany, and there is increasing interest in preserving the Breton language and unique culture. The Breton language is similar to Welsh, and the Breton language supporters much admire the Welsh Language Act.

As the final event of the weekend the delegates were the guests of the Consul General at Wales’ opening match of the Rugby World Cup at the Beaujoire Stadium. Wales played Canada, and although there were significantly more Welsh supporters in evidence than Canadian many of the French crowd urged on the Canadians who led for the first 50 minutes. Eventually Wales played to their potential and were successful. Let us hope that we can be as successful in fostering Welsh/Breton twinned town relationships.

CLYNE CHAPEL 100 YEARS OLD

The Chapel was built by William Graham Vivian as a Squire's Chapel and was dedicated on 1st December 1907. There are several events being held to mark this anniversary.  Dr. Fred Cowley gave a very interesting talk in Clyne Chapel on 21st September which was followed by cheese and wine.  It was facinating hearing the history of the church. The congregation has worked hard to raise money to restore the church to its former glory and now that the church has been cleaned we are able to see the devil and the string of garlic adorning the window along side the porch door! You are all welcome to come and join our celebrations or services.   Look out for Dr. Cowley's book when it is published later this year if you want to learn more about the treasures of the Chapel.

Article submitted by Cllr. Lynda Tyler Lloyd

Mumbles In Bloom Awards Evening

It was not quite the BAFTA awards, but almost!  This year not only were we presenting the Shields and Certificates for Mumbles in Bloom, but also presenting the Honours of Mumbles to Ann Parking for her work with St. John's Ambulance.

Our event took place in the Mumbles Conservative Club and our guests were greeted with wine and a delicious buffet.  We were fortunate that it was a beautiful late summer evening with Mumbles looking at its best.

The judges, Mr. Ian Scott and Mr. Steve Prothero, felt that the winners of Mumbles in Bloom had cheered up a very wet holiday season with their imaginative and colourful displays.  They feel that this competition enhances the ambiance of Mumbles and they would like to see more entries in 2008. 

In anticipation of this we are providing a new category for 1st Time Entries.  See you all next year at the next Mumbles in Bloom Awards evening!

The winners were:-   Mr. Dyke, The Beufort Arms, Mr. Hutchings, Mr. & Mrs Church, Oystermouth School and Mill Gardens.

Article submitted by Cllr. Linda Tyler Lloyd.

(see Sept issue for photos)

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GLYNN

VIVIAN HOME OF REST FOR THE BLIND

ON THEIR 100TH ANNIVERSARY.

A COMMEMORATIVE PLAGUE WAS

UNVEILED BY THE LORD MAYOR CLLR.

SUSAN WALLER DURING THE

CELEBRATIONS TO MARK THIS OCCASION.

WE OFFER THE COMMITTEE OUR BEST

WISHES FOR THE FUTURE.

MUMBLES WAR MEMORIAL.

YOU WILL HAVE READ IN THE SOUTH WALES

EVENING POST, 9TH OCTOBER THAT THE

MUMBLES COMMUNITY COU NCIL ARE

COMMISSIONING A MEMORIALTO THOSE FROM

THE MUMBLES AREA WHO, IN THE ARMED

SERVICES OR MERCHANT NAVY, HAVE

SACRIFICIED THEIR LIVES WHILST SERVINGTHEIR

COUNTRY SINCE THE END OF WORLD WAR 2.

WOULD ANYONE WHO HAS INFORMATION

RELATING TO SUCH PERSONS, PLEASE

CONTACT THE HON. CLERK AS SOON AS

POSSIBLE, EITHE R IN WRITING TO :-

THE COUNCIL OFFICE, WALTERS CRES.,

MUMBLES SA3 4BB OR BY PHONE 01792363598

OR EMAIL council@mumbles.gov.uk

Every effort is being made so that this new memorial

will be completed before the remembrance service

on 11th.November 2007.

LORD MAYOR'SCIVIC SERVICE.

THIS WAS HELD ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 14TH

AT ST. PETERS PARISH CHURCH, NEWTON.

THE LORD MAYOR, CLLR. SUSAN WALLER AND

HER CONSORT DR. ALAN THOMAS ATTENDED

TOGETHER WITH MANY DIGNITARIES FROM

ACROSS SOUTH WALES.

THESE INCLUDED THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF

WEST GLAMORGAN, THE HIGH SHERIFF

TOGETHER WITH LEADING CIVIC FIGURES FROM

NEARBY TOWNS AND CITIES.

LOCAL RESIDENTS FROM THE NEWTON

WARD, WHICH IS REPRESENTED BY THE LORD

MAYOR, WERE ALSO AMONG THE

INVITED GUESTS. CLLR. BRIAN ARTHUR,

REPRESENTED MUMBLES COMMUNITY COUNCIL.

A GUARD OF HONOUR WAS PROVIDED BY THE

A.T.C. AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE

SERVICE.

CANON GEORGE BENNETT, CHAPLAIN TO THE

LORD MAYOR CONDUTED THE SERVICE AND

WAS ASSISTED BY THE REVEREND JOHN

WORKMAN.

THE PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND

INTERCESSION WERE GIVEN BY PASTOR DAVID

LEWIS OF PARACLETE CONGREGATIONAL

CHURCH, NEWTON. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A

MUSICAL OFFERING BY PUPILS OF BISHOPSTON

SCHOOL

THE SERVICE FINISHED WITH THE BLESSING BY

CANON GEORGE BENNETT.

Mumbles Community Council POLICY STATEMENT

Sand Dredging

Approved: That the following policy statement be adopted and published.

“Given that the Gower Peninsula is a place of outstanding natural beauty and that the area relies heavily on tourism and leisure, Mumbles Community Council believes that no further licence for sand dredging be granted until it is shown beyond reasonable doubt that the observed loss of sand from the beaches is not due to the dredging activity”.

Approved: That this policy to be published via a Press Release, the MCC Newsletter and the Web Site.

THE SOUTH WALES EVENING POST 4-10-07

HEADING "DREDGERS IN 27M TONNE SAND TALKS"

(by Richard Youle) states that the 'consortium' wants to remove a maximum of 27 million tonnes of sand over 15 years from a deep water site in the BristolChannel. This site is 10 miles (16km) from Worm's Head at its nearest point to Gower.

The consortium support the case for extraction of this sand by using the current construction boom in South Wales, "which relies heavily on sand and other marine aggregate". The shopping centre in Cardiff will need 100,000 tonnes of sand.

South West Wales AM Alun Cairns called for a moratorium on all dredgeing within 25km of the coast until there was catergorical evidence it did not contribute to beach sand erosion.

THE MUMBLES COMMUNITY COUNCIL MADE THIS POLICY STATEMENT IN 2003.

My personal comment is, why not replace the beach sand by bringing it ashore at those places where it has been depleted. This has been carried out at Bournemouth and another seaside resort in the north of England.

LANGLAND BAY TROUBLE ZONE

Ben Wright in the South Wales Evening Post 1-10-07

has brought to our attention, once again, the problems of youth violence at this beauty spot in our wonderful Mumbles location.

It would appear to down to the parents to put a stop to this underage drinking and perhaps the local 'bobbies' could carry out spot checks on the cars which drop off 'children' at Langland Bay (with crates of beers). Maybe, instead of more CCTV cameras doing 'Big Brother' they should make regular visits to Langland Bay and the other beauty spots in Mumbles.

Mumbles Community Council I feel certain support the Langland Bay Residents Association.

MUMBLES TWINNING ASSOCIATION

Twinned with

HENNEBONT, BRITTANY KINSALE, IRELAND

We are a small voluntary organisation of dedicated individuals who work closely with the Mumbles Community Council to foster links of all kinds – cultural, educational, sporting etc – with our twinned towns. The original Kinsale twinning was in 1992; Hennebont, a town of 14,000 inhabitants near Lorient, was added in 2004.

We are always interested in new members (individual, family or Associations) who may have new ideas or connections. Subscriptions are very modest. We normally meet once a month, at 7.30 pm, in the Community Council’s offices in Walters Crescent.

In 2007 a group from Kinsale visited in May, and recently 14 Mumbles people had a very successful visit to Hennebont, using Brittany Ferries from Plymouth to Roscoff. Next year, we will visit Kinsale in the autumn, and Hennebont people will come over here (dates not fixed yet). With Hennebont, we stay with host families, and vice versa.

We are trying to develop links with schools, musical groups and artists’ groups. Our Annual General Meeting is on Monday Nov 12 at 7.30 pm at the Mumbles Methodist Church but all prospective new members are welcome. Please fill in and return the form below (subscriptions only payable if you actually join!) or contact the Chair or Secretary. The Christmas Dinner is at the Mermaid Restaurant on Dec 14.

We/I* would like to become full Members/renew our Membership* of the Mumbles Twinning Association and enclose herewith our/my* cash/cheque* (cheques made payable to Mumbles Twinning Association) in the sum of £10 / 5* as follows:

£10 Family (Association) fee for ……………………………………………………

£5 Individual fee for ……………………………………………………………………

Signed ……………………………………………….                          Date                                   ………………………………

Address  ………………………………….

     ………………………………….

     ………………………………….

Tel      ………………………………….

E-mail     ………………………………….......                  (Minutes etc by E-mail?  Yes/no*)

                                                        *  Delete where not applicable

Stuart Winks (Chair) 404316 [s.winks@btopenworld.com] 53, Westland Avenue, West Cross, SA3 5NR

Julian Smith (Secretary) 404815 [julian.c.smith@lineone.net] 15, West Cross Avenue, Norton, SA3 5TS

ts :
101_0118

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                                            French  Le

BRITISH SUMMER TIME ENDS

28TH OCTOBER 2007

DON'T FORGET TO PUT

YOUR CLOCKS BACK ONE

HOUR.

LOST FROM NAGS HEAD

HOW FORTUNATE FOR THOSE PASSING THE OTHER DAY WHEN THE LARGE SIGN ON THE SIDE OF THE NAGS HEAD PUB CAME CRASHING DOWN. THE ONLY MISFORTUNE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A SPORTS CAR IN THE AREA HAVING THE WINDSCREEN DAMAGED BY THE IMPACT. THE REMAINS OF THE SIGN WERE SCATTERED OVER THE ROADWAY.

L.VAUGHAN BUTCHER

has not left the arcade in Newton Rd. but has just moved further down the arcade into the former Granary Health premises.