My feet haven't touched the ground during the last four weeks and i'm finding it very difficult, i've taken up welsh lessons and i'm now into my sixth week and i'm quite enjoying it,

But i'm also finding that i'm in county hall almost daily dealing with county council issues and next May in the AGM of the labour group i'm going to seriously consider my position and the number of committees i'm on.

In the last month alone i seem to have been promotted within the labour group and various committees that I sit on and with this comes extra responsibilities

Firstly I was promotted within the Labour group of councillors for Mid and West Wales Fire Authority, which is made up by members from across the five county council unitary authorities, which means that I have to represent the group at pre meetings with the various chairs and vice chairs, an hour before the actuall meetings commence.

There's five councils with twenty two members and together we scrutinise and make decisions on policies for the Authority A list of the members on the Fire Authority can be found on the link below .

http://www.mawwfire.gov.uk/fire_authority_eng/members.asp

Then I was elected by SACRE as this years vice chair of the group, http://www.studyoverseas.com/uk/uked/sacre.htm

The above link explains the role of the SACRE representatives quote from the link.

SACRES (Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education) are responsible in law for advising local education authorities on RE and collective worship. There are over one hundred SACREs in England and Wales. Each SACRE is composed of four representative groups (or three in Wales): Christian and other religious denominations, the Church of England (except in Wales), teachers' associations and elected councillors.

In practice the kind of advice and support offered by SACREs varies, often depending on the quality of advice given by the LEA officer whose job is to keep SACRE informed of local and national developments. Effective SACREs carry out a range of responsibilities from providing support to implement an Agreed Syllabus to monitoring local schools' Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education) inspection reports on RE.

Each SACRE is required to publish an Annual Report that is sent to QCA (Qualifications and Assessment Authority). Each year QCA publishes a report that provides an overall analysis of the work of SACREs during the previous year (1)

In addition to its advisory role a SACRE has two particular responsibilities. The first is that it can require the LEA to review its Agreed Syllabus for RE. If this is required then the LEA must constitute an Agreed Syllabus Conference to undertake this task. This group should reflect the same four groupings of a SACRE, but without provision for co-opted members, and in practice it often involves the same people.

The second particular responsibility is that SACREs can consider requests from schools to lift the legal requirement to hold an act of collective worship of a broadly Christian character. Such requests come from schools with a large number of pupils from non-Christian religious backgrounds. If the SACRE agrees then the school is granted a 'determination' for five years, after which time the school can reapply if it so wishes.

SACREs have a very important role to play in supporting RE, and in contributing to the raising of standards in the subject. In order to maximise the effectiveness of SACREs , and to strengthen them in carrying out their responsibilities a National Association of SACREs was founded in 1993.

Then at full council last week, It came as a complete shock because previously it had been an Independent group held position and the Independents put my name forward, I was nominated and elected by a vote of full council, (there was a second name nominated) to become the vice chair of the Appeals Committee for the county council and on Friday at an appeal in the absence of a chair I became chair of an appeals committee who listened to an appeal about a school transport decision.

Prior to all of these committees taking place i've also been flat out trying secure some grant funding for the Hendy Park Regeneration.

The pool committee has transfered its fundraising efforts which was £18,345 to the community council and the community council had agreed to apply for grants to achieve the master plan,

one of the grants available closed in October and on providing the application, the grant fund managers asked for additional information and gave us until Nov 21st to provide this extra info, therefore i've been chasing around to find this information to provide it on time,

the info required was held by a number of people, the county council parks department, the clerk of the community council, the officer who helped write the application and I also had to get letters of support from various community groups in the village,

Having spent the best part of two weeks collecting all this info, i'm now hopping the grant fund managers will look at the application with some favour.

I've also been to several presentations, the two schools in my community both won awards and I went to these events,

Robert Croft also helped with the Hendy School Award Ceremony 

the other week in my blog i wrote about Llanedi school recieving an award for recycling, yesterday the county council published the official press release for the award with a group photo

Wednesday, October 21

Pupils recycle 5,890 Yellow Pages

SCHOOLCHILDREN from across Carmarthenshire have recycled 5,890 old Yellow Pages to help plant new trees.

Some 39 schools across the county have taken part in the Yellow Woods Challenge.

The eco-friendly pupils were asked to collect the old directories which were then picked up on behalf of the county council by CWM Environmental to be recycled.

Not only could the schools win cash prizes for the number of Yellow Pages they recycled,

but for every pound Yellow Pages awards, they will give a matching pound to the Woodland Trust for its Tree for All campaign.

First place went to Llanddarog, second place to Llanedi and third place to Gorslas. A highly commended and bonus prize went to Ysgol Gwynfryn.

All four winning schools were presented with framed certificates and cheques by Carmarthenshire County Council chairman Councillor Tyssul Evans at a special reception at County Hall along with the executive board member for the environment Councillor Haydn Jones and local members.

Councillor Evans said: “I would like to congratulate all the schools that took part in the challenge, this has been an excellent competition with a total of 5,890 old Yellow Pages directories being diverted from landfill and being recycled.”

Councillor Jones added: “Recycling not only saves valuable landfill space but also reduces the amount of energy needed to manufacture new products. By taking part in the Yellow Woods Challenge, these pupils are learning very important environmental issues at an early age – a great start for our next generation of recyclers.”

Gold Oak Award: Llanddarog collected 1379 Yellow Pages with 90 pupils attending the school.

Silver Birch Award: Llanedi collected 161 Yellow Pages with 28 pupils attending the school.

Bronze Beech Award: Gorslas collected 476 Yellow Pages with 101 pupils attending the school.

Highly Commended and Bonus Award: Gwynfryn school collected 254 Yellow Pages with 76 pupils attending the school.

CAPTION: Carmarthenshire County Council chairman Tyssul Evans presents the pupils and teachers from Llanddarog, Gorslas, Llanedi and Gwynfryn schools with their certificates and prizes along with the executive board member for the environment Councillor Haydn Jones and local members.

Picture: Jeff Connell.

Press note: For further information contact Carmarthenshire County Council communications officer Diane Phillips on 01267 224913.

Tuesday along with a small number of Carmarthen County Councillors, (only 11 out of 72) attended Golden Grove Farm which is run by College Sir Gar to attend a training seminar

I understand the purpose of the seminar was to raise awareness of the Carmarthenshire Local Biodiversity Action Plan and what it is achieving and also to highlight the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 and what this means in terms of the Council’s activities and operations.

http://www.llandeilo.org/pl_gelli.php

On arrival we walked up to the River bridge an we had a talk on the river and its impact on the farm land and the wildlife in and around the area during the seminar we had the chance to look at lots of old maps to look at how the landscape has changed over the years, one of the maps showed the old Ford which has long since been lost and replaced with a bridge and another map had individual trees marked and recorded.

below is an appraisal of the area that i pulled off the county councils web pages. 

Golden Grove/Gelli Aur is located some three miles south-west of Llandeilo, within the Towy Valley, itself designated as a Special Landscape Area, and comprises of a loose collection of some thirty three dwellings on the gently slope rising to the south of the River Towy.

The scattered lateral form of the village is defined by the road which links the B4300 road, which runs the length of the Towy Valley at this point, between Llandeilo and Carmarthen, and the A476 on the traverse side of the glacial ridge and which separates the Towy Valley from the Gwendraeth and Loughor Valleys.

The nucleus of the village centres around St Michael's Church and the Church Hall (formerly the Church School) which are set back from a small triangular grassed area which borders onto the road. Both are Grade II Listed Buildings. The church is a fine example of a small church built in the decorated style of the Gothic Revival. Built in 1846-8 by Sir George Gilbert Scott as an estate church for John Frederick Campell, first Earl of Cawdor (1790 - 1860) it replaces one of 1617 in the same location. Architecturally, the church includes a Nave with a small timber belfry and spire near the west end, a slightly lower chancel, and a porch and transept and vestry on the north side. It is reputed that the timber belfry was copied from that of the earlier church. Apart from the porch, the exterior walls of the church are constructed from axe dressed informally coursed sandstone overlaid by slates on the roof, door dressings, arches, tracery, mullions and cills in local grey limestone.

The church is set within a stone walled churchyard with stile and lytchgate. The circular shape of the walled enclosure suggests that it was established in pre-mediaeval times.

The lytchgate also probably predates the rebuilt church, the extreme simplicity of the style suggests that it predates the time when the Golden Grove buildings were commissioned by the first Earl of Cawdor who inherited the estate in 1821. It is cubical in form, with a pyramid slate roof, edged with decorative roof tiling with rendered hips and a plain lead covered apex. The way through is barrel vaulted and plastered. The entrance is gated at the centre with a pair of modern timber gates, incorporating vertical iron bars taken from an earlier period.

The Church Hall, is also a distinctive building, fronting onto the tarmaced shared area with the Church. Until its closure in 1982 it served as the Church School. It now serves as a parish hall.

Designed for Lord Cawdor by Henry Ashton (a former assistant of Sir Jeffry Wyatville), it is built in the neo-Tudor style echoing that of Golden Grove Mansion which was considered appropriate for superior educational buildings in the early Victorian period; a model school design, and dates from 1848.

The building described in its original format would have consisted of a two storey master's house between a two windows boys' school room to the left and a one window school room for girls to the right, both of which are single storey.

Constructed from rubble common masonry, the walls are inserted with limestone ashlar dressings including large quoins. The roof covering is natural slate, set in regular courses capped by a tiled ridge covering. The two storey section of the master's house has three light mullion windows, serving both storeys at the front; similar but taller windows carried up into through-eaves gables to the school rooms form the construction of the building on both front and rear elevations. All windows are fitted with quarry glazing. Above each of the school room front windows is a scroll tablet with the inscription "Fear God".

To the west of the former school building and still within the open area is sited a Gilbert Scot K6 type, square, red, telephone kiosk dating from 1952, an undoubted asset to any conservation area, whilst on the opposite side of the road is to be found, in a recess in the Golden Grove Park wall, a horse trough and fountain. The water spout is set in a round-headed alcove with an informal pediment, carrying the inscription "Drink and be thankful 1872" topped by a coroneted finial.

To the south of the Church, separated by a field, fronted by a short distance of well maintained hedgerow, along the road frontage behind a gated entrance, lies another fine property known as Awelaur, which was the former vicarage.

Dating from 1879 it is a fine example of a late Victorian parsonage in the patronage of an aristocratic family and in association with their seat, and forms a dominant element in the village of Golden Grove. Again it is listed as a Grade II building. A two storey building and an attic with Tudor features, it is built of local grey limestone given a pecked finish and laid in snecked courses. The slate roof is decorated with scalloped, red, ridge tiles. Large and prominent red, brick chimney stacks dominate the roofscape.

The building is exceptionally well detailed on all elevations, the stonework includes mullion and transom windows, weathered string courses, coped gables on moulded and double weathered skewstones.

Within the curtilage of the property and detached from the property is to be found the coach house and servants' latrine. Both contemporary with the construction of the former vicarage C1879, they are well preserved; the servants' latrine close to the servants' wing of the house, set behind a screen wall to conceal it from the garden, is an unusual survival of a detached latrine for domestic servants.

Both buildings are built of local limestone masonry overlaid with a slate roof and red ridge tiles, and are listed in their own right.

On the opposite side of the road to the vicarage, facing the street, is April Cottage. Designed as four cottages of unequal size in the mid/late 19^th Century, but now occupied as a single house, they were built as almshouses for Sarah Mary Campbell, who became the second Countess Cawdor in 1800. The building is H-plan by design, with gables facing the street. It is constructed of local gritstone ashlar in irregular courses, covered by a tiled roof. The gables are decorated with ornamental bargeboards with finials. The main entrance to the dwelling is centrally located via a small porch which contains a narrow roundheaded outer doorway, above which a lozenge tile displaying the coronated monogram - SMC (Sarah Mary Campbell) is located.

On either side of the entrance porch are two windows with mullion and lattice glazing. The wings to the front contain similar four light canted bay windows.

The cottage is separated from the roadway by a low stone wall, topped by a round topped interlinking fence.

Further up and on the same side of the road, set back at the entrance gates to Golden Grove, lies West Lodge, a single storey house, built in the picturesque manner of a gate lodge design. Exceptionally built in yellow brick, it is first mentioned in the Census of 1881, and subsequently enlarged at the turn of the century.

Originally having an L-shaped design, a lower range has been added to the rear. The design incorporates a large slate roof with metal ridge, octagonal brick chimneys, scalloped timber bargeboards with timber finials.

The entrance way incorporates a four-post porch and central gablet, beneath a low-pitched slate roof, with fixed lights on either side of the door, with a row of turned balusters beneath.

At the front, facing into the estate access road, is a small canted bay window in the gable.

The building is set in its own grounds, the boundaries to the front and side facing onto the estate access road and main village road, are delineated by neat clipped hedges.

Immediately adjacent to West Lodge are the gate piers at the entrance to Golden Grove Mansion.

All three are again listed.

To the south of the road intersection at this point, on the opposite of the approach road to the village, on its out skirts, lies another property, Waunfedwen, distinctive in the sense that it does not display any of the characteristics of other dwellings in the immediate surrounding area.

Set back from the road, behind a cultivated garden, it comprises of a double fronted main unit, faced with rubble stone in irregular courses with brick arched heads and quoins both to the two over two sliding box sash windows and also the central doorway.

The roof is overlaid with natural, grey slates, with modest overhang to plain verges on projecting purlin ends, and includes modest red brick end chimneys. A subordinate structure to the left and attached to the main house, has been incorporated into the dwelling. The front elevation although again faced with rubble stonework has been painted. The elevation contains a door set off centre, and three windows of varying sizes and styles. The side elevation is however rendered and contains metal casement windows.

Returning to the bottom part of the village, immediately adjacent to the old school house lies the property known as Drws Y Coed. Constructed of red sandstone, laid in irregular courses, the principal building, a two storey, double fronted unit, has two outlaying single storey annexes attached.

The roof is covered with slate with generous overhangs to the verges, with brick end chimneys.

Through eaves gablet roof projections surmount two of the three upper storey windows on the front elevation. The front doorway is centrally located beneath a lean-to porch, with slated roof supported by brick side walls.

The five matching windows are double hung sliding sash box windows, two over two with rounded heads, surmounted by arched brick headers.

The annexes, former outhouses, constructed and faced with random rubble masonry and overlaid with slates on the roof have been incorporated into the living accommodation of the main dwelling. The road frontage boundary is defined, in part, by a low stone wall with iron railings, whilst the remainder is formed from a well maintained hedge which extends the remaining length of the property.

Sweeping around the corner, and on the opposite side of the road, set within its own grounds, lies Keepers Cottage. Again constructed from local stone with a slate covered roof, the original windows of the dwelling have been replaced by new upvc windows. Nevertheless, the basic proportions are maintained.

Below and behind Drws Y Coed, a recent addition to the village, are the replacement buildings at New Park Farm named Llys Parc Newydd, which also includes the incorporation of the former farmhouse within a new housing development. Developed along and replicating the footprint of the former agricultural buildings which once stood here, the dwellings loosely echo their appearance and design. Finished in a mixture of reclaimed stone from the demolished buildings and render, and roof covered in slates, centred around a courtyard, the scheme sites comfortably within the landscape when viewed from the approach from the north. The existing landscape of trees and hedges have been supplemented by additional landscaping and planting, which in time, will further contribute to the assimilation of the buildings into the setting.

The retention of the hedgerow, shielding its approach road from the street, reinforces the distinctive character of the village. The road through the village is bound and enclosed by neat, well maintained hedges, interspersed with low boundary walls and railings, which tightly hug the road verges, unifying the buildings within the village into a cohesive entity. Trees along the roadside and with the curtilages of the individual dwellings previously identified, together with the churchyard, and the deciduous woodlands which are juxtaposed along the main route and form a beautiful backcloth to views of the village to the south and west.

The unity and continuity achieved through the existing planting and stonewalls, and the architectural individuality is indeed a hallmark of Golden Grove/Gelli Aur village.

The unique character of the village, should of course be sufficient to warrant its designation as a Conservation Area, in its own right. There is however another dimension to the setting of the village, unrivalled in Carmarthenshire, that of the Golden Grove estate, which includes Golden Grove Mansion and Country Park.

Golden Grove estate once sprawled across 50,000 acres of Carmarthenshire and was once one of the most elegant and impressive of all Towy Valley estates. The estate was established by the Vaughans in the fifteen hundreds and were one of Carmarthenshire's most illustrious families for over 300 years, until the estate passed to the Cawdors at the beginning of the nineteenth century, who lived there up until the Second World War. In 1951, Carmarthenshire College established an agricultural college at the mansion, whilst in 1979, the former Dyfed County Council set up the country park in its immediate grounds.

Today all that remains of the Vaughans' legacy is the deer park and treasury of trees. The trees on the estate, with their constant changing colours, may have influenced the name of the estate, and their product was a particularly valuable source of income and wealth for the estate. Cut trees would be floated down the River Towy to Carmarthen, for export onward, where there was a "Golden Grove Quay".

The former farmhouse mansion of the Vaughans' was replaced by the current mansion, which was sited above the former site, assuming an elevated position further up the valley slope, and stands proudly overlooking the Towy Valley.

A Grade II Listed Building, built in Tudor style with Scottish Baronial features and constructed from Llangyndeirn "black marble", the mansion is a notable example of the work of Sir Jeffry Wyatville. With its steeply pitch slate roofs in graded courses behind parapets and prominent tower near the south west corner, the only feature which is clearly visible from the valley bottom below, as it peeps over the woodland in the foreground, the mansion is remarkable for the quality and consistency of its Tudor Baronial detailing, both externally and internally.

Apart from the tower, the main house is nearly symmetrical, with a double gabled elevation to the south and north. The entrance elevation contains a centrally located, tall and deeply projecting porte cochére.

To the south-west of the main block are the service wings, planned around a courtyard. Again repeating the baronial style of architecture but to a lesser degree, in accordance with their domestic hierarchy.

To the north and east of the mansion and service wings is located the raised terrace behind a retaining wall and parapet. The retaining wall is in rock-faced limestone, battened at about a 70º angle, whilst the parapet is constructed from similar limestone masonry to that of the house.

The terrace is laid out with walks and parterres, at the centre of which is an ornamental pond with a rounded everted kerb.

Located to the west of the service wing at Golden Grove Mansion, to which it is linked by yards and a covered way, lies the stable block, again designed by Sir Jeffry Wyatville, and which was the last domestic element to be constructed. The rectangular block, formed around an internal courtyard linked to the service wing, is built in a simplified neo-Tudor style and is a fine example of formal symmetrical planning.

To the south of the buildings on the entrance axis of the mansion lies the garden and arboretum, which included other listed features, the garden seat and stairs, and are contemporary with the house.

Both the mansion and the gardens are set within the Golden Grove Country Park, which is run by Carmarthenshire County Council, which includes parkland to either side of this area.

Private forestry forms both the backdrop and foreground to the Country Park, whilst to the north-west of the mansion in an area between the mansion and the B4300, on the valley floor, lies the walled garden to the former farmhouse mansion of the Vaughans'.

The day wasn't a total waste for me, because the officers talked about land management which included hedge row management and i was quick to discuss a project that i could use in Hendy, recently in this blog I spoke about how I had been down to the Hendy Football club helping to fix the fencing to keep the cattle out, the officers stated they could come up with a variety of tree planting scheme that would benefit the club by keeping the cattle out and help the wildlife, so we are now exploring a new hedge laying project which might win some grant funding.

Yesterday morning "dydd Sadwrn" Saturday, i was doing some homework as i'm studying a beginners course for adults learning welsh

cwrs dechreuol i oedolion sy'n dysgu cymraeg

when the phone rung and i was asked to pop up to the post office by 9am

naw o'clock "nine o clock"

for a photo opportunity for the new sports kit that the junior football have recieved from the post office

so here's my attempt at my home work and the photo that we had taken

work is "gweithio"

dw i'n gwethio yn tesco...... i work in tesco

and i am tired ......dw i'n wedi blino

Over the last few months i noticed that the Tesco bags have been getting thinner and thinner, this is probably a good thing as the far as the enviroment is concerned as it will help for the bags to brake down when thrown into the landfill, but i assume it will still take a long time once thrown into the rubbish, tommorow i'm taking part in a briefing of recycling by the county,

Nia Griffith and myself have done our bit for the recycling, we met with the store manager at Tesco Llanelli and because the county council are rolling out the new recycling scheme which removes glass from kerb side collections, Tesco's in partnership with the county have installed glass bottle recycling in its car park

 

 

In February, September and December last year the county council rolled out the new kerbside recycling scheme to 50,000 households, and 15,000 households were put onto the scheme in June and July this year.

 

Phase six will be rolled out on 23rd November 2009 to 10,000 remaining properties in the following areas:

 

Morfa; Glanymor/Tyisha; Pwll; Felinfoel; Cefncaeau; Llangennech; Hendy; Bynea; Bancffosfelen; Mynyddygarreg; Kidwelly; Pontyates; Ponthenri; Pontyberem; Pembrey, Burry Port; Pinged; Tumble, Llanon.

 

The total number of households on the new recycling scheme will be in the region of 75,000. 

 

A Members Seminar for the final rollout will be held tommorrow FRIDAY, 9^th OCTOBER, 2009 at 2pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Llanelli to answer any queries on the new scheme to local county council members and local town or rural councillors.

 

 

I will be telling them that the county has secured Tesco as a bring your on glass site. Most people can drop their glass off as they do their weekly shopping.   This facility has already proved very popular with some regular customers.

 

 

Anyway I started this blog today with the quality of the humble plastic bag. This is because as regular readers of this blog will be aware I've started learning welsh. The tutors gave us our book work in a nice thick quality plastic bag and i've been taking my course work in to work to do some practicing in my tea and lunch breaks.

 

Last Saturday night i did a foolish thing, i left my shining new plastic bag on top of a value orange dollie, on Sunday when i woke up, i realised my mistake, and dashed to Tescos at 3.30pm on a Sunday afternoon, to find the two books still on top of the value orange juice minus the plastic bag, some one had pinched the bag

 

But on the bright side I suppose i've once again done my bit for the enviroment as that person is now using my bag to gain their green points and helping to save the enviroment,

 

Anyway i've just come home from Welsh classes and here's my next weeks homework which i will have to do this week.

 

and on that note

 

Hwyel

 

 

Yellow Wood Challenge

Earlier today I had the pleasure of attending the yellow woods challenge presentation.

I blogged the other day about my challenge to learn welsh, on Thursday gone I attend my second class this term and we went through learning the days of the week, which i knew one or two but i would not have been able to repeat the whole week in order.

Last night one of my work friends who speaks welsh help me repeat them in the correct order without any books, he reads this blog occassionaly so i stated I would blog my home work and he would kark my attempts or correct me if i made a mistake and he could also have an idea of the speed of my progress, so here it goes my attempt at learning welsh

1.  Prynhawn da, Braf  cwrdd ^a chi..... good afternoon, nice meeting you

aggghhh i can't find how to put the  ^ over a letter, i hope my friend is a computer wizz kid as well

2. Bore da... good morning

3. Noswaith dda.... good evening

4. Bore da, sut mae?... good morning how are you

5. Noswaith dda... good evening

6. Noswaith dda, sut mae? ....good evening how are you

unit two

1. pwy DYCH chi?.....who are you

2. Da IAWN diolch...... very well thank you

3. dydd Sul, dydd llun, dydd mawrth, dydd mercher, dydd iau.......sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday

4. Gareth dw i...... my name is Gareth

5. Sut dych chi...... how are you

6. Braf cwrch ^a chi ..... nice meeting you

1. bore da

2. sut dych chi

3. pwy dych chi

4. Mr Jones dw i

5. Braf cwrdd ^a chi

6. Iawn diolch

7 Hwyl

mathematics and numbers

4 + 5 equals 9 .....Naw

8 - 2 equals 6 ...... chwech

3 + 4 equals 7 ...... saith

8 - 6 equals 2..... dau

5 +3 equals 8..... wyth

4 + 6 equals 10......deg

9 + 2 - 11 equals 0 ...... dim

Days of the week

Dydd Sul

dydd llun

dydd mawrth

dydd mercher

dydd iau

dydd gwener

dydd sadwrn

Learning Welsh

I have tried learning welsh on numerous occassions although the last time was some twenty odd years ago whilst i was still in secondary school, after failing at school and having feeling there was no real need in the twenty five years or so that i left school

I felt there was no need to learn Welsh until i started becoming involved in polotics in 2004, as i got more and more involved I started to notice more and more use of the welsh language especially at community council meetings by local councillors and sometimes guest speakers that would come and address the council, so in 2008 during the county council elections I pledged to attempt to learn the launguage,

I found that I already have a vast knowledge of words having lived in Wales all my life and from my previous attempt in school all those years ago but I couldn't string any sentences or conversation in the language, so last September when the education term started I enrolled in Welsh lessons and I parted with £97 for the course and materials to learn the langauge, but unfortunately it was on a Tuesday and Thursday evening and because i work four nights a week with these being two of my rest days I found it too difficult,

Especially when I was often completing a ten hour nightshift on Monday night followed by a county council scrutiny on Tuesday morning, it is not uncommon for me to finish work at 7am and then dash off to Carmarthen county hall to attend a meeting commencing at 10am, normally i would then go to bed in the afternoon but to try anf get up for a 6oclock welsh lesson eventually started to get ontop of me and I was often physically and mentally exhausted on the Tuesday evening, having only had about three hours sleep, so I eventually quit the lessons last year after about five weeks.

Back in February the county council held a seminar on the welsh language to discuss how the county council promotes the language and the policy officer that took the seminar stated that the county council would also run courses for its staff and members, the course I had enrolled in had been run by Swansea University, so I was keen to enroll with the counties course, having put my name down along with about half a dozen other councillors, the course eventually begun this September and i have enrolled in lessons again, only this course is only once a week on a Thursday and i'm told it will be the same tutor every week. the Swansea University two day a week course was also a nightmare because in the five weeks we had four different tutors, there was a different tutor on the Tuesday to the Thursday and they were swapping and changing

So this time third time lucky I'm going to stick with it and what was also a big bonus the county paid for the fees and course materials so I didn't have to dig deep into my pockets 

Anyway, i'm off for a couple of days this weekend, Friday is my night off and then Sunday and Monday I've swapped out and booked some time in lieu for bank holidays, because I'm off to a conference with Mid and West Wales Fire Authority in North Wales on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to it

Learning Welsh

I have tried learning welsh on numerous occassions although the last time was some twenty odd years ago whilst i was still in secondary school, after failing at school and having feeling there was no real need in the twenty five years or so that i left school

I felt there was no need to learn Welsh until i started becoming involved in polotics in 2004, as i got more and more involved I started to notice more and more use of the welsh language especially at community council meetings by local councillors and sometimes guest speakers that would come and address the council, so in 2008 during the county council elections I pledged to attempt to learn the launguage,

I found that I already have a vast knowledge of words having lived in Wales all my life and from my previous attempt in school all those years ago but I couldn't string any sentences or conversation in the language, so last September when the education term started I enrolled in Welsh lessons and I parted with £97 for the course and materials to learn the langauge, but unfortunately it was on a Tuesday and Thursday evening and because i work four nights a week with these being two of my rest days I found it too difficult,

Especially when I was often completing a ten hour nightshift on Monday night followed by a county council scrutiny on Tuesday morning, it is not uncommon for me to finish work at 7am and then dash off to Carmarthen county hall to attend a meeting commencing at 10am, normally i would then go to bed in the afternoon but to try anf get up for a 6oclock welsh lesson eventually started to get ontop of me and I was often physically and mentally exhausted on the Tuesday evening, having only had about three hours sleep, so I eventually quit the lessons last year after about five weeks.

Back in February the county council held a seminar on the welsh language to discuss how the county council promotes the language and the policy officer that took the seminar stated that the county council would also run courses for its staff and members, the course I had enrolled in had been run by Swansea University, so I was keen to enroll with the counties course, having put my name down along with about half a dozen other councillors, the course eventually begun this September and i have enrolled in lessons again, only this course is only once a week on a Thursday and i'm told it will be the same tutor every week. the Swansea University two day a week course was also a nightmare because in the five weeks we had four different tutors, there was a different tutor on the Tuesday to the Thursday and they were swapping and changing

So this time third time lucky I'm going to stick with it and what was also a big bonus the county paid for the fees and course materials so I didn't have to dig deep into my pockets 

Anyway, i'm off for a couple of days this weekend, Friday is my night off and then Sunday and Monday I've swapped out and booked some time in lieu for bank holidays, because I'm off to a conference with Mid and West Wales Fire Authority in North Wales on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to it

In 1983 after completing my GCSE's I was unsure of what I wanted to do, at first I decided in the summer holidays that I would return to the sixth form to do my A level's but during the start of the term, I had also decided that I would join the forces,

and I was also looking for full time employment, so I was really unclear about what I wanted to do in life, I started the enrollment process to join the Royal Navy and I also remember that I was actively writting off to lots of companies for employment.

I remember that two weeks before my interview with the Navy I was given a full time Apprentership as a Labority Technician, in the old Tyssen's coal briquette factory in Bynea, which had been recently been aquired BP oil and it had started trading as Taybrite, so I decided that I wouldn't join up full time with the navy.

The careers officer in the Royal Navy accepted my decision but said if that was my choice why don't you join the Navy Reserves and before I knew it I had a full time job as an apprentise in Taybrite plus I was also in the RNR,

I fully enjoyed my time in the RNR, I was training twice a week on a Tuesday and Thursday and within six months I was part of the crew taking our minesweeper out to sea and I was part of the crew almost once every three weeks, the ship would go out every weekend from Barry Docks but there was a rota to ensure everyone in the base had an opportunity to go to sea.

If I remember correctly you had to attend the training a minimum of 50 nights a year each night was one credit but if you were short a weekend at sea counted counted as 4 nights training credit,

plus you also had to do a minimum of a full fortnight with the full time navy on a shore base or on a full time royal navy vessel

I took my two weeks induction training in HMS Raleigh which was the base where all new recruits into the Royal Navy completed their basic training, I also attended HMS Drake another Royal Naval Base which specialised in training the Radio and Signal operators and new recuits would attend this base after their six weeks basic training.

As well as serving on the South Wales Mine sweeper HMS Waveney in my five years within the RNR I served on HMS Intrepid and i actually joined this crew for a full four month period when Intrepid was seconded as an officer training ship, i also sailed on HMS Fife and HMS London

HMS London had been out in the Gulf for four whole months and when she docked in Cyprus the Navy flew her crew home for extended shore leave and flew out 150 shore based staff to sail her back home and i was part of the team that brought her home,

I also sailed on HMS Arethusa which had been adopted by the City of Swansea and made regular visits to Swansea before being decomissioned, and during a Nato exercise in Norway I was seconded during the exercise off Intrepid onto the Danish vessel Dana Anglia which was a civilian vessel that helped during the exercise carrying marines who were practising beach and land assaults along the coast of Norway, and I also remember spending two whole weeks in the shore base on Gibralta.

I don't regret serving the five years that I served with the Royal Navy Reserves but had I known that Taybrite would have struggled after the miners strike and that the coal industry would be hard hit by Maggie's Thatcher's government who imported cheap foreign coal as a counter measure to counter the strike I would have joined the navy full time eighteen months earlier because I was made redundant, 

Taybrite would purchase coal dust from the coal washeries and add bitumen which was an oil bye product from the BP refinery and mix them to make a smokless fuel briquette, but as stated above during and shortly after the miners strike, there was a glut of cheap foreign imported coal available and Taybrite had approx 8 months production stacked in its yard, ie if they had stopped production they had enough stock in their yard to match 8 months of sales and orders, as a result I was called into the office and made redundant 18 months into my three year apprentership.

Anyway you might be wondering why I decided to share some of my fond memories from twenty five years ago.

Its because I was honoured this week to take part in offering the freedom of the county to Royal Welsh and during the event I was asked by several guests from the forces including some of the older retired veterans that took part did I have any relatives or conections with the forces, after sharing lots of stories in the reception at Carmarthen Leisure centre I went home and dug out some old photos, they were in black and white and were taken by the ships photographer, but below is of photo taken as HMS Intrepid left Napels in full dress uniform and i'm the one standing under the main colours on the aft end.

Once the crew were off deck and we were beyond the outer harbour walls, it was my responsibility to haul the colours down whilst the cheif would hoist the Sea Ensign.

Dyfed Powys Police have launced a new telephone number

The new number 101 which the police think will be easier to remember than the 0845 number is being officially launched this week, this number will not replace the old 999 it is intended to supliment it and is to used for non emergancies

Llangennech Jobs Boost

As a Hendy Councillor I Welcome the 400 jobs that are promised for mid 2010 at Llangennech which is on my doorstep

Earlier this year the Labour group welcomed a report to full council that the County Council should buy the former RN Depot.

This was because an international company was looking for a site on the M4 corridor in Wales to locate a new factory

The Labour group of Councillors recently went to the site to look at and celebrate the good news

PLANS to create 70 jobs at a former Ministry of Defence depot in Llanelli by Christmas are on target.

International blue-chip company Thales UK is leasing a third of the Llangennech site.

Welsh Rugby Union chairman David Pickering, who is one half of the business venture, which has been renamed Stradey Park Business Centre, said he was confident the Christmas date would be met.

Thales UK, which employs 8,500 staff based at more than 50 locations throughout the UK, is leasing the site from R&A Properties, which snapped up the 37-acre former MoD site for £700,000 from Carmarthenshire Council.

Mr Pickering said: "There is a tremendous amount of activity happening at the site, and a lot of money being spent in preparation and refurbishment.

Business in the Bay website

"Obviously, in terms of any other comment, that will be down to the tenants, but there is a lot of business activity happening on the site and we are confident the predictions made some time ago will be realised."

He added: "We are very positive about the future."

Thales UK's expertise ranges from retail video display systems and chip and pin technology, through to flight simulators, unmanned aircraft and even the design of warships.

In 2008, its revenues in the UK were over £1.4 billion.

Llangennech Community Council has welcomed the news. Councillors had originally believed the site would be sold for housing, but have welcomed the news a clean industry is coming to the town.

Antur Teifi, which supports people back into the workplace, has also praised the development as good news for the town and county.

Back in May 2008

When I was first elected as a County Councillor, my old store manager Mike Watkins (he had been our store manager for approx seven years) congratulated me on my election to county council and he quickly slipped in

"i hope you can raise the issue about the loss of our entrance and this new bus lane, i've yet to see a bus use it" was his quote

I did make enquiries and was told that the road system had been altered under guidance from Assembly highway officers and that it was also linked to the planning and developement of the new Pemberton park

The intention was that the lane would become a new bus route, unfortunately there had been some sort of hold up with the land owners stadium developers and the plans for the bus route were put on the back burner.

later in 2008 i attended an induction for the new role out of recycling, the new system removes glass and the county asked for suitable sites for bottle banks, Mike Watkins was keen and agreed that Tesco's could be a possible site for one these Bottle Banks, but he retired in September of last year and our store has has three tempory manages in the last eight months and the bottle bank idea fell by the wayside.

Recently our store was appointed a new permanent store manager and i asked him his view on recycling and he was keen to see it happen.

He was also keen to see the bus route developed and he made some enquiries with head office staff and the site owners and i now understand that the bus route negotiations and the recycling of bottles is back on the agenda

County Council officers have started negotiating with Tesco head office and the Site owners about these two issues thanks to the new store manager and early discussions look promising

Nia Griffith MP has also met the store manager with the mimister Wayne David MP and we discussed transport issues and recycling targets during the site visit to look at the bus lane and proposed bus terminal

I understand the county would like to see a terminal in this lane and a bus route from Burry Port to Tesco Trostre

if discussions continue with the land owners it could be a big improvement

Watch this space?

On going issues about traffic and highway flooding in Hendy

This morning a resident living in heol y parc came to my monthly with a number of issues and concerns, I was already working on several of the issues one was about the youngsters drinking in the park who had been leaving empty beer bottles and cans littered around,

I explained I had risen the issue with the county council litter team and the local community police earlier in the week I explained that I had raised as a councillors enquiry with the parks and litter picking team and that county council officers had till September 10th to respond to myself. below is a copy of that enquiry.

Flooding in Hendy

The resident also asked what was wrong with Heol Y Parc Drains and Gullies as they had seen the county council Highways cleaning the drains and gullies

I explained that this had come as an action plan agreed with the Executive Board Member after a site meeting with Myself and Nia Griffith MP and himself to discuss flooding issues at Bryngwilli

I told them that he had agreed that all the drains should be cleaned and that camera inspection to check that they weren’t blocked or collapsed, because as Bryngwilli is one of the lowest points the road is prone to flooding in heavy rain when surface water run down from the motorway junction.

I also explained that following the petition about the dangerous roundabout collected in September 2008 and information collected in one of my news letters from residents responses, that I presented to full council in November 2008

The Survey conducted September 2008, Nia Griffith MP had helped door knock to collect info for this survey

Meetings with the local MP in Hendy

I explained that I had met the director Richard Workman and his senior officer for highways Alex Side, with Nia Griffith MP in Llanelli Town Hall in November and after the meeting there were some next steps agreed to investigate many of the issues

I also explained that a report was given to the Exec Board Member in January 2009 and that there were further steps that the Exec Board Member would meet the local member myself to discuss

Executive Board minutes of a meeting at County.

I explained this meeting had taken place two weeks ago in Hendy with Nia Griffith MP myself and the Exec Board Member and that we had discussed Bus Stops, the traffic volumes and speeds, the mini roundabout and the condition of the drains on Bryngwilli road and this was why they had seen lots of activities on the drainage system.