Thank You.

We at Friends of Coed Bach Park would like to thank the following companies that have been kind enough to donate materials to our project over the last few weeks.

Ark Fencing who not only supplied the wood to build the boardwalk but also kindly donated the bench.
http://www.arksupplies.co.uk/

B&Q Gorseinon store for donating plants and bulbs for our recently installed planters.
http://www.diy.com/store/gorseinon/BQ_GOR205


And Pontarddulais Garden Centre for also supplying us with plants and bulbs for the planters and other parts of the park.
http://www.pontarddulaisgardencentre.co.uk/

We would not be able to carry out some of the work we are doing in the park without the kind generosity of these stores.

!!!Thank You Everybody!!!

From the Focbp

November Roundup

The big news this month is of course the Seasonal Pond Boardwalk has been completed.
The NEAT team faced more difficulties than they originally expected, but they got the job done. Since it has opened it has become quite the attraction in the park with a lot of people commenting how great it is.
There are one or two little tidying up jobs to do around the area but the weather is delaying this at the moment. And as soon as we get the chance we will be straight in there.
We also give a huge thank you to ARK Fencing who provided the wood for this project and also kindly donated a wooden bench for people to sit on.

Planters have been placed by the Coed Bach and Gwynfryn rd entrances to the park and we are in the process of deciding what to place in them.

Work parties have resumed this month with several teams of volunteers clearing overgrown areas by the Coed Bach entrance and other areas around the park.
And of course litter picks are ongoing.

This month also saw an exhibition of the FOCBP Christmas tree tags and work we have done in the park being displayed at the Pontarddulais Library.
We thank Gaynor for her effort in setting this up for us as it does take a lot of time and planning to hold such a thing.

We finished this month off by holding a stall at the Pontarddulais Comprehensive Winter Fayre. Thank you to everybody who turned up to help run the stall. It was all worthwhile.

This year we decided not to produce any Calendars and have instead produced Christmas cards. These are for sale throughout Pontarddulais and can also be purchased directly from us for £4.50 for a pack of 10.
If you want to know where you can purchase the cards you can contact us through our Facebook page (link at the top of this page.)

There will be no monthly meeting in December as we have decided to head for the nearest pub instead to hold our annual FOCBP Christmas party.
But we will of course keep you informed across our social media sites on any park news as it happens.

Sky Walk.

A team of Sky tv engineers who give up their time to support local causes yesterday (Tuesday 10/11/15) came into the park to help us out with some new pathways and drainage issues.

We would like to thank Matthew Garratt a regular park user, and his team for helping us out in the most awful weather conditions that nature could throw at them.
We would also like to thank Sky Television for allowing your engineers time off from their normal duties to help out in the park.

There was also a photographer present from the South Wales Evening Post.

http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Pontarddulais-park-transformed-team-gone-extra/story-28149198-detail/story.html

(Click on photos to enlarge)

September Roundup

Play area improvements

It has been a busy month over in the park.

A new Children's mini adventure course has been installed in the playarea and the rubber matting which was showing signs of age and some damage has been fixed.
As usual we give thanks to the boy's from the City and County of Swansea Council team who took the time and effort to install these new items for us.

Boardwalk

Also the team has been involved with the NEAT team installing a new Boardwalk which will take people out to a viewing area which will include a viewing area and pond dipping spot at the seasonal pond.
The pathway will be suitable for wheelchair users and with improved access to the woodlands due to our ongoing woodchip pathway programme we are slowly but surely turning the park into a place that everyone can come and enjoy.
Work is expected to continue for a few more weeks.

Members of the NEAT team.

Work programmes

Full work programmes should be resuming in October and we will have more details on our FB and Twitter pages as and when these will take place. But volunteers have been out and about tidying up little areas this month and the fruit on the trees by the Coed Bach entrance was right for picking and a lucky member of the public who just happened to walk past as we were sorting out the small crop (Small to start but hopefully more in the future.) ended up with enough apples to make a tart.

Dog poo

You may have noticed some signs going up around the park about Dog Poo.

They were designed by pupils of Glais Primary school and have been appearing in parks all over the Swansea area. Many people do pick up their dog poo, but there is a small minority of people who don't.

As usual FOCBP members and other members of the public are always on hand to lend a bag or two if you are caught short (or rather your dog.)

Please pick it up no matter if you are in the woodland areas as these parts of the park are covered by the same rules as the rest of the place.

Sadly due to cutbacks the council is no longer refilling the dog poo bin dispenser and this being empty is not an excuse to eave it.

FOCBP are looking into ways to keep the dispenser full for the future.

Antisocial Behaviour

Members of the public have been reporting some anti social behaviour to the 101 number.

In the last month we have had youths burning seats with aerosol cans and group members stopped a gang of kids throwing stuff into the seasonal pond amongst other things.

If you see any anti social behaviour in the park please contact 101 and report it. We do not ask you to intervine for your own safety.

Our photo competition is still ongoing.

Click on image to enlarge.

October Event

On Sunday 18th October 2015 we will be having our annual Fungi Foray with Teifion.
We will meet at 10.30am at the Tennis Court car park.
We will remind you of this event in due course.

As usual the links to our Facebook Page and Twitter site are at the top of this page.
Please feel free to join us as membership is £2 a year and this covers you if you wish to join our work parties, and of course we always value your opinions.

August Roundup.

August is traditionally a very quiet time around Coed Bach park and this year is no exeption.
Local PCSO officers had stepped up patrols in the park over the summer holidays but the bad weather seemed to play its part and helped keep any trouble under control.
Apart from three scrambling bikes using the park and members of the public coming forward with information regarding the incident, the park has been otherwise quiet as FOCBP members continue litter picks and a spot of tidying up throughout this quiet period.

In October work parties should resume their efforts, as you know we cannot do much cutting during summer months, due to the wildlife which settles and nests in the park over this period of time.
The unfortunate consequence of this is the park looks overgrown and slightly untidy.
But it is all about management of the enviroment and no work is carried out without the approval of Swansea City Council and various enviromental groups.

There is a mini adventure course currently being installed in the Childrens play area.
Hopefully this will be ready soon.

The project to build the boardwalk out to the seasonal pond will be underway very soon, And FOCBP will be looking forward to working with various groups on this project.
It will make for easier access to the main seasonal pond in the second woods, and it will feature an area where you can go pond dipping  for wildlife and other creatures that live in the pond.

Volunteers are constantly working on funding ideas during these quiet times, so even though nothing is being worked on in the park we are busy behind the scenes.
And of course we are always on the look out for new volunteers.

As usual we post regular updates on our Facebook and Twitter sites and you can click on the links at the top of this page.

Tennis in the Park.

Tennis in the Park has resumed.

All the contact details are below. (Click on images to enlarge.)

July Roundup

Over 15,000 views on this Blog since we first started

Thank You all for stopping by.

July has been a very quiet time around the park so we don't have much news this month.

Towards the end of the school term we were delighted to have the local junior schools bring their pupils over for a morning and afternoon session of games and other activities. Everybody enjoyed themselves and it was great to see the park in full use.
Who needs Oakwood park when we have Coed Bach!

Also we are launching a photo competition and the first prize is your image will feature in next years cards/calendars we are producing and your image will be the centre point of a local exhibition promoting the park.

Click on image to enlarge.

Park Budgets

At our last meeting on 26/7/15 at Pontarddulais Cricket Club park's development manager Richard Davies took some time out of his busy day to pop along and give us an update on the situation with regards to Swansea Parks budgets.

As we know it is tough times for all Council run departments and budgets are being slashed due to lack of funding from central goverment. This also effects our parks in the area and they no longer have the manpower they need to attend to everything in the park.

Richard has set up a Friends of Swansea Park's forum on Facebook and they meet occasionally in Swansea to discuss and share ideas.

This hopefully will lead to all volunteer groups being able to share ideas and hopefully share machinery (and volunteers) to attend to our parks.

It is more important than ever to get more volunteers on board to save our open spaces.

If you would like to join us the contact email is at the top of the screen and you can contact us via Facebook or Twitter.

As you can see from the aerial map below over the last five years FOCBP have been able to make a big difference in the park all through volunteer efforts.

Changes Made

New Tennis Courts

Seasonal Pond

Extended hard standing area by the Rugby pitch

Skateboard Ramps

Extending the BMX track with support from local schools

Continual planting and clearence work around the park

Safer Swansea schemes implemented to improve park safety

Extra bins and seating 

You too can also be a part of something great.

Click on map to enlarge image taken from Google Maps

Dog Poo

Due to a minority of people not picking up after their dogs we have been forced into the difficult decision of calling in the Dog Wardens.

People are allowing their pets to foul our pathways and volunteers (many of who are dog owners themselves) have found themselves picking up other peoples mess or worse still stepping in it.

We have to say the majority of people follow the rules but sadly one or two have even told us. 'It's ok as we are in a woodland area'

And one little boy told an irresponsible owner 'But I play in here!!!!!' Well done that little man.

Also FOCBP members are always watching and are willing to lend a bag if the owner mat have run out. (it happens)

Volunteers

There has not been much activity this month due to the Summer wildlife settling into the park but we have been out litter picking and a small bit of clearence work has been carried out.

Wildflowers

As you can see we have had a bumper crop of wildflowers growing by the Coed Bach entrance this year and if you stop to study the flowers you will notice the Bees and other insect life going about it's business of pollentaing the flowers.

Can we please ask people not to pick any of these flowers as they are given by the council to the people of Pontarddulais and they are there to be enjoyed and not damaged.

Also in the park we have a few fruit trees. These are beginning to bear the first signs of any sort of fruit growing on them.
Unfortunately people have already started picking at them and the fruit is not yet ready to be picked.
Can we please ask you not to pick anything off the trees until we give official notice, as the trees are currently getting damaged.
Warning notices will be placed around the park until further notice. And we will make a public announcement when things are ready.

Tennis coaching has restarted in the park. Please ring the number on the banner if you want to book a session.
All sessions must be booked through the Swansea Tennis Centre.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook

Links are at the top of the screen.

June Roundup

The beginning of the month saw an incident in the park where youths were using a scrambling bike in the area. They then decided to use the football pitch as a scrambling course, but they were spotted by members of the Safer Swansea volunteers and after a short search by thr police and some great detective work by members of the public in the town the youths were identified and given an official warning about off roading in illegal places.
Just remember the park is always being watched!
We at FOCBP thank everybody that took time to phone the 101 non emergency number.

Sports and Activities

This month was Carnival month and things kicked off in the park with the inter school sports evening over the park.

This year the pupils of Ysgol Gymraeg Bryniago took the top honours.

Well done to everybody that took park and we hope you had fun.

Swansea CC also installed a new swing in the Playarea and this has proved to be very popular with everyone (including adults :-)

As usual a big THANK YOU to all as Swansea Council for all your work and effort in installing this for us.

And this year the pre carnival funrun returned to the park this was another well attended event for the community.

And a Basketball hoop was installed near the far end of the football pitch by the roundabout in the road.

Hopefully this will provide anyone with a ball a good challenge to pop a hoop.

Winners of the inter school sport Bryniago.

Our new swing.

Basket Ball hoop.

Some of the Pontarddulais Scouts (4th Lliw Valley) ready for the funrun.





4th Lliw Valley Scouts

4th Lliw Valley Scouts clearing the park before Sports day.

After carnival day (very wet)

The 4th Lliw Valley Scouts have been very busy in the park this month helping to clear the park of any rubbish before and after the Carnival.

Again thank you guys and girls.

You can find out more about them below.

http://4thpontarddulais.scoutsites.org.uk/

Volunteers

Volunteers have aso been active in the park picking up other peoples rubbish.

It is not up to us to clear up after you it is your responsibility.

Please Bin It!

Dog poo bags are no longer being distributed by the council due to cutbacks. We are looking into an alternative way of having bags in the dispenser in the park.

So we ask for you to bring your own with you (they cost a few pence from Tesco or other places.)

FOCBP and other park users have noticed that some people are refusing to pick up their dog's mess and we want to avoid having to call in dog wardens to deal with such people.

The majority of people do clear up but sadly it is a minority that just don't bother and give everybody a bad name.

Carnival Day

After our exploits on the float last year we returned to our traditional stall on the Carnival field.

On hand were volunteers armed with clipboards talking to the public and finding out more about facilities in the park and we have had a lot of positive feedback from this event.

Also Gaynor and Tarra spent several hours facepainting to raise funds for the FOCBP group, again this was very popular with everybody.

Thank's to everybody that volunteered their time and gave us feedback.

Wildlife

As we are in the summer months you may have noticed the grass is a little long and overgrown in some areas.

This is simply to support the summer wildlife that uses the park woodland areas, and to be able to provide habitats for any breeding or nesting species.

Clearing programmes will again resume in the winter months for next year.

Also by the Coed Bach entrance we have a display of Wildflowers growing.

This year is a bumper crop so pop over for a look.

Wildflowers.

Other Events.

The Bowls club that use the park will be running free taster sessions throughout the summer. So if you fancy a go feel free to pop over to the bowling green by the Gwynfryn rd entrance.

Just bring flat bottom trainers or shoes.

The sessions will start at 10am.

As usual Thank You to everybody that has contributed images to our Facebook page and Twitter site.

We hope to see more from you soon.

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