February

Friends of Coed Bach Park members continue to work alongside the Our Place team members with planting projects throughout the park.

Also our volunteers have been out and about doing the annual clearance work for this years crop of bluebells.

Swansea city council have kindly donated a tree to replace one that was damaged in a storm 2 years ago. We would like to thank Martin Bignall for this generous offer.
The tree has been located at the Glasfryn entrance.

We have obtained some Helibores and will be adding them to the existing ones near the boardwalk in 2nd woods.

And a Brimstone Butterfly has been spotted in the park during this mild February weather.

Your opinion is needed with regards to this major new project in the park. (Please contact the Canolfan y Bont on Dulais road via the FB page or pop in to speak to Cath.)

https://www.facebook.com/CanolfanYBont28/photos/a.2296691727049064/2296839333700970/?type=3&theater

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FOCBP 

March Update

March has been a very quiet month activity wise for us in the park. 
Our Volunteers have been out and about where possible sorting out some of the pathways throughout the woodland areas which were made boggy in the rain we have had since the end of last year. Also service users and the Neat team are still present in the park helping us out on a few minor jobs around the place.
And of course we have people working behind the scenes on Volunteer training programmes and looking for funding. So while it appears nothing is being done in the park itself rest assured we never stop.



Cats Update.

Around Christmas time the community was shocked to hear the news that a box of shaved cats had been dumped by the tennis courts and left to die.
The great news is that the pregnant cat gave birth to a healthy litter of kittens and all the cats have now been re-homed.
We thank Haven vets in Llanelli for keeping us up to date with their progress.

Scouts.

The Pontarddulais scouts (4th Lliw Valley) also came over the park for a twilight survey to see how much wildlife there was in the park and by the sounds of it there was plenty of bugs and other creatures to spot during the survey. (Photos Rebecca Routelidge)

Easter Egg Hunt.

One of the service user providers based at the Canolfan Y Bont 'Our Place' held an Easter Egg hunt in the woodlands they have been working in.
I don't know who had more fun, us hiding the eggs or the team racing to find them.
The team visit the park a few times a week so if you see them please say "Hello" as you walk past.

Look for the Super Hero.

One of our members found a Black and Gold Spiderman in the park and has been relocating him in various places around the park.
If you have any young kids you can play a game of 'Spot Spidey' as we will move him around the park and give you clues as where to find him on our Facebook Page.
(Also note he is only a little fella otherwise it would be way too easy to spot him :-)

Competition.

Our photo competition is still running so please feel free to submit any images you have taken of Coed Bach Park.

Wildlife.

Wildlife continues to flourish throughout the park.

(Images by Joanne Puddefoot and Brian Lloyd)

Other News.

Sadly someone has vandalised the Mushroom display by the Boardwalk and stolen one.

This display was built by the Neat team that helped build the walkway. If you know where it is please let us know. (You can contact us through our FB page or the email at the top of this blog.)

Also we have noticed an increase in people not picking up dog poo around the second woods area.

Volunteers are running out of their own bags as they have so much mess to pick up caused by irresponsible dog walkers who either do not care or think that the woodland areas are exempt from dog fouling laws.

The whole park is not only a public park which anyone can use but also it falls under dog fouling laws that can lead up to a £1000 fine if you are caught not picking up.

Our Twitter page (https://twitter.com/FOCBP) is running a 'Thank you' campaign against dog fouling.

We also ask that if you see anything or you have an unpleasant situation in the park to contact the Police on 101 for non emergency situations and 999 if you are being threatened or if something is being damaged.

Unfortunately things do happen from time to time and the FOCBP are only volunteers who's job it is to see to the park and keep an eye on the place.

We do not create the park rules nor do we run it so we cannot be held responsible if an incident occurs and it goes unreported by the victim. If you wish to contact us use the email at the top of this blog and we will assist you as best we can.
Also moaning about things on Social media helps no one. And if we all work together we can make the park a better place for everybody so please do your part.

As usual our Monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of everymonth over the Pontarddulais Cricket Club at 7.30pm please feel free to visit for a chat.

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)

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.

March Review

March has been a busy month for us at FOCBP. We started the month with the launch of our Facebook and Twitter sites. (The links can be found above this post just click on the tabs.)
Plenty of people have joined these pages and we have also had a few contributions from others as well which has been great.

The biggest job we have had done in the park this month was a bit of reshaping of the seasonal pond.
When we cleared the area in November 2013 we were unaware that there was an old pipe which was not marked on any maps running into the pond. And over the months water was slowly draining out of the pond and some flooding was occuring up to the pathway.
A Dam has now been added and the water is now holding in the pond quite nicely.
Also a smaller dam was added on the furthest side of the pond due to water flowing into the area being slightly polluted. This Dam is a simple set of haybales which helps act as a natural filter for any impurities trying to enter the main body of water.

Reshaping

Filter Dam

Finished Dam

Volunteers have also been busy over the park in the last month.

A course on pruning fruit trees took place at the start of the month and Jeff Richards supervisor of Swansea Botanical Gardens ran an afternoon session on how to prune the trees. This was a well attended activity and great fun was had by one and all.

Gaynor and Christine attended a Friends members forum in Swansea this was a chance for all park groups to meet up and share ideas and report back to Swansea City Council on how things were progressing in their own parks.

Our volunteers have been hard at it in the park with clearance work and meeting Council representatives with sorting out problems and finding ways forward to fix them.

Drainage is constantly looked at

And also our resident artist Gaynor Fuge has been busy making keyring fobs which are on sale at Craftiau y Bont on St Teilo Street.
Monies raised from these go towards FOCBP tools and equiptment.

The Wildlife is now beginning to come alive once again in the park.
The trees are full of birds and flowers (Especially the Bluebells) are beginning to flower.

1st sign of the bluebells

Members of the public continue to use the park and quite a few people have remarked how nice the place is looking.
Thank You for all your kind comments as it makes it all worth while :-)

Your dog will always find something to roll in :-)

We were handed an old image of Christie O' Neill who was a park keeper many moons ago.

Thank you to everyone that has contributed to our Social Media pages over the last few weeks and we hope to see you enjoying yourselves in the park soon.


We will be holding our AGM on April 29th at Pontarddulais Cricket Club.

Vandalism

Last month we reported some vandalism to one of the info panels in the 2nd woods.

http://friendsofcoedbachpark.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/vandalism-4514.html

Sadly it was hit again the other day and a big chunk broken off and more stones smashed into it.

Pond Survey

Please see attached poster designed to invite you to want to come next Tuesday at 10pm to help Mark do another survey of the ponds.

I know for some of you this is just impossible with work and care committments but you might know of someone else who may be interested so if you do please pass this email on to them.

We aim to meet at the tennis courts pavilion 10pm and I will make sure the Park Gates are open but I will need to know who is coming and have a telephone contact number just in case it is called off at the last minute because it will not be happening if it is actually raining at 10pm.

Click on image to enlarge.

News

Our monthly meeting is to be held on Wednesday 28th May at Pontarddulais Cricket Club at 7.30pm.
Gareth Davies from Environment Wales will be coming to talk to us and then the meeting will take place right afterwards.

Also on Thursday 22 May a dog walker in the park found a set of keys between the Rugby club and roundabout in the middle of the road. These have been handed to the Canolfan y bont who will hold on to them for a week before passing them onto the local PCSO's office.
If you have know of anybody that has lost a set please contact the Canolfan on 01792 885532.

Bluebells

We have a fantastic crop of Bluebells in the park this year.
If you have a bit of time to spare please take a walk through the second woods (past the rugby club entrance) and have a wander through the woodland.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Taken by Martin Hanson.

Taken by Martin Hanson.

Taken by Christine Thomas.

Taken by Christine Thomas.