May Update

This month we have decided to do something completely different to quote Monty Python.

I have had a go at producing a video blog and if it proves successful then we will produce more in the future.

You can view it on Youtube and the link is below, as usual we are on Facebook and Twitter so if you want to comment on your time in the park or share ideas with us you can also email us (Link at the top of the blog.)

The Video Blog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqehIgbJ0jc

And as usual our monthly meetings are held the last Wednesday of every month at Pontarddulais Cricket Club.

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.

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.

18/2/14 Seasonal Ponds Day 2

A lot of work was done yesterday by everyone and the area of the swamp has opened up very nicely indeed. It does look like a different world.
And now we are getting an idea of scale of how big the old boating lake used to be.

Videos can also be viewed on our Flickr page click on the link at the top of the page to view.

January 2014 News

Happy New Year to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I know it's been nearly a month since Christmas and New Year but better late than never ;-)

Over the last week or so in the park the boys from the City and County Council of Swansea have been working on clearing a drainage ditch that runs from the small woodland near the Gwynfryn road entrance around the back of the play area and into the old boating lake. Or as a regular user of the park named it "The Riverside Walk"
We hope this will be a help with the flooding we are experiencing in the park due to the weather.
There are other things that also need seeing to which can help things further and they are being tackled one bit at a time. So as usual we offer our thanks to the Council for their help and time.

Riverside Walk behind the Play area.

And Next Wednesday the 29th January at Pontarddulais Cricket Club we will be holding our first meeting of 2014 as usual everybody is welcome to join us.

Friday 27th January News

Today Gareth Davies a Community Development Officer  and Helen Grey a Countryside Connections Officer came to the park to meet us and to discuss us putting in for a grant  for the Ecology Survey which needs to be done before we can start work tidying up the old Boating Lake.
Five members of FOTP turned up to meet them and to guide them around the park.


As FOTP members we showed them the lie of the land and what our long term plans for the park and woodland areas were. And we are pleased to say that we have their support and will be working very closely with them in the future, as there is a lot of GRANT money out there and they can help guide us in the right direction to obtain some.

                              WILDLIFE NEWS


While on our walk around the park we noticed that 2 mallard ducks have made the lake their home which is great news and we also observed that a blue tit was using one of the newly installed bird boxes by the swings. Unfortunately we could not obtain any images of these events as my camera lens was not long enough for me to keep a good distance from them and not disturb the birds. 

Pointing out the park boundaries.

Win (left) Gareth (middle) Viv (right)

Viv explaining to Gareth that the car park was once part of the lake.

Helen joins in the discussion.

Another bright glorious morning around the 2nd woods.

Standing at the lake edge. (NOT HAVING A PEE!)

The lake.