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)

Donation to the FOCBP

FOCBP would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to the members of Pontarddulais Rugby Club who have given our group a donation of £250.
The Eggheads and Dumbo's (That's what they call themselves :-)) meet every Sunday evening in the club and hold a little quiz to which they then donate all money raised over a period of time to various organizations in the Pontarddulais area (and also to other organizations.) 
Myself and FOCBP Chairwoman Gaynor Fuge accepted the donation this evening from the group, and we as a volunteer organization already know what to spend the money on.

October Roundup

Boardwalk

The work on the Seasonal pond boardwalk is still ongoing and the Neat team is inching their way towards the pond.
A lot of members of the public have been taking their time to stop and have a chat to the team and they have also suggested more seating areas in the second woodlands. Several fallen trees have been identified as potential natural seating for this area as well as having some seating on the boardwalk itself, the Neat team will see to this once they have finished the construction of the walkway.

Volunteers discuss seating for the Boardwalk.


Tidying Up
As usual FOCBP members have been out and about in the park on litter picks and generally tidying up little areas of undergrowth that need attention.


Tennis Courts

Due to safety and security reasons the Tennis courts will be locked in the evenings over winter as some people are using the courts for other activities for which they are not designed.
If these courts are damaged through misuse it will be difficult to repair the surface.
A group of people who were seen misusing the courts recently informed a FOCBP member that there were no signs up and we did not have a leg to stand on if any damage had occured to the surface.
Obviously some people have no common sense at all and need a sign for everything to tell them how to think!

Fungi Foray

Teifion Davies held his third Fungi Foray in the park recently and again we ended up with another haul of Fungi.

As usual it took us 20 minutes to leave the Tennis court car park area as there were plenty of Fungi just in that area alone.

The amazing thing about these walks is that every walk has been different and different species have been found on each one.

Meeting

Our next meeting is to be held at Pontarddulais Cricket Club at 7.30pm Wednesday October 28th.
As usual everybody is welcome to join us for a Drink and a chat.



As usual you can find us on Facebook and Twitter (Click on the tabs at the top of this blogsite to take you to our other sites.)

Christmas Tree 2015

Following the success of last year we will again be decorating the Friendship tree in the second woods with wooden tags at Christmas time.

To order a wooden tag all you have to do is go to the Pontarddulais Library, Crefftaau y Bont or call in to the Canolfan y Bont from mid October.
There is no set price on the Tag but we are asking for donations towards them.
You will then be given a small paper tag on which you can write your message or name. These paper tags will then be left in a box provided and your message will be etched onto a wooden tag for you to hang on the tree in December (The date of the event will be announced sometime in November)

To view images of last years event click on the link below.

http://friendsofcoedbachpark.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/christmas-tree-in-2nd-woods.html

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.