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.

March Meeting

Our monthly meeting is on Wednesday 25th March 2015 at 7.30pm Pontarddulais Cricket Club.

All Welcome.

Facebook and Twitter

We have now expanded our social media presence to Facebook and Twitter.

Our twitter address:-https://twitter.com/FOCBP

And Facebook page:-https://www.facebook.com/groups/550777668395584/

Please join us.

February 2015 news.

The 4th AGM of the Friends will be taking place at end of April so members please have a think about wanting to stand for the committee or if you are not a member and wish to join us please feel free as your input will be more than welcome. Membership subs will also be due and we may have to increase it to £2 a year per person as the subs cover our group insurance that we have with Keep Wales Tidy and our insurance has gone up this year. 

  

Also you may have noticed that a new Skateboard ramp has been built by the BMX track next to the rugby club hard standing area. This is being well used by the youngsters and soon a grind box and bar will also be added.

A big 'Thank you' to Swansea CC for installing it for us.

And also Swansea CC also provided us with a machine to cut back a lot of the undergrowth in the park this has given us a great blank canvas to allow the Bluebells to grow. 

And you may have noticed that large areas of growth have been cut back around the second woods area a big 'Thank you.' to Dillwyn for all his efforts and we hope that we will be rewarded with a sea of bluebells this year.

And we also thank the other members for the work they have been carrying out over the last few months on various jobs around the park.

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 25th Feb at 7.30pm at Pontarddulais cricket club.

As usual we extend our open hands to anyone that would like to join in with us.

January 15

So another year down and a new one has just began (Well it did a few weeks ago anyway!)

Our friendship tree in the second woods became an attraction over the festive period with plenty of people coming along and having a look. And some people came along after and added their own messages which was great to see.
The tags are going on show in the Canolfan y bont from Tuesday 20th January and will remain there until the end of February, if you would like yours returned please pop in to reclaim it.

And we also have a few new members join us over the last few weeks and they will be helping us out in the park. So welcome guys :-)

Our first meeting of the new year will be at the usual location of the Cricket Club in Pontarddulais on Wednesday 28th January at 7.30pm.

Also over the last few weeks there has been some work done on constructing a new half pipe for skaters and this is progressing well. The pipe is located in the middle of the BMX track by the Rugby club car park.
As usual it is a huge 'THANK YOU!!!' to everybody that has made this possible.

Construction under way on the Half pipe.

December 20th Christmas Tree Decorations.

Today (Sat 20th December) Friends of Coed Bach gathered by the Christmas tree in the middle of the 2nd woods in the park to decorate the tree.
We thank the community for all your support over the last few years and at the same time we celebrate our community, While we also remember friends long gone.
We hope this will become a yearly event with more people joining in (and yes we had some mulled wine with mince pies from Noakes Bakery in the town, and a quick sing song to round off proceedings.)

We must also thank Gaynor Fuge who produced the tags and spent ages engraving every message on to them.

So if you are taking a walk through the park pop over for a little look. After all it's there for everybody to enjoy.

Merry Christmas everybody!!!!!!!!!!!

December

We at Friends of Coed Bach Park would like to congratulate our founding Member Christine Thomas for her recognition in receiving a Fields in Trust Award.
Chris has done a lot of work in getting this project of ours started and has been absolutely single minded in sorting the Park out and plenty of people are now commenting on how much more friendlier and welcoming the park is now looking.
And we must give a huge Thank you to Swansea City Council for their help and guidence over the last few years.

Chris you are a true Community Champion and it's a well deserved award we at FOCBP are proud of you.

We have a few new benches around the park one by the Coed Bach entrance, Two by the Tennis court and one in the second woods near the bridge.
There are a few more to go in by the football fields. so you can relax and enjoy the games in more comfort.
And a big thank you to Pontarddulais Council Comittee for allowing us to have the benches.

Also the main seasonal pond in the Second woods has attracted a few more ducks to it. At the last count there were 6 of them swimming about. And that is great news.
We will be reshaping the pond slightly in the new year as there is still a little work to do in that area and it will help hold more water in the area.

We have completely sold out of our Calendars and people are still asking us if we have any left. So we will have a bigger production for them next year.

On Saturday the 20th December members of the park will be hanging personalised Christmas tags on the Christmas Tree in the second woods. This will take place about 11am.

We will not be meeting until January 2015 so from us at the Park.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!