Tennis for Free.

Tennis for free is back in Coed Bach Park every Friday evening from 5-6pm.

To book your spot please click on the link below.

https://coedbach.courtline.net/

Please note this event is weather dependant and can be called off at any time.

Don Richards Swansea Tennis Centre

February March April Update.

2017 is zipping along at an alarming rate of knots. One moment you are celebrating Christmas and New year, and the next you are looking back with a feeling that Christmas was only two weeks ago but in reality it was a lot longer than that!

Since the beginning of the New Year the Park is absolutely thriving with activity taking place on an almost daily basis. The Our Place team are super busy in the Park for four days a week and the volunteers are up there whenever possible, and of course we have a new park manager who along with his team of guys are working flat out to improve the park wherever they can.

Awards

On Friday 24^th March three members of the FOCBP Christine Thomas, Windsor Clarke and Martin Hanson were invited to attend a presentation evening in the Pontarddulais Institute to receive certificates and a cheque for £200. Also in attendance were other organisations based in Pontarddulais who also received cheques and several individual awards were given to people who had made a huge difference to the town.
We would also like to take this opportunity to Thank the Town Council for their help and support over the last few years.

Bike Path

Members of the FOCBP are backing a scheme to run a bike path from Pontarddulais and connect it to Grovesend/Gorseinon more info can be found below.

https://sustrans.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/walesrdp-stakeholder-pontarddulais

Scouts

On Saturday 18^th March members of the 4^th Lliw Valley Pontarddulais Scouts Group joined FOCBP members in planting some new trees and shrubs at the newly repaired Coed Bach entrance.

Thank You all for your help and we hope you enjoyed getting your hands muddy.

Coed Bach Entrance

After being in a bit of a sorry state Swansea City Council were able to get a team out to the Coed Bach entrance and straighten the gates up and replaced the old fence with a brand spanking new one.

The approach from Coed Bach road now looks better and you now also have a better view into the park itself. The volunteers will look at adding a splash of colour to this area, and come the warmer weather the park will look even more of of an inviting sight especially as the wildflowers patch is near this entrance, the view should be superb.

The Park management team have also taken some time out of their busy schedules to help improve the service road that runs around the football fields to the Coed Bach entrance as in parts it was getting muddy and people were getting stuck with prams and power chairs.

The effect of the clearance is that while it can be a bit rough underfoot (It has always been the same) it is less muddy and drainage is a lot better than before. Once the loose stones bed in to the ground it will be even better to walk on. And more people will be able to get to other parts of the park that previously they were unable to access.

We give a big THANK YOU to Kelvin the Park manager and his team for all the help they have given to us since they have come into the park.

Photo by Kelvin Carpenter

Our Place Team

The Our Place Team based at the Canolfan y Bont have been working full tilt in the park since the beginning of the new year.

As usual they are continually topping up the woodchip pathways around the woodland areas, and despite some bad weather turning parts of the pathways into mud the team manage to persevere and patch up the worst bits.

It is also fantastic to see people taking time out of their walks to stop and chat to the team members and they take the time to get to know the service users and make them feel welcome in the park, and some even let the guys have a play and pet of their dogs. This is community at its finest.

The big project since February has been to construct a wigwam/tipi on the pathway running between the edge of 2^nd woods and the show field.

This project has been a huge hit with the children of Pitter Patter Nursery on Dulais road who are now visiting the park on an almost daily basis. And of course children exploring the woodlands while out on walks with mums and dads and grandparents are all making the most of it, which again is fantastic to see.

The Lord Mayor of Swansea David Hopkins and Councillor Beverley Hopkins visited the park on Wednesday 15^th March to meet volunteers and Our Place team members. During his visit the Lord Mayor took the opportunity to plant some new trees and the visited the wigwam/tipi to officially open it.

And we were delighted to see some regular park users in the tipi enjoying a picnic in the afternoon sunlight. The mayor took his time and spoke to all members of the teams concerned with the park and thanked everybody for all their efforts.

The Our Place team members have also placed two wooden benches in the 2^nd woods by the Friendship tree, this should be a fantastic place to sit once the Bluebells come into full bloom.

The current project is to build a small picket fence around the Helibores/Crocus patch which is near the wooden bridge that takes you towards the show field.
And the team even found time to plant some new trees around several locations in the park.

 All Tipi/Wigwam photos Sian Thomas.

PTFC

Following the planting of crocus bulbs by FOCBP members and members of the public and Football teams a few months back.

The letters P T F C came into bloom on the bank of the upper and lower field.

PCSO's

And of course we have to give thanks to our superb team of PCSO's working in Pontarddulais. Matthew and Hayley are in the park as often as they can be keeping an eye on any potential problems, and occasionally are fed information by members of the public and FOCBP members who are keeping an eye out for any naughty activities that occasionally take place in the Park.

We have always had a great relationship with them and we give them a Huge THANK YOU! For all their efforts in these difficult financial times.

We look forward to our next chat over a cuppa.

UPDATE

A few weeks ago a group of youths decided that the park was their own personal racecourse for their motorbikes, several members of the public and volunteers were in the park during this incident and were able to contact the Police with information regarding the riders. We have been informed the youths were spoken to and next time their bikes are seen anywhere near the park they will be removed from their care.

All images SWPSwansea Twitter Account

AGM

The yearly AGM meeting will be held at Pontarddulais Cricket Club on Wednesday 26^th April 2017 and will commence at 7.30pm. We are looking for fresh volunteers, we need new ideas, we need more people to help.

Like any group you can only exist for so long and if nothing changes then one day it could all come to an end, and then what.........?

Please! Please! Come and join us we need your help to take the Park forward not only for our future, but that of your children and Grandchildren.

 As usual you can follow our FB and Twitter Links and you can email us at the address at the top of this blog or you can contact us via our social media sites.

Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/550777668395584/

Twitter.
https://twitter.com/FOCBP?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Until our next Blog Update Have Fun In The Park.

October Update

It has been a little while since we last updated this blog so here is the news from the last few months.

The Friends of Coed bach Park calendar have arrived. They will be available from CANOLFAN Y BONT 28 Dulais Road, Pontarddulais to buy now at £5 each with proceeds going towards the park.
As usual we thank Gaynor Fuge for her efforts in putting the Calendar together and this years look absolutely amazing (Even though we are biased.) Thank you Gaynor from us all at FOCBP.

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The Seasonal pond is looking a little overgrown so several intrepid members of our group have jumped into their waders and made a start to do a controlled clearance of the pond. There is a lot to do so the job will be continued over the next few weeks.

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Recently we held another fascinating walk with Teifion our Fungi expert and once again we found another interesting haul of goodies in the park.
We were delighted to see more young people join the group and they enjoyed a little walk around the park learning about the life that inhabits the area.

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On October the 11th Christine Thomas was invited to have a cuppa with the current Mayor of Swansea and a local Councillor Beverly Hopkins! What a lovely surprise as we didn't know why we'd been called for a meeting but he personally thanked Chris for being the driving force behind the park and wanted to learn more about the person and the work you help her accomplish. A big thank you to everyone who's been involved in the process so far, because without you the park wouldn't be the same. We have a lovely community in the park and we should be proud of the amazing work we do together. From the people who bin rubbish who isn't theirs, to the friendly hello's, to the clearing the brambles, answering our surveys and attending the meetings. All your time and effort is paying off. 

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The Our Place Team based at the Canolfan y Bont continue to work through all weathers in the park. They are constantly topping up the wood chip on the pathways and over the last few weeks have been busy on the BMX track. 
Several youths have stopped off for a chat with team members and have given the team great feedback on what they are looking for with the lumps and bumps and jumps, the team have put in. So we would like to Thank them for their help as it helps everyone understand better what it is the youngsters of Pontarddulais would like to see in the park and it also involves them in decision making for the future.

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Radio Wales recently visited the park to speak to volunteers about the work being carried out in the area.
The show is available for 30 days and the interview starts 25 mins into the programme.

(Please click on the link below)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080c6p7#play

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Recently over 10,000 Crocus bulbs have been planted in the park by FOCBP members with assistance from Pontarddulais Juniors Football Team and other members of the public.

Thank you all for your assistance and we should see the park explode with colour next year.

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As usual the park is busy with people using the park on a day to day basis and a real community has come to life over the last few years of regular people (and dogs) who use the park. It is also great to see members of the public stopping and having a chat with everyone working within the park and acknowledging the efforts of people in helping keep the park in tip top condition.
Thank you all for taking the time and showing some members the patience and respect they deserve and everyone hopes to see you all again very soon.

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FOCBP members are constantly working behind the scenes so if you don't see anyone actually working in the park rest assured our team are hard at work looking for funding or working on new ideas for the future.

As usual you can follow us on our Facebook and Twitter pages (Where we have more of a rant about certain things.) the links are on the top of this blog.

So until the next time Please Enjoy Our Award Winning Park.

End of October News

Just to let you all know that the monthly meeting of the Friends has changed  to the last Wednesday of the month at Pontarddulais Cricket Club starting at 7.30.so our next meeting will be this Wednesday 30th October. It will continue to be on the last Wednesday of the month until the Cricket Season stars up again next year.

Also this Wednesday afternoon at 2pm (30th Oct.) we are joining up with the Pontarddulais Partnership Half Term Play Scheme in the Park to make it a fun afternoon with traditional games such as egg and spoon race, prizes and gifts to give away to the children as we celebrate the Park having the Queen Elizabeth II Fields In Trust status so please come and support us and join in the fun.

Then the following week, the first week in November, work begins on the creation of the seasonal ponds - see poster attached.

Click on poster to enlarge.

Tennis

Sorry that the Sunday Tennis session was cancelled 15/9/13 but the weather was just too bad. Tennis will be on next Sunday from 3pm to 4pm - cost £2 for more details check out Tennis Pontarddulais Facebook.

Upcoming Events

Click to enlarge

Bat Walk

Click on image to enlarge.

The event is free, it starts at 7.30 and there will be refreshments.

Steve Lucas will be first of all giving a very fascinating talk about Bats and then, as long as the weather is OK there will be the  Bat Walk using the bat detetors.

So if you want to know about Bats and if you want to book a place please reply to this email or ring Canolfan Y Bont on 01792 885532 or ring me on 07890416892 and leave a message.

Hope to see you

News Update

Last weekend saw our second Bird walk which was led by bird expert Martin Humphreys.
Again this was a great success with everybody coming away having learnt something about how our feathered friends use the woodlands in the park.
We also gave our new banner it's first public unveiling.

Our resident Blogger/Photographer Martin Hanson (Left trying to keep his eyes open at 6.30am) next to the banner  which was designed by V Fuge.

And at last the Bluebells are popping up in the Second woods (Hooray!!!!) just a little more warmth and we should have a lovely blanket of them.
A big thanks Win and Viv (and anybody else I left out) for all their efforts in clearing the woods.
And as usual we thank the Swansea City Council lad's and management for keeping us topped up with chip bark to keep the pathways in good condition. And also to Bob and Jason for their superb efforts as well in helping to maintain the pathways. 

Bluebells popping up everywhere.

Breakfast with the birds

No excuses we want everybody out of bed early for this :-)

Please Help Us.

We really need help to paint the

children’s play equipment at

Coedbach Park.

If you think you can give a couple of hours of your time we would be very grateful, please contact

Chris on 07890416892 or email milgi@talktalk.net

Thank you

Pontarddulais Carnival 2012

Here are a few pics from our (VERY WET!) exploits on Saturday 30th June 2012 at the Pontarddulais Carnival.

Our lovely Stall.

The Tombola.

Even the local School lollypop lady lent a hand :-)

Us taking shelter

For some reason Christine thought we needed a bit more rain so performed a rain dance.

South Wales Evening Post Photograph

On Friday 16th March at 10.30am Peter Slee from the South Wales Evening Post is coming to the park as he is interested in writing an article on our group.
If anybody is interested could you please attend as the more people we have in the photo the better.
As usual we meet by the tennis courts.

Weekend of March 3rd/4th News Update.

We have had a couple of busy weeks around the park as we have started work on putting wood shavings on the pathways around the 2nd woods and by the swing area.


As usual a big thank you to the City and County Council of Swansea for laying the pathway from the rugby club car park into the 2nd woods.
And also for putting a small footbridge across the stream in the 2nd woods allowing the water to flow into the old boating lake.

Footbridge across 2nd woods stream

Wood chipping path around the swings towards the 2nd woods

We have also cleared a little area behind the swings so we can allow wild flowers to grow.
Several people remarked that the shape of the clearing reminded them of an eye so we are thinking of placing a sign in the middle with a quote on it.

A sign will be placed on here with a suitable quote.

Also a wall which has been buried under years of overgrowth has re-emerged after a bit of clearance work, It is believed to be part of the old jetty from where the old boating lake used to be......Needless to say we are looking into it.
Again this is visible from the children's play area.

Part of the Jetty?????

Football Container

Over the last few days FOTP and Geraint Thomas a coach for the Pontarddulais FC juniors have been in discussion over what colour to paint the white container at the side of the football changing rooms.
A professional painter has now been found and hopefully he will start work within the next 2 weeks.

The container in it's current condition.

How it will look.

Images taken and obtained with kind permission from Geraint Thomas.