Dear all. Sorry our Friends of Cefn Onn website has not been updated at all during 2016. This has been extremely frustrating.  Despite us taking many precautions it was hacked and this prevented us from being able to access it in any way. The host company could not fix it but luckily for us a relatively new Friends member, who is a website operator has come to our rescue! Over Xmas and New Year he has managed to sort it out, recover all of our data, and get us up and running again. I have updated the 2017 Workdays dates immediately and will do so with other pages and News items as time allows over the next month.  Many thanks indeed to our new member and Happy New Year to all Friends and Parc Cefn Onn visitors.

As you may have read, the Friends Group are looking into re-vamping the heavily silted pond in the lower section of the park. We have already commissioned an environmental survey to discover what its ecological and educational potential is.

One of the items –  adjacent to the pond is this strange looking brick bench and we would like to hear from you if you have any knowledge about its significance or why it is here in Cefn Onn.

To date we are fairly certain that it (and the Japanese style red bridge in the upper section of the Park) were donated from the 1992 Ebbw Vale National Garden Festival: a project where derelict land (in this case ex-British Steel works) was reclaimed for Garden Festivals around the UK as a symbol of the rebirth of such areas. Ebbw Vale was the last and most successful of the five National Garden Festivals held (www.gardenfestivalwales.co.uk).

The bench is a very unusual design, but what does it represent? Does it have any significance to Cefn Onn? If you have any knowledge, or any ideas about its design we would love to hear from you. Just post a note through our office door behind this notice board, speak to a committee member (if you know one), send us an email, or post a message on our webpage or Facebook page.

Many thanks to the team of Friends who turned out in the sunshine last Sunday afternoon. Part of the idea of having the entrance field partly wildflower means that when the high grasses are cut for the winter we don’t want to automatically collect the clippings. Instead we want the clippings to remain on the ground for a couple of weeks and then remove them by raking so that the agitation shakes the seeds into the cut grass to grow further next year.

Everything changes in Cefn Onn during October and early November as autumn changes to winter and it is always really spectacular. From the changing colours in the trees to the leaves fluttering on the ground it is such a contrast to the greenery of only a month or so ago. Well worth an autumn visit if you haven’t already.

The weather wasn’t great for this year’s Lisvane Fete where we had a stall to publicise the work the Friends Group does and seek to recruit some new members. However we were very pleased to meet interested Fete goers and also further develop links with the Mayor of Cardiff (Cllr David Walker)/ photo below left, the North Cardiff Assembly Member (Julie Morgan AM)/ photo above right, the leader of Cardiff Council (Cllr Phil Bale), and our neighbouring stall of the RPSB. Thanks to all who visited Tony and I on the damp afternoon!

What a fascinating evening all who attended Rosie’s history walk of Cefn Onn had in June.  Following an excellent presentation at our AGM in 2014, Rosie James (Cardiff Council) agreed to turn it into a guided walk for us this year . That lady is so full of knowledge and enthusiasm that we were all enthralled for almost 2 hours.  Rosie seems to discover more facts, info, and clues to its past to add to the story every year. To me, visiting Cefn Onn is about both its current tranquillity and its past history. Hopefully, later this year, with  some effort, funding, and a following wind, the Friends can capture this history (which doesn’t seem to be recorded elsewhere) in a new pamphlet that will prevent this knowledge fading away for us and future generations.

AGM? Sounds boring? Like all our AGMs we really focus the evening on Park related topics we feel confident members will be interested in. This year was no different and we had two fascinating presentations: the first was on the vision for substantial Heritage Lottery funding to really renovate the upper pond/dingle area of the Park and increase access for all. If successful (we should hear early 2017) this will significantly add to the experience of visiting the upper parts of the Park. (Please complete the survey in the article below.) The second presentation was of the results, hot off the press, of the environmental survey we have commissioned for the lower park pond. This is to ensure that our development plans for it are sound and sustainable; techy stuff but fascinating for anyone interested in environment protection and renovation. With little time left, we still managed to review another successful year, confirm the accounts, receive the Park Ranger’s report, and elect a Committee for 2015/16. Thanks to all who attended and our two marvellous guest presenters. As Chair, I thanked all 100 member households (present and not), Cardiff Parks Dept, and Lisvane Community Association for their support over the last year. The vision and enthusiasm of our Group are strong but effectively fruitless without that support. Looking forward to our 5th year!

As part of developing their plan for improving the upper part of the Parc and application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, Cardiff Council would like your feedback on your recent visit. If you would like to take part there is an on-line survey which can be accessed directly from here or via the Cardiff Council website. Having the Parc users views is vital to such grant applications and how the Parc is improved so the Friends Group would like to encourage you to take part.

Walkers who regularly make it to the top field will have noticed that a new addition appeared up there in May. With the remainder of our Pollinating Plants Grant from Keep Wales Tidy we have created a flowering area on the right hand side as you go up the field. It is supposed to be informal so does not have fixed borders etc and the Council grass cutters will leave this area to hopefully blossom. The down side of informal areas like this is that the plants may get trodden on by un-noticing visitors or trampled by dogs. If you do notice this happening we would be very appreciative if you could politely point out the area to whoever who hasn’t spotted it. Once it becomes more established it will be quite obvious and hopefully add a great splash of colour!