Carole Morgan 1944 - November 2000

The commitment of Carole Morgan, the Ynysboeth Infants School dinner lady and supervisor who died recently of meningitis, has been described by chairman of the school governors and local councillor Albie Davies as " a shining example of community work. "
Carole was about to start as a school support assistant in the afternoons, working alongside the children in the classroom. The headteacher of the school, Lynne Edwards said, " Carole just loved being at the school with the children - I never had to ask her twice because she was always here to help the school. "
She was actively involved in All Saints Church, where she ran the Sunday School, and donations in lieu of flowers are going to the church restoration fund.
Carole had worked at Ynysboeth Infants School for 25 years.
She was also a former churchwarden, secretary of the church council and a Eucharist lay minister.
Carole is survived by husband, Malcolm, their two sons, daughters in law and five grandchildren.

IN THE NET !

Mountain Ash Comprehensive School has netted new cricket facilities which will enhance opportunities for boys and girls to develop interest and skill in the sport.
The cricket net facilities were officially opened recently by Rhondda's Clive Thomas of Caxton Facilities Management and a former UEFA and international referee. Cricket nets are used by both schoosl and clubs at junior and senior levels and serve the comprehensive coach education programme as well as developing the sport at grass roots level.
At present there are 15 junior cricket clubs in Rhondda Cynon Taff.
Coach education courses will be held at this new indoor cricket venue as well as teacher training in-set courses, cricketing master classes and the organisation of a new primary school winter league.

The Heat is On!

RCT's Action Team Initiative has been launched at the Fernhill Estate in Mountain Ash.
Three action teams have formed to clean up eyesore neighbourhoods.
The teams, made up of young people taking part in the New Deal programme, will take on such jobs as rebuilding walls, surfacing pathways, cleaning overgrowth and planting trees and shrubs.
The Housing Environment Action Team - HEAT - will work in Fernhill, Glyncoch and Pontypridd and it is hoped that within six months there will dramatic changes in those areas.

Athletic Investment

Aberdare Amateur Athletic Club is to benefit from a £1,500 investment by Tower Colliery. Tower has supported the club for the last three years and this fresh investment will help purchase equipment and finance coaching fees.

"This sponsorship will keep costs down for members and increase competitive opportunities", said club secretary, Ann Crimmings..

Africa to Abercynon!

A unique shop has funded life-changing surgery for a young African boy. The Ugandan Child Development Fund shop in Margaret Street, Abercynon, has raised more than £3,000 to pay for 14 year old orphan Richard Mulebe to come to Britan for burns treatment. Badly burned by a paraffin lamp three years ago, Richard was left disfigured after inadequate treatment. Now he is to undergo corrective surgery in Plymouth. Michael has visited the Abercynon shop to meet the volunteers who have changed his life.
To know more or to help with the shop, call in or telephone founder Kate Rees on 01594 530887

Dealer Hotline

Calls to a police hotline number to combat drug-dealers have increased by 72%.
150,000 South Wales Neighbourhood Watch members, have been asked to telephone the hotline with information on drug-dealers in their streets. The scheme, which was launched by Keith Hellawell, brings together Neighbourhood Watch and Crimestoppers Wales Cymru and involves over 150,000 people.
The Hotline number is 0800 555111.

Desperately Seeking Dai - of South Wales!

A Dai of South Wales is being sought by Multi-Media Arts. a film company who recruited the elusive Dai in a show produced a few years ago called The Haunted Fishtank. The only people who know the details of his identity have left the company and the only information available is his first name, that he lives in South Wales and he had made a video called Practical Hedging with a company called Fox Video some time ago. Dai is needed to take part in the pilot for a new series and can contact the company on 0151 476 6050.

A Garden for all Seasons

Cefnpennar has been put firmly on the map with the completion of Cae Pentre garden.
An adventurous project that has totally transformed a former dumping ground near the village green, the garden was brought to life
under the guidance of TV's Charlie Dimmock and community project officer, Graham Hathaway with local people putting in months of voluntary back-breaking toil and a multitude of ideas. The garden reflects the heritage and industrial past of the area and has a red dragon gate and a 'flame' fence. There are Gorsedd-type stones, sculptures, herbs and flowers and a bank of daffodils in the form of a woman will interpret a story from the Mabinogion. A meadow area will become a science garden for local schools.

Local and UK businesses have donated around £50,000 in time and materials and the garden is just one phase in a major redevelopment of the Cae Pentre site.

Charlie's Garden Army.................

............................ Marches On!

The development of the Cae Pentre site in Cefnpennar is continuing apace. Plans have been drawn up for the creation of a woodland, perimeter pathways and recreation area. There are also plans to open a community office and a cyber cafe in Cefnpennar. Rhondda Cynon Taff is to give further financial backing to the project from its community and voluntary action fund. All volunteers are being called back on Wednesdays and Saturdays to work on the woodland and office and anyone wanting to help can contact Graham Hathaway on 01443 475396.

Marathon Man from Cwm

Phil Adams of Cwmaman is coming to be known as the Iron Man of running after completing "the ultimate human race" in a time of 8 hours 45 minutes. He ran in the Comrades' Marathon in South Africa, a mind-boggling 55 mile uphill run from Durban at sea level to 5,500 feet up in Pietermaritzburg. As well as achieving personal satisfaction from completing the race, Phil also raised £1,100 in sponsorship for the charity Comrades of Children Overseas.
Since that race Phil has run in the 62 mile UK Ultra Championships in Edinburgh and the Brecon to Merthyr Roman Run. He plans to compete in the London to Brighton run and then in a 24 hour race covering 100 miles!
And after that, walking up Cwmaman Road is just peanuts!

Ladies First and Second

Two women from Rhondda Cynon Taff's Leisure Services department hold top positions in the South Wales and West Institute of Sport Management.

Mair Taylor, manager of the Abercynon Sports Centre has taken up the presidency of the Institute and Sarah Kochalski, Contract Manager for leisure facilities in the Rhondda area, is the vice president.

The Institute's annual conference is being held in Cardiff from 21 to 23 September, the first time the conference has come to Wales.

Model Railway S O S

An S O S has gone out from the Cynon Valley Railway Society who are seeking a new home.

The society is no longer able to use Aman School in Aberaman due to structural damage.

If anyone can offer the group a reasonably-sized room the person to contact is secretary Adrian Moses on 01685 881287.

Hitachi Support

First Secretary Rhodri Morgan has promised Cynon Valley's Welsh Assembly member, Christine Chapman, that the assembly will liaise with Hitachi in an attempt to keep the threatened redundancies at the Hirwaun factory to a minimum.
Large scale job losses are due at the electronics plant in the New Year after a slump in the sales of colour televisions has lost the Japanese company £4 million pounds in the last two years.
Ms Chapman says that she will continue her talks with the Hitachi management and workers and offer assistance to those workers who do lose their jobs.

Star Staff

The staff of the St Mair's Day Centre kitchen, Aberdare have won the title Rhondda Cynon Taff Kitchen of the Year 2000 awarded by in-house caterers, Catering Direct.
St Mair's caters for hundreds of senior citizens every day either through meals-on-wheels or for guests in the centre. The staff were commended not just for the quality of the food but their ability to speak Welsh, willingness to entertain, their Christmas carol services and home-made cakes.

Staff at Dare Valley Country Park are celebrating earning the Investors in People award for the quality of its staff training programme. IIP status was awarded by the South East Wales Training and Enterprise Council. Our picture shows Bethan Jones, Dare Valley's youngest team member, receiving the commemorative plaque from Brian Roderick of the TEC with Dave Protheroe, manager of Dare Valley Country Park who is shown holding the certificate.

Fly-Tippers Slammed

A severe warning was sent out to fly-tippers recently when two brothers were convicted of the offence, fined a total of £4,000 and ordered to pay £750 each towards the costs of the Environment Agency Wales which brought the prosecution.
Investgating officers discovered that Nathan Lineham of Mountain Ash and his brother Matthew of Penrhiwceiber, trading as Cynon JCB Hire, had removed skips from two local properties and deposited the contents at the Lletty Turner Bends in Mountain Ash.
The Environment Agency described fly-tipping as anti-social, criminal and polluting the countryside.
The Environment Agency has a hot-line number for anyone wishing to report illegal dumping or pollution - 0800 807060.

Startright with Startrack!

Over one hundred children turned up at the Sobell Sports Centre in Aberdare to be coached by gold medal-winning athlete Mark Hylton and his team as part of the Aberdare Startrack Scheme.
The children took part in a multitude of activities designed to improve basic running, jumping and throwing skills.
Mark Hylton is a regular in the 4x400m relay team and hopes to be selected for the Plympic team.

'A' for Achievements!!

Cynon Valley schoolboy, Andrew Lewis, has gained four grade A passes at A level! Andrew, a pupil at St John Baptist School, Aberdare, is going to study aeronautical engineering at Bath.
Blaengwawr Comprehensive School pupil, Bethan Jones, gained three As and one B. Bethan is going to study creative writing, also at Bath. Congratulations to you both and to everyone who has taken A-levels this year!

Rhiannon Wynne

A Hole in One!

A Jetpatcher, a revolutionary road repair machine has been bought by Newport County Council. It fills a hole in one action and will treble the number of holes that can be filled annually. After negotiating the myriad varieties of potholes on this valley's roads a Jetpatcher is something on which everyone in Cynon Valley will probably agree would be money well spent!

Driving Force

There'll be an extra lesson on the curriculum for sixth form pupils at Blaengwawr Comprehensive School in Aberdare from September - how to drive a car!
Headmaster David Evans said that the pupils were asked what they thought best to help them for the future and driving lessons came tops. All pupils will have the chance to earn up to ten free driving lessons when they reach 17, based on credits for attendance and effort.
Brian Shelton of the Confidence Driving School in Hirwaun is the instructor who has agreed to take part in the scheme.
Basic car maintenance courses are also planned for all students.
Curriculum 2000 also requires four subjects to be studied in the first year instead of three.

Cutting Speed

A mobile speed detection camera will be deployed by police near schools and accident blackspots in Rhondda Cynon Taff, in a bid to reduce accidents.
Since April this year, 2,000 drivers in the county have been fined a total of £156,000.

DIESEL THEFT

A reward of £500 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of thieves who stole £1000 worth of diesel from Shamrock Coaches' Abercynon depot, recently.

Clayton Jones, Shamrock's Managing Director, is taking further precautions against another theft by installing CCTV, employing 24 hour security staff and dyeing all the diesel stored in the depot a distinctive dark blue.

Thieves Take Picnic Bench

Early morning dog-walkers were surprised to find that a solid wood picnic bench had disappeared overnight from the Dare Valley Country Park in Aberdare recently.
The bench, which would have taken at least four men to lift, vanished from a popular resting spot at the side of the road. Vehicle tracks can be seen close to where the two-seater unit stood.
If anyone notices a newly-acquired picnic bench in their neighbourhood, please contact the police on 01685 872456 or Dare Valley Country Park on 01685 874672.