Blaenafon Cheddar Company and Easter Bonnets – April meeting

Our speaker at the April meeting was Susan of the Blaenafon Cheddar Company. The company began 2006 and has gradually grown over time. On the day they opened customers were queuing in the street. They completely sold out that Christmas, and Susan laughingly told us that they had had to buy the cheese for their own use from a supermarket!

Locally produced milk is transported to North Wales where it is pasteurised and turned into basic cheddar cheese. This then returns to them in Blaenafon, South Wales and they process it into the varieties of specialist cheeses they produce. All the ingredients that are added to process the cheese are natural. For example, the cheeses that contain alcohol, the beer or sparkling wine come out of a bottle, and apple and strawberry are fresh fruits – they are not synthetic flavourings. After processing, the cheese is extruded into long sausage shapes and chilled. Then it is sliced into the familiar round shape of Blaenafon cheeses, waxed, chilled, given a second layer of wax and hand labelled. Each batch is micro-tested and so far they have had no failures and received no complaints. Their cheeses have won a number of awards.

Blaenafon Cheese generously gave a platter of cheese to each table for members to sample. The samples were: Oak Smoked, 1868 Lion Hotel, Strawberry and Prosceco, Bara Brith, Taffy Apple, Capel Newydd, Cymru Crunch, Pwll Ddu, and Dragon's Breath. It was quite a lot of cheese with a whole range of flavours. After the presentation and sampling, members were able to purchase cheeses.

After the presentation, Susan kindly judged the Easter bonnet competition.

Cwmni Caws Cheddar Blaenafon a Bonedau Pasg – Cyfarfod mis Ebrill

Ein siaradwr yng nghyfarfod mis Ebrill oedd Susan o Gwmni Caws Cheddar Blaenafon. Dechreuodd y cwmni yn 2006 ac mae wedi tyfu'n raddol dros amser. Ar y diwrnod y gwnaethon nhw agor roedd cwsmeriaid yn ciwio yn y stryd. Fe wnaethon nhw werthu'n llwyr y Nadolig hwnnw, a dywedodd Susan wrthym yn chwerthinllyd eu bod wedi gorfod prynu'r caws ar gyfer eu defnydd eu hunain o archfarchnad!

Mae llaeth a gynhyrchir yn lleol yn cael ei gludo i Ogledd Cymru lle caiff ei basteureiddio a'i droi'n gaws cheddar sylfaenol. Yna mae hwn yn dychwelyd atynt ym Mlaenafon, De Cymru ac maent yn ei brosesu i mewn i'r mathau o gawsiau arbenigol maent yn eu cynhyrchu. Mae'r holl gynhwysion sy'n cael eu hychwanegu i brosesu'r caws yn naturiol. Er enghraifft, mae'r cawsiau sy'n cynnwys alcohol, y cwrw neu'r gwin pefriog yn dod allan o botel, ac mae afal a mefus yn ffrwythau ffres – nid blasau synthetig ydynt. Ar ôl prosesu, caiff y caws ei allwthio i siapiau selsig hir a'i oeri. Yna caiff ei sleisio i siâp crwn cyfarwydd cawsiau Blaenafon, ei gwyro, ei oeri, rhoi ail haen o gwyr iddo a'i labelu â llaw. Mae pob swp yn cael ei brofi'n ficro ac hyd yn hyn nid ydynt wedi cael unrhyw fethiannau ac nid ydynt wedi derbyn unrhyw gwynion. Mae eu cawsiau wedi ennill nifer o wobrau.

Rhoddodd Caws Blaenafon blât o gaws i bob bwrdd yn hael i'r aelodau ei flasu. Y samplau oedd: Oak Smoked, 1868 Lion Hotel, Strawberry and Prosceco, Bara Brith, Taffy Apple, Capel Newydd, Cymru Crunch, Pwll Ddu, ac Anadl y Ddraig. Roedd yn dipyn o gaws gydag ystod eang o flasau. Ar ôl y cyflwyniad a'r samplu, roedd yr aelodau'n gallu prynu cawsiau.

Ar ôl y cyflwyniad, bu Susan yn garedig yn beirniadu cystadleuaeth boned y Pasg.

Newsletter – April 2026

 April 13th meeting:

We are delighted to welcome Blaenavon Cheese to tell us about their company and offer samples of their products to taste.

Are you making an Easter bonnet? Hopefully there will be an vast array of members wearing Easter bonnets at the meeting. There is a prize for the best one.

Membership Fees: Membership fees are now due for renewal. The cost is £54 for the year's subscription. You can pay by bank transfer or give Liz cash or a cheque at the meeting.

Our charity:

A table has been booked at Whitchurch Festival on Saturday July 4th to raise funds for our charity. Our charity for this year is Parkinson’s UK Cymru. Do please let the committee have your suggestions for this event and fundraising ideas.

Events:

On Wednesday 22nd April we will be celebrating our 21st anniversary. This is an afternoon tea at Llanishen Golf Club at 2:30. A VEST bus has been booked for transport and there are still a few spare spaces available.

Information

    Link to the Glamorgan Newsletters.

    MyWI site (registration and log in required)

Groups:

    Book Group: Wednesday 15th April / 11.00 am / La Cucina da Mara

    Family History: Monday 27th April / 2.00 pm / 113 Pantbach Road

    

    Poetry and Prose Group: Monday 27th April / 10.45 am

    The Ark coffee bar, Ararat / Topic: food and drink

    Craft Group: Monday 20th April / 2 pm / 18 Heol Stradling

    St Mary's Gardens: Tuesday 5th May  / 10 – 12

    Sunday Lunch Group: Sunday 26th April / 1 pm / Pendragon

 

Following meeting:

    Next meeting: Monday 11th May in Ararat Church Hall, Whitchurch Common, 2 pm.
This meeting is our AGM where members vote in the new committee.

        There will be a demonstration of Tai Chi by Corina Walker during the time that the committee have a short meeting with the Glamorgan Federation representative. Corina teaches a set of movements called Shibashi on Wednesdays through Age Cymru.

A Girls' School in South Sudan – March 2026

Caroline Noall kindly stepped in at the last minute to speak at our March meeting as the scheduled speaker had to cancel because of ill health.

She told us about Ibba Girls' School which was opened in 2014. There had been many years of civil war in Sudan and South Sudan was granted independence in 2011. South Sudan is quite a large country – about 31 times the size of Wales. Transport is difficult because of the poor quality of roads and transport networks. Caroline informed us that she had noticed, whilst living in South Sudan for three years in the 1980s, that women and girls did most of the work and had few opportunities for education. 90% of women are illiterate and are more likely to die in childbirth than complete their education. A residential school was established to increase the possibility that girls attending the school would be able to fully concentrate on education, rather than constantly being kept at home to work and care for family members.

South Sudan has a system of nine years of primary education and four years of secondary education. After three years of primary, girls are chosen to attend Ibba School if considered suitable. The school began with one class of fourth years, and has then added a class every year until they were able to offer the complete range of primary and secondary education. They have a principle of 'the pen and the hoe', meaning that the girls learn practical skills as well as traditional academic education subjects. They are taught in English.

The school faces many challenges. Although Ibba is not in a particularly volatile area, security is an issue. A large staff is needed to teach and support the students, and classrooms and other buildings have to be built as the school develops. The school grows much of its own food, but there can be food shortages. South Sudan suffers from hyperinflation which creates financial strains. Nevertheless, every year the number of students who graduate increases. The benefit of education filters down throughout the social network, such as students learning about the importance of hygiene which is then passed down to the home situation, learning how to behave with boys to avoid pregnancy, and the practical uses of numeracy.

Caroline presented a most interesting talk which everyone enjoyed. She donated the speaker's fee to the school and they wrote a thank you letter to our WI. If anyone wishes to support the school they can make a donation on their website.

Ysgol i Ferched yn Ne Swdan -- Mawrth 2026

Bu Caroline Noall yn garedig iawn i gamu i mewn ar y funud olaf i siarad yn ein cyfarfod ym mis Mawrth gan fod yn rhaid i'r siaradwr a drefnwyd ganslo oherwydd afiechyd.

Dywedodd wrthym am Ysgol Merched Ibba a agorwyd yn 2014. Roedd blynyddoedd lawer o ryfel cartref wedi bod yn Swdan a rhoddwyd annibyniaeth i Dde Swdan yn 2011. Mae De Swdan yn wlad eithaf mawr – tua 31 gwaith maint Cymru. Mae trafnidiaeth yn anodd oherwydd ansawdd gwael ffyrdd a rhwydweithiau trafnidiaeth. Dywedodd Caroline wrthym ei bod wedi sylwi, tra'n byw yn Ne Swdan am dair blynedd yn yr 1980au, mai menywod a merched oedd yn gwneud y rhan fwyaf o'r gwaith ac nad oedd ganddynt lawer o gyfleoedd i gael addysg. Mae 90% o fenywod yn anllythrennog ac yn fwy tebygol o farw wrth roi genedigaeth na chwblhau eu haddysg. Sefydlwyd ysgol breswyl i gynyddu'r posibilrwydd y byddai merched sy'n mynychu'r ysgol yn gallu canolbwyntio'n llawn ar addysg, yn hytrach na chael eu cadw gartref yn gyson i weithio a gofalu am aelodau'r teulu.

Mae gan Dde Swdan system o naw mlynedd o addysg gynradd a phedair blynedd o addysg uwchradd. Ar ôl tair blynedd o addysg gynradd, dewisir merched i fynychu Ysgol Ibba os ystyrir eu bod yn addas. Dechreuodd yr ysgol gydag un dosbarth o bedwaredd flwyddyn, ac yna mae wedi ychwanegu dosbarth bob blwyddyn nes eu bod yn gallu cynnig yr ystod gyflawn o addysg gynradd ac uwchradd. Mae ganddyn nhw egwyddor 'y pen a'r hoe', sy'n golygu bod y merched yn dysgu sgiliau ymarferol yn ogystal â phynciau addysg academaidd traddodiadol. Fe'u haddysgir yn Saesneg.

Mae'r ysgol yn wynebu llawer o heriau. Er nad yw Ibba mewn ardal ansefydlog iawn, mae diogelwch yn broblem. Mae angen staff mawr i addysgu a chefnogi'r myfyrwyr, ac mae'n rhaid adeiladu ystafelloedd dosbarth ac adeiladau eraill wrth i'r ysgol ddatblygu. Mae'r ysgol yn tyfu llawer o'i bwyd ei hun, ond gall fod prinder bwyd. Mae De Swdan yn dioddef o orchwyddiant sy'n creu straen ariannol. Serch hynny, bob blwyddyn mae nifer y myfyrwyr sy'n graddio yn cynyddu. Mae budd addysg yn treiddio i lawr ledled y rhwydwaith cymdeithasol, fel myfyrwyr yn dysgu am bwysigrwydd hylendid sydd wedyn yn cael ei drosglwyddo i'r sefyllfa gartref, dysgu sut i ymddwyn gyda bechgyn i osgoi beichiogrwydd, a defnyddiau ymarferol rhifedd.

Cyflwynodd Caroline sgwrs ddiddorol iawn a fwynhaodd pawb. Rhoddodd ffi'r siaradwr i'r ysgol ac ysgrifennon nhw lythyr diolch i'n Sefydliad y Merched. Os oes unrhyw un eisiau cefnogi'r ysgol gallant wneud rhodd ar eu gwefan.

Charity cheque presentation - March 2026

We were delighted to present a cheque to Velindre for £750. This was the result of our fundraising efforts for 2025/26.

The charity we have chosen for 2026/27 is Parkinsons UK Cymru.

Newsletter – March 2026

March 9th meeting:

We are delighted to welcome back the accomplished singer, Christine Purkiss. Her topic this time is Gilbert and Sullivan.

There will be feedback on the questionnaire. Thank you to the 52 members who completed a one.

A good number of people have signed up for the 21st anniversary celebratory afternoon tea. It is not too late to add your name, but all payments must be paid this meeting please. The cost is £15. There will be a VEST bus to transport those who need it.

Our charity:

We will present a cheque to Emma from Velindre, for £750.

We will also vote on the selection of our new charity to support. The short list is: RNLI, Salvation Army, Parkinson’s UK Cymru, Crisis and Banardo’s.

Information

    Link to the Glamorgan Newsletters.

    MyWI site (registration and log in required)

Groups:

    Book Group: Wednesday 11th March / 11.00 am / La Cucina da Mara

    Family History: Monday 30th March / 2.00 pm / 113 Pantbach Road

    

    Poetry and Prose Group: Monday 16th March / 10.45 am

    The Ark coffee bar, Ararat / Topic: women writers

    Craft Group: Monday 16th March / 2 pm / 18 Heol Stradling

    St Mary's Gardens: Tuesday 7th April  / 10 – 12

 

Following meeting:

    Next meeting: Monday 13th April in Ararat Church Hall, Whitchurch Common, 2 pm.
Speaker  :  Blaenavon Cheddar

There will also be an Easter bonnet competition, so get busy with your creativity.