Terry's Tenby Photos

Some of Terry's photos, taken with his digital SLR.

Tenby harbour.

A nice spot for a break!

On Caldey Island.

Colette's photos of Caldey Island

Some of the photos that Tyisha Residents & Tenants Association Secretary, Colette, took using the group's camera.

On the boat to Caldey.

Stunning Pembrokeshire coastal views from Caldey.

Boats everywhere! Which way back to Tenby?!

Safely back in Tenby town, with the group.

Peter's photos of Tenby

Peter took his photos using one of Carmarthenshire Connect's cameras.

North Beach.

Tenby houses.


Part of the Tenby's 13th century medieval town walls.

Charles and Meryl's photos

Uploaded by Tyisha Residents and Tenants Association

Charles and Meryl took their photos using one of Carmarthenshire Connect's cameras

Leaving Tenby for Caldey

The Monastery on Caldey

One of the ponds and gardens on Caldey

The view of The Priory from the Chocolate Factory on Caldey

Simon's photos of Tenby

Uploaded by Tyisha Residents and Tenants Association

Simon took his photos using one of Carmarthenshire Connect's cameras

View of Tenby South Beach

Dad - will he EVER get off the phone??!!

Peter and Rhiannon - what's the joke??

About to get on the boat

Camera's not straight, mum!!

Tenby from the boat

Nathan's photos of Tenby

Uploaded by Tyisha Residents and Tenants Association

Nathan took his photos using one of Carmarthenshire Connect's cameras

Getting on the Park and Ride Bus to the beach

Tenby beachfront - very artistic!!

Photographing a fellow photographer

Looking for seals on the Seal Safari

Shall we hop off for lunch??

A Caldey Island beach

Tyisha Residents and Tenants Association Trip to Tenby

Uploaded by Tyisha Residents & Tenants Association

On Friday 15 August, residents of Tyisha, Llanelli, enjoyed a beautiful sunny day in Tenby. We were very lucky to have a day without rain for our trip - a well chosen date!!

The coach trip was organised by Tyisha Residents and Tenants Association, one of several trips organised through the year. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Some took the opportunity to visit Caldey Island, others shopped, sat on the beach or had a pub lunch.

Tyisha Residents and Tenants arriving in Tenby - NO RAIN!!!

Tyisha Residents and Tenants Association meet once a month, usually on the last Wednesday of the month, at St Barnabas Hall, Llewellyn St, at 6:45pm. Come along and have your say on local issues. All welcome. Visit our website: http://www.tyisharesidents.org.uk/ Or telephone Chairperson, Rhiannon, on 01554 754043, or Secretary, Colette, on 01554 776289.

Many people on the trip took photos, some with their own cameras, the residents' group camera, some with Carmarthenshire Connect cameras, and one lucky guy even had his own digital SLR!! A selection from all photos taken are being uploaded onto the Carmarthenshire Connect website, and will shortly be on the Tyisha group's site.

Brynaman Community Centre Surf School

Uploaded by Lynsey Harries, Funding Officer, Brynaman Community Centre

Surf School was funded by Children in Need to involve 13+ young people in the area in activities over the summer holidays. Young people from all over Brynaman attended including young people from local groups including ASBO, Mess up the Mess and Valley Teens.

None of the group had been Surfing before and had lots of fun learning new things. I want to say a big thank you to all the young people for taking part, it was a pleasure to work with them and we hope to do something similar next year.

Below are comments from some of the young people that took part:-

Joe – “ Really good experience had a laugh and met new people, would love to go again”.

Tom: “It was amazing, something different and I learned something new.”

Mat – “It was brill and a good experience – wish it was longer.

Aled -“The Bacon Butties were great and the waves were huge! I enjoyed doing something totally new”

Jordan – “really good experience, learned allot, would defiantly like to go again”.

Curly -“It was a life changing experience, it was the first time i’ve left my local area”

Alex – “It’s awesome – would like to go for longer and further away next time.”

Will- “Really good – should do it again”

Haddy – “Its genius, nothing I didn’t like – enjoyed the opportunity.”

Owain-“It was my first time camping and I would love to take part in it next year”

Arts is Fun!

Uploaded by Ellie, Shannon and Louise

This is my glitter picture frame with lots of sparkles. It's got wings and can fly like a Teradactul. My favourite thing I made was my necklace for my nan. (Shannon)

This is my painting of flowers with a yellow pot and nice tall grass. (Loiuse)

Jasmine and Poppy's arts and crafts.

Uploaded by Poppy and Jasmine

I like my picture frame and it is made by paper mache

and cardboard. (Poppy)

I like my frame and it was made cardboard

and paper. (Jasmine)

Our favourite thing was making stuff out of

clay and paper mache. (Jasmine and Poppy)

Elephants and Photoframes

Uploaded by Lani and Emmy

I've been in the craft class for the full 3 weeks and in that 3 weeks we`ve made bowls, pictureframes, bead mobiles, clay animals and lots more. (Emmy)

I`m very proud of my clay Elephant! (Emmy)

Brynaman Community Centre Summer Playscheme

For three weeks over this summer holiday, Brynaman Community Centre has been running its Summer Play Scheme - funded by Children In Need.

The Play Scheme gives children the opportunity to enjoy new activities and learn new skills by participating in craft workshops, drama and dance workshops as well as Swans Football in the Community training sessions.

To involve young people aged 13+ in the Summer Play Scheme a camping and surfing trip was organised to Llangennith Beach on the Gower.

Today, Carmarthenshire Connect is with the craft group. Using Carmarthenshire Connect's mobile phone and Brynaman Community Centre's computers, some of the children in the group will be uploading photos of their arts and crafts to this blog.

Cwmllynfell Bowls Club

Cwmllynfell Bowls Club played a friendly game against Pontarddulais yesterday evening. The game was played on Cwmllynfell's bowls lawn, which is next to Cwmllynfell Millennium Hall.

Team members were pleased to be able to enjoy a game in the sun, for a change!

Members of Cwmllynfell Bowls Club.

Cwmllynfell Millennium Hall.

Cwmllynfell Bowls Club's lawn.

Before the Pontarddulais team arrived, members of the club took some time out to try out Carmarthenshire Connect's mobile phone camera - here are some of the photos taken of team members rolling their bowls.

A great action shot.

Club Chairman Clive Trotman.

With excellent instruction from the team, Carmarthenshire Connect Field Officer Ran Foster-Mason has a go at bowling.

A video of Clive Trotman bowling.

The friendly game with Pontarddulais:

Penymorfa Garden Project Planning Meeting

Glanymor & Tyisha Communities First held a planning meeting on Wednesday evening at Emanuel Chapel. The meeting was an opportunity for residents local to the Penymorfa area to have their say on the design features they would like to see in the new Penymorfa Comunity Garden, for which Communities First has secured a £50,000 grant for the community to spend.

To inspire residents with ideas, notice boards featuring photos from successful community gardens from the Gwendraeth and Amman Valleys were on display. The photos were taken by residents on a recent trip organised by Communities First to view the gardens. The photos were taken using Carmarthenshire Connect's set of digital cameras and were displayed in groups of 'like' or 'dislike' features. Each photo was labelled with the taker's name.

The video interviews recorded on the trip were also played to meeting attendees. You can see the videos and some photos from the trip on this blog - click on the Penymorfa Community Garden Project category.

The three display boards with photos from the three gardens visited on the trip.

The Nant Y Bedol Community Garden board.

Residents looking at the display boards.

Residents were invited to comment on the features photographed by writing on sticky notes.

Faye from Communities First and Ran holding the orange Glanymor & Tyisha Communities First elephants!

Some good initial decisions about the garden design were made by residents at the meeting. The next step will be pricing the features, as the budget limit can be reached quickly. We'll keep you posted on project developments on this blog.

Project Higher's New Blog

Project Higher/Uchela has a new blog! Member's of Higher's marketing team designed a project logo and set up the blog at the library in Brynaman Community Centre on Tuesday evening.

Members of Project Higher at the library.

Members of the team will be able (and have already started) to share ideas and upload photos and videos of project news on the blog.

See the blog at http://higheruchela.blogspot.com/

Water Vole Action Group Clean Up

The Llanelli Water Vole action Group held a clean up of the Berwick Levels in Llwynhendy this morning, with support from Keep Wales Tidy.

A lot of litter was collected from the immediate areas and ditches at the last clean up in April. Today was a chance get deeper into the hedges, where rubbish had been fly-tipped.

The group alongside the rubbish retrieved from the hedges.

A busy team.

CAVS Volunteering Office Rachel Lovell with Owen Jones, CAVS Environment & Sustainabilty Manager.

Rachel finds an old paint pot on the levels.

So many items were gathered that Keep Wales Tidy's trailer was used to carry the rubbish to the collection point - here Jessica Lloyd (left) helps Water Vole Action Group Chair Isobel Macho load up the trailer.

Pulling and pushing the trailer - a top team effort!

Old Lodge & Cwrt Neville Association Litter Pick

Old Lodge & Cwrt Neville Association held a litter pick this afternoon in the Old Lodge area of Tyisha, Llanelli. The event was supported by Karen Chetcuti from Glanymor & Tyisha Communities First, Dan Snaith from Keep Wales Tidy and PCSO John Hill.

Some of the litter pick group. Many local children joined in with the event and worked very hard to collect an impressive pile of litter. The warm and sunny afternoon was a nice bonus.

All geared up with litter grabbers and bags from Keep Wales Tidy.

One litter-free lawn.


Old Lodge & Cwrt Neville Association Chairman Marcus Barrett in the wilds of the Old Lodge trees.



Finding car parts that had been carelessly left on the road verge.


An area of grass off Old Lodge suffering from a case of fly-tipping. This area was particularly challenging to clear as the unwanted household items dumped there had been rotting for some time, which made it an unpleasant job - but this was one determined team.


A slow worm makes a move as its home has been disturbed.


Carrying away an old umbrella.


Two mouldy mattresses loaded up on Dan Snaith's trailer.


Looking much better now.

Job done! Karen Chetcuti (left) joins Old Lodge & Cwrt Neville Association Chairman Marcus Barrett (middle left) and Vice Chair Sian Lewis (middle right) for a well deserved rest. The group is gathered around the the car parts collected, which Dan Snaith will take away in his trailer - once he's emptied the last trailer load!

Upper Amman Valley Music Video Project

Tom Hamer has won the competition to have a music video created by a group of around 15 young people from the Amman Valley. You can hear samples of Tom's music at http://indiestore.7digital.com/tvh11/.

The Music Video Project is now called Higher, or Uchela in Welsh. The project is named after Tom Hamer's song that the music video will be made for.

The project is led by Upper Amman Valley Communities First, in partnership with Mess Up The Mess, BASE, Amman Youth Forum, Menter Bro Dinefwr and Carmarthenshire Youth Service.

Llanelli based television production company Tinpolis will be supporting the group to produce and film the video. You can see photos from the group's first visit to the Tinopolis studios, in May, by clicking on the 'Higher' category.

The group has brainstormed some ideas for the video and will be holding a production meeting with Tinopolis this Friday.

Carmarthenshire Connect will be supporting the project by helping the group to set up a blog. The blog will document the progress of the Higher project. Most members of the Higher project have camera equipped mobile phones, so the young people involved will be able to upload photos and videos throughout the course of the project.

We'll also be bringing our digital camera set and Busbi videos recorders along at various stages of the project for group members to capture photos and interviews/diary style videos. Some photos and videos will be posted to this blog. Photos will also be collected for a 'the making of' display board that will feature at the Celebratory Launch Event, where the completed music video will be previewed to the public.

Scribes R Us Research Visit to St Fagans

Scribes R Us went on a research visit to St Fagans National History Museum on Monday. Members of the group had a specific interest in viewing the row of workmen's cottages that form part of the museum's collection of historic buildings. The cottages were moved from Rhyd-y-car, near Merthyr Tydfil and reconstructed. Each of the cottages is set up in the style of eras between 1800-1985.

This museum feature is particularly useful for members of Scribes R Us because their current anthology project, Tinman's Row, revolves around characters that lived in a row of cottages similar to those in St Fagans. The stories are also set at various times between the mid 19th century and 1953. Many group members found out useful information about ways of life in earlier times that they will be able to use in their stories.

Scribes R Us members behind the workmen's cottages

Scribes R Us also captured footage of the day and some readings of extracts of Tinman's Row using CAVS' camcorder. The footage will be used for the new video that the group is making, with support from Carmarthenshire Connect.

Jan gets to grips with CAVS' camcorder.

Filming Colin, who's explaining about the Tinman's Row project in front of the row of cottages.

Heather reading her extract inside Oakdale Workmen's Institute.

Penymorfa Community Garden Project Trip Videos

In addition to the photos taken on the Penymorfa Community Garden Project trip to community gardens in the Gwendraeth and Amman Valley, interviews with members of the community groups behind the gardens were recorded using a camcorder.

The videos will be played at the next Penymorfa Project planning meeting, so that those who weren't on the trip can get an idea of what it is like to be a part of a community garden group. The videos can also be watched here.

Penymorfa resident Tiffany Duffy interviews Lynette Reynolds from Penygroes Gardening Club, the community group behind Penygroes Community Garden.

Penymorfa resident Josh Thomas interviews Phil Owen from Penygroes Gardening Club.

Rosemary Reynolds and Ellis Jenkins from Pontyates Welfare Hall Association talk to Ran Foster-Mason about Pontyates Community Garden.

Seaside Family Forum Play Day

It's Play Day 2008 today! To celebrate, Seaside Family Forum held a Play Day at Crown Park, Seaside, Llanelli.

Members of Seaside Family Forum under their gazebo.

There was an excellent turnout from the Seaside community for this event and much fun was had playing games and sports in the park, making arts and crafts and banner painting.

The weather was good at the start of the this afternoon's event, but it then poured down. A move to the gazebo and wrapping children in bubble wrap (above) soon solved the problem!

Seaside Family Forum's banner, on the railings of Crown Park.

The event was a good chance to bring out pet rabbits!

The event was supported by Glanymor & Tyisha Communities First, Police Community Support Officers and Teresa Armstrong-Evans from New Dock Tenants & Residents Association, who kindly volunteered her services as first aider. Seaside Family Forum has close links with Seaside Community Association, who provided insurance cover for this event.

Play Day is a celebration of children's right to play. This year, the campaign calls for more challenging and adventurous activities for children. To find out more about Play Day 2008, visit http://www.playday.org.uk/.

Penymorfa Community Garden Project Trip

On Monday 28 July, Glanymor & Tyisha Communities First held a trip to visit community gardens in the Gwendraeth and Amman Valley. The trip was for residents local to the Penymorfa area of Llanelli, where Communities First, in partnership with Carmarthenshire County Council and and the Carmarthenshire Community Safety Partnership, have secured £50,000 to develop an overgrown and unused area of land.

The money is for the local community to spend on a garden design that will benefit the locality and be enjoyed by residents. The local community will be closely involved in the planning process. The trip was a chance to see good examples of community gardens and to talk to the people behind the projects. From this, residents will be able to take inspiration for designing the Penymorfa Community Garden.

The trip visited three gardens:

• Pontyates Community Garden
• Penygroes Community Garden
• Nant Y Bedol Community Garden

plus a visit to Pontyberem Hall and Menter Cwm Gwendraeth for a buffet lunch.

Carmarthenshire Connect was on the trip with 10 digital cameras for residents to photograph features of the gardens that they liked or disliked. Each photographer was given a card with a happy face on one side and a sad one on the other, to be included within photos, so that features in photographs could later be identified as positive or negative. Many of the photos taken by residents will be displayed on a board at the next project planning meeting, and be used used as part of the planning process.

We have a selection of the 400 photos taken by residents here.

Pontyates Community Garden

Pontyates Community Garden is next to Ponyates Miners Welfare Hall. The garden was the idea of Pontyates Welfare Hall Association, who managed all aspects of the project. The garden has many features - an outdoor performing area, benches, standing stones, pathways, history boards and an aromatic sensory herb garden. There are different materials and surfaces throughout the garden - grass, coloured tarmac, bricks, stone chippings and wood chip. The project cost a total of £40,000 and was funded by the 1Fund. It was officially opened on St David's Day this year with a superb turnout from the Pontyates community.

Some of the group, which included Mal Health from the Carmarthenshire Community Safety Partnership and Dan Snaith from Keep Wales Tidy.

Enjoying the pathways.

Roy with one of the Pontyates history boards.


Pontyates Youth Shelter

Across the road from Pontyates Community Garden is a youth shelter, overlooking the rugby pitch. The shelter is a focal point for young people in the area and offers a space to congregate. It was installed by Llangydern Community Council at a cost of £13,000, some of which was raised by local youths through a litter pick.

The back of the shelter, which comes with a comprehensive guarantee of its indestructibility!

Enjoying the youth shelter - smiley faces all round! The shelter features an inbuilt radio and light that are solar powered.

Penygroes Community Garden

Penygroes Garden has become the heart of the community and is widely used by all ages to sit, relax and have a chat. The garden was designed by Penygroes Gardening Club, who recently won an environmental enhancement award for the level community involvement and hard work put into transforming the area of unused land. The garden, that is just below Penygroes library, was built on a budget of £4,632. Local and Gardening Club members help to maintain the superb selection of plants and flowers.

Reclaimed railway sleepers make solid steps.

Some of the flowers and plants.

Gardening Club member Lynette (left) with Faye Davies, from Glanymor & Tyisha Communities First, who is leading on the Penymorfa Garden Project.


Nant Y Bedol Communty Garden

At a cost of nearly £60,000, the rustic Nant Y Bedol Garden covers a larger area and sits alongside the newly built Nant Y Bedol School. The garden features inventive children's facilities, including a woodland story-telling circle, outdoor chessboard, horseshoe pond and gazebo huts. The garden is a joint project between Cwmaman Town Council and CCC Countryside Recreation Unit. It is used by local walkers as part of the Aman & Loughor Heritage Trail.

Walking down to the story-telling circle.

Everyone seated - nobody to read stories though! The circle is cool on a warm summer's day as it's shaded by trees.


Glyn with the Nant Y Bedol map.

Exploring the gazebo huts.

And sitting inside them.

The horseshoe pond, fenced and gated for safety.

Colette behind the wild grass.
================================

On the coach journey back to Llanelli, Faye kept everyone entertained with a game of bingo. Faye had some great prizes for bingo winners. Mal Heath donated his prize of three teddy bears to Kaitlyn!

Back at Penymorfa - there are lots of decisions to be made on how to develop this area of land.

Residents from the area surrounding Penymorfa are welcome to get involved with the Garden Project - call Faye Davies at Glanymor & Tyisha Communities First on 01554 777850 for more information. See the organisation's website at http://www.gandtcf.org.uk/.

ASBO Multimedia Workshop

Carmarthenshire's Multimedia bus is part of the Youth First initiative in Carmarthenshire to provide more opportunities to young people in media.

This 57 seater coach (pictured above) which was specially built for the purpose, is equipped with 10 Apple MAC laptops, digital cameras, video cameras, ipods, music and lot more gadgets for the youth of Carmarthenshire to use.

With the bus being on wheels and completly mobile Carmarthenshire Connect arranged for the bus to come up to Brynaman for run an animation workshop with local group, ASBO (All Skate Boarding Outcasts).

The day long workshop was a nice change from the extremely hard work the group has been putting into their new video. The morning started by creating a storyboard for their animation followed by a few hours of playing with Plasticine (great fun) to create their characters for the animation.

The group then used a video camera and some very clever software to take snap shots (frame by frame) for the animation and then put them all together into a short film.

(Member Tom moving their character into place for the next shot)

Please see the groups finished animation below:

(Their finished animation)

If you'd like more information about the Multimedia bus then please visit the Youth First section on Carmarthenshire County Council website.