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December 5th Community Fun Day

Rosemary watching the children enjoying their activities.

Delia, Tony and I were invited to the Saturday morning children’s club on 5th December, run by Dave Horton, Senior Development Officer of Communities First and assisted by Caerau resident Sue Brooke. The club is held in the community meeting room attached to Glyn Derw High School. The aim of this group is to encourage children living in the area to value their heritage, in particlular the Caerau hill fort and the adjacent medieval St. Mary’s church.

The Fun Day was very interesting and we were impressed by how attentive and responsive the children were to everything happening around them.

On one table there was a good model of the Caerau hill fort showing several Iron Age round houses and perimeter fencing to secure it, with the entrance via a gate near the gulley. Also provided were pre-printed sheets of card, from which the children enjoyed cutting out the marked bits to make the roundhouses.

Model of Caerau Hill Fort.

Storyteller Cath Little told interesting stories to the children. Her style of telling was extremely skilful, and even we “oldies” were totally absorbed. She told one tale about Sir Gawain, who bravely volunteered to protect the king from the “Green Man”, at great danger to himself, but the story ended happily. In another story, about a fox with a bushy tail, Cath was helped by her friend Alana, a girl of about twelve, who was also a very good storyteller.

Some of the children, assisted by an adult, had prepared two lovely soups, which were delicious and enjoyed by everyone.

While we were there, we discussed the future of the hill fort with a local resident, Ben Thomas, who is very interested in preservation of this and other valued sites around Cardiff, and has had many discussions with Council members and other authorities.