How to help Ruperra castle

Here's the castle in 2020

January 2020. There is a new planning application for Ruperra which is scary

  Why doesn't some one repair the Castle ? It is still standing since the big fire of 1941. Repairing it must be a priority, before another tower falls down.

Why do they want to move the horse shoe bats? They have a lovely home where they breed lots of little bats and feed them on insects, so important in keeping the planet alive.

The bats need the trees to guide them to their feeding grounds in the woodland. No more trees must be cut down.  SAVE OUR COUNTRYSIDE!

If they make the stables into flats, lots of people in big cars with flashing lights and loud noises  will frighten the little animals.The air will be polluted and you will not be able to see the stars in the skies. Our countryside will disappear for ever.

We need the green grass and tall trees of the castle grounds to take our children for walks and to play in the fresh air away from the traffic jams of the towns.  People must walk again at Ruperra.

Tell Caerphilly Planning department your views about the application.You can write to
 planadmin@caerphilly.gov.uk.

The turn of the Year .

2020 only six years to go to the 400th anniversary of when Ruperra Castle was built  -1626! 

Find out about the Co-op Community Fund!

Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust has been chosen as a local good cause by the new Co-op store at Machen. For more details  about how to help go to coop.co.uk/causes.

The following is an example of the leaflet left at the Machen store.

A Great Lunch atthe Waterloo Hotel in Newoport.

On Sunday 17th November, Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust will hold its 11th A G M and Lunch at the Waterloo Hotel in Newport. As soon as you decide to come along, send in for the Menu and other details, explained on the poster.

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Help to stop the Rot!

STOP THE ROT!

Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust fears that Caerphilly’s forgotten Castle – at Ruperra – is at risk and that Ruperra, an exceptional pageant castle unique in Wales and built by Welshman Sir Thomas Morgan – ancestor of the Lords Tredegar – will remain hidden, undervalued and ruinous. 

The current owners – Mr and Mrs Al Khafaji – have put in planning applications for the first part of a residential development with no proposals for the Castle and no prospect of producing enough surplus money to restore the Castle which they have left to rot.   The Trust thinks these applications should be REFUSED.

 

NO REPAIR OR RESTORATION WORK HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN ON THE CASTLE since 1941 apart from emergency work to demolish internal chimneys - despite Scheduled Ancient Monument and Listed Building legislation.  During this time the south-east tower has collapsed and large cracks have appeared in its largely unsupported walls and north-west tower. 

The Ecological Impact Assessment report shows the extent and importance of protected species on the site including a colony of Greater Horseshoe bats.  The applications will affect the Stables, Bothy and Generator block which houses a 204 Greater Horseshoe Bat maternity roost - one of only 5 in Wales. 

The Council’s own LAND MAP and the EU-funded Sustainable Caerphilly Landscape Master plan (developed with external expertise and inputs from a wide range of voluntary groups, including the Trust) shows the need for a sustainable future for this historic area.   

The Trust considers that Caerphilly Council should refuse these applications because they WILL NOT protect the Castle for local young people as required under the Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFGA).

Pat Jones Jenkins, Secretary of the Trust said “The Castle and its Estate are an unique and precious part of the heritage of Wales much valued by local people who are appalled at the level of neglect and lack of public access.  Like Caerphilly Castle and Tredegar House, Ruperra Castle and Estate is a vital link to families who made a huge impact on the history of Wales, its industries and its people over many centuries. 

The Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust has been pivotal in recording and making available to local communities many of its stories from the distant and more recent past.  There are more which are yet to be investigated and re-told. Allowing it to become a private gated community is not the way forward! “

Please send your objections by Monday 28^th October to planadmin@caerphillygov.uk

NOTE: These applications can be viewed on Caerphilly Council’s web-site: 19/0788/LBC and 19/0787/COU: Former Dairy and Laundry (The Bothy), Stables and Coach house; and 19/0790/LBC and 19/0789/COU: Kitchen Garden Store.

Open Doors Day with the Marcher Stuarts! Sunday 15th September

 
Hope you're all fired up for this year's Open Doors Day!
You must ring to book for your tea and cakes. 
Tel. no. 01656 741622 - that's the landline. The mobile works OK but sometimes cuts out - it's 07713 634854.
The tea is £5 per head and £3 for children under 12.
We have to know how many are coming so that the  excellent cake makers will have time to bake. 
We can take you on a walk to view the Castle but we can't go inside the grounds. A heritage expert will give you a talk by the entrance and you'll walk on the old drives to the castle. 
You can park at the Home Farm and sit in the Barn if you don't fancy walking.
There'll be plenty of notices to guide you to the Farm. Come on the Draethen -  Michaelstone road from the Hollybush in Draethen. The drive from the Lisvane road is not open for cars and is very rough.

Wildflower walk Augusr 11th Snday

We're doing the wildflower walk again and hoping for better weather this time!!

 

Discovering wildflowers, their healing powers, folklore and myth Sunday June 16th

Meet at Ruperra Home Farm Barn ready for a walk starting at 2 pm. Use the entrance by Ruperra House on the Draethen -Michaelstone Road.  Post code NP10 8GG
Once again the Rudry Lunch Ladies will serve biscuits and cakes made from plants and  flowers.  DON'T  WORRY there'll be no magic mushrooms or nettle soup! 
You can pay on the day - £5 for the walk, the talk by Adrianne Jones and the food. If it rains we can shelter in the barn and look at pictures of plants and medical treatments.

 
Please phone 07713 634854 or 07528 793074 to tell us you are coming so we can have the right amount of eats. Phone numbers are at the bottom of the poster. 

Walk, Talk and Lunch Sunday May 19th

Still time to book for the lunch , but come along for the walk and talk as well!

Our new progranne of Events for 2019

Ruperra Castle Preservation Trust Programme of Events 2019

MARCH

March 13^th (Wednesday 2.30 4pm): “Fire at Ruperra!”: Caerphilly Fire Station community meeting room at Waunfach St CF83 3HL  to include a video and recorded voices of people who witnessed the fire at Ruperra Castle  in December 1941  Tea and Wartime food provided by Rudry Lunch Club. £5

APRIL

April 28^th (Sunday 2 for 2.30pm):  Talk by Dr Elaine Davey at Rudry Parish Hall on the 30^th anniversary of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust, now grown into a national organisation campaigning to protect parks and gardens, such as Ruperra Castle.  £5 charge for the talk and tea provided by Rudry Lunch Club. 

MAY

May 19^th   (Sunday 11am): Walk from Home Farm for a view of  Ruperra Castle followed by lunch at 1.30pm  at the Hollybush Inn, Draethen; followed  at 2.30 pm by a Talk on the Morgan Family by Paul Busby (Tredegar House):  £25 for the walk, talk and lunch. Payable in advance.

JUNE

June 16^th (Sunday 2 pm): Walk starting at Ruperra Home Farm led by Adrianne Jones., ‘Discovering wildflowers, their healing powers, folklore and Myth’. £5 charge for walk and refreshments

JULY

July 7^th (Sunday): Visit by minibus to Lulworth Castle a pageant castle sisiter to Ruperra Castle.(details tba) please contact us soon it you are interested

July 14^th (Sunday): RCPT stall at the Clytha Park Open Gardens Day

SEPTEMBER

September 15^th (Sunday 11am): Open Doors Day at Ruperra Home Farm Details later.

OCTOBER

October 13^th (Sunday 11am): Themed walk from Home Farm, returning to the Cefn Mably Inn for Sunday Lunch  £25 payable in advance.

NOVEMBER

November 17^th (Sunday 12 noon) AGM followed by Lunch at the Waterloo Hotel, Newport (numbers limited to 35 in the private room, due to fire regulations

Any queries, please phone 01656 741 622   mobile 07713 634854

Email patjoneshenkins@googlemail.com.

Wartime food at Caerphilly Fire Staion!

Here are some pictures of the wartime food that Rudry Lunch Club ladies prepared for our meeting on the 13th march 

Spam sandwiches, beetroot sandwiches, fish paste sandwiches and bread pudding! It was all delicious!

Ruperra SoldiersDVD at Caerphilly Fire Station march 13th.

We gathered to watch the DVD about the soldiers who trained at Ruperra castle during World War Two. It was chosen specially by the Ministry of Defence as an ideal place for soldiers to train, as it overlooked the Bristol Channel where enemy planes were flying in to attack. 

At first many of the soldiers were coming back from the dreadful experiences at Dunkirk and were so pleased to be staying in such a lovely place. 

The in 1941 tragedy struck. An accidental fire burnt

out the insides of the castle. The 60 soldiers there escaped. Fortunately the rest of the Searchlight regiment was out on the site by the Black Cock on Caerphilly Mountain. 

After the fire, the soldiers had to sleep in the stable block or in tents. Since then there has been no attempt to repair the Castle.

Perfect Day for the Llanfedw walk February 13th

This shows you where Llanfedw is. It was possibly a part of an area connected with the Church, but was moved in the 16th Century from Monmouthshire to Glamorganshire. That is why it now lies in the County Borough of Caerphilly. We heard and saw a lot of the ancient and medieval history of the area. Under the map is a picture of the group on the top of Coed Ruperra enjoying a view of the landscape all around. Then we went to the Cefn Mably Arms!

The first walk of the year!

This will be a shorter walk than usual in case the weather is still wintry. We will have a look round at the interesting parts of Llanfedw that were there before Ruperra Castle was built. As usual Anthony Rees at Ruperra Home farm is willing for us to park there. 
After the walk we'll call in at the Cefn Mably Arms to refresh ourselves.

Postponement ofJanuary wlk.

We're postponing the January20th  Landscape Walk hopefully until February.
More news soon.

Website update

The link to Blogger News and Events is now fixed.
Please visit www.Ruperra.wales.