Sorry Folks- walk on Sunday 23rd February is cancelled

We waited for a more supportive weather forecast , but it didn't come. On Sunday morning the ground conditions will be bad as well as more rain and wind coming.
Keep looking at the programme for later events.

Events for 2o2o Weather permitting !!

Programme of events for this year 2020       
Phone 07713 634854 to check cancellations

February 23^rd Sunday. A Landscape walk. Parking in the Hollybush Inn at 11.00 am and walking up to the hill fort on Coed Craig Ruperra for a view of the Castle and countryside and back. 2 Hour walk. Rough and sometimes wet ground but interesting.

February 28^th Friday. 4:00 – 8:00 pm  The Co-op stores in Machen where the importance of Ruperra Castle will be explained to customers with our role in the Co-op local Causes Savings scheme. We now have £47.

March 21st Saturday.10:30 am. A walk to Lower Machen Church via Ironbridge led by Andrew and Cheryl Barker, Guides from Tredegar Park. Parking place to be arranged.   More details on this page later.

April 19^th Saturday.  Photo Walk “Choosing the right site” led by Mike Smith and photographer/instructor Neil Llewellyn. www.picturesformywall.com Numbers limited, £30 pp: all proceeds to RCPT. More details from michaelbsmith@btinternet.com.

May  Date TBA Concert in Michaelston-y-Fedw Church - Jane Price arranging. Details later.

July 12 Sunday. 2:00-5:00 pm. Open Garden at Clytha Park for National Gardens Day. This is the home of our Patron Jack Hanbury and we will have our annual stall there promoting Ruperra.

August 22nd Saturday. Ruperra Castle Conference, funded by the National Lottery at Rudry Community Hall and arranged by RCPT and volunteers. Talks on History, the countryside, display by the Marcher Stuarts and a a buffet. Free entry

September 20th Sunday.  Open Doors Day at Ruperra Home Farm.

November AGM and Lunch. TBA

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.