St Hilary Telephone Box Report 2020

2020 was a year that none of us will forget.  All our plans were thrown into disarray and travelling was put on hold.

However, the telephone box played a central role in pulling the village together (being located outside was an advantage!) and also providing help and support to those in need.  It started with collections of food and toiletries in Spring, involved plant swapping and sunflowers seeds and ended with a crescendo of inspired Christmas activity in December.

Lots and lots of people were involved in the activities and even more took part - thank you all for your enthusiasm and kindness.

Click here for the story of what happened in and around the phone box in 2020

Village donation

In addition to releasing photos of the filming when the programme has aired, and the promise of a tour around the Tardis film set in Cardiff when we are allowed out, the BBC has made a donation of £1,500 to the village.

The £1,500 donation has been paid into the St Hilary Forum bank account.
This is a village wide donation and The Forum is just the mechanism by which payment is made, so there will a two stage process for deciding how to use the donation:

1. The first phase will be drawing up a long list of ideas – the deadline for submitting ideas will be 28 February
2. The second phase will be considering the ideas and deciding which one(s) to take forward

It might seem complicated, but we want to ensure that everyone has the chance to participate, especially when we are not allowed to meet in person.

Details of the two stage process

A lovely thank you letter from the BBC

Dear Residents of St Hilary

Further to our very successful filming at your lovely village this is a little note to say a big heartfelt thank you for your co-operation during our visit to St Hilary.

From the first moment I made enquiries to film, I was met with such positive vibes that made me feel very comfortable and confident that three days filming would be achievable under the current situation with COVID. The last 12 months or so has been very tough on everyone and our film industry suffered badly due to productions closing down between March and September, so we are all very happy to be working, albeit under strict Covid protocols.

We definitely picked the wrong week for filming as the weather was atrocious! We struggled against the wind and the rain for three days but all in all the director and producers are delighted with what was filmed and hopefully this will be evident to us all when we see it on TV sometime early in 2022. As soon as we get a transmission date we will let you know.

Also, as soon as the episode has been on TV we can release some pictures to you that were taken of the filming over the three days.

Thank you for moving your cars, for putting up with so many vehicles parked at the village and for putting up with all the bright lights that were on until the early hours.

We couldn’t have done it without your support.

Thank you very much.

Iwan, Gareth, Jac, Kyle, Joe and Alex
Locations team – Doctor Who 2021

Carnage in the village - and the Council won't do anything about it

Another enormous lorry stuck in the village - part 3

In the last twelve months, the village has experienced damage to property from articulated lorries using the lane through the village as a route to St Athan.

October 2020 Villager's car		May 2020 Church Wall		January 2021 Posts on the Green

 

Click here to read all about the problems and the responses from the Council and others

Walks and strolls

The walks and strolls section of the website includes:

• The 10 core circular walks from St Hilary ranging from gentle strolls (1 to 2 miles) to monster expeditions (over 10 miles)
• 4 different routes to Cowbridge, which can be combined for circular routes
• Strolling over The Clump for a takeaway coffee at Stalling Café or round the Garn or to Beaupre Castle

Foodbank donations

Lynn and Bruce Rankin are collecting food donations on behalf of the Cardiff Vineyard church in Cardiff. The food will be distributed to those in desperate need. Examples include tinned soup, tinned tomatoes, baked beans, instant coffee, rice, pasta, UHT milk, cereal, biscuits – but no fresh items

Please leave donations with Lynn and Bruce at Hendre in a box in their carport (on the right about 100 yards past the phone box on the lane towards Llantrithyd – here’s the link to the map of village houses)

Memories of Lockdown (2020)

In March 2020 the country entered lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic - this is an archive of what villagers got up to during that strange time

See the lockdown photographs

3Cs

Cut, clear and clean group - all socially distanced
10am Wednesday, 7 April
10am Wednesday, 5 May

Every 1st Wednesday of the month (normally!). Everybody is welcome to join us – meet at the tree outside the rear door of the village hall.

Click here for the history of 3Cs

Map of the village with house names

Click on this link for a pdf file of a map of the location of houses in the village - useful if you need to provide directions to family, friends or delivery van drivers. There are two pages: the first is of houses in the centre of the village, the second is of outlying houses.

Click here to see the two maps on this page

Mental health support

Julia Davies, a villager who is a fully accredited psychologist and psychotherapist, can provide free confidential online support with issues such as anxiety, stress and insomnia including coping mechanisms for dealing with many life situations: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Contacts for medical concerns

Villagers Alex (registrar in geriatric medicine) and Jonny (public health doctor) have offered to be a contact point for villagers who have medical concerns or on behalf of members of their family. They acknowledge they may not have answers to all our queries, but they might be able to ‘signpost’ villagers to where to go or how to access further information.  Their contact details are 01446 774051 / Alex: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / Jonny: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Support on local social media

Help and support during the coronavirus crisis

Houses wanted in the village

There are a couple of families looking to move to the village:

"We are a young family looking to move back to South Wales and find a home to bring up our children in the area. We would love to find a property in the St Hilary community. If you are considering selling, then we would love to have an informal chat. We are hoping to find a house with at least four bedrooms. We have no chain and could move more or less quickly as is convenient. Please do let us know if you think it’s worth discussing. Thank you"
In the first instance email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will pass on the message.

A message from Clare Anderson:
“We are actively looking to move into the beautiful village of St Hilary. Having grown up in Cowbridge, we want to raise our children here also. We are ideally looking for a detached property (or land to build) which has 4 or more bedrooms, or the opportunity to possibly extend. We are not in a chain and have a budget in the region of £750,000. We would be interested in hearing from anyone who would like to explore this further.”
You can contact Clare on 07753748044

The Studio, Church Cottage

 

The Studio is in a fantastic location right in the heart of our picturesque village. Glorious views of the countryside, next door to St Hilary Church and The Bush Inn - perfect for a fantastic meal and/or a wedding! There are also a series of wonderful walks which start right outside the accommodation. An ideal stay for rugby internationals, concerts and all sporting events - close to the bus route into Cardiff. Bookings can be made on Airbnb or contact: Sarah Dent 07980 008 832 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Church Cottage, St Hilary, Cowbridge CF71 7DP Facilities include: Beautiful modern studio with private entrance and parking Super king size bed (zip and link bed, advise if single beds preferred) En-suite bathroom with large walk-in shower, toilet and basin Fully equipped kitchen, oven/ hob and fridge Seating area, dining table