Thanks to the hard work and dedication of village resident Roger Evans
and his focus group Oakdale now has an offical guide.
'FOCUS ON OAKDALE' has just been come back from the printers and is
in the process of being distributed to every household in the village.
The guide contains key information on village activities and should
prove to be a valuable asset to residents.
It is hoped that distribution will be completed by the end of the month,
so if you live in the village and haven't already received your copy it
should be with you very soon.
Much of the information in the guide can also be found on our Information Pages.
(The front and back covers are reproduced above.)
MONUMENT ERECTED AT LAST
The monument to the miners of Oakdale Colliery which we reported on in our
very first news item in April has finally been erected.
Years of campaigning by Councillor Allan Pritchard,(who began working at the
colliery as a helper in 1957 at the age of 15) have paid off at last with
the completion of the tribute at Oakdale business park.
As we reported earlier, the design was chosen by pupils of Rhiw-syr-Dafydd
Junior School in a ballot last year. Of the 208 pupils at the school,
82 percent plumped for the design by local artist Steve Welchman.
The local community were promised by British Coal that the monument would be built
as soon as the colliery was closed. The pit closed down more than 13 years ago,
and the sculpture is now the only visible evidence that Oakdale was ever a mining village.
The monument, named `Turn, Turn Again', was funded jointly by the
Welsh Development Agency, the European Union and Caerphilly County
Borough Council.
It will be officially unveiled during a ceremony on Friday, November 7, at 2.30pm.
HI TECH AT VILLAGE SCHOOL
Those who think that teachers still use white chalk on black boards would be in for
a shock if they visited Rhiw Syr Dafydd Junior school.
Not only were blackboards replaced in most schools with whiteboards several years
ago but now they've gone interactive.
Thanks to the generosity of three local firms who funded the school's new state-of-the-art
interactive whiteboards Years 3 and 5 can now look forward to lessons with a difference.
An interactive whiteboard is really three pieces of equipment linked together:
A computer
A digital projector
A touch-sensitive screen - the interactive whiteboard
This combination of technologies turns the interactive whiteboard into a very large computer
screen. With a pointer, or even a finger, the user can write on the board or control
computer programs. It is ideal for whole-class teaching as it removes the need to have
large groups huddled around a single computer screen.
They can even be used to link schools together through video conferencing and to download
video lessons.
There are already seven of the boards in use at Riw Syr Dafydd, leaving only two classes
that have yet to use one.
LIBRARY - LATEST.
The building is now up to roof level, some of the slates are already
on,(just in time as the rain has started), and there is a nice stone plaque built
in to the front of the building with the date '2003' on it. Tenants of the flats
at the rear of the building are expected to move in in January.
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September 2003
LONG LOST COUSIN FOUND.
As a result of posting a request on our Genealogy page MICHAEL GEORGE of Wrexham has
a new-found distant cousin in the Llandudno area. She saw his message, contacted him and
was able to provide new information about his family.
It obviously pays to advertise - you never know where your kith and kin may be living!
Why not post YOUR message on the FAMILY HISTORY PAGE?
NEW ROAD CONTRACT TO BE AWARDED.
Caerphilly County Borough Council has announced National Road Operators, a partnership between
Laing Roads Ltd and Costain, as Preferred Bidder, to design, build, finance and operate the
Sirhowy Enterprise Way.
The £38 million road which will lead to the Oakdale Business Park improves the A4048/A472
strategic highway network between the north of Blackwood and east of Pontllanfraith, as well
as providing a direct new access route to the business park.
The new road consists of a single carriageway 3.4 km long with two key cross valley links.
It is anticipated that the contract will be awarded by the end of October 2003 with work
commencing in January 2004.
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August 2003
SITE ENDORSED BY MP.
News of the oakdalevillage website has spread as far as the corridors of power in Westminster.
Labour Member of Parliament for Islwyn DON TOUHIG MP has posted a message to our forum.
In it he comments "We have good reason to be proud of our communities here" and goes on to say
that it is good to see local villages going on-line.
You can read the full text on the Forum page.
TRAGEDY AT PEN-Y-FAN POND.
GWENT police have identified a man whose body was found floating in Pen-y-fan pond on Sunday,
August 12 as that of 32-year-old Jason Massiey, from Markham.
Mr Massiey's body was spotted in the pond after a member of the public reported finding clothes
on the bank.
Police were called at 6.20am after a walker called to say they could see what looked like a
body floating 30 feet out.
The body was retrieved on Sunday morning by the South Wales Fire Service brigade boat,
which is based at Maindee, Newport.
A group of friends, who were camping on the other side of the pond on Saturday night, told
reporters that one of their members remembers seeing a man walking along the road by the
industrial estate and walk towards the pond at about 12.30am .
Around 4am they heard someone shouting and splashing, and heard further noises
throughout the night.
A Gwent police spokeswoman confirmed that the coroner has been informed, and that the
death is not being treated as suspicious.
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July 2003
BBC NEEDS YOUNG OAKDALE PHOTOGRAPHERS.
We've been contacted by the BBC SouthEast Wales website with the following request ;
"We are trying to develop a new section called 'Our Patch' - which aims to
show a view of South East Wales as seen through the eyes of young people.
We are looking to work with small groups
of young people (no more than 5 in a group)to produce picture tours of their
area for our website. Do you know of any youth groups or young people in
Oakdale who may be interested in doing a digital camera project. We can work
with them to support them, and even loan a camera if they need it."
This is a marvellous opportunity for some of the young people living in and
around the village to get involved in an important project.
Those wishing to get involved should contact us and we will put them in touch
with the people responsible at the BBC.
VILLAGE GUIDE.
As many people will already know ROGER EVANS is putting together a guide to the village.
As a result of the questionnaire that was delivered to every household last year
he has identified the concerns of many people in the village and these will be discussed
by the village focus group he has assembled, and appropriate action taken.
Roger would like to hear from anyone who wishes to advertise in the guide or anyone
who would like to sponsor the entire project.
His email address is : rogerevans23@hotmail.com
NEW LIBRARY - good progress.
Thanks mainly due to the good weather the new library is rising at a cracking pace.
The outside walls are now roughly six feet high and it is anticipated that the
building will be finished ahead of schedule, possibly by the end of this year.
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June 2003
NEW BOOK ON OAKDALE
Oakdale author RALPH THOMAS has just finished writing a new history of the village,
as yet untitled.
The work is an extension of his earlier book "OAKDALE - the Model Village"
published by Village Publishing in 1986, which has been out of print for a number of years.
Mr Thomas has not only brought the book up to date (the first book ended in the 1950s)
but has also included new chapters on the area in the nineteenth century.
It is hoped that the new book will be published later this year or early next year
by a major publisher.
He badly needs old photographs or postcards of the village, pictures of groups of people
who lived here, or of events, to supplement the ones he already has.
If you have any such items which you would be prepared to lend to Mr Thomas
please contact us and we will put you in touch with him.
Please pass on this appeal to any elderly people (who are most likely to possess
such items) who don't yet have access to the internet.
(We are indebted to Ralph Thomas for much of the history that
appears on this site.)
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