|
|
The City of Newport
is a thriving community of over 130,000 at the M4
gateway to Wales. There are a wide variety of facilities,
including the new Riverside Centre, the Museum and Art Gallery,
the Library, the Vellodrome, and many others. Exciting plans
to develop the river side in the centre, as well as a city
centre site for the University and the shopping centre are
under way. A lot of information about the city can be found
at http://www.newport.gov.uk.
Church life is challenging and varied. information on churches,
including Bettws, can be found at http://www.newportchurches.com.
See also the local newspaper at http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk.
There is now a community website for Bettws - http://www.bettws.org.uk
|
|
Transport
The M4 provides links to the West and
to the East. A dual carriageway leads to Monmouth and then to
the M5 and the North. There is a main line station with journey
times to London of about 2 hours, Cardiff 15 minutes, and Shrewsbury
about 2 hours. There is also a bus station which serves city
routes and nation wide routes, although, like much of the centre,
this is being redeveloped. Newport has the usual range of superstores,
etc. The city centre has many of the expected shops and a excellent
produce market. Cwmbran Shopping is as easily accessible from
Bettws, again Cardiff and Bristol are not far away.......
|
|
|
 |
Bettws Local Ecumenical
Partnership
When the URC church building closed,
the congregation moved in with the local Anglican congregation
at St David’s and we became one family. All services
are joint: Anglican and URC services are used. The style of
worship can be very informal. Infants are welcome, even when
noisy on times. However, it is also very reverential. The Anglican
ethos is "low church". There is a communion service
every Sunday
morning and a service on Sunday afternoons, at 4.30pm when
at St David's. Two house groups meet in the week. There is an
under sevens Sunday School and a Young People’s Art Group
on Wednesday evenings at the Bettws in Bloom Centre.
|
|
There is no hall as such at the Church
(only a portacabin) and the Church itself is small, holding
about 100 people at a great push..... However, there are a wide
variety of community facilities which are used by the Church,
including the Bettws in Bloom Community Association and the
Civil Service Club. There are also community parts of the local
junior schools. The local High School has seconded a teacher
to organise full community use of the facilities when the school
is in session as well as at other times. Work has just started
on a new building for the High School, which will be Community
School. On occasion the local Roman Catholic Church allows the
use of their building, when, for example, we have a large funeral.
We also do things together with them in throughout the year.
|
 |
Page 2 Page
3 |
