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A memorial garden honouring Risca-born businessman Terry Howell is set to open in the town this summer.
Mr Howell set up Terry Howell Building Supplies and Timber Merchants with his wife, Wendy, in 1962. He sadly passed away in 2018 aged 76.
Since then, independent ward councillor for Risca West, Bob Owen, has been trying to create a memorial garden in Mr Howell’s name, on a piece of land still owned by the Howell family.
Speaking to Caerphilly Observer, he said: “I actually asked Terry if I could do something with the land a year or two before he passed.
“I’d known Terry for 40 years so I thought I’d be a bit cheeky. It’s not a huge plot of land but I thought it would make a nice community garden that we were going to call ‘Cuckoo Garden’.
Why are people from Risca known as Cuckoos?
According to the Cymdeithas Twmbbarlwm Society, the story goes that when the cuckoo’s call is heard in April – as it always is on Twmbarlwm – it heralds the arrival of spring and fine weather and when the bird goes away again in August that marks the end of the fine weather. So the people of ancient Risca decided to try and keep the bird in the vicinity to prolong summer and their harvest.
A local father and son were set the job to catch the cuckoo. They found the bird in a bush sited near an ancient tumulus and they decided to build a fence around it to trap the bird. But, of course, at the end of the day the bird simply flew over the top of the fence.
They continued to toil for many days making the fence higher and higher, but every day the cuckoo would just fly up and over the top.
Eventually a traveller passed by, saw what they were doing, laughed at their stupidity and pointed out their folly to the other villagers saying “Why are you trying to capture a cuckoo when you already have two cuckoos among you”. And to this day folk of Risca have been called Cuckoos.
“Terry said yes of course but following his passing myself and the community thought it would be more fitting to name it after him. His family agreed and we tried to get things up and running before Covid hit.”
Cllr Owen explained how thanks to help from local people and businesses he managed to get the area cleaned up before Covid halted progress in 2020. Since, things have become overgrown again.
He added: “There’s a lot of material that needs to be removed before we even get started. A local business has said they’ll remove it for free but we’re still going to need help from the community.
“We obviously need to get builders and stuff in which could cost money. I’m exploring possible grants but I’m hoping people will want to show some goodwill and help out.”
Terry’s eldest son, Martin Howell, spoke to Caerphilly Observer about the work Cllr Owen is doing and what it means to him. He said: “It’s great that Bob is doing this. It was a wasted piece of land and I think this is a wonderful idea.
“My mother is still with us and I know she’d love it. Dad was a very big part of Risca and this will be a great tribute to him.
“I’d love to get more people involved as I know Bob has told me it’s a difficult task to complete without help – but I’m doing my bit where I can.”
Cllr Owen isn’t set on what the park itself will look like yet, as he plans on discussing with members of the community and gathering ideas.
“I do have one idea however,” Cllr Owen said. “There’s a cuckoo sculpture in Pontymister next to the Tesco and I’d love to get that relocated to the park.”
He added: “We want something in Risca that will really represent us as a people. I got on great with Terry and I know he’d feel the same way.”
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