Rail commuters being let down, says Lib Dem candidate

Rail commuters from Chirk, Ruabon and Wrexham have been let down by the Welsh Government and Network Rail, says Clwyd South Welsh Assembly Candidate Aled Roberts.

 “To great fanfare the Welsh Government announced some time ago that a scheme to dual the line between Wrexham and Chester would reduce journey times and be operational from February last year,” commented Mr Roberts (pictured).

“Now the first anniversary of that completion date has been and gone and we are still waiting for the scheme to be completed.

“In November last year I demanded to know what was going on and what action could be taken to speed things up. Since then I have had a number of meetings with the Welsh Government’s Transport Minister and now appreciate that the overall aim of the £40m scheme was to increase the number of trains and their speed between Shrewsbury and Chester. But commuters have been badly let down since none of the planned improvements have taken place

  “Last week the Transport Minister invited me to another meeting where a report was discussed which outlined not only the problems with the current project to improve rail services but ways in which the £10m of extra funding secured by the Welsh Liberal Democrats during budget negotiations could be used to improve services from Chirk, Ruabon and Wrexham.

  “Unfortunately when the Welsh Government was commissioning the addition of an extra line between Wrexham and Chester they left out a section between Wrexham and Rossett thereby reducing the numbe r of trains that could provide direct services to Manchester and Liverpool. The extra £10m of investment negotiated by Liberal Democrat Assembly Members will give the commuters the option of commuting by train to jobs in the north west of England.

  “A major problem appears to be the inability of Network Rail to plan and implement major rail improvements. There has been a problem with the cabling installed for signalling and a need to upgrade the level crossing at Broad Oak which had not been identified when the project was planned.

"But that is not all. There is also a problem with one of the bridges between Shrewsbury and Gobowen which can’t accommodate faster trains! The Transport Minister has issued a recent statement in which she is seeking assurances from the UK Government about the future of Network Rail – that is something that needs to be urgently pursued by the new Welsh Government after the Assembly elections."

Trevor Basin's forthcoming events

Trevor Basin Visitor Centre has a number of events lined up over the next month.

On Saturday March 26 there are free guided walks of the area starting from the visitor centre at 11am and 2pm. 

On Easter Monday, March 28, and Tuesday March 29 visitors can join an Easter Trail, starting at the centre at 10.30am and ending at 3pm.

And on Saturday April 16 there are free guided walks to celebrate World Heritage Day starting from the centre at 11am and 2pm.

* For further details of all these events, call 01978 822912.

Holy Week events at St Collen's

Special Events at St Collen's during Holy Week 2016

Palm Sunday

9.30am – Communion at Trevor Chapelry; Palm Sunday worship in Llantysilio

11.00am – Palm Sunday worship in St Collen’s – no walk this year!

Wednesday in Holy Week

10.30am – St Collen’s  Church- Holy Communion followed by Lent course in the Upper Room

6.00pm – St Collen’s Church - At the House of Simon the Leper –Service of Anointing, followed by fish ’n chips in the Upper Room

Maundy Thursday

7.00pm – St Collen’s Church - Solemn Eucharist and Stripping of the Altar followed by hours-watch in the side chapel

Good Friday 

9.30am – Trevor Chapelry: Last Hour of the Cross

11am -1pm –St Collen’s Community Hall: Good Friday café

2-3pm: Last Hour of the Cross in St Collen’s Church

Holy Saturday 

3pm –St Collen’s – Musical: That you may have Life

7pm - The Easter Ceremonies – service of light and reaffirmation of baptismal vows

Easter Day Holy Communions

St Collen’s: 8am and 11 am Llantysilio and Trevor Chapelry 9.30am

 3pm and 6pm- St Collen’s – Musical: That you may have Life followed by tea in the Hall.           

5pm- Upper Room: Taizé Prayer

Rolling Stones backing choir heading for Eisteddfod

* The Bob Cole Choir from Long Beach, California is heading for Llangollen.

A choir that has backed the Rolling Stones will be in Wales, the UK’s land of song, this summer as part of a Californian gold rush.

They reckon there’s choral gold in them thar hills and so four top choirs from the Golden State are headed for a small town in North Wales for a singing shoot-out this July.

The fame of the Choir of the World event and other choral competitions at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod has enticed them to make the 5,000-mile trek to Wales for this summer’s 70^th festival.

Last summer the 40-strong Bob Cole Conservatory Chamber Mixed Choir, from California State University in Long Beach, shared the stage with the Rolling Stones at Petco Park, San Diego, this summer they’re at Llangollen.

They heard about the Eisteddfod from colleagues who had been there and Dr Jonathan Talberg, Director of Choral, Vocal and Opera Studies at the Bob Cole Conservatory, said: “They told us what a wonderful experience they had in Llangollen and we are so looking forward to sharing some of our musical traditions with the festival.

“We’ll be highlighting music from Southern California as well as American Folk Music and Spirituals.

“The Choir is the premier mixed choral ensemble at the university and features 40 of the most talented singers under my direction.

“They come from diverse areas of study including opera, vocal performance, jazz, and music education and we’ve had some incredible recent performances including singing with the Rolling Stones, performing at the National Collegiate Choral Organization and the American Choral Directors Conferences.”

Competing with them will be the Santa Barbara Quire of Voyces, the Davis Madrigal Singers and Palmdale’s Sunday Night Singers and all are hoping to strike gold against choirs from around the globe at the iconic festival.

* The Davis Madrigal Singers.

Santa Barbara Quire of Voyces are making their first visit to Wales and manager Patty Volner said: “People may ask how we in California heard about Llangollen but doesn’t everyone in the choral world know about Llangollen? We think of it as the choral capital of the world.

“Being in Llangollen and around so many others singers from all around the world and sharing our passion of music will be an experience unlike any other.

“The coming together of groups from different cultures offers an experience to broaden one's perspective and we agreed our deep commitment to the arts shares the same values of the original founders of the Eisteddfod. We are so excited to be a part of this festival!”

The Quire was founded by artistic director Nathan Kreitzer in 1993 and Patty added: “We are a mixed choir and we focus primarily on performing in California, usually around eight concerts a season. However, we aim to tour once every three to five years.

“We are dedicated to presenting and recording world-class interpretations of sacred a cappella works from the Renaissance and modern eras.

“Performing in Llangollen will give us a much wider audience and recognition worldwide while also meaning we can learn from other high quality groups.”

The Quire of Voyces has sung at High Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as well as at Salisbury and Canterbury Cathedrals and in Naples, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Finland, Estonia and Sweden.

The Sunday Night Singers, a mixed choir based in Palmdale, will be heading to Llangollen to compete at the International Music Eisteddfod for a second time.

They were runners-up in the Mixed Choir competition at Llangollen in 2008 under the baton of their founder and musical director Mike McCullough.

Mike, who was also at Llangollen for last year’s festival with his Palmdale High School Chamber Singers, formed the Sunday Night Singers in 2005 after being asked to provide a choir a Greek Orthodox priest’s birthday party.

And according to Tyler Heckathorn, president of the Sunday Night Singers, the choir is looking forward to returning to North Wales.

He said: “We typically have an ensemble of between 20 and 24 singers and the choir continues to evolve as new members replace older members who move to different areas or universities.

“We are staying with host families in the Ceiriog Valley and we are so looking forward to expanding on the amazing experience we enjoyed at the 2008 Llangollen festival.

“It’s going to be a big year for the choir as we are also performing at the 2016 American Choral Director’s Association Western Regional Conference in Pasadena.”

Eilir Owen Griffiths, the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod’s Musical Director, said: “We know just how strong the choral music scene is in California. Last year we had two Californian choirs and this year to be able to welcome three choirs is wonderful.

“I’m delighted to hear that Llangollen is considered by our Californian friends to be the choral capital of the world. That’s a sentiment I certainly wouldn’t argue with.”

Tickets sales for the concerts at this year’s Eisteddfod, which begins on Tuesday, July 5, are already going well, especially for the opening night when superstar soprano Katherine Jenkins gets the programme off to a sensational start as she sings Bizet’s Carmen opposite New York tenor Noah Stewart.

Wednesday will be International Children’s Day and will include choral and dance competitions and also a new Under 16s solo competition while the evening will feature the Voices of Musical Theatre and West End star Kerry Ellis.

The great Welsh bass baritone Bryn Terfel will headline the 70^th Classical Gala Concert on Thursday evening with Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja while the day will see the crowning of the Children’s Choir of the World.

Friday will celebrate Rhythms of the World and will be a feast of music and dance from the best of the Eisteddfod’s international competitors with the Dance Champions of the World competition climax at the evening concert.

It will open with a Caribbean Carnival Extravaganza, followed by the International Peace message delivered by Theatr yr Ifanc, Rhosllannerchrugog.

In a change of the scheduling Friday will also see the Parade of Nations, led by Eisteddfod President Terry Waite, switched from Tuesday in anticipation of bigger crowds and more competitors being present.

Saturday is dedicated to the top choirs and concludes with the Choir of the World competition for the Pavarotti Trophy while Sunday sees the Eisteddfod let its hair down for Llanfest before the climactic final concert.

To book tickets and for more details on the 2016 festival go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

To see the Bob Cole Choir in performance with the Rolling Stones at Petco Park, San Diego, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcLNXYfI_sU

Early bird Fringe tickets now on sale

One of the biggest UK ska bands from its heyday in the late seventies and early eighties, The Selecter,  launches this year’s Llangollen Fringe music programme on Thursday July 14.

The band were regularly at the top of the charts with songs such as Too Much Pressure, On My Radio and Three Minute Hero.

Organisers reckon they are certain to get the Fringe off to a great start for this year’s  12-day festival. 

Jah Wobble is also confirmed to play on Saturday July 16. In his early days he joined forces with John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols.

Early Bird Fringe tickets are now on sale from the beginning of March until Easter and will allow entry into all evening concerts during the festival.

The ticket also includes a journey on the Orange Blossom Special, a chartered train on the Llangollen Steam Railway with a country and western theme and entry to the Fringe’s own acoustic festival, Fringe Acoustica. 

More details of this year’s programme will appear on the website, www.llangollenfringe.co.uk.

A limited number of Early Bird tickets are being sold online at £70 from today until the end of March.

This is a big saving on the full ticket price for each individual event.

Attending just four of the 14 events will already see you making savings on the entry price, according to festival organisers. 

County to increase parking charges from April 1

Denbighshire County Council is informing residents of an increase in parking charges in its pay and display car parks – the first to be  introduced in over seven years.

The new charges are being introduced from April 1, and the details are:

Short stay car parks

	Current		New
Up to 30 mins	10p	Up to 30 mins	30p
Up to 1 hr	50p	Up to 1 hr	£1
Up to 4 hrs	£1	Up to 3 hrs	£2
Over 4 hrs	£7	Over 3 hrs	£7

Long Stay car parks

	Current		New
Up to 30 mins	10p	Up to 30 mins	30p
Up to 1 hr	50p	Up to 1 hr	£1
Up to 4 hrs	£1	Up to 3 hrs	£1.50
Over 4 hrs	£3.50	Over 3 hrs	£3.50

The cost of daily parking and parking permits will remain the same.

Further details of the new pricing system and any local variations will be posted on pay and display machines over the coming days and will also appear on the council’s website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk from April 1.

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said: “In Denbighshire, we have been proud of the fact that we have not increased car parking charges for over seven years. However, the economic climate has changed and we have needed to look at car parking charges like every other area of the council’s work.

“We still believe the slight increases provides good value for money, with our charging regime similar to those in other counties in North Wales and actually remains cheaper than others.

“The charges will create a greater price difference between short stay and long stay car parks, which should result in a greater turnover of spaces in short stay car parks. This, in turn, should assist local businesses in our town centres and continue to encourage local shoppers and visitors to park in our car parks."

Dog microchipping deadline approaches

Denbighshire County Council is reminding residents in the county about new rules regarding microchipping dogs which come into effect on April 6.

From that date it will be compulsory for all dogs over eight weeks old in Wales to be microchipped and have their owners’ details registered on an approved database.

Dog owners are responsible for ensuring that the information on the database is up to date. If they haven’t already had their dog microchipped, or if the details are not on the database, they must do so before April 6.

Each microchip has a unique reference number which the owner must register on one of the authorised databases along with their own contact details. This help reunite owners with lost or stolen pets and should also protect the welfare of dogs by promoting responsible ownership and breeding and help in the control of dangerous dogs.

* To arrange for your dog to be microchipped and to receive more information about microchipping, dog owners should speak to their vet.