Archive material now at touch of button

Information held in Denbighshire’s archives is now only a click away, with a new website launched to help people delve into the county’s history.

The new interactive website, one of the first of its kind in Wales,  can be found by visiting: archives.denbighshire.gov.uk

The site has been 18 months in the making, developing and enhancing online services for researchers.

People can access  details of collections held at Denbighshire, selected digital images, order digital copies, book to use the service and make online payments.

Archivist Sarah Roberts, said: “More and more people are using online resources for research to discover who lived in their house or the history behind their local area, church or schools.

“The new developments are in direct response to the changing needs of our researchers and online audiences."

Councillor Barbara Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Modernisation, said: “These changes have only been possible because of the dedication of staff and volunteers working with the service. The website looks fantastic and provides users with an interactive platform to engage with the service in new ways."

The website has been supported by the National Archives and the Museums, Archives and Libraries Division of Welsh Government.

Church's requiem will mark Somme centenary

ST COLLEN’S Church in Llangollen has arranged a special commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in World War One.

At the church at 7.30pm on Thursday June 30, Glyndŵr University Community Choir, conducted by Owen Roberts, will perform Faurés Requiem.

There will also be readings by pupils from Ysgol Dinas Brân. Admission free with a retiring collection.

After the concert, a lit candle will be placed at the war memorial in Castle Street until 7.30am next day when whistles will be blown to mark the actual time the Battle of the Somme began on July 1 1916.

There will be a short Service of Remembrance at the war memorial at 11am.

Open evening

* St John’s Church in Abbey Road, which is associated with St Collen’s, has just had a programme of modernisation work completed.

This included new central heating, a new kitchenette and a disability toilet have been added.

Vicar, the Rev Andrew Sully, said: “We’d love to show people what’s been done and so are holding an open evening on Tuesday June 28 at 7pm.

“Our hope is that members of the community will be able to meet here for occasional one-off meetings or for more regular group meetings during the whole year, now that we have central heating.”

AM challenges First Minister over new home numbers

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has challenged the First Minister over house building in Wales this week, claiming that the number of private units granted planning permission in Wales has decreased while England has seen a substantial increase.

Speaking in the Chamber Mr Isherwood (pictured) said: “Given that, in England, Local Plans produced in consultation with the community have been the cornerstone of planning reforms, how will your Government engage with the Home Builders Federation regarding the statement in its Welsh election paper, ‘Building Communities, Boosting Investment’, that, because of the many improvements in England, in terms of reduced regulation and greater land availability, the relative attraction of investing in the requisite land and skills in Wales has reduced over recent years?

“The results can be seen in the most  recently published data on planning permissions, which show that, since the start of 2013, the number of private units granted planning permission in Wales has decreased by 4 per cent, whilst increasing by 49 per cent in England.”

The First Minister replied: “Well, we have seen significant increases in the number of houses being built in Wales over the past two years. It seems to me that, in England, the plans there are designed to block housing development and not to encourage housing development.

"What there needs to be, of course, is a properly regulated development plan so that people are able to see where development will take place. I don’t believe that local development plans, of themselves, are sufficient over a wider economic area, which is why strategic plans, to my mind, have a great deal of force and are a great deal of help when it comes to planning for the future.”

Mr Isherwood added: “So it seems he still won’t listen to those who actually build the homes needed to tackle Labour’s housing supply crisis in Wales. Last year Wales was the only UK nation to see a fall in the number of new homes registered.” 

Young Llan performer is West End smash

A TALENTED young performer from Llangollen has won glowing praise for his part in a West End concert celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the Childline charity.

Cassius Hackforth was one of the young stars from across the UK chosen to take part in A Fabulous Musical Afternoon at the Arts Theatre, which also saw an appearance by musical legend Marti Webb. * Cassius Hackforth when he appeared in the Young Uns' production of Half a Sixpence The show was a fast-paced review of the classic musicals of the last 60 years programmed by Robert Page and presented by a company of over 30 performers. Cassius, who attends Ysgol Dinas Bran and played Bulfrog to great acclaim in last year’s production of the musical Honk! by Llangollen Operatic’s Young ‘Uns junior section, took to the stage in the second half of the show. And, according to a critic from the London Live Review, he virtually stole the show. The report says: “The solo performance of the day did not belong to the West End stars. It belonged to a young man called Cassius Hackforth. “Putting children in a show is always a risk on a bill of top West End talent.   “However, Chay had proved in the first act that the Facebook winners were some of the best young singers in the UK.   “Cassius has already bagged a lead role with the National Youth Music Theatre. This performance of Different from Honk was totally mesmerising and he owned the theatre.   “In fact, it was so fantastic that Sylvia Young who was attending the show offered him a free Summer Place at her famed Summer School. A bright future is surely ahead for Cassius.”

County urges support for business campaign

Denbighshire County Council is urging residents to get behind their campaign to support local businesses in the county.

The #LoveLocalDenbighshire campaign aims to get people to show their support for local businesses by using the hashtag on Twitter and Facebook to promote good experiences they’ve had and promote products and services locally that they have ‘loved’.

The council also wants Denbighshire businesses to engage with the campaign and use the hashtag to promote their goods and services to help spread the word about the diverse range of products and services that are available in local towns and villages.

Leader of the Council, Hugh Evans OBE, said : “We are calling on the people of Denbighshire to show support for local businesses and show community spirit by making sure we look after our high streets.

“There are so many fantastic businesses here in Denbighshire in all sorts of areas from food and hotels, to shops selling uniquely made crafts and providers of unique services and experiences. We need to get the word out and make sure people use them. 

“They also help create a thriving local economy and support our communities by providing jobs for local people. We really want the people of Denbighshire to share their positive experiences of engaging with local businesses by shopping in them and taking the pledge to love shopping locally.”

Chairman of the Clwydian Range Food Trail and one of Denbighshire’s Tourism Ambassadors, Dave Jones, said: “I think this is a really positive campaign from the Council. Local businesses need to support each other, build networks and promote each other. Engaging with social media is a great way to do this.

“It’s also really important that communities get behind their local businesses and support them too. We have a wealth of fantastic businesses in this County and we need to get the message out that buying locally is good for everyone in so many ways.”

The campaign is also part of the Council’s drive to develop the local economy by supporting vibrant and viable high streets, working to support healthy private businesses.

MP stands up for social enterprises

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones will be championing the cause of local social enterprises in Parliament today (Wednesday).  

Leading a debate entitled Support for Social Investment, she will call on the Government  to amend laws and change accounting regulations to help social enterprises that benefit local communities.

Ms Jones (pictured), who co-chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group for Charities and Volunteering, believes that her proposed changes, if supported by the Government, could be of massive financial help to the 68,000+ social enterprises nationwide.

Local examples of social enterprises include Splash Magic Leisure Centre, Plas Madoc, Glyn Wylfa Ltd at Chirk and, potentially, Llangollen Railway, the Brymbo Heritage Group and Ty'n y Capel Inn and Restaurant in Minera.

She said: "I believe that our country needs much more serious thinking and action about how our communities can be better and stronger.

"Social enterprises - using cost-effective business models to improve communities - are an excellent way of doing this and I think we should be doing much more to support them as they try and access finance.

"My debate on this issue comes as the result of a lot of thinking and discussion with people who work in social enterprises.

"I am very pleased that this debate was selected for discussion and really hope the Government takes on board what we are asking for."

Experts roped in to spread Eisteddfod word

* Llangollen International Eisteddfod banners are placed above the railway line with the help of local company R3 Safety & Rescue using their team of abseilers. Paul O'Sullivan, left, secures the banner with help from Chris Heath, watched by Eisteddfod marketing chairman Ian Lebbon, front right, and railway manager Kevin Gooding.

A team of high ropes experts from Llangollen have swung into action to help spread the word about the town’s iconic music festival.

The intrepid operators swayed out over the River Dee in the town centre to fix a four metre advertising banner to the Llangollen Railway Station bridge to get the message out about next month’s International Musical Eisteddfod.

Now thousands of travellers on the famous steam railway will see that the famous festival runs from Tuesday, July 5, to Sunday, July 10, what’s on and where to get tickets.

It’s also in clear view of the even greater numbers of visitors to the picturesque town who stroll across the famous Dee bridge, one of the Seven Wonders of Wales, and stop to admire the spectacular view upstream.

The idea came from Eisteddfod Marketing Chairman Ian Lebbon who said: “It’s a great example of different organisations in the town working together.

“We asked Llangollen Railway if we could put the banner up on their pedestrian bridge across the tracks and they agreed and we asked our neighbours at R3 Safety and Rescue who rent an office at the Eisteddfod site and they came up with the high ropes expertise to put it up safely.

“The railway station is a prime location and they’ve also allowed us to put more banners up on the stations along the route at Berwyn, Glyndwyfrdwy, Carrog and Corwen.

“We’re very grateful to the railway and to R3 for their help – in a small town like this it’s important that we all work together.”

Llangollen Railway, a heritage line run by enthusiast, operates a mainly steam service the ten miles to Corwen and back with over 1,000 passengers a week during busy periods.

Kevin Gooding, the Railway’s General Manager, said: “We will have thousands of visitors passing through the station so it is in an ideal spot.

“We benefit from the Eisteddfod because the TV often bring artists and performers down here to film them and so we get our share of publicity from that.

“We had Prunella Scales and Timothy West here last year for a cream tea because they were filming on the canal and the next thing we were being inundated with requests from round the country for cream teas.”

The man hanging out over the waters of the fast-flowing Dee was R3 Safety and Rescue Managing Director Paul O’Sullivan watched by Operations Director Chris Heath.

He said: “We’re a safety and rescue training provider and we work across the UK. Ian asked if we’d help out with this and we’re delighted to do so.

“We teach all the emergency services a range of skills including mountain and water rescue and we use the River Dee and even the Royal International Pavilion which is ideal for our high ropes work so we were happy to get involved.”

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 Katherine Jenkins gets the programme off to a sensational start as she sings Bizet’s Carmen.

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.

The great Bryn Terfel will headline the 70^th Classical Gala Concert on Thursday evening 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