Share your memories of Llangollen Walking Festival

The annual Llangollen Walking Festival, due to be held in May, was one of the early casualties of the coronavirus crisis.

But its organiser has now come up with a novel way of walking fans sharing their memories of the popular event over previous years.

Mike Smart said: "Sadly, as you know, we can't meet up and walk together this May in Llangollen.

"We can, however, share pictures from last year and relive the walks we all love.

"If you have any festival pictures from 2019 or other years you'd like to share with everyone, please email them to us at: hello@treksmart.net and we'll share them with all our walking friends via a slideshow.

"Many thanks and stay safe."

Probe launched into gorse fires near Trevor

The cause of three separate gorse fires near Trevor is under investigation, according to a report on Leaderlive earlier this afternoon

The emergency services were called out at 4.17am this morning.

Two fire engines were sent to tackle the blaze from Llangollen and Chirk, and a wild fire appliance was sent from Abergele.

There were three separate ‘sheets’ of fire ranging from 1,500 square meters to 3,000 square meters.

Leadrlive reported: "The cause is under investigation and firefighters will return to conduct an inspection."

A spokesman said one fire crew from Johnstown also returned to inspect the site of a gorse fire on Ruabon Mountain, which was tackled on Saturday evening.

As of 2.45pm on Sunday, two crews remained at Ruabon Mountain. 

Meanwhile, ITV reported earlier this afternoon:

Tim Owen, Station Manager for the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “Three seats of fire have been discovered which suggests to us that this was deliberate ignition.

“Crews remain at the scene damping down however the fire is deep seated so we will remain at the location for some time.

Tim Owen added: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable. The individual(s) setting the fires put extra pressure on emergency service resources which are already stretched at this time.

“Deliberate fires place tremendous strain on resources, with our crews committed for a considerable length of time trying to bring them under control - which prevents us from attending genuine emergencies. Actions like this do not help us keep our community safe". 

Railway hits back at criticism of its lockdown appeal

Llangollen Railway has taken to Facebook to counter criticism on social media about the appeal it is running for cash to see it through the coronavirus lockdown.

In a statement general manager Liz McGuinness says the heritage railway is struggling to make ends meet since it closed as a result of the pandemic and needs the money to stay in business.

She also points out that the railway puts £8.5 million a year into the economy of the town and says a figure of around £800,000 for wages which is being quoted was for 2018 when the railway had more staff.

In the statement she says: “In view of some of the negative comments towards Llangollen Railway posted on here yesterday and today I would like to respond.

“Firstly, it is not usual for a charity that is asking for funding to publicise their expenses.

“Secondly, Llangollen Railway puts £8.5 million into Llangollen every year, by the way of visitors spending money in cafés, hotels, restaurants and bed and breakfast establishments.

“How can anyone comment on how much money we need to maintain a £1.8 million turnover business that has a massive infrastructure that has to be maintained to Office Rail Regulation standards and meet Grade 2 listed status?

“These things take a lot of money.

“There is one manager running the railway, the general manager.

“Directors are volunteers and do not get any in remuneration in any form including not receiving any expenses.

“We have not made a profit for the past three years. In 2018/19 we had a very bad year financially due to some issues we had in our engineering department, this has never been hidden and has been on public record since 2019.

“We are offering people the opportunity to buy shares or vouchers, we are not selling tickets until we know when we can open.

“The ticket price for events such as Santa trains is governed by what it costs us to run that event.

“We do offer local tickets and we do donate to local schemes. The railway put on a special school train for the Eisteddfod in 2019, and we have supported many schools with the raffles and events.

“The wage bill is no longer £800,000 as you are looking at 2018 accounts and we have less staff now. We unfortunately do not have £50,000 in reserve.

“Shareholders are helping and donating, they do not get a dividend, they purchase shares to support the railway.

“The only benefit is a small number of free travel tickets in proportion to their investment. Any profits are ploughed back into maintenance of the hugely expensive infrastructure.

“For those of you saying we shouldn’t have any outgoings if closed, you’re wrong. We still have to pay insurance, utility bills and many creditors that will not wait for payment.

“We have applied for a government grant but do not know if we have been successful. As previously stated, we are not entitled to many of the grants available. We have applied for the rate rebate.

“Llangollen Railway is mainly run by volunteers, the volunteers work extremely hard so the general public can enjoy their time with us. We are one of the largest employers in the area. We employ 36 staff and many of our staff live in the area.

“I am not sure why people are so negative about the railway considering the amount of money we put into the economy and local businesses.

“No-one is forcing anyone to donate, all we are doing is asking.

“It is extremely disappointing to see that other railways such as Severn Valley Railway and North Yorkshire Moors Railway, get lots of support from their local communities yet Llangollen Railway seems to get negative comments from many of our local community.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to those of you who do you support us and help us on a daily basis by volunteering or just being very positive about what we do for the community.”

Fire crews tackle gorse fires near Trevor

* Library picture of firefighter tackling gorse blaze.

Fire crews are tackling three separate gorse fires near Trevor, near Llangollen, North Wales Live is reporting

The emergency services were called out at 4.17am this morning.

Two fire engines have been sent to tackle the blaze from Llangollen and Chirk, and a wild fire appliance has also been sent from Abergele.

There are three separate ‘sheets’ of fire ranging from 1,500 square meters to 3,000 square meters.

The crews are still on the scene, and it’s not yet known what has caused the blaze.

County council bosses thank people for lockdown patience

* County Hall in Ruthin.

Denbighshire County Council’s cabinet is thanking residents for their patience during the coronavirus outbreak and for staying at home.

Cllr Hugh Evans OBE, Leader of Denbighshire County Council, said: “As Leader of the Council and on behalf of the cabinet here in Denbighshire I would like to thank residents county-wide for their patience at this time and for abiding by the lockdown procedures that have been set.

“We appreciate the efforts of our residents and understand it is a difficult time for everyone. The vast majority of people have been staying home and abiding by the rules.

“It seems from a national perspective that social distancing and staying at home is having an impact on the spread of the virus, saving lives and supporting frontline workers everywhere.

“As a cabinet we would please ask our residents to continue to adhere to these rules, remained determined in their efforts and to stay home over the coming weeks until we receive an alternative approach from national governments.

"As a council we have been working hard to ensure we are managing the situation and adapting our services to support our residents.

“Depending on the position of the virus and its impact on the region, discussions will be starting in due course around recovery, but in the meantime thank you for patience and stay safe.”

The statement was issued on behalf of cabinet members councillors Hugh Evans, Richard Mainon, Mark Young, Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Brian Jones, Tony Thomas, Julian Thompson-Hill and Bobby Feeley.

Councillor says coughing claims against youngsters was untrue

* County Councillor Graham Timms has spoken up for local youngsters.

A county councillor has leapt to the defence of Llangollen youngsters who he says were wrongly accused of coughing over elderly people’s gates during the lockdown.

The allegation that a group of young people had coughed at the gates of the premises where vulnerable elderly live in the town was first aired on Facebook and later taken up by the local press which reported that police were looking into the claim.

But now Llangollen county councillor Graham Timms says the coughing allegation was false.  

     

He said: “We have seen so many examples of a really strong community spirit in Llangollen over the last few weeks and many of our young people have been involved in helping out too.

“I’ve been really impressed by the way that our whole community - adults, children and young people - have been following the Welsh Government guidelines to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

“Everyone has been supporting one another as we all struggle with the restrictions on our daily lives and the dreadful toll of the virus.”

He added: “With this in mind, I was not at all surprised to hear from a very reliable source that Llangollen's young people were completely innocent of allegation that was made recently on Facebook and then appeared in the North Wales press.

“The allegation was that local Llangollen youths had been coughing on elderly residents’ gates, specifically targeting more vulnerable members of our community to spread the virus.

“The original allegation was made in a Facebook post, which was then reported in the press across North Wales with a confirmation from North Wales Police that the claim was being investigated.”

Cllr Timms stressed: “I urge people to think very carefully before posting this sort of incident on social media.

“We need to remember that just because the police investigate something does not mean it is true. It was not!

“Our young people were not involved in this outrageous behaviour but disappointingly the press haven't returned to the story to correct the impression that was given.

“Even though these allegations are untrue, the young people of the town have to live with the fact that people across North Wales saw this story and won’t see any correction.

“We need to celebrate the good in our community and not get distracted by accusations made that eventually turn out to be untrue.

“Social media has been a really useful tool during the current crisis. Let’s make sure that we only use it in a positive way.”

County beauty spots stay shut as lockdown goes on

* Loggerheads remains closed during the lockdown.

Denbighshire County Council is reminding visitors and residents not to travel to the county’s beauty spots for exercise.

It says that in the past week there has been an increase in visitors to Loggerheads and Moel Famau country parks as well as sites including Castell Dinas Bran and the Horseshoe Falls in the Dee Valley. 

Cllr Tony Thomas, the Council’s Lead Member for Housing and Communities, said: “The council has closed its two most popular sites at Loggerheads and Moel Famau to prevent visitors travelling to the area. 

"We want to reassure residents we have been working closely with North Wales Police who regularly patrol beauty spots in the county and are moving visitors on. The majority of visitors are out of county and one had driven from Blackpool. 

“The advice from the Welsh Government and North Wales Police is clear, it is not regarded as essential travel to drive to beauty spots to exercise. We are urging everyone to stay home and help save lives during this pandemic.”

Deputy Chief Constable Richard Debicki of North Wales Police said: “Our tourist attractions, mountains, pubs, restaurants, caravan, holiday parks and campsites are all closed.

“We completely understand people want to go outside to enjoy the warm weather, however this is a national emergency and we will continue to ensure government guidelines around essential travel and social distancing are adhered to.

“Please only travel if your journey is absolutely essential. This means either shopping for food or medicine and traveling to and from work if you cannot work from home. Our policing style remains unchanged, and we will be operating in a very visible way on our road networks and in towns and villages ensuring that people are complying with the restrictions.”