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Latest local roadworks alerts from one.network are:
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Sunday, November 19, 2023
Roadworks alerts for Berwyn Street
Saturday, November 18, 2023
Appeal launched to support local families at Christmas
Friday, November 17, 2023
Have your say on proposed new National Park for this area
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Natural Resources Wales (NRW) are inviting feedback on an initial Area of Search map for a proposed new National Park in North East Wales.
And people in Llangollen, which is included in the plan, will get the chance to have their say, in person, tomorrow (Saturday, November 18) at the Town Hall between 10 and 4pm.
The engagement period will run until Monday November 27.
Welsh Government has commissioned NRW, as the Designating Authority in Wales, to evaluate the case for a new National Park based on the existing Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
The case for the park will be considered within the existing Senedd term (2021-2026).
A questionnaire to capture feedback is now live on the project website. This can be accessed at: https://ymgynghori.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/north-east-gogledd-ddwyrain/national-park-designation-project-engagement-2023
Ash Pearce, Project Manager, said: "We are engaging with local people and groups early in the project to ensure we can capture and understand all the issues and opportunities that relate to the proposed new National Park.
"We will consider and account for the feedback provided as we work through a series of technical assessments and prepare our informed recommendations.
"There will be a full public consultation on a proposed boundary in 2024. At this stage, we have identified an area to study and want to listen and understand the significant issues, opportunities and themes affecting the area.
"We warmly invite everyone interested in our work, to join us at one of a series of in-person and online engagement events over the next two months. Also most critically, to complete our questionnaire which will ensure that we can capture their feedback.
"The events will be an opportunity to learn more about the project, ask questions of the team and share feedback on an early map of the area being assessed.
"People will only need to attend one event, be that online or in-person as the information shared will be the same for each event."
The Llangollen engagement event is due to take place at the Town Hall on Saturday November 18, from 10am until 4pm.
People are encouraged to drop by at the in-person events, there is no need to book a place. If interested in taking part in one of the online events, email the project team at designated.landscapes.programme@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk with your name, state your interest (e.g. resident, community leader, landowner, farmer, business owner, organisation representative, etc) and which event you are interested in (the date). These will be bilingual events with simultaneous translation provided.
NRW have prepared procedural guidance setting out the statutory process that must be followed. It is evidence based and allows for engagement and consultation with statutory consultees, the public and other stakeholders.
* For more information on the project and evaluation process, visit the website at: https://ymgynghori.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/north-east-gogledd-ddwyrain/north-east-wales-national-park-designation-project
Decision time looms for libraries and One Stop Shop hours cut plan
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Denbighshire County Council’s consultation about the reduction in hours to the library and One Stop Shop service closed at the end of October.
The consultation generated a record-breaking 4,600 responses, which equates to nearly 5% of Denbighshire’s population.
A paper with recommendations for the next steps will go to Cabinet for a decision on December 19.
The consultation proposed a 50% reduction in hours to Denbighshire’s Library and One Stop Shop Service.
This proposal meant that all eight council run libraries, including Llangollen, would remain open to deliver services to residents, albeit for fewer hours.
Councillor Emrys Wynne, Lead Member for Welsh Language, Culture and Heritage said: “We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to participate in this consultation.
"The large response rate demonstrates the strong feelings about this proposal and Officers will now take time to consider everyone’s feedback before it is given full consideration at Cabinet’s December meeting.
“As a council, we are saddened that we have to consider reducing frontline services, but this is the harsh reality of the current economic climate.
"While this proposal is unpopular, it would
ensure that the service continues in all Denbighshire Libraries/One Stop Shops
which gives us hope that we can return to a full service in a more favourable
economic climate.”
Last month, Denbighshire County Council warned that it faces significant budgetary pressures due to rising costs and demand for services.
Despite an expected increase in funding of £5.6m (3%) by Welsh Government, this still leaves a funding gap of £20.4m.
The council, like local authorities in Wales, must find significant savings and Cabinet has asked services across the authority to put forward proposals for consideration.
Eisteddfod invites male voice choirs to follow in Pavarotti's footsteps
In 1955 Luciano Pavarotti was a 19-year-old teacher when he came to the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod as part of Chorus Rossini, from Modena, Italy.
His choir left as the overall winning choir and Pavarotti went home determined to make music his career.
Now the festival is searching for a male voice choir to follow in the famous footsteps of Pavarotti and Chorus Rossini.
Male Voice Choirs are invited to join competitors from all over the globe at the 2024 Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
They have the opportunity to celebrate in a unique combination of competition and international peace and friendship at one of the world’s most inspirational cultural festivals.
The closing date to apply for all of the group competitions, including the Male Voice Choir competition, is Thursday November 30.
Dave Danford, Lead Programmer & Production Manager at the festival, said: “It’s still incredible to think that one of the most successful opera singers of all time was inspired to pursue a career in music by a visit to Llangollen in 1955.
"Like hundreds of thousands of others, he experienced the magic of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
"We are giving male voice choirs from around the world the chance to follow in Pavarotti’s footsteps. By entering, they will be in with a chance of competing for the Pavarotti Trophy, awarded annually to the winners of our Choir of the World competition.”
Pavarotti said many times that he wanted to return to Llangollen one day, and eventually made a triumphant return with his father in 1995 to headline at that year’s festival, marking the 40th anniversary of his first visit to north Wales.
The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod has entered a new partnership with Cuffe & Taylor, part of Live Nation.
Together, they have promised a magical concert programme for the core Eisteddfod week from July 2 – 7 2024.
Details will be announced at 9am on Monday December 4.
Acts already announced for next summer include Manic Street Preachers, Suede, Jess Glynne, disco king Nile Rodgers & Chic, Paloma Faith and Kaiser Chiefs.
Railway shortlisted for top tourism award
Llangollen Railway has been shortlisted for “Attraction of the Year” at the Go North Wales Tourism Awards.
Winners will be announced next Thursday November 23.
In announcing the achievement on social media, the railway, which it's way back from administration and through lockdown closure two years ago, said: "With our fabulous new station at Corwen now open and a nearly sold-out Santa Special season still to look forward to, we’ve had a very successful 2023. This award is the icing on the cake!
"Our staff and volunteers have shown phenomenal dedication to turn the railway around from the brink of extinction and take it back to being one of North Wales most successful tourist attractions - in just two and a half years."
"Wish us all luck in the final stages of judging and keep your fingers crossed for us next Thursday night."
Health watchdog volunteer Stuart Davies wants to hear from you
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Former Llangollen county councillor Stuart Davies has become a volunteer for health watchdog body Llais Cymru North Wales.
Llais aims to make sure people's views and experiences are used by decision-makers to plan and deliver better health and social care services.
When things go wrong it has independent and trained complaints advocates who can support people to make complaints.
Stuart Davies said: "Over the next month myself and other volunteers want to know what experiences - good or bad - people in North Wales are having in relation to two specific services.
"With cataracts we'd like to know people's experiences on waiting times for surgery, access to ophthalmic services, what impact is this having on people's lives, such as ability to drive, work, care for others, are people finding that they are having to try and access treatment from outside of North Wales and if so are they having to pay for this treatment?
"On the Covid and flu vaccination programme we want to hear about your experience them - how is it being rolled out in your GP practice, how easy is it to find out information about the availability of vaccines in your local area, have you heard feedback from others in your family or community about their experiences? Please do let us know.
"We would like our volunteers to share with us anything that they are experiencing, hearing or reading about in relation to health and social care services in their community.
"We would also like our volunteers to help us to recruit volunteers to Llais North Wales.
"We want to work with you to learn how we can do this successfully and we recognise that this will take time.
"In the meantime we ask our volunteers to help us with this vital priority over the coming months. Whilst we do not have the national training programme just yet, there is plenty we can do and have done in terms of local training, mentoring and buddying up."
* If you have any experiences in North Wales you wish to share OR become a volunteer, then Llais can be contacted directly on northwalesyourvoice@llaiscymru.org
Stuart Davies can be contacted by email on llaisvolunteer@gmail.com
The Llais website is at: https://www.llaiswales.org/
Thursday, November 16, 2023
New stage company premieres its talents with Town Hall shows
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* Cast members in rehearsals for A Night at the Musicals.
A new, young performing arts company makes its debut at Llangollen Town Hall with a gallop through a host of well-known musicals this weekend.
Wrexham-based To the Stage Productions is putting on its show, A Night at the Musicals, tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday at 7pm.
It's a journey through some all-time favourite shows and features songs from Matilda, SIX, Wicked and more.
A spokesperson for the company said: "For our first production we've chosen to do a musical showcase to show the range of talents the children and teenagers, whose ages range from seven to 18, have.
"We'll take the audience on a magical journey with lots of singing and dancing."
* The link for the tickets is: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/to-the-stage-productions/a-night-at-the-musicals/e-xrpbqv
Denbighshire's ‘Free After Three’ parking scheme returns
Denbighshire County Council will once again be running the ‘Free After Three’ parking scheme in the run up to Christmas.
Between November 20 and December 31, council-run town centre car parks will be free to use across the county every day from 3pm to encourage more people to use their local
high street for shopping in the run-up to Christmas and New Year.
The Free After Three initiative will be
available in the following car parks:
- Corwen - Green Lane
- Denbigh – Barkers Well Lane, Crown
Lane, Factory Ward, Post Office Lane and Vale Street
- Llangollen - East Street, Hall
Street, Market Street and Mill Street
- Prestatyn – Kings Avenue, Lower
High Street Railway Station
- Rhuddlan - Parliament Street
- Rhyl – Central, Morley Road, West
Kinmel Street, Sky Tower, Town Hall, Railway Station; Library (disabled
bays only),
- Ruthin - Market Street, Crispin
Yard, Dog Lane, Park Road, Rhos Street, St Peters Square and Troed Y Rhiw
- St Asaph - Bowling Green
Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for
Environment and Transport said: “Free after Three has proved popular in previous
years because it is a great scheme that enables residents to support their
local communities.
“We hope that everyone supports our local high
streets and back our businesses, especially in the run-up to Christmas and take
full advantage of the benefits of the scheme by using the county’s town centre
car parks free of charge.”
Big treasure hunt features in Llangollen Christmas Festival
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Keen-eye youngsters coming along to Llangollen Christmas Festival later this month are being invited to join the big treasure hunt.
After the success of
last year's Strange Items Treasure Hunt in which festival organisers asked competitors to find
all the odd things in 14 shop windows around town, this year they're being challenged to find various Gingerbread Folk who will be in the windows of 20 shops and
businesses.
Entry forms will be available on festival day from the Town Hall lobby, and there'll be small prizes for those competitors who locate most of the gingerbread figures and bring back their forms for checking.
The back of each entry form shows the search area and an example gingerbread figure (Sion Corn) to give them an idea what they're looking for. On the front they'll find a list of all the figures ranging from a Mermaid to a Superhero (via a Granny and a Town Crier) in the total of 20 secret locations for the kids to discover.
This year's festival is on Saturday November 25 and features:
* Free parking
* Market from 10am
* Parade at 1pm
* Sion Corn's Grotto
* Market stalls, crafts and street food
* Balloon sculpture and face painting
* Grand raffle
* Live bands, choirs and circus performers
* Fairground rides
* Punch and Judy
* Bouncy play
* Christmas lights switch-on
* Fireworks display sponsored by The Wild Pheasant, Llangollen
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Town's Christmas tree takes its place in Centenary Square
* Success: the tree in its final resting place ready for the the festivities.
Members of the Tidy Town Team were out in force to help put up Llangollen's official Christmas Tree in Centenary Square earlier this afternoon (Wednesday).
The large conifer, acquired and paid for by the Town Council, will be the centrepiece of the town's annual Christmas Festival on Saturday November 25.
* Placing the tree in its holder.
New podcast explores history of Castell Dinas Brân
* A postcard depicting Castell Dinas Brân including the camera obscura and tearoom. Courtesy of Llangollen Museum.
A new podcast exploring the history of Llangollen's Castell Brân has been launched.
Created by Sarah Baylis and produced by Sally Harrison it is entitled Capturing the Castle: A Journey Through Time.
The podcast takes listeners on an audio-guided walk with Sarah, from
Llangollen Bridge up to the summit of the castle walking in the
company of the many ‘ghosts’ who’ve made the same journey over the last 200
years.
Their words - extracts from letters, travel journals, newspapers, poetry and song – are voiced by local people who responded to a call out for contributors to read the accounts of the historical characters.
Members of the community also feature, providing a modern perspective of the castle from both locals and visitors.
The recording also features traditional harp music performed
by Tom Parry, and the Victorian folk ballad Jenny Jones sung by Jennie
Coates.
Layered over time, these varied voices capture the history of the the castle - telling its story from different perspectives, and providing a
changing commentary on the picturesque landscape and the growth of tourism to
the Dee Valley up to the present day.
The 48-minute-long recording was recently featured at the Dyffyn Dyfrdwy | Dee Valley exhibition at the Dory Gallery in Llangollen, where it played on repeat in a small nook of the gallery, accompanied by historical postcards of the area.
Following the exhibition, it has been made available as
a podcast on Soundcloud and on the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB website.
The audio histories project has been commissioned by the Our Picturesque Landscape project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Hannah Marubbi, Partnership Officer for Our Picturesque Landscape
project said: “We are really pleased to share this fascinating new podcast,
creatively telling the story of one of the most iconic structures in the Dee
Valley, which has been attracting and inspiring both locals and visitors for
centuries.”
Cllr Emrys Wynne, Denbighshire County Council’s Lead Member for Welsh
Language, Culture & Heritage, said: “It is fantastic to see the history
of Castell Dinas Brân being shared in such an immersive way; this is a truly
innovative approach to telling the story of the castle. We are also delighted
that members of the local community were able to be part of this project,
providing them with the opportunity to champion their local area and celebrate
their heritage.”
* You can listen to the podcast at: www.soundcloud.com/ourpicturesquelandscape/capturing-the-castle. It is also being featured at an ongoing exhibition in Llangollen Museum.
Flower club to host Christmas floral art demonstration
Llangollen Flower Club is hosting a floral art demonstration, entitled "Christmas in Wonderland", by Don Billington of Liverpool, at Llangollen Town Hall on Tuesday November 21 at 7.30pm.
Doors open at 6.45pm and ticket price is £10 from club members.
* For more information, call 01978 860869.
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Report says Government plans to cut speed limit between town and Berwyn
North Wales Live is reporting that the Welsh Government is cutting the speed limit on a busy A-road in Llangollen to create a 20mph "buffer".
The Government has put forward a traffic regulation to cut the speed on a section of the A5 between town and Berwyn - slightly less than a mile away - from 60 to 40mph.
* For the full story, see: Welsh Government cutting speed limit on busy North Wales road to create 20mph 'buffer' - North Wales Live (dailypost.co.uk)
Traffic alert for Regent Street
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Latest local traffic alert from one.network is:
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Regent Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire 16 November - 20 November Roadworks, Delays possible Traffic management:
Some carriageway incursion Description:
INSTALL NEW MTR AND BBOX DIG IS A METER BY A METER SQUARE Works location:
ROAD OPENING & DIG TAKING PLACE ON FOOTWAY OUTSIDE NUMBER 20 Public facing description:
one.network has automatically assigned a category of Unclassified works to
this Works based on the information available. Please note: Works
Descriptions are not published by Hafren Dyfrdwy. Responsibility for works:
Hafren Dyfrdwy Current status:
Planned work about to start Works reference: ZU0070000/000041700404 |
Monday, November 13, 2023
Is this 174mph mean machine Audi's last V8 gasp?
Audi RS 6 Avant Performance drive by Steve Rogers
Believe it or not this mean machine is a family estate. Sometimes.
Other times it is a 170 mph supercar that would blow kids' minds on
the school run.
But is this the last we will see of the monstrous twin turbo V8 with its colossal horsepower and torque?
There will be a new A6 but with Audi
throwing everything at hybrid and electric we shall have to wait and see what
form the next RS 6 model will take, if we see one at all.
The Government has, predictably, changed its mind on the deadline
for killing off the combustion engine, and even though Audi has started the
clear out by dropping the TT the demise of the RS 6 is said to be ‘not
imminent’.
For now RS 6 is very much alive and kicking and had an upgrade
this year making it even more powerful.
This is the Performance version beefed up to give more horsepower.
The bi turbo unit is bigger, increasing boost pressure, while new alloys are 20
kg lighter. These are the sort of lengths you take to make your car faster than
the opposition.
The Performance has a self locking differential which ensures max power to all four wheels so there is no scrabbling for grip when the accelerator is stamped to the metal.
All these elements have shaved nearly half
a second off the sprint to sixty. For the record that takes just over three
seconds and I imagine another four or five seconds would see you crashing
through the 120 mph barrier.
Sounds manic, which it is, but we have to accept that this car is
too fast for our speed limits. The car is a hooligan and would be locked up if
it was human!
Just pressing the start button warns of trouble ahead if you are
not careful. It has a glorious roar to get the driver in the mood and can leave
you spellbound with just one blip of the accelerator. Floor it and you are
hurled back into the seat.
Top speed it governed to 174 mph but I'm pretty certain there is
another 20 mph under the bonnet with the limiter disengaged. The 850Nm of
torque is whopping so no worries about overtaking.
RS 6 has been revered as the world’s fastest estate car, whether
it is better than rival offerings from Mercedes-Benz and BMW can only be
decided on a track. On public roads the Audi feels immovable, hardly surprising
when it is being pushed to a fraction of its limits.
To put it another way, a driver would have to be stupidly reckless
to lose control such is the incredible grip from the quattro drivetrain. Apart
from that the RS is stacked to the gunnels with driver safety aids and it is
not at all intimidating to drive.
The adaptive cruise control is impressive and came into its own on
a drenched motorway where the lack of visibility was scary. Once set the car
takes over braking and accelerating from a chosen distance to the vehicle in
front. Using traffic sign recognition it automatically slows the car to a lower
speed. A new one for me.
As a family estate the RS Avant is sensible, to a point. It easily
accommodates five adults with a boot big enough to carry a sizeable piece of
furniture with the seats down, or a pile of luggage with the back seats in
place.
In reality an A6 Avant is more realistic as family transport given
the £127,000 for the RS Performance, and the costs that go with it. Insurance
will be sky high, you need to cough up big bucks for the first year road tax
and then there is the little matter of low twenties economy, although I did
manage 25mpg over nearly 700 miles. Good job the car has a 73 litre tank.
And you might as well go the whole hog with ceramic brakes. An
extra £9,200, you would get a good used car for that money, but my goodness they
are immense.
I have been saying for 20 years that none of the other premium
brands can trim a car like Audi and nothing has changed. This car is
beautifully finished although some of the technology is becoming dated and will
probably be refreshed in the new model.
Fast Facts
RS 6 Avant Performance
£126,970 (£140,000 tested)
4 litre V8, 8sp tiptronic; 618bhp
0-62mph 3.4secs; 174mph
22.4mpg combined
285g/km. First tax £2,365
Boot: 565-1680 litres
Insurance group 50
All four mobile phone networks still down in central Llangollen
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All four mobile phone networks serving central LL20 areas of Llangollen are still down after an outage which began late on Saturday.
llanblogger has looked at the online signal checkers for EE, Three, 02 and Vodaphone this morning are all are showing problems with their services to the area.
EE simply points out that it is "aware of the problem with this site".
Three says: "Our engineers are working on masts nearby which means the rest of our network is handling more traffic than usual."
02 at least says "sorry" and explains that a phone mast close by isn't working. But it assures: "Our engineers are on the case."
And Vodaphone's checker is registering "current network issues" with the area's 2G, 3G and 4G services. LL20 doesn't currently have 5G availability, it shows.
There have been lots of complaints about the situation on Facebook.
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* 02's signal checker.
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Kaiser Chiefs to return for Llangollen Eisteddfod next summer
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* The Kaiser Chiefs. Picture: Cal McIntyre.
Indie heroes Kaiser Chiefs will make a triumphant return to the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod on Saturday June 29.
Tickets go on general sale at 9am on Friday November 17.
The announcement follows the news that the band will release their new studio album, the aptly titled Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album, on March 1 next year.
Produced by Amir Amor (Rudimental), Easy Eighth Album sees them return with a fresh and bold new sound.
From the Nile Rodgers co-writer of new single ‘Feeling Alright’, to the frantic ‘Beautiful Girl’, horn-laden Kaiser Chiefs throwback ‘Job Centre Shuffle’ and joyous punch in the gut that is ‘Jealousy’, these 10 tracks are a true statement of intent from a band that continues to deliver the goods again and again.
The album arrives off the back of roaring success with previous releases ‘Jealousy’and ‘How 2 Dance’, as well as a big UK arena headline tour at the end of last year.
Where 2019’s Duck straddled the tide between Northern-Soul euphoria and early ‘00s antithesis, 2024 will see Kaiser Chiefs stepping into a renewed spotlight; a hook-heightened universe in which Ricky Wilson, Andrew “Whitey” White (guitar), Simon Rix (bass), Keyboardist Peanut and Vijay Mistry on drums, come together to create what they craft best; breakthrough hits for the world’s dancefloor.
And with a band almost two decades in the game, armed with an extensive back-catalogue of stadium belters, and record-breaking success, fans at Llangollen Pavilion can prepare for a nightfilled with anthemic hits such as ‘Oh My God’, ‘I Predict A Riot’, ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less’ and ‘Ruby’.
The headlining Llangollen show is the latest to be announced as part of a new partnership between the Eisteddfod and Live Nation promoters Cuffe and Taylor.
Kaiser Chiefs, who headlined Llanfest in 2018, join indie superstars Manic Street Preachers and Suede, BRIT award-winning artist Paloma Faith and disco legends Nile Rodgers & CHIC among the artists to be announced so far for the iconic peace festival in 2024.
Lead Programmer &Production Manager of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod Dave Danford said:“We’re delighted Kaiser Chiefs will be returning to Llangollen. They went down a storm in 2018, and we’re so pleased that they’ll bring their anthems back to North Wales in 2024.
“This is just the latest announcement as part of our exciting new partnership with Live Nation promoters Cuffe and Taylor, with more to come in the next few weeks”
Cuffe and Taylor co-founder Peter Taylor said: “Kaiser Chiefs are a brilliant live band. We’ve presented multiple shows with them over the years so we can’t wait to bring them back to Llangollen for what will be a really exciting show for everyone involved.”
* For more information and to purchase tickets go to llangollen.net and www.ticketmaster.co.uk