Wake up and smell the coffee!

The Memorial Hall in Market Street resounded to the clink of tea cups on Tuesday morning as the English Methodist Church held the latest of its highly successful coffee mornings in aid of its own funds.

Weekend visitors go on the buses

 

 

* A Crosville type L of 1951.

 

 

 

* A Lancaster No.2 01 Leyland open topper.

 

 

 

                                                 *The classic line-up at Glyndyfrdwy.

 

Visitors to the Dee Valley over the weekend went on the buses in a big way.

A cavalcade of more than 50 gleaming buses, cars and motorbikes from the vintage era assembled in a field behind Glyndyfrdwy station for Llangollen’s Railway’s Classic Transport Weekend last Saturday and Sunday.

Buses from the former fleets of Crosville, Chester, Barrow in Furness, North Western, Southport, Midland Red, Bournemouth and Greater Manchester joined a contingent from the North West Museum of Road Transport in St Helens to put on a show of rich variety.

Their proud owners travelled to the event from across North Wales, Lancashire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Manchester, Merseyside and Birmingham.

Many drove through the streets of Llangollen – packed with bank holiday tourists - to get to and from the venue.

Entrants from the North West Museum of Road Transport offered a half-hourly free bus service between Glyndyfrdwy and Corwen to provide a road run along the A5 with a superb view of Llangollen Railway's line extension beyond Carrog towards Corwen.

Most popular bus was the open-top Leyland PD2 type, formerly No. 201 of Lancaster Corporation, and the weather proved suitable for the open air journey on both days.

Other popular journeys were those offered by a Leyland National single decker No. 1 from Widnes, a Chester No. 99, a newly restored Dennis Dominator and double deckers of the former Crosville fleet.

Two privately owned Crosville single deckers from the 1950s also proved popular with visitors to the event.

Classic cars lining for inspection included many famous British marques such as Triumph, Austin, Morris, Rover, Vauxhall and Jaguar.

Joining all this activity, the railway ran an intensive train service with two steam and one diesel locomotives plus the heritage Wickham railcar.

 

 

 

 

Supermarket campaigner demands answer from Minister

Campaigner Martin Crumpton has written to Wales’ Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development asking why he has not yet replied to a letter sent to him in June this year in connection with the proposed Sainbury’s supermarket in Llan.

Mr Crumpton, who has spearheaded the fight against the new store planned for the Dobson & Crowther printworks site off the A5, is asking John Griffiths AM why he has not responded to the question whether or not  the Co-op store in Regent Street is to be considered as part of the Llangollen’s retail offering  when it comes to considering the need for the new Sainsbury’s.

This point, claims Mr Crumpton, is of critical importance to the determination of the store application next month.

Here is Mr Crumpton’s letter to Mr Griffiths  in full: 

 “ Dear Minister,

On the 20^th of June this year, I wrote to you requesting a determination on whether or not the Co-operative Food store in Llangollen should be considered part of the Town Centre or not. You’re aware that the developer has claimed it is only a top-up shop, out of the “defined town centre” and therefore excluded from their calculation of retail sales area. They also excluded Stans Superstores, a smaller supermarket which opened in February this year, though it is adjacent to the High Street. On the basis of these exclusions, the developer has claimed a need for additional retail space in Llangollen.

I have already provided incontrovertible proof that the Co-op is the town’s closest and largest store for the majority of residents. Better than hundreds of dry words, I provided a link to the video I produced. In case you’ve been unable to watch it, it’s here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvd5QNBMgbU (it only takes six minutes).

The Co-operative Group has been reluctant to reveal commercially-sensitive information, but they’ve been persuaded to by Cadnant Planning, acting on their behalf. WYG, for the developer, and Roger Tym and Partners acting for Denbighshire County Council, has grossly understated the impact upon the store (at least 43%) and that is it a main shopping food store, unlike both WYG’s and RTP’s dismissive claims otherwise. Being the shopper for my family, I’ve always known this, but now there’s proof – it’s attached in the report by Cadnant Planning (attached).

Neither WGY nor RTP have ever taken into account the impact on the community, most especially vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the disabled, and those without private transport. It is an established fact that the proposed new supermarket is a vehicle-only destination to all but a very few, contradicting national planning policy.

Minister, I wrote to you on the 20^th of June but I’ve never received a reply. Mark Isherwood expressed an interest in your response, and you wrote to him, but he only received mention of my earlier call-in request.

Neither he nor I have received correspondence concerning the matter I raised with you on 20^th June, being, essentially, whether or not the Co-op should be included in the Retail Impact Assessment.

Minister, your adjudication on whether the Co-op store is to be considered part of the Llangollen’s retail offering is of critical importance. Even without it, Denbighshire County Council is without a robust, credible and acceptable Retail Impact Assessment. Were the Planning Committee to meet on the 18^th of September, just weeks away, without being properly advised of the importance of this store and the impact upon the residents were it to be so detrimental, an approval for the new development must be considered unsound.

I urge you to watch the video and read Cadnant Planning’s comments, and come to a decision.

With kind regards,

Martin Crumpton “

 

Air ambulance lands near Glyndyfrdwy

 

* The helicopter pictured by our reader.

 

A keen-eyed llanblogger reader took this dramatic picture of what appears to be an air ambulance after it landed in a field alongside the A5 west of Glyndyfrdwy at around 1.30am on Sunday.

The photographer was travelling through the area at the time on one of the classic double decker buses which taking part in a special transport weekend at nearby Llangollen Railway.

He told llanblogger: "We were between Glyndyfrdwy and Corwen on a demonstration run when I saw the Wales Air Ambulance Service helicopter in the field alongside the road.

"The helicopter type is a Bolkow Bo.105.

"I think this one covers North Wales and is based at Caernarfon airport.

"It was attending a traffic accident on the west-bound carriageway near to the Berwyn Arms but I understand it did not take any injured away when it left.

"I cannot say for certain what vehicles were involved in the accident but the police were in attendance later."

As of 8am on Monday the North Wales Police news website gives no details of any accident at that point but we will keep checking and post an update if and when we receive one.

Meanwhile, if anyone has any further details of the incident we would welcome a note emailed to llanblogger@gmail.com

We would also like to thank the photographer who sent in this great picture.  

Muddy towpath issue aired by councillor

Good to see one of the members raised an issue which was highlighted by llanblogger last month at the recent monthly meeting of Llan Town Council.
In one of our first articles in July we said something should be done about the stretch of the canal towpath from the wharf towards the Horseshoe Falls, which  turns rapidly into a mud bath whenever it rains.
The same matter was raised by Cllr Tony Baker at the meeting.
It was suggested by the mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy, this was an issue for the newly-formed Canals and Rivers Trust.
It was agreed that the trust should be contacted by the town clerk.
So, llanblogger hopes to see remedial work start soon. 

Flashback ....

llanblogger, Monday, July 16, 2012

Towpath puddles are no joke

                                            

                                                             * Puddles on the Llan Canal towpath

NOW that it is has taken responsibility for running the UK’s canals network the new Canals and Rivers Trust might well splash out on curing a long-standing problem in Llangollen.

While the towpath running from Llan to Trevor is solid and well drained the stretch from the wharf towards the Horseshoe Falls turns rapidly into a mud bath when it rains – as it has been doing quite a bit lately.

Puddle links up with puddle to turn a pleasant stroll into a soggy obstacle course.

The only way to negotiate the muddy waters is to find stepping stones across them or tiptoe precariously along the path’s stone edging, ebing careful not to fall in the canal and get an even bigger dowsing.

Why the quality of one stretch of towpath can vary so wildly from one nearby is a mystery – and one which the new Trust should address, llanblogger belives.

What do you think? Let us know by emailing llanblogger@gmail.com

Complaints over derelict building

* Complaints about this building.

"Beyond a joke," says councillor

 

Something should be done about the condition of the derelict former brewery opposite the park in Llan.

That was the call from Cllr Mike Pugh at the latest meeting of the full council.

Complaining that the state of the building was “now beyond a joke”, he added:  “It is falling deeper into disrepair.

“It’s on the main road and infested with rodents.

“I am not sure whose ownership it is now in but is there anything the council can do to make it safe?”

Town clerk J Gareth Thomas said owners could be forced into a position by law in which repairs had to be carried out, or health issues may be a matter for environmental health officers.

He said he would contact the county council expressing members’ concerns.

Also at the meeting other members raised concerns about a range of matters. These included:

·         The “increasing” volume of traffic on Brook Street and the large dip in the carriageway at the junction with the A5 – from Cllr Tony Baker.

·         Parking along Hall Street and the nearby A5 close to the park – from Cllr Tim Palmer.

·         The town clerk said he raise these concerns with the appropriate authorities.

Pavilion could have Commonwealth Games role, says AM

* The pavilion has been suggested as the venue for Commonwealth Games table tennis.

Llan Assembly Member Ken Skates has raised the prospect of North East Wales playing a central role in a future bid for the Commonwealth Games – with Llan Pavilion hosting the table tennis.

He said the possibility of a Liverpool bid for the games could have huge economic benefits for areas like Denbighshire, Wrexham and Flintshire.

Off the back of the successful London 2012 Olympic Games, the argued that a possible Liverpool/North East Wales bid could help offset costs and play a vital role in promoting the region to the world.

Mr Skates said: “We must examine closely what role North East Wales could play in conjunction with a city like Liverpool on a possible joint bid for the Commonwealth Games.

"The economic, cultural, transport and sporting links between North East Wales and the North West of England make for a potentially unbeatable bid.

“Imagine a bid that ties the Land of our Fathers to the city of the Beatles, the bid could be very strong.

"It would offer an intoxicating cocktail of history, culture and elite sporting venues.”

Mr Skates added: "North Wales could play a significant role in hosting the triathlon along the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site, Dee Valley and Bala, rowing on the River Dee, Mountain biking at Llandegla, road cycling on the Etape Cymru circuit, sailing at Shotwick and the marathon could follow a route through Wales, Cheshire and Merseyside.

"Clearly there would also be a need for new elite sporting venues, which could bring a lasting legacy to North East Wales and deliver sporting success for generations to come."

Mr Skates believes a key attraction of such a joint bid would be the potential to reduce costs and therefore avoid placing a financial burden on the tax payer.

He said: "By staging the Games in North East Wales and the North West of England we could draw on funds from sporting bodies in both countries and share costs on both sides of the border, while each benefiting equally.

"We would be able to exploit the enormous potential of our porous border and advertise to the world some of the greatest landscapes and buildings on the planet.

"A Mersey-Dee bid could set a new standard for the Commonwealth Games and create a platform upon which the wider regional economy would prosper.”

He added: "It is entirely possible Liverpool and Everton's football grounds will be replaced in the next 20 years, so early plans could utilise their new venues for the Games, perhaps for athletics."

Among the other venues suggested by Mr Skates are table tennis at Llangollen Pavilion, Wrexham Racecourse for rugby sevens, shooting at the North Wales Shooting School in Sealand and track cycling at Manchester velodrome.

The 2014 Games will be held in Glasgow, with the 2018 events taking place on Australia's Gold Coast. The hosts for the 2022 and 2026 Games will be decided in the coming years.

Mr Skates said: "This is our big chance to put elite sport in North East Wales on the global map as well as promote grassroots participation in our communities. We need to give it very serious consideration.”