County's new strategy for Plas Newydd explained

* New marketing strategy for Plas Newydd.

Plas Newydd, Llangollen’s own stately home, is now being marketed as a tourist attraction as well as a museum.

That was the message from a top county council official who gave a presentation to the town council on fresh efforts to promote the iconic mansion at their meeting on Tuesday night.

Brian Edwards, Denbighshire’s environment group services manager, said when his department took over responsibility for running Plas Newydd about a year ago it had been decided to increase visitor footfall there.

He explained: “The emphasis had been on the museum side rather than the attraction side.

“We have appointed a commercial manager and we have been looking at new ways of operating Plas Newydd and increasing visitor numbers.”

Improvements made so far, he said, included bringing the running of the on-site café in house and appointing a Llangollen resident to oversee it.

In the grounds, maintenance was now being done as and when necessary by bringing in county council staff rather than having a resident team.

Three groups of volunteers had also been brought in to help with grounds maintenance.

A new management plan was in place for the house itself, which aims to engage more closely with the local community.

Plans were also in hand, said Mr Edwards, to encourage local groups to make more use of the Y Caban building in the grounds, where exhibitions have been held.

As part of the new marketing strategy, a number of events had been staged at Plas Newydd, including a dog show and a car rally, and more were planned for next year.

Mr Edwards said experts from Bodelwyddan Castle were advising on the protection of the museum collection at the house and delicate objects were now being taken to Ruthin for storage during the winter months and returned for exhibition in the summer.

Another possibility being looked at was the creation of an orchard or market garden in the grounds with produce being sold to the local community.

Cllr Phil Thane suggested there could be a gate between the grounds and the adjacent Brook Street children’s play area to allow easier access from the Pengwern estate side.

Mr Edwards said this was being looked into but health and safety concerns had to be borne in mind as a stream runs through the woodland area at the bottom of the grounds.

Cllr Mike Pugh said it was good to see that “such an important piece of Llangollen real estate” was being so well valued by the county council.  

Agencies clamp down on county's cold callers

As part of National Consumer Week Denbighshire Trading Standards officers and North Wales Police have been out patrolling the county on the look out for rogue traders operating in the area. 

Officers were looking for offences relating to consumers’ cancellation rights and aggressive selling techniques linked to “cold calling”.

Traders were also given advice as to their legal obligations.

The two organisations also teamed up with Neighbourhood Watch to get out and about and advise the public on dealing with cold callers.

One of the major issues identified by officers is that many residents do not report the activities of rogue traders.

David Smith, Denbighshire Cabinet Lead Member with responsibility for Trading Standards, is urging residents to be aware and to tell the authorities if rogue traders cold call in their area offering to do gardening, tree cutting, tarmacing, roof repairs and general odd jobs. 

He said: "These traders can do a poor job and subsequently charge over the odds for that work, ask for cash and then simply disappear. They are usually untraceable when things go wrong as they give false names, addresses and phone numbers.

"Whilst not all doorstep traders are ‘rogues’, many are completely legitimate and provide a good level of service, there are some who prey on the elderly or vulnerable members of society."

Ian Millington of Denbighshire Trading Standards said: "The theme for National Consumer Week this year was Cold Calling - Don't Buy It and the idea was to engage with the public and help give everyone the confidence to deal with cold callers. 

"Officers from each of the organisations teamed up and have spoken to hundreds of people at venues throughout the county. We hope that those individuals will not only follow the simple rules when dealing with cold callers but also spread the message to their neighbours and family. 

"Whilst we did not find any issues during our patrols we will continue to be on the look out for any activity which might be attributed to a rogue trader."

Neighbourhood Watch coordinator Pam Gardner said: "No cold calling zones are a good way of discouraging traders from operating in certain areas as any trader cold calling in No cold calling area could be committing an offence. Anybody wanting more information about cold calling zones should contact their local Neighbourhood Watch coordinator on 01745 539208 or via www.ourwatch.org.uk"

Inspector Siobhan Edwards of North Wales Police said: "If in doubt, keep them out is the simple message to remember when somebody knocks at your door. 

"If you are concerned about anybody in your neighbourhood‘knocking’ on the door offering to carry out home maintenance work, then please make a note of vehicle make, model, colour and registration number and any descriptions of the individuals, and contact either the police on 101 or Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice Customer Service on 08454 04 05 06, or for the Welsh Language Service 08454 04 05 05.

"Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. If you feel intimidated or threatened by any doorstep seller you should shut the door and call the police emergency number 999."

Rain fails to dampen Llan's Christmas Festival

 

 

* Sion Corn makes a grand entrance.

 

 

 

 * The parade begins led by the Silver Band.

 

* The mayor, Jon Haddy aboard a horse-drawn coach.

                                                                            

 

* Hog roast in Oak Street. 

 

 

 

 *The Silver Band perform.

 

 

 

* A nativity scene by members of Cytun,

Churches Together,

 

  

 

 * The Melodic Mondays sing. 

 

 

 

* The Samba Band keep up the beat. 

 

 

 

* Carols by Llan Operatic Society. 

 

 

 

 * The lights are switched on by Cameron and Ffion.

 

 

 

* Castle Street is lit up.

 

 

 

* The fireworks display.

 

Heavy rain throughout the afternoon failed to dampen enthusiasm for Llangollen’s annual Christmas Festival today (Saturday).

Crowds thronging Castle Street cheered as the big parade got under way at 1pm, with Llan Silver Band leading the way.

Behind them came Sion Carn – the Welsh Santa Claus – aboard a sleigh, morris dancers, a samba band, a contingent from the local Army Cadets and town major, Jon Haddy, riding on a horse-drawn carriage.

After a procession through the town, the parade stopped outside the Town Hall and Sion Corn was escorted to his grotto upstairs where a long line of youngsters were waiting to meet him.

The Town Hall also hosted a seasonal craft fair with a range of stalls.

Outside, Oak Street had been transformed into a Christmas fair with children’s rides, a climbing frame, more stalls and a hog roast.

The rain started to come down around 2pm, not long after a packed programme of open-air entertainment got under way on the steps of The Chapel.

Despite the wet weather, which persisted without let-up for the rest of the day, the crowd enjoyed performances from the Silver Band, the town’s pantomime group, the Melodic Mondays ladies singing ensemble, Llan Operatic Society and the Karamba Samba Band.

The official switch-on of the lights was brought forward by half an hour because of the bad weather.

After thanks to everyone who had helped make the day a success from the mayor, youngsters Cameron and Ffion, from Ysgol y Gwernant and Ysgol Bryn Collen, who had won competitions to have the honour, turned on the lights above Castle Street to the accompaniment of a rousing cheer from the rain-soaked crowd.

Grand finale to the day was a spectacular firework display which lit up the sky from the hillside behind the canal wharf.    

Hope House Hospice will benefit from collections made during the festival. 

Oakleigh House about to go on market

* Oakleigh House is about to go on the market.

Oakleigh House, the now-empty former mental health resource centre in Abbey Road, Llangollen, is about to go on the market.

Llanblogger has just been contacted by agents Legat Owen’s Chester office to say they have been given the job of selling it off by its owners, the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB).

The company’s director, business space, Stephen Wade, e-mailed us to say: “Just thought you might be interested to note that Legat Owen have been formally instructed to market Oakleigh in Llangollen.

“A brochure, boards and adverts are in the process of being prepared and we expect to start marketing in the next two weeks.

“Planning permission has just been granted for the conversion of the property to a residential dwelling.”

County council records show that permission for change of use of the building from a mental health resource centre to a residential dwelling was granted on November 20.

In September, llanblogger submitted a Freedom of Information request to the health board to try to discover its intentions for the property, which has frequently been mentioned in connection with proposals for a general health shake-up in the area.

Unfortunately, the very guarded responses to our eight questions, did not shed much light on what the board’s intentions were.  

The board did say it was about to put Oakleigh on the market but did not reveal what the asking price might be.

However,it did answer that the cost of security for the property was running at £500 a year. 

See our original FoI request story at http://llanblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/llanblogger-questions-future-of.html

Free advice clinics for community groups on offer

Business Supporting Communities is encouraging community groups to take advantage of their free one-to-one advice clinics in Llangollen later this month.

The Big Lottery funded project, set up by the six North Wales Voluntary Services Councils, will be hosting the free advice and guidance sessions to community groups on November 30.

Community groups will be able to glean insurance advice courtesy of Daulby Read insurance brokers and legal advice courtesy of Gamlins solicitors as part of the forthcoming Denbighshire Voluntary Service Council AGM.

Advisers from Daulby Read will be on hand to provide advice and guidance on topics such as trustee indemnity, liability and abuse, fundraising and fidelity, PR and crisis management as well as health and safety and professional indemnity.

Gamlins’ legal experts can cover subjects like legal structures for charitable organisations, trustees and their duties, asset transfers and leaseholds.

Sarah Thomas, Project Manager at B2C, said: “This is an excellent opportunity for community groups and volunteer organisations to grill experts from Daulby Read and Gamlins on a variety of insurance and legal matters that may affect them.

“As part of our B2C Professionals initiative, both companies are giving up their time and the one to one advice and guidance surgeries are completely free of charge.”

The B2C advice surgeries take place at Llangollen Pavilion on Friday, November 30, as part of Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council’s AGM and Funder’s Fair.

Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

For more details on how to book visit the B2C Project website (www.b2cwales..co.uk) or contact Sarah Barker, B2C Admin Assistant (Conwy & Denbighshire) on 01492 523847 / sarah.barker@b2cwales.co.uk

Llan asked to play part in supporting National Eisteddfod

Llangollen Town Council has been asked to help stimulate local support for next year’s National Eisteddfod.

Two representatives from the eisteddfod attended the council meeting on Tuesday night to give members a presentation on the festival, which will take place in Denbigh for the first time since 2001, between August 3 and 10 at Kilford Farm.

It was explained that a network of local support committees have been set up across Denbighshire to raise cash towards the total of £3.4 million needed to stage the event.

While quite a number of areas are proving successful in their money-spinning efforts, others have raised nothing and do not even have a support group – among them Llangollen. 

And councillors were asked to consider helping to drum up support.

Nick Parry, who chairs the eisteddfod’s finance committee, said: “At the moment Llangollen has been left out of supporting what is Wales’ leading festival, which attracts 160,000 over the course of one week.

“The event will cost £3.4 million next year and Denbighshire has been set a fundraising target of £300,000.

“We have already crossed the £200,000 mark but Llangollen is one of three or four areas with no activity.

“Its target was £6,000 – and Rhyl’s was £13,000 – but both are still untouched with 90 per cent of the other committees up and running.”

He added: “The message has to be that in other areas of the county the eisteddfod has generated community activity, brought local societies together and awakened dormant societies.

“There has also been an important boost where town councils have been a contribution.”

Arwyn Roberts, the eisteddfod’s deputy organiser, said the festival provided the opportunity to welcome thousands of visitors, attracted TV and radio coverage and had been estimated to bring £6.8 million into the local economy.  

He added: “We hope the town council here will encourage a local effort or appeal so that Llangollen can be part of this success.”

Cllr Tim Palmer questioned why Llangollen should lend its support when the National Eisteddfod received half a million pounds in subsidy while the locally-based International Eisteddfod did not do so well for outside financial backing.

The mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy, said he was unaware Llangollen did not have a local support committee and added: “Maybe we can have a word with some local organisations.”

Llan author roots out a jubilee mystery

llanblogger book review

*  Why was Coed Uchaf planted?

It has been said that the beech tree is a symbol for the written word, the innate wisdom contained within it and for ancient learning.

And all can be applied to the latest edition of the book Coed Uchaf by Llangollen author Simon Collinge.

As with the first edition, this centres on a copse of around 100 trees – mainly beech – in the Upper Conwy Valley.

Contained within its 40 pages of stunning, high quality photographs and sparse yet highly descriptive text is the mystery of why the wood, known as Coed Uchaf, came to be planted on a lonely hilltop overlooking the town of Pentrefoelas.

Tradition has it that some individual trees or small clumps of Scots pine – popularly called ‘Charley Trees’ - are the survivors of those planted in Wales after 1745 by supporters of Bonny Prince Charlie to commemorate the Jacobite Rising.

Another tradition is that pine trees were deliberately planted in prominent places in order to mark the line of the ancient routes along which the drovers of old led their cattle out of Wales to the markets in England.

But, appropriately for this year of Elizabeth II’s celebration of 60 years on the throne, the author suggests the answer to the mystery could relate to a jubilee occasion, albeit the jubilee of an earlier monarch.  

In the first edition, he concluded that Coed Uchaf could not have been planted to mark the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 because a 1906 postcard he saw showed trees overlooking Pentrefeolas and, quite simply, he believed Coed Uchaf could not have grown so quickly.  

However, after further research, he discovered beech trees can grow rapidly, at the rate of up to 10 metres in 20 years.

This fact, he believes, makes it distinctly possible the wood was actually established in 1887.

The latest incarnation of Coed Uchaf itself may have only appeared just years ago, but Collinge believes it is one of many small woods whose roots grow deep in the rich soil of our region’s past.

The Upper Conwy valley is rich in history, a key route between England and the North Wales Coast, and some earlier version of Coed Uchaf could have been a lookout post as the Iberians, Celts, Romans, the Medieval Welsh, kings and queens who all passed by.

The author says, quite rightly, that with his book one can “experience the visual power and unique atmosphere and remember the brief moment, when you see a world which has long existed and will remain after you have departed”.

Simon Collinge is a freelance media producer with over 35 years media production and teaching experience.

Assistant director of media at Yale College, Wrexham until 2008, he trained as a graphic designer. and then taught animation, film and TV production, graphic design and photography.

He also works as an educational consultant for Edexcel, ESTYN and Protocol National.

This is the first in a series of projects by him exploring identity and space.

All photographs are available as prints of various sizes.

The book is available from Courtyard Books in Llangollen, hardback at £29, or direct from

http://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/detail/3682502, where there is a choice of a cheaper soft cover version at £23.