Llan hosts Friendly Walking Weekend

 

 

Llangollen is playing host to a Friendly Walking Weekend this Saturday and Sunday.

 

Those wishing to take party can choose from short, medium and long challenging walks all led by professional guides who will share their local knowledge of colourful history, heritage and folklore whilst guiding you through some of the most beautiful countryside in North Wales.

The programme, organised by Treksmart, is:

Saturday, May 4:

Walk 1: SHORT, 2 hours.

ONE FOOT IN THE PAST - HISTORIC TOWN WALK

 

Walk Leader is Green Badge Guide Sarah Jones.

This walk is a real learning journey around Llangollen town centre where Sarah brings the history people and places to life.

START 10.30am outside the Tourist Information Centre, Castle Street LL20 8NU.

Price £5.00        

Children under 5 years free.

Sorry NO DOGS.

Please join your walk leader 15 minutes before the start time.

Walk 2: SHORT, 3 hours.

HISTORY IN THE LANDSCAPE WALK

 

Walk Leader is Green Badge Guide Sarah Jones.

Including stories of Valle Crucis Abbey, Castell Dinas Bran, a romantic castle ruin (some steep climbs).

START 2.00pm outside the Tourist Information Centre, Castle Street LL20 8NU.

Price £5.00.

 

Children under 5 years free.

Sorry NO DOGS also. NOT suitable for pushchairs.

Please join your walk leader 15 minutes before the start time.

Walk 3: MEDIUM 7 miles (approx 4 hours) .

ROMANTIC RUINS & STUNNING VIEWS

 

Walk Leader is Green Badge Guide Chris Grier

START 10.30am outside the Tourist Information Centre, Castle Street LL20 8NU.

Heading north and taking in views of Valle Crucis Abbey ruins, a rewarding section of Offa's Dyke Path, climb up along side a pretty waterfall, a cliff-top walk with distant views and… Castell Dinas Bran, a romantic castle ruin.

Price £7.00.

 

Dogs welcome, providing the owner takes care of the dog’s every need.

Wear good comfortable walking boots, bring your waterproofs (just in case), plus lunch and drinks.

Please join your walk leader 15 minutes before the start time.

Walk 4: LONG and challenging 14 miles ( approx 8 hours).

GET HIGH IN THE DEE VALLEY

 

Walk Leader is Mountain Leader trained Mike Smart.

START 9.00am outside the Tourist Information Centre, Castle Street LL20 8NU.  

This walk includes walking across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Thomas Telford's 1805, 1037ft long and 127ft high industrial masterpiece which spans the Dee Valley carrying the Llangollen canal.

Visit Trevor Canal Basin, the Panorama huge limestone cliffs offering fantastic views up and down the valley and Castell Dinas Bran, a romantic castle ruin. 

Price £9.00.

 

Dogs welcome, providing the owner takes care of the dog’s every need.

Wear good comfortable walking boots, bring your waterproofs (just in case), plus food / lunch and drinks. There will be snacks available half-way round at Trevor Basin.

Sunday, May 5:

Walk 5: SHORT, 2 hours.

ONE FOOT IN THE PAST - HISTORIC TOWN WALK
 

Walk Leader is Green Badge Guide Sarah Jones.

This walk is a real learning journey around Llangollen town centre where Sareh brings the history people and places to life.

START 10.30am outside the Tourist Information Centre, Castle Street LL20 8NU.

Price £5.00.

Children under 5 years free.

Sorry NO DOGS.

Please join your walk leader 15 minutes before the start time.

Walk 6: SHORT, 3 hours.

HISTORY IN THE LANDSCAPE WALK
 

Walk Leader is Green Badge Guide Sarah Jones.Including stories of Valle Crucis Abbey, Castell Dinas Bran, a romantic castle ruin (some steep climbs).

START 2.00pm outside the Tourist Information Centre, Castle Street LL20 8NU.

Price £5.00

Children under 5 years free.

Sorry NO DOGS also.

NOT suitable for pushchairs.

Please join your walk leader 15 minutes before the start time.

Walk 7: MEDIUM 7.5 miles (approx. 4 hours).

STEAM TRAIN RIDE & DEE VALLEY MEANDER
 

Walk Leader is Green Badge Guide Chris Grier.

START 10.30am outside the Tourist Information Centre, Castle Street LL20 8NU.

We start with a heritage steam train ride along the beautiful Dee Valley with view of the towering hills on either side and the river running alongside, then walk back along the valley side through woods and hill-side farms, visit the Horseshoe Falls to finish along the canal back to start.

Price £12.00

Train ticket included.

Wear good comfortable walking boots, bring your waterproofs (just in case), plus packed lunch and drinks.

Dogs welcome, providing the owner takes care of the dog’s every need.

Please join your walk leader 15 minutes before the start time.

Walk 8: LONG and challenging 14 miles ( approx. 8 hours).

HIGH MOORS WILDERNESS WALK & STEAM TRAIN RIDE

Walk Leader is Mountain Leader trained Mike Smart.

START 8.00am outside the Tourist Information Centre, Castle Street LL20 8NU.

Trek across high wilderness and remote heather moors with fantastic views in all directions and then… a rewarding heritage steam train ride back to the start.

Price £14.00.

Train ticket included.

Wear good comfortable walking boots, bring your waterproofs (just in case), plus food / packed lunch and drinks.

Bookings can be made online at http://www.treksmart.net/llww.html

NOTE: This is a wilderness walk and there is nowhere to buy snacks.  Remember Dad's Army Private Fraser saying "it's a wild and lonely place", well this is.  Dogs welcome, providing the owner takes care of the dog’s every need. Please join your walk leader 15 minutes before the start time.

National Eisteddfod will mean £8 boost to county

Latest edition of the Free Press is reporting that Denbighshire stands to benefit from up to £8million when the National Eisteddfod arrives this summer.

See the full story at: http://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/news/122332/-8-million-eisteddfod-boost-for-denbighshire.aspx

County's dog fouling clampdown hailed as "huge success"

Denbighshire’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Councillor David Smith has hailed the response to Denbighshire’s anti dog fouling campaign as a huge success to date.

He said: “We’ve had a fantastic response from the public on our online survey and freephone number with people reporting problems in their areas. We’ve already had over 145 calls to the freephone number.”

Results from online survey show that 71.7% of the respondents say they have a problem/serious problem in their area with dog fouling and 75% had not contacted the Council before about the issue.
        
As a result of these findings, Denbighshire has started to place anti-dog fouling signs and banners around key areas to highlight that there is a problem, patrols are in the area and we would encourage the public to support us in dealing with the problem.

Councillors are supporting the campaign by putting up signs, posters and postcards around their local area.  Councillor Smith added: “This is a new and modern approach for the Council, and we are using the strengths of all services involved to promote and show that we as a council are listening to our communities.
“We recognise the need to be more robust, co-ordinated and comprehensive in enforcing and educating about dog fouling issues and this campaign has allowed us to communicate how we can achieve one of our key corporate priorities of providing a clean environment.

"We want communities to continue to support this campaign and let us know where there is a problem by phoning 0800 2300234 www.denbighshire.gov.uk/dogfouling www.sirddinbych.gov.uk/bawci"

Skates hits out over "injury payment" suggestion

People suffering accidents through healthy activity could be forced into paying an activity tax under new Tory proposals, claims a Labour Assembly Member.

 

Clwyd South AM Ken Skates said: "Conservative AM Darren Millar said on a radio phone-in show that individuals putting themselves at high risk through their own choice could be charged by the NHS.

 

"After being asked whether people who go skiing should be charged by the NHS if they have an accident, the Conservative Health Spokesperson said: 'I think if people put themselves in areas of high risk through their own choice then there ought to be a discussion about whether it’s appropriate for the NHS to pick up the bill for the risks that they take.'”

 

Mr Skates added: "The Tories' approach would throw up several serious challenges. Whilst we must encourage patients to be responsible in their use of the NHS, the Tories are going further and suggesting there should be an activity tax on perfectly healthy behaviour.

 

“Where do we draw the line? As a keen runner myself, if I injure my knee doing perfectly healthy exercise, should I be taxed for that good behaviour?

 

“Should the average Sunday league footballer be charged if he gets injured in a tackle?

 

“The founding principle of the NHS is that it should be free at the point of access and we should keep it this way. 

 

"From Labour's perspective, this could be the start of a very slippery slope towards introducing a private insurance model of healthcare. Whilst the Tories might want that, it would be very costly for communities in Wales with a legacy of ill-health.

 

“This is the Welsh Conservatives again making up policy on the hoof.  We need to tackle inappropriate use of NHS resources, but half-baked proposals like these made up on a radio phone-in show are clearly not the answer.”

Don't devolve police says Isherwood AM

Speaking at the Welsh Conservative Party Conference at the weekend, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood spoke out against the devolution of policing and emphasised that crime in Wales fell by 9% last year.

 

He said: “The Labour Welsh Government believes that a devolved Criminal Justice system should form part of the long term vision of Welsh Governance – and Plaid Cymru believe there should be a transfer of powers over justice as a whole, including Police, Prosecution, Probation, Prison, and Young Justice.

 

“Welsh Conservatives believe that the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners marked an act of real devolution, empowering local communities to have their say on Policing priorities and to hold an elected representative to account.

 

“We have not seen any evidence which leads us to support the devolution of Policing or Criminal Justice and we are concerned that the devolution of Policing could compromise cross-border working between Police forces. Quite frankly the thought of a Welsh Police Force under the state Socialist control of the First Minister of Blame, Carwyn Jones, or Loony Leanne Wood, absolutely terrifies me.”

 

He added: “Labour and Plaid Cymru have said that UK Police Reforms and Budget Reductions would mean higher crime, but recorded crime is down more than 10% under this UK Government and people’s experience of crime has fallen to its lowest level since the Crime Survey for England and Wales began.

 

“Crime in Wales fell 9% last year, with the biggest drop in Gwent, down 17%, followed by drops of 8% in North Wales, 6% in Dyfed Powys and 5% in South Wales.

 

“However, only this month a Labour AM responded to new figures showing a 10% fall in crime in Wrexham by warning that this fall in crime could be short lived if planned Budget cuts go ahead, even though the budget cuts were implemented from 2010. 

 

“Shadow UK Policing Minister David Hanson has criticised police budget reductions, despite Labour backing equivalent cuts.

 

"Labour planned cuts of around 12%, and Labour’s March 2010 UK budget had included police funding reductions of £545 million by 2014.

 

"But Labour has also supported savings proposed by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate Constabulary (HMIC) and the Police Arbitration Tribunal which essentially match the UK Government’s own plans to make savings from police budgets over this parliament.” 

Pontfadog Oak could be cloned

* The Pontfadog Oak before it fell victim to the weather. 

The BBC North East Wales website is report this evening (Monday) that the 1,200-year-old Pontfadog Oak, which was felled by the recent snow, could be using its DNA.

See the full story at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-22308186

Sunday lunch gets its place in the Sun

llanblogger taste test

* The Sun Inn at Rhewl - now serving Sunday lunches again. 

After lying empty for a time, the historic Sun Inn at Rhewl is once again very much open for business.

And the people now in charge of the centuries-old hostelry not far out of Llangollen have obviously set out to revive its reputation as a great place to go for Sunday lunch.

llanblogger tried it out yesterday and can thoroughly recommend it as the perfect venue for a traditional roast-and-veg meal.

As anyone who has been there will know, it’s not a large establishment and lunches are served in the small front room with atmospheric low ceilings, a massive open fireplace and low, black-painted beams.

There doesn’t seem to be a menu as such but as you pass the small bar-room on the way in and express a wish to eat, a staff member rapidly follows you to one of the four dining tables and tells you what’s on offer by way of Sunday lunch.

Yesterday it was either beef or pork, both of which came with a Yorkshire pudding, roast potato, cauliflower, broccoli and diced carrots, topped off by a very nice gravy.

llanblogger’s party both opted for the roast beef, which was tender and succulent and may even have been locally sourced.

All the veg were obviously fresh and also came well cooked.

Portions were adequate rather than over-facing – which meant there was room left for dessert.

For the llanblogger duo this came in the shape of orange and lemon sponge with custard, and rhubarb crumble and custard – both delicious.

The basic roast dinner is a very reasonable £6.99 and the price of the two desserts plus a tea and a coffee brought the final bill to just £21.80 for two people – not at all bad these days, especially in a place where the surroundings are as agreeable as this.

Apart from the food, the pub also has a worthy selection of real ales on tap, including the Llangollen Brewery range of beers and the re-born Wrexham Lager.

All in all, we’d say that it’s definitely worth aiming for a place in the Sun.