New steam engine previews at Llan Railway

* The Unknown Warrior with smokebox fitted.

 

Visitors to Llangollen Railway's Remembrance weekend will be able to view progress on the exciting project to built an example of the Patriot class of express locomotive to commemorate the sacrifice of World War One.

To be known as The Unknown Warrior, the basic frames of the locomotive have been erected in the heritage railway's own engineering workshop and, with additional parts made and fitted, the locomotive is beginning to take shape.

When the main driving wheels are added in a few weeks time, it will be recognisable as an example of the Patriot class built by the London Midland & Scottish Railway in the 1930s.

Visitors taking part in escorted tours of the work shops next weekend will be able to see the fitted out frames with the smokebox attached to the front end.

The intention is to have the locomotive completed in time for the centenary of the Armistice in 2018 when it will be presented as the National Memorial Engine.

The largest item still required to complete the project is the boiler and an appeal to raise £400,000 this will cost is being promoted by the LMS-Patriot Project.

Details of the project will be on show at Llangollen station throughout the weekend as an appropriate theme to the annual Remembrance commemoration.

During the weekend Llangollen Railway will be operating steam train services departing Llangollen at 11am, 1pm and 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

Members of the Royal British Legion and Army Cadet Force will be on hand to promote the annual Poppy Appeal and the steam locomotive hauling the train will be wearing a Remembrance headboard.

Andrew Laws, from The LMS-Patriot Project, said: "Visitors to the Llangollen Railway Remembrance weekend will be able to see how the new build project has forged ahead.

"The latest progress on the Unknown Warrior can be seen inside the Llangollen Railway Works, as guided tours are being organised by volunteers from The LMS-Patriot Project. 

 

"The prospect is that a really impressive piece of engineering will be on display later in November when the rolling chassis of the new Patriot is taken for display at the NEC, Birmingham, during the Warley National Model Railway exhibition on November 23/24."

 

As part of the weekend's activities, on the Saturday evening the LMS-Patriot Project will be running a special steam-hauled fish n chip fundraising special.

 

This will leave Llangollen station at 6.30pm with one round trip to Carro.. Fish and chips will be served shortly after departure from Llangollen.

 

A booking form is available to download from:www.lms-patriot.org.uk/FishnChipNov2013.pdf

Take extra care with bonfire night, says ambulance chief

THE Welsh Ambulance Service is urging people to take extra care during Bonfire Night celebrations.

Every year, the service is called to deal with firework and bonfire-related injuries through improper handling of fireworks and people taking unnecessary risks.

The Trust is asking revellers to keep a sensible head in the run-up to November 5.

 

 Mike Collins, Interim Director of Service Delivery at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “It is easy to forget how dangerous fireworks, bonfires and even sparklers can be.

“Calls we dealt with last year ranged from minor burns to life-changing injuries as a result of a fireworks display gone wrong, and a lot of these injuries could have been avoided. 

“We want people to enjoy themselves on Bonfire Night, but it is important to remember that fireworks can be potentially lethal if used improperly.

“If you can’t go to a professionally-organised public display and are planning to host your own event, please make safety a priority to ensure everyone has a good time without getting hurt.”

People hosting their own event are reminded that fireworks should be kept in a closed box and used one at a time to avoid any accidents.

Follow the instructions on each firework, using a torch if necessary, and light at arm’s length wearing goggles and protective clothing. Never return to a firework once it has been lit.

Children should wear gloves with sparklers, and never wave it near someone’s face. When the sparkler has finished, put it into a bucket of cold water straight away and leave it there.

Mike added: “Bonfire Night is a demanding time of year for the Welsh Ambulance Service, and makes it difficult for crews to get to other non firework-related incidents.

“Help reduce the number of calls we get about firework-related injuries to zero, and play your part in freeing up valuable resources to help others who may be suffering a life-threatening medical emergency.”

Click the below to learn more about firework safety and find an organised display in your area:

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service: www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk

Notice from wholefood co-operative

llanblogger has received the following notice on behalf of Llangollen Wholefood Co-operative:

"After 6 years of trading the Llangollen Wholefood Co-operative closed its doors on Thursday 31st October. 

"The members of the Co-op would like to thank all the customers who have supported them. 

“We have received so many positive comments in our last few weeks of trade,” said Catherine Veasey. 

"There are now only the last few lines left to sell.  The shop will be opening its doors for one last morning of trade on Saturday 2nd November 10am –1pm with 20% off all remaining stock."

Welsh Government offered some income tax control

The Welsh Government will be offered some control over income tax subject to a referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron has said this morning.

See the full story on the BBC news website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-24763988

Wales's Finance Minister Jane Hutt has welcomed the UK Government's announcement.

 

She said: "This is excellent news for Wales, and a significant milestone in our story of devolution.  It gives the National Assembly and the Welsh Government new responsibilities and significant opportunities to boost jobs and support the Welsh economy.

 

"These changes mean that, in the next few years, Wales will be in a position to tackle the improvements required for the M4, and to shape its own taxes, including the much needed reform of Stamp Duty Land Tax.  A future Assembly will also be able to call a referendum on the devolution of rate-varying powers for income tax."

While the details are to follow, the UK Government has committed to legislate for the new powers within the lifetime of the current UK Parliament.

Councillor acts on smoke incident

* One of Cllr Phil Thane's pictures of the smoke over Llangollen.

A Llangollen councillor made a formal complaint to the county council after smoke billowed across part of the town on Thursday morning.

Cllr Phil Thane, a member of the town council, took several pictures of the incident which he says led to smoke “filling the valley” at one stage.

And he passed on the details of it to the Denbighshire’s pollution and public health team.

Later in the day, a council officer replied to Cllr Thane, saying the source of the smoke had been contacted and warned about such burning.

Twenty Club cancels Rebecca

The Twenty Club has had to cancel its production of Rebecca, due to have been staged at Llangollen Town Hall next week.

A group spokesman said tonight (Wednesday): "With sadness, due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to cancel our production of Rebecca' originally scheduled to take place next week.

"This is the first time that this has happened in the club's 67-year history and needless to say everyone involved is hugely disappointed.

"We apologise to anyone who had made plans to come and see the production and hope that no inconvenience has been caused.

"On a more positive note, we are able to announce the March 2014 production.

"In order to mark the centenary of World War 1 we will be staging The Accrington Pals by Peter Whelan. We hope you will all be able to attend."

North Wales ambulance response target missed again

Figures released today show that the all-Wales Welsh Ambulance response time target been missed for September.

 

The eight-minute target has not been met since May 2012.

 

The Welsh Government’s target is for 65% of ambulances to respond to Category A (immediately life-threatening) calls within eight minutes, yet figures for September show that only 62.9% of ambulances arrived within that time.

 

In England and Scotland the target for the same priority call is 75%.

 

Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, commented: “Despite the best efforts of the hard working front line paramedics, another month goes by and yet another health target missed by Welsh Labour.

 

“It is bad enough that people i n Wales have to put up with a government that is less ambitious than those in England and Scotland, but for those unambitious targets to not be met just compounds that misery.

 

“Labour MP Ann Clwyd is right when she says Wales is behind England in every instance. The First Minister and his Health Minister need to stop burying their heads in the sand and start delivering the health service the people of Wales deserve.”

A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “September was a busy month for us, with the service taking 33,677 emergency calls, with more than a third of these - 13,200 calls - being of the most serious in nature.

“We have introduced a number of measures to improve our responsiveness and it is encouraging to see that we are now showing signs of continuous improvement.

“We would like to reassure the public that the Trust is firmly committed to delivering the improvement aims of its ‘Working Together for Success’ modernisation programme to provide the best quality of care for the people of Wales.

“We invite the public to support NHS Wales’ Choose Well campaign, so that busy emergency services are available to those who need them most urgently. For non-emergencies, please consider calling NHS Direct Wales on 0845 46 47 or visiting www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk for free, confidential health advice.

“We ask the public only to dial 999 for life-threatening and serious illnesses and injuries – let’s keep emergency ambulances for emergencies.”

 

The statistics can be found at:

 

http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/health2013/ambulance-services-september-2013/?lang=en