Medals stolen in Llan burglary

Police are appealing for information to trace war medals stolen during a burglary in Llangollen.

 

The incident occurred overnight between Sunday December 1  and 11.30am  Monday  December 2, when thieves broke into a house in  Brook Stree.

 

The medals are described as The African Star, The Italian Star and a 1939 -1945 campaign medal all in the name of John Knox.

 

A long service firefighter’s medal and a Jubilee medal in the name of John Graham Knox were also stolen.

 

Anyone who is offered these medals for sale or has any information about the theft is asked to call North Wales Police on 101. Crime reference P197003.

Police warning over suspicious vehicles

North Wales Police are appealing for information following two reports of suspicious vehicles stopping members of the public and asking them if they wished to by chainsaws, pressure washers and tools.

The males are reported to have been driving a black Transit van and also a plain silver Renault van.

They have been described as wearing black clothes, thinning light coloured hair and aged approximately 30’s.

Another male has been described as being well built and wearing glasses.   

The incidents occurred sometime between 15:20 and 15:40 on the November 29.

Police say they are urging people living in the areas Pengwern Estate, near Erw Deg, and Dinbren Road, Llangollen, to be cautious of these males and also to lock away their property.   

If you noticed anything suspicious, or have any information relating to this incident, contact North Wales Police by dialling 101 quoting reference P194720 or P194865.

Alternatively, you can provide information anonymously by calling Crime-stoppers Wales on 0800 555 111.

North Wales Police would like to urge residents to always report suspicious activity to them at the earliest opportunity.

Santa Specials get under way at Llan Railway

 

 * Santa and two of his Elves at Lapland.

 

 

* The loco crew with engine No.3802 ready for the 11.55am departure.

 

Saturday saw the start of the season of Santa Special Steam trains at Llangollen.

 

Santa and his elves were busy on the trains and the station greeting the family groups who were booked on the first specials of the festive season.

 

With four trains a day on each of the weekends, and a daily service from Friday, December 20 through to Christmas Eve, a total of 44 Santa Specials are scheduled to operate along the Dee Valley to Lapland at Carrog.

 

During the journey each child receives a special gift from Santa and the adults receive mulled wine and mince pies.

At Carrog, where a special delivery of snow has already arrived, family groups are invited to have their photograph taken with Santa on his sleigh beneath the Lapland station sign.

 

Back at Llangollen there is the opportunity to visit the special grotto coach where a traditional street scene is set out to enjoy.

 

Santa bookings are proving very popular as always and advance booking is necessary on the Santa Special website at www.llangollen-railway.co.uk.

Fatal incident near Ruthin

North Wales Police have this afternoon issued a statement about a fatal incident not too far away from Llangollen.

It reads: "At 12.10pm on Saturday, November 30, police were alerted by the Ambulance Service that a cyclist is believed to have come off his bike on Lon Cae Glas, a country lane in Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd, Ruthin.

"The Ambulance, Air Ambulance and police attended the location and the man, who is believed to be from the Stockport area, was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Inquiries are currently continuing to establish the full circumstances of the incident.

"Anyone with information is urged to contact North Wales Police on 101 quoting ref no P195897."
 

County's quest for extra parking spaces in Llan

County council officers are looking at a plan to create extra spaces for vehicles by removing some of the recycling bins from the Market Street car park.

The idea was revealed to members of Llangollen Town Council by local county councillor Stuart Davies at their monthly meeting on Tuesday evening.

Cllr Davies regularly attends town council meetings to give updates on matters of relevance going on at county level.

Looking at the issue of local parking, which is controlled by the county council, he said the aim was to double the present number of spaces available in the town from 400 to 800 in the next two years.

County officers, he explained, were investigating a number of ways of achieving this, including creating more spaces at Market Street.

“Our officers have been looking at the situation with the recycling bins there and at times some of these are either empty or only a quarter full,” he told members.

“If we took away, say, half of the bins it would mean we could free up more car parking spaces.

“It we can free up 10 spaces that means the extra revenue would amount to about £6,000 based on each space bringing in from £450 to £600 a year.

“We could then possibly get matched funding from the Welsh Government to do things with locally.”

The Mayor, Cllr Bob Lube, said that although around 75 extra parking spaces would be created at the planned new health centre, he feared that because the Welsh NHS was not allowed to charge for parking these would be “pinched” by people who were not patients or staff.

Cllr Davies replied that county council officers were looking into this situation with a view to finding a solution.

* Cllr Davies also gave a short summary of the county council’s current financial situation.

He explained that Denbighshire was looking to make a cut of just over eight per cent in its budget, which had been brought about by the county not having as large a population as had been thought, and was consequently losing about £2 million of government support.

Cllr Davies also revealed how it had been suggested that because of the financial situation community councils such as Llangollen Town Council might be asked to take on responsibility for providing more services than at present.

He said: “Llangollen Town Council pays for things like CCTV, Christmas lights and flowers out of its precept (part of the council tax apportioned to community councils) but there are some towns elsewhere in the county that don’t do that, so we might be asking community councils to take on more services in the future.”

Asked by Cllr Tony Baker about the provision of low-cost housing in Llangollen, Cllr Davies said county officers were currently looking at potential sites where these might be built.

He added that among the sites being investigated “in and around town” was one with garages on it.

He also spoke of his concerns that not enough people were putting down their names on the affordable housing register, which is administered by the Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd organisation in Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham.

More details on how register, he said, can be found on the Cymdeithas website at: http://www.taiclwyd.com/find-a-home/take-the-first-steps-to-affordable-home-ownership/

Christmas Festival brings out the crowds

Hundreds of people thronged the town centre today for the annual Christmas Festival.

llanblogger brings you the following pictures kindly supplied by Linda and Phil Thane.

Return to Forbidden Planet is rocket-powered hit

A rockin’ spaceship crew gave a toe-tapping audience a tuneful trip from Llangollen to another galaxy last night.

The newly-formed Llangollen Musical Theatre Group is currently staging its version of jukebox musical Return to the Forbidden Planet at the International Pavilion.

And the Friday night performance was a pretty rocket-propelled affair.

The plot of the piece is about as thin as the atmosphere on Mars and hinges on the spacecraft SS Albatross being unexpectedly marooned by a storm of asteroids on the planet Dillyria.

There the crew meets up with mad scientist Doctor Prospero and his pretty young daughter Miranda for whose affections there is intense competition between the Albatross’s upstanding skipper, Captain Tempest, and resident chef, Cookie.

… I think.

Still, the plot hardly matters as the funky spaceship is just a vehicle for presenting a whole solar system of amazing tunes.

There are over 30 of them, ranging from the deeply soulful It’s a Man’s World to the poppy Teenager in Love and from the plaintive Go Now to the iconic rocker Great Balls of Fire.

Every one of them was a stonking hit and you could see the 10-strong cast were having as much fun belting them out as the audience was in hearing them.

Of course, they couldn’t have managed it without the services of an excellent nine-strong band equipped with everything from keyboards to saxophones.

Every one of the cast put their heart and soul into their parts and the profusion of musical numbers.

Justine Bradley made a sassy Gloria, the spaceship’s science officer, while Nico Decourt was a  loveable robot named Ariel.

Cookie the cook was powerfully portrayed Stuart Dillon and wasn’t fazed at all when his electric guitar failed to fire up at one point in the action.

He simply busked it by singing the rest of the segment and there was nice touch right at the end of the show when he was allowed to do it all again, this time with a fully serviceable instrument.

Geth Foulkes made a splendid Captain Tempest who sucks on a pipe – luckily minus tobacco - throughout the production to help create the right commanding presence.

Lucas Howson played Bosun Arras to perfection and one of the most powerful voices in the show came from consummate rocker Bill Hughes.

Jo Potts made a great Miranda who goes from plain little girl to high-heeled vamp in an Act Two costume and character transformation.

Linking the action and providing some powerful musical back-up were Jillian Handley and Leonie Kirby as the Damage Control Crew members and Tracey Rawlinson as the Navigation Officer.

Return to the Forbidden Planet was a credit to director Paul Brown, musical director Nigel James and producer Katherine Brown.

Sets – especially the electronic bits – were brilliantly masterminded by a team headed by Josie Ashcroft, who also had a creative hand in the eye-catching costumes.

The show’s on again tonight (Saturday, November 30) and I understand there may be a few tickets left.