Railway says fond farewell to famous Black Five loco

* Bowing out - the Black Five locomotive.

Llangollen Railway has arranged a special weekend of train activities to allow steam buffs to say a fond farewell to the Black Five locomotive which is due to leave the Dee Valley line. 

 

After being associated with the Llangollen Railway for 20 years, the engine, No.44806, has been sold to new owners in North Yorkshire and is due to depart later in the month. 

 

George Jones, for Llangollen Railway, said: “No.44806 has been a firm favourite with steam fans throughout its stay with us.

 

"It came to Llangollen in 1993 after a period on static display in a museum, but boiler repair work allowed the engine to return to steam for an active life.

 

"It has been a reliable workhorse and will be much missed when its operation at Llangollen ends with a celebration on Sunday, January 5. 

 

“The class of Black Five locomotives, as developed by the London Midland & Scottish Railway, operated the length and breadth of Britain in British Railways days, although they did not feature on the Ruabon to Barmouth route which was a Great Western line.

 

"It is only in preservation days that the type has been seen at Llangollen and proved equal to the task of hauling trains on the gradient towards Carrog.”  He added: "As part of the farewell weekend the railway is offering an intensive service of trains with two other steam locomotives supporting the Black Five, a diesel locomotive and a rail car offering a variety of travel options, as well as a demonstration freight train.

 

"The Winter Warmer event will appeal to steam buffs and others who may be at a loose end in a period when little else is in operation and looking for a day out as well as a farewell opportunity."

 

* More details at: www.llangollen-railway.co.uk

New housing scheme opens for business

Housing Minister, Carl Sargeant has announced that a new scheme designed to help buyers of new homes and provide a major boost to home builders across Wales is now open for business.

 

The Welsh Government’s £170 million Help to Buy – Wales shared equity loan scheme will make home ownership easier for buyers of new homes who have small cash deposits.

Mr Sargeant said: “This is an important day for housing in Wales. From today many more people in Wales will be able to buy a brand new home thanks to Help to Buy – Wales.

“The recession and a tightening of mortgage lending have meant that buyers who lack a large deposit are finding home ownership is not an affordable option.

“Help to Buy - Wales will address this by helping more people get onto, and move up, the housing ladder.

“In addition to providing a much-needed boost for the Welsh housing market, the scheme will counter the fall in house building activity we have seen across the UK since the financial crisis. 

“This Welsh Government initiative will support the purchase of around 5,000 new homes in Wales during the next two and a half years. It will provide the Welsh housing market with essential momentum and will also create valuable jobs in the construction industry.

“More than fifty builders across Wales are already looking to take part in the scheme and I am delighted that nine of these have already completed the registration process and are ready to offer the first loans to buyers from today.     

"The scheme demonstrates the Welsh Government’s commitment to supporting the housing sector.

“Help to Buy – Wales will lead to increased economic activity and many new jobs in the home building industry, giving a vital boost to the Welsh economy.”

Campaigners challenge leisure centre closure costs

Campaigners fighting to retain two leisure centres say proposals to close them would save only £97,000 a year.

The campaigners met this week to build opposition to Wrexham Council's plan to axe Plas Madoc, which is used by people from Lllangollen, along with the Waterworld leisure centre in Wrexham as part of a cost-saving exercise.

They point out that the proposed savings from closing the two centres and building a smaller pool complex next door to the existing Waterworld site would only save £97,000 a year, according to a report by consultants. 
Alison Roberts, for the campaign, said: "The savings of £886,000 do not account for any demolition or site clearance costs, which are likely to be substantial. I think we need to question the reliability of the repairs and maintenance costs. 

"The huge and disproportionate figure given for Plas Madoc was derived from a conditional survey, based on a visual assessment. We question this and request an independent in-depth assessment to ascertain true and reliable figures. 

"These are well-used leisure facilities that our communities want to maintain. It's vital that the council takes that on board before making any decision."
The council's executive board will vote on January 14 on whether to go ahead with the closure proposal and the campaign is planning to unite local communities in a mass protest on the Saturday before outside Plas Madoc.
Fellow campaigner Darrell Wright said: "We're organising a peaceful but noisy protest for all the community outside Plas Madoc at mid-day on Saturday, January 11 to show how much our leisure centre means to us.

"This is where local children learn to swim and play, where adults can use a gym and other sports facilities and where people can get rehab in the community. Lots of various sports groups meet there and will be left homeless if the council presses ahead with these short-sighted plans .

"We want people to turn up with pots and pans to make some noise as well as wearing their sports gear.
"This has all happened so suddenly just before Christmas and many people we've spoken to while collecting signatures on our petitions were unaware of the threat to close. So we've got to act quickly and make sure everyone puts pressure on the 10 councillors on the executive board to consider the impact on the community before the close these sporting facilities.

"We hope the thousands who are on our Facebook page, the thousands who&n bsp;have already signed our petitions and everyone who is against this foolish plan will turn out on the 11th to show their support.  We will also be lobbying the meeting in the Guildhall on Tuesday, January 14."
* The cost of closing both Waterworld and Plas Madoc is £886,000; the cost of building a smaller Waterworld is £789,000 per year. The figures are taken from the consultants' report - http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/MinutesData/HomesEnvCom/Reports/haed5913s.pdf (page 22 of the consultant's report at the end of the committee report).

All the best for 2014 from llanblogger!

Chirk man gets CBE in New Year's Honours

A scientist from Chirk has been made a CBE in the New Year's Honours List.

For the full story see: http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/new-years-honours-katherine-jenkins-6455539

Body found under bridge near Chirk bypass, says ITV

... Traffic Wales said at 4pm that the A483 is now open in both directions from Ruabon to Halton following the earlier closure due to the accident ... 


The ITV news website is reporting this afternoon (Monday) that the body of a woman has been found beneath a bridge over the A483 Chirk bypass.

According to the story, North Wales Police say the body was discovered at around 1.30pm just north of the Halton roundabout.

The woman has not yet been identified, but her death is being treated as unexplained.

A stretch of the A483 - between the A5 Halton roundabout and the A539 J1 Ruabon - will be closed while investigations are carried out. Diversions are in place, adds the story.

Senior church figure retires

* The Venerable Shirley Griffiths with pupils from Ysgol Dyffryn Iâl in Llandegla.

The most senior woman in the Diocese of St Asaph – the Venerable Shirley Griffiths, Archdeacon of Wrexham – will retire at the end of December.

As Archdeacon, Shirley has carried out work on behalf of the Bishop of St Asaph in Wrexham and in parts of Flintshire, Denbighshire and Gwynedd.  She was the first female Archdeacon in the Diocese of St Asaph.

Shirley has served in the Diocese as a Reader (lay leader), a Deacon and a Priest before becoming Archdeacon in 2010.  Her ministry has spanned 40 years.  She was one of the first three women to become Readers in the Diocese of St Asaph before being made Deacon here in 1982 and then being ordained as a Priest in the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds in 1995.

Reflecting on her time with the Church, Shirley said: “Having started at a time when women couldn’t even take a service in the Church I’m retiring at a time when the Church in Wales has just agreed that women can be Bishops – not that I would ever want to do that, there’s enough hassle as an Archdeacon!

“I’ve got mixed feelings about retirement because I enjoy my work very much and I shall miss visiting parishes, working with clergy and being part of the Bishop’s staff team – although there are some problems I shall be happy to stop dealing with – fortunately the good parts have outweighed the difficult parts.”

Shirley has served as Rector of Llandegla and Vicar of Bryneglwys during her time as Archdeacon of Wrexham and helped to see a new school building for pupils at Ysgol Dyffryn Iâl come to fruition.  She has helped the children to produce a banner for their new facilities and will carry on being creative in her retirement.

She added: “I’m looking forward to taking up needlework again.  I used to teach it many years ago and I have very little time for doing it these days so I look forward to improving my needlework skills.”

The new Archdeacon of Wrexham will be the Revd Prebendary Bob Griffiths who will begin work on New Year’s Day.