Battle begins to combat plant invasion

Preparations are now gathering pace for the launch of Big Dee Day – the Invasion.

The co-ordinated event is appealing to volunteers and organisations to help remove invasive non-native plants and animals, such as Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam and Chinese mitten crab that have colonised the banks of the River Dee.

The public are invited to an information and demonstration day to take place today (Saturday 28 June) at Ty Mawr Country Park in Wrexham from 12.30pm.

There will be displays in the visitors centre and a North Wales Wildlife Trust trailer near the riverbank along with demonstrations showing people the different ways to control invasive non-native species.

The information day will kick-start a series of events that will carry on across the region throughout July.

Events are open to everyone across the area to help tackle alien invaders right across the Dee catchment, from the river’s source in Snowdonia National Park right through Cheshire to its estuary in Liverpool Bay.

These alien species are brought to the UK either accidentally or intentionally and can cause big problems for native wildlife, as well as having other effects such as making river banks more prone to erosion, which can lead to flooding.

If you are interested in getting involved in the campaign, contact:

Dawn Thomas

Dawn.Thomas@debighshire.gov.uk

01824 708234

Free open day a leisure centre tomorrow

Llangollen Leisure Centre is hosting an open day tomorrow (Saturday) when all activities are free to try.

The programme is:

10am-2pm: Bouncy castle

10.15-10.45am: Kettlebells technique/spinning

11-11.30am: Boxercise/barbell training

11.45am-12.15pm: Bootcamp

12.30-1pm: Circuit training

1.15-1.45pm: Bleep test/spinning.

Tomorrow is also the last chance to claim the centre's "Join for £5" deal.

Railway runs fish and chip special to boost Unknown Warrior project

* An artist’s impression of how The Unknown Warrior will look on its launch day in 2018.  

VISITORS to Llangollen Railway are being invited to tuck into fish and chips to help top up the £1.5 million fund to build a new steam engine to mark the end of World War One. 

Specialist engineers at the heritage railway are steaming ahead with the ambitious scheme to create an entirely new locomotive, to be called The Unknown Warrior, by November, 2018 – exactly a century after the guns fell silent on the Western Front at the end of the 1914-18 conflict. 

The aim of the LMS Patriot Project is to commemorate all those who died in the “war to end wars”.

To keep the building project rolling regular cash injections are needed, and the latest fundraiser will the running of a fish and chip special train from Llangollen Station on the evening of Saturday, July 19.  

A steam-hauled dining train called The Patriot Plaice, complete with restored nostalgic 1950s carriages, will make a round trip along the Dee Valley to Carrog. 

At a cost of £17 per person, a meal will be served at your seat just after leaving Llangollen.

Apart from fish and chips, there’s a choice of sausage and chips or vegetable sausage and chips with peas, beans or gravy.

To wash it down there will be real ale, wine and soft drinks available on board the specially chartered train, which departs Llangollen at 6.30pm.

The LMS-Patriot Project was launched by heritage railway enthusiast David Bradshaw with the aim of building a new Patriot class loco, the originals of which ran in the 1920s and 30s. 

This will tour heritage railways across the country and will also be capable of running on the mainline rail network. 

Finance for the project is coming from public donations, legacies, commercial sponsorship and grant applications. 

It has received the endorsement of the Royal British Legion, and the engine will carry a Legion crest above its nameplate.  

Many original LMS drawings have been obtained for the project and, where necessary, draughtsmen are preparing new plans using computer techniques which produce them in 3D. 

Assembly of  The Unknown Warrior began in 2009 led by Dave Owen, chief mechanical engineer of Llangollen Railway Works.  

Other workshops around the UK are making components for the new loco. 

The massive chassis of The Unknown Warrior has now been laid, using heavy gauge steel plate and enormous castings, at a cost of £48,000. 

While some of the components for the engine are new, others are being reclaimed from scrap or bought from private railway collections. 

All places on the Patriot Plaice Special must be pre-booked and reservations should be made not with Llangollen Railway but direct with the LMS-Patriot Project by emailing: office@lms-patriot.org.uk, or by writing to LMS-Patriot Company Ltd, PO Box 3118, Hixon, Stafford ST16 9JL.

Carnival of Nations will be an entertainment extravaganza

* Pathway Dance Group, Zimbabwe.

* Rovesnik Dance Group, Republic of Belarus.

* Loughgiel Dance Group, Northern Ireland.

* Gandini jugglers.

 AN EXTRAGANZA of entertainment from across the globe with the accent firmly on fun will raise the curtain on this year’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

Top class acts including jugglers, acrobats, dancers and a mass samba band all feature in the Carnival of Nations, the traditional opener to the festival in which Wales welcomes the world.

And Eisteddfod Musical Director Eilir Owen Griffiths promises the big event on the evening of Tuesday, July 8 is going to be “an incredible spectacle” which will be perfect prelude to seven days of fantastic entertainment.

He said: “Although this year we’re going to be staging a performance of the musical Sweeney Todd starring Bryn Terfel on the Monday night, the Carnival of Nations the following evening will be the traditional opening ceremony to the Eisteddfod, and it’s going to an incredible spectacle.

“The evening can only be described as an extravaganza and will have a real carnival atmosphere.

“I know that sometimes eisteddfods can take themselves much too seriously but the Carnival of Nations will be a breath of fresh air.

“It will bring a lot of fun and entertainment to the Eisteddfod stage and also be true to our ethos to be truly international.”

The evening’s packed programme begins at 7.30pm with a riot of colour as flags of each of the Eisteddfod’s competing nations are paraded around the Pavilion arena led by Llangollen Silver Band.

Also helping to set the red-hot pace for the night will be a mass samba band comprising young musicians from two local schools, Ysgol Maes Garmon and Ysgol Penycae, led by percussionists from the Eisteddfod’s own orchestra.

Iconic Eisteddfod President Terry Waite will give the opening address warmly welcoming competitors and guests from around the world.

Following the formalities the entertainment then kicks off in style with performances by folk dance groups from China, the Republic of Belarus, Zimbabwe and Northern Ireland, who are all competing at the festival, interspersed with appearances by internat ional circus-style entertainers from China and Europe.

Spelbound, the UK gymnastic troupe which rose to fame after winning the fourth series of Britain’s Got Talent in 2010, was forced to make a last minute withdrawal from the show after a crucial member of the team broke an arm.

But definitely ready to thrill the Carnival of Nations crowds are Canadian-born acrobat Bruce Bilodeau who does some breath-taking gymnastic routines on a big wheel.

A performer since the age of 11, Bruce was part of the internationally acclaimed acrobatic group Cirque du Soleil for 20 years.

More gravity-defying moves will come from the group Chinese Acrobats whose core members have been professionally trained in China from the age of just six.

They have performed across the world and collected many awards in the process.

Stunning feats of juggling will be provided by the Gandini group whose members are recruited from the cream of talent around the world.

Formed in 1992 by renowed juggler Sean Gandini and champion rhythmic gymnast Kati Yla-Hokkala, the group continues to be at the vanguard of contemporary circus.

Also making an appearance will be the Fusion Percussion Ensemble which was formed in 2006 by four of Wales’s top freelance players and has performed at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

Joining this all-star line-up in the Pavilion will be four folk dance groups who will later appear in a host of competitions at the Eisteddfod.

From the Chinese capital are members of the Beijing Haidian Foreign Language Shi Yan School.

Founded in 1999, the group aims to develop students in physical as wel l as intellectual subjects.

It specialises in a variety of dance styles including ballet, Chinese folk dance, traditional Chinese dance, jazz and hip-hop.

From the Republic of Belarus comes the Rovesnik Children’s Dance Ensemble. Created in 1958, it now has more than 500 children aged from four to 17 in its ranks.

Rovesnik performs a wide-ranging repertoire including Belarusian folk dances and dances from around the world and has been showered with honours and awards from competitions in Russia, Turkey, Morocco, China and across Europe.

The Pathway Private Primary School dance group is heading for Llangollen from Chitungwiza in Zimbabwe.

Starting out with just 15 members, the group now has over 50 young dancers ranging in age from six to 11 years.

Pathway has put itself firmly on the map by winning a host of awards both in its home country and abroad.

Group spokesman for Pathway George Tamisai said: “There are 27 members coming over to Wales and the group is so excited to take part in the Carnival of Nations as we will have a chance to showcase our identity as Zimbabweans.

“This is not the first carnival we will perform in as we have recently participated at the Zimbabwean International Carnival in May.

“As for the competition, the dancers cannot wait to perform on a bigger stage and show what they have to offer to the world of performing arts. We are all ecstatic!”

From nearer to home comes the Loughgiel School of Irish Dancing based in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Formed 35 years ago, the Ballymoney-based group currently has around 120 pupils and has also won a trophy cabinet full of awards from competitions across Ireland. It recently made history by taking the first three places in the Ulster Championships held in Letterkenny.

One of the group leaders Denise Dobbins said: “We have been coming to Llangollen since 1993 and have made many friends there over the years.

“There’s nowhere quite like the Llangollen Eisteddfod, so we are all looking forward to coming back to perform in the Carnival of Nations and to take part in the competitions.”

Denise, who herself began as a dancer with Loughgiel back in 1978 and progressed to becoming one of its teachers, added: “We will have around 40 people actually dancing who range in age from eight to 25.”

This year's Eisteddfod will also feature concerts by Dutch jazz sensation Caro Emerald and veteran British rockers Status Quo as well as a world premiere of a new work, Adiemus Colores, by top composer Karl Jenkins.

He will conduct his Latin American themed work with American tenor Noah Stewart, Venezuelan trumpeter Pacho Flores and Latvian accordion player Ksenija Sidorova to the accompaniment of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod Orchestra.

The Choir of the World competition for the Pavarotti Trophy on the Saturday night is the blue riband event of the week-long festival.

To book tickets and for more details about Llangollen International Eisteddfod go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

Warning over 10% rise in council tax

A Llangollen county councillor says Denbighshire residents could be facing a 10% rise in council tax as the result of a much worse financial settlement from the Welsh Government than expected.

Cllr Stuart Davies has issued the grim forecast in the wake of an announcement yesterday (Tuesday) by the county council on the latest financial outlook.

The council expressed its concern about the likelihood of a "substantially worse" financial settlement for the county for 2015/6 than had previously been indicated.

Cllr Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance and Assets, said: "We have been working very pro-ctively as a county on developing our budget strategy for 2015/6 and beyond, to ensure that we are not having to take knee jerk reactions late in the year.

"We have developed a new system for providing our councillors with choices over where we make our reductions in budget and are working our way through detailed discussions on each and every one of our service areas.

"As Welsh local authorities, we have been given from Welsh Government an indicative budget reduction at an average of -1.6% and this is what we have been working to deliver.

"We are now very concerned that the Welsh Government may be considering a significantly greater reduction in the local government budget next year.

"This would equate to a potential additional £3 million over and above the £6m of cuts we are already planning for.

"What we need from the Minister is a clear statement as to exactly how bad the settlement is going to be so that we can make our plans accordingly.

"As an authority our councillors want and need to make decisions well in advance of the final announcement of the budget in November otherwise we will not have sufficient time to ensure proposals are properly thought through and indeed many will require a substantial lead in time to deliver and these decisions simply cannot be made with only a couple of months notice.

"I am also highly concerned that Welsh Government may be looking for councils to protect spend in areas which are not statutory. In these very difficult times it is vital that local councils have as much flexibility as possible to determine at a local level, taking into account local priorities, how we structure our own budgets. The more areas which are externally protected the worse the impact on remaining services. In a similar vein we would be calling on the Minister to assure local government that the established principle that there will be no new requirements imposed on councils without the requisite funding being allocated will remain in force.

"In all of this, Welsh Government need to be clear that whilst we will at all times seek to preserve front line services for the residents of Denbighshire, the impact of these cuts will undoubtedly have a significant impact on our ability to maintain services and we would welcome the Minister giving us the assurance that they will not be making any punitive reductions in local government funding. We do appreciate that they have the perfect right to transfer funds from local councils to the NHS.

"I would reiterate what is needed from Ministers is a clear and transparent announcement as to what reductions in budget will be required from councils, in order that we can plan in good time and we do not need to be hamstrung by having large areas of budget protected restricting our choices unnecessarily. This is only the same consistency of approach adopted in other regions of the UK where 3 year budgeting for local councils has been the norm for some years, this should be the case here in Wales to allow us to forward plan effectively."

Cllr Stuart Davies said: "This is devastating news for residents.

"The way the funding works means that £300k is equivalent to 1% on council tax. This news means that, if we have to find an extra £3 million on top of the cut that we were threatened with, we could be potentially looking at a 10% rise in council tax, all due to the stupidity of the Ministers.

"They are presiding over a failing NHS and are allegedly taking money off local government to pay for their mistakes with the NHS.

"I had the unedifying sight last week of the former Minister for Health, Lesley Griffiths, pontificating about councils merging when she couldn't get it right at health and is now going to make a mess of local government.

"This makes my job almost impossible. Next Monday I will be participating in the budget process where I will be asked to make swinging cuts in our services or put council tax up."

Bill Liar sought by Limelight

The 1960s play Billy Liar will be staged at Llangollen Town Hall from Thursday-Saturday, September 18-20 by award-winning Limelight Productions.

The production will be directed by local playwright, author and actor Peter Read.

The theatre company is building up a good following and a strong reputation for its high quality productions.

In the last year they have wowed Llangollen audiences with their staging of Godspell, Musicals In The LimeLight, Festive Follies, Dixie or Me, Dylan's Final Journey and, most recently, Jekyll & Hyde.

However, due to illness the lead part of Billy has become available, so Limelight is urgently seeking a good male actor to play this very funny part.

Rehearsal will take place in Wrexham, and the person being sought is male aged 20-35 with good acting ability.

* Anyone interested should contact LimeLight on 01978 351315/07504031029, or email: limelightwrexham@googlemail.com

Large section of River Lodge is demolished

Latest pictures by llanblogger and reader Mike Connolly show that the demolition of the former River Lodge is pressing rapidly ahead.

Most of the roof tiles have now been removed and a large section at the front of the building was being knocked down this afternoon (Tuesday) by contractors.

The former hoel is being cleared to make way for the town's new £5 million health centre.

* A large section at the front of the building is demolished by contractors' machinery.

* This picture by reader Mike Connolly shows that a significant

section of the building has now disappeared.