Fire near Llangollen: arrest

A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with a fire at a slate quarry, near Llangollen last night (Sunday, June 29).

 

Detective Constable Andrew Skyner said: “The man, who is from the Merseyside area, was arrested this morning by Merseyside Police officers on behalf of North Wales Police in connection with the fire.

 

"North Wales Fire and Rescue Service alerted police at 9.35pm that a touring caravan and machine were on fire at the Berwyn Slate Quarry.”

 

The man is in custody at this time awaiting questioning.

Major mountain bike event staged in Llan

* llanblogger reader Mike Connolly took this picture of the activity on the hillside.

Many of the UK’s fastest mountain bike racers turned took part in the Shimano British Downhill Round 4 staged in Llangollen over the weekend.

According to Dirt Mountain Bike magazine which covered the event, with many track changes over the weekend, from wet and slick on Saturday to dry, fast and loose on Sunday, riders opted for spikes and flats, with many just wanting to make it down the hillside in one piece.

Read more at http://dirtmountainbike.com/news/shimano-british-downhill-round-4-llangollenresults.html#3JMGqsT1gyr1gHTz.99

Campaigner takes health boss on tour of Llan

A HEALTH chief recently took a see-for-himself tour of Llangollen in response to concerns about its NHS facilities.  

Dr Peter Higson, chair of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, was in the town at the personal invitation of campaigner Martin Crumpton to discuss accessibility to the planned £5 million health centre to be built on land off the A539 in Mill Street where the former River Lodge is currently being demolished.

Mr Crumpton also raised the issue of why Llangollen Cottage had been axed by the health board before the new health centre is ready.

He said the meeting “exceeded his expectations”.

With his wife Anne acting as driver, Mr Crumpton first took Dr Higson on a tour of the Pengwern area of the town, then down Regent Street to the current doctors’ surgery, round to Bishop’s Walk near the site of the new health centre and finally past the cottage hospital in Abbey Road.

Mr Crumpton, who had spent weeks arranging Dr Higson’s visit, said: “Without prompting, he picked up immediately on the steep walk through Pengwern, its `now you see it, now you don’t’ pavement and the relatively ideal location of the GP surgery.

“The length of the journey to the new health centre wasn’t lost on him either. I also showed him the pinch-point at the end of the arduous journey on Mill Street.

“Going past the old hospital, I refuted claims that it’s as decrepit as it’s been made out to be – far from it - and that the cost of refurbishing it would be a minor consideration compared to the cost of constructing the new health centre.

“I made the case that it was crazy to begin construction before Mill Street was sorted out, and that if successful use of it was dependent upon resolving that, then, in turn, it was also crazy to demolish the cottage hospital until it could be proved to be unnecessary.

“I made it clear to him that the town’s single biggest wish is to have our beds returned, but most of all I hope I impressed upon him that any decisions affecting this situation need to be made urgently.”

Mr Crumpton added: “It was well worth the effort and exceeded my expectations. We both came away with more clear pictures than we had before, in his case notably that what he thought was the situation here was, in reality, considerably different.”

Mr Crumpton recently submitted a Freedom of Information request to the health board asking for confirmation of the existence of a covenant restricting the use of the cottage hospital building. However, he received no confirmation of this from the board.

 

He says that during his tour of the town Dr Higson conceded that a covenant exists but added: “He told me the strength and consequence of it was for the legal people to sort out.”

Rain holds off to make Picnic in the Park a hit

 

 * Members of the crowd relax and enjoy the music. 

 

 

* Soloist Karen Davies performs her songs. 

 

* The training band goes through its musical paces.

* The senior band knows the score.

Rain which had threatened during the morning held off long enough for around 100 people to enjoy Llangollen Silver Band playing during a  Picnic in the Garden in the grounds of Plas Newydd on Saturday afternoon in aid of Llangollen Christmas lights.

 

The event was compered by town crier Austin Chemenais and over two and half hours of music began with the youth band presenting a 30-minute programme, including solo performances and ensemble playing.

 

The training band played next before the five-piece Welsh girl band Paradwys provided a 30-minute set, including solos performed on both the harp and keyboards.

 

The girls showcased two of their own compositions as a unit and then a vocal duet, accompanied by the harp, rounded off the set.

 

Special guest artist this year was Llangollen's Karen Davies, an operatic soprano singer.

 

Karen's set included Gershwin's well-loved Summertime and she was accompanied by Owen Roberts on piano.

 

To round off the event the senior band played the final set of the afternoon, which included medleys based on the music of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and Buddy Holly.

 

Conductor Trevor Williams said: "The band was thrilled to be able to organise this event in conjunction with Plas Newydd to assist in raising funds towards something that will be of benefit to Llangollen town residents, businesses and visitors for many years to come.

 

"We wish everyone involved with Llangollen Christmas Lights every success in reaching their target figure."

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.