Choc and fudge sausages to premiere at food festival

 

* Arran, his dad John and his older brother Jonathan with the sausages.

 

A new range of sausages made with chocolate and fudge will be launched a top food festival.

 

The special bangers are being developed by young farmer and trainee butcher Arran Davies and his butchery mentor Brin Kelly at Abbey Farm, just outside Llangollen.

 

Their meat counter at Abbey Farm Shop, which also supplies local hotels and restaurants, is just up the road from where the Hamper Llangollen food festival will be staged on Saturday and Sunday October 18-19.

 

Now recognised as one of the UK's top 10 food festivals, Hamper Llangollen is supported by rural development agency Cadwyn Clwyd.

 

Cadwyn Clwyd’s contribution comes via the Rural Development Fund for Wales 2007-2013, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Welsh Government.

 

The event at the Royal Pavilion sees a wide range of food and drink exhibitors along with demonstrations by top chefs, plus a Rail and Ale evening excursion on board a steam train with Llangollen Railway.

 

Arran, 27, is the third generation to work on Abbey Farm, next to the historic Valle Crucis Abbey, which has been in the family since the 1930s.

 

The secret recipe for the sausages, which also use pork from pigs raised on the family farm, is still being tweaked, admitted Arran.

 

“It’s a recipe that Brin has previously made, though he used cocoa powder then. This time we are using chocolate chunks – there will be dark chocolate and milk chocolate versions, plus a fudge one, which we think caramelises the sausage as it cooks, so it’s a sweeter taste.

                                     

“Our customers at the farm shop are going to be asked to sample it over the coming weeks until we get the recipe just right,” said Arran.

 

“I am learning the ropes from Brin – he is a traditional butcher and I am like an old-style apprentice, learning at first hand-hand. I split my time between working in the Farm Shop with Brin and working on the farm with my older brother Jonathan, 30, and my dad John. My younger brother Billy, who is 23, also works on the farm, though he also does contract work elsewhere.

 

“I’ve been worked on the farm since I left school, like my dad, who worked with his dad,” added Arran, who admits that he prefers the more traditional style sausages he also makes for the farm shop.

 

Brin, from Penycae, used to run his own shop in Coedpoeth until he moved to take over at the Abbey Farm Shop butchery three years ago.

 

“I have previously made chocolate sausages and thought they would be ideal for our stand at Hamper Llangollen - in past years we discovered that visitors like to try something a bit exotic, something they can’t buy every day. These sausages will be savoury but with a sweet edge, especially the fudge ones.

 

“We will also be doing a pig roast at Hamper Llangollen, as pulled pork is so popular these days,” said Brin.

 

Arran’s dad John Davies is the one who helps select the porkers to be raised at the 500-acre Abbey Farm. He also rears beef cattle plus runs two caravan parks.

 

“I buy the pigs in as weaners to fatten up, I like a mix of traditional breeds such as Gloucester Old Spot, and the modern varieties, which are much leaner, and crossed with the Welsh White.

 

"One of my earliest memories of my dad is him cutting a slice of bacon from a flitch hanging down in the kitchen, to cook for his breakfast.

 

“He was a big Shire horse man, always preferred horses to tractors, and he won a lot of prizes with them. The stables, where he kept the horses, are where the Farm Shop, Tea Rooms and Bistro are now. I like to think he would have pleased to see what we have done with the farm, which he took on as a young man just after the depression.”

 

A quartet of Wales’s best chefs will have a starring role at the festival. Graham Tinsley, executive chef at Carden Park in Cheshire and Conwy’s Castle Hotel, will be cooking up a Welsh feast with Mike Evans, hospitality lecturer at Coleg Llandrillo, Rhos on Sea, and Dion Jones, one of Europe’s finest young chefs.

 

The ever popular Dai Chef, now the resident chef at Bodnant Welsh Food, the centre of excellence for Welsh food in the Conwy Valley will be there too.

Robert Didier, a baker who trained with culinary legend Raymond Blanc will also unveil the UK’s most expensive loaf – made with champagne and 24 carat gold, at the event.

 

Cadwyn Clwyd agri-food project officer Rob Price said: “Hamper Llangollen is a prime example of how Cadwyn Clwyd is helping to stimulate the local economy. The event will bring a large amount of people – and extra money - into the area, whether they are visiting for the day or staying the weekend

 

"There’s been a lot of interest in stands at the festival, both from established companies who have been many times before, and from new food and drink producers.

 

“There will be many new products on offer  -such as Arran and Brin’s chocolate and fudge sausages – as well as more traditional foods, so there will be something for everybody.”

 

More on Hamper Llangollen at www.llangollenfoodfestival.com.

County's leisure strategy goes under microscope

Denbighshire County Council's efforts to successfully transform its leisure provision was under the spotlight at a prestigious conference  staged by the Welsh Government at Llangollen Pavilion this week.

The Council's leisure services has been transformed over recent years from a failing service into a sector leading  service.

The Council was asked to host the Welsh Government Conference on Leisure Services for Physical Activity. Leader of Denbighshire , Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, addressed the conference. The Welsh Government also commissioned an independent view of Denbighshire Leisure by a specialist in the leisure sector.

Councillor Evans, said: "We were  delighted that the Welsh Government approached us to host this prestigious conference in our county, with a focus on our journey of improvement. We have a story to tell and we want to share our experiences.

"It is safe to say that leisure was seen as a struggling service in the past.  We have come a long way from those dark days when our leisure centres were not operated efficiently. Indeed, they lacked a clear vision and commitment to improving the offer.

"Over recent years, we have become a lot more business focused, listening to the needs of our customers and bringing them back to the fold through offering a far more attractive programme of activities.  

"We have recognised the need to be far more competitive,  understanding the market a lot better and generally being a lot more customer-focussed.   The culture and ethos of the service have also changed. Effective communication has been key, and we have now implemented a management structure that is fit for purpose and makes the best use of expertise and resources we have in the service.

"Our leisure centres have become virtually self-sufficient and we are now in a position where people are turning to us to hear about our experiences, to learn from what we have been through, how we have transformed leisure and to hear our future plans.

Jamie Groves, Denbighshire's Head of Communication, Marketing and Leisure, said: "Leisure is now very much a corporate service with strong working relationships with colleagues in education, health and social care.  Leisure is also increasingly becoming an important element of the Council's economic and regeneration ambitions.

"We are bucking the trend nationally when it comes to investment. You only need to pick up a newspaper or listen to the television news bulletins and often the headlines involve the threat of closing  leisure centres somewhere in the UK.  In Denbighshire, we are actually investing in our leisure facilities and a number of our key leisure centres has been significant investment over recent years. At Denbigh Leisure Centre, where we have carried out a major refurbishment  -  the demand for activities has grown so much that we are having to carry out further work to meet that increasing demand.

"Our ambition for developing the leisure offer along the coast has been well -publicised. We have a clear vision - to develop first class leisure facilities  that will have long term benefits to the health and well-being of residents, but will also be a major contributory factor in enhancing the local economy. We want our future leisure developments along the coast to be a catalyst for further inward investment and we are currently assessing proposals that have been submitted to re-vamp our leisure offer, so watch this space.

"Of course there is more that we can do to develop leisure in the future and we will not become complacent.  We think we are in the right place to further develop our leisure vision, for the benefit of our residents."

Ambulance death sparks call to re-open Cottage Hospital

* A call has been made to re-open the Cottage Hospital

following an ambulance death in Swansea.

NEWS of claims that a woman in her 70s died while waiting in a queue of ambulances outside Morriston Hospital, Swansea, have sparked a plea by a health campaigner to re-open cottage hospitals including the one in Llangollen.

Martin Crumpton launched a campaign to save the town’s Victorian community hospital from closure last year.

But his demands were ignored by the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which ran it, as they pressed ahead with a £5 million scheme to build a new health centre further along the A539 on the site of the demolished River Lodge in Mill Street.  

In the wake of the death of Sonia Powell from a suspected heart attack in an ambulance outside the Swansea hospital, Mr Crumpton has written to a list of senior health board figures calling for cottage hospitals, including the Llangollen building, to be brought back into use.

He says: “It’s finally happened, as you’ve all heard on the news – a needless, avoidable death caused directly by bed shortage.

“Each and every one of you knows it will happen in your area, on your watch, and there’s no defence that you’ve weren’t warned.

“Starting with Llangollen, please reopen the cottage hospitals. It is the only decent thing left to do so I urge you to convene an emergency, extraordinary board meeting and make the appropriate announcement.

 

“I’m sure the public will give you a grace period if they can see their message has got through.”

 

Mr Crumpton adds: “I’ve seen the queues. I’ve spoken to the crews. It’s only a matter of time now, and it’s regrettable in the extreme that you’ll carry the blame for your predecessors’ disastrous decisions.

 

“If nothing else, the poor, grieving family may draw some degree of comfort that their loss wasn’t entirely pointless.”

Flu jabs on offer at Llan Health Centre

Flu vaccination clinics will be held at Llangollen Health Centre on Saturday 4 October from 9.00am, Wednesday 15 October from 5.15pm and Thursday 13 November from 5.15pm.

 

You qualify for a flu vaccination on the NHS if you:

* Are 65 years of age or over

 

* Have a chronic disease such as heart, renal, liver, neurological or respiratory disease

 

* Have diabetes

 

* Have had a stroke or TIA

 

* Are in receipt of a carer’s allowance  or  are the carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill

 

* Are pregnant

 

* Are a community first responder

 

* Are a member of a recognised voluntary organisation  which provides planned emergency first aid at organised public events.

 

To book your appointment please ring the Health Centre on 01978 860625.

Tapas and Prosecco evening raises £1,200 for church

* Guests enjoy the fundraising evening.

The Tapas and Prosecco night at St Collen's Community Hall last Saturday was a great success, raising around £1,200 towards the cost of facilities at Llangollen's Welsh language church, St John's in Abbey Road.

The Rev Andrew Sully, Vicar of St Collen's who organised the evening, has expressed his thanks to all who supported the event and in particular to Crawford Davies who did the cooking and his mum, Sue Cheshire, who was his very able sous chef.

* A Peace One Day Service will be held at 3pm on Sunday, September 21, in St John’s Church, followed by tea in the Peace Garden.

Chain Bridge talk planned for Monday

Chain Bridge @chainbridge2014 has just tweeted that Dr David Gwyn will be giving a talk on the subject of Llangollen's Chain Bridge within a wider World Heritage Site setting at Llangollen Town Hall next Monday, starting at 7pm.

Stand-up comedy returns to Pavilion

Llangollen Pavilion plays host to a night of stand-up comedy this Friday, September 19.

Following sell-out shows earlier in the year, Llangollen Comedy Club returns to the venue after its summer break with a line-up of acts fresh from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Opening the show will be Irish comedian Andrew Ryan (below left). Having made his comedy debut in 2008, he has since performed two shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and boasts TV appearances on BBC Three's Russell Howard's Good News and Edinburgh Comedy Fest Live 2014.

North West favourite Mick Ferry (right) will be headlining the show.

One of the most sought after comics on the circuit, Mick was voted Best Live UK Stand Up 2013 at the UK Comedy Awards.

Alongside appearances on BBC One's Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, he has written for John Bishop's Britain and supported the likes of Sean Lock, Peter Kay and Al Murray on tour. 

As well as performing his solo show in Edinburgh this August, Mick starred alongside Phil Ellis in the critically acclaimed 'Funz and Gamez', which won the coveted Panel Prize in the 2014 Fosters Comedy Awards.

Introducing the acts will be regular host, Silky, who will also present some up-and-coming talent from the comedy circuit in the middle section of the show.

Event organiser Paul Brown says: "We've been overwhelmed by the response to Llangollen Comedy Club since we launched back in January, with several sell-out shows. All of the acts have commented on how fantastic the Llangollen audience are.

 

"This month's show is another cracking line up. I'd encourage anyone who has never been to a gig like this to come along and experience live comedy for themselves - it really is a brilliant night out."

Doors open at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8pm. Tickets, priced £9, are available from Llangollen Pavilion and Gales of Llangollen or online at www.llancomedy.co.uk.