Railway favourite goes in for major "surgery"

* The engine in action at Llangollen on a previous wintry occasion.

Llangollen Railway’s flagship engine, No.7822, Foxcote Manor, built in 1950, won’t be hauling this season’s Santa Special trains.

It is in the Locomotive Works having what is akin to major heart surgery to repair its boiler.

Although the engine received a ten year major overhaul in 2011, costing in excess of £100k, the owners, Foxcote Manor Society, have been hit with a need to spend a similar, unplanned, amount two years later in 2013/14.

This followed the discovery of a crack in the throat plate ahead of the firebox which required the damaged area to be cut out.
 

* Llangollen Railway engineering
apprentice
Luke Denoven with the new throat plate,
the area of the firebox where
the plate is to be fitted.

The work, as well as being complex and expensive, has meant a new challenge for the Llangollen Railway's workshop’s engineers in fabricating a new plate as a one off item.

It has been successfully completed and is currently waiting to be fitted.

In addition, the boiler must now have all 127 small tubes renewed, and the twelve large tubes, before steam testing will follow to allow the locomotive to operate again in early 2015. The new tubes are costing over £14,000 and the Foxcote Manor Society is appealing for donations to help with this unexpected repair to a popular engine.

Neil Evans, chairman of the Foxcote Manor Society, said, “This is a classic example of the challenge steam locomotive owners face in keeping their historic machines in operational order.

 

"The cost of this repair is a big expense for the members of Foxcote Manor Society. Small tubes cost £50 apiece and those wishing to see this popular engine back in action at Llangollen may help by making a donation.”

For details visit: WWW.FOXCOTEMANORSOCIETY.CO.UK

Support Small Business Saturday says Cittaslow

llanblogger has received the following statement from Mike Edwards on behalf of Cittaslow Llangollen about a special event this weekend:

"Through your blog on behalf of Cittaslow I would like to call on all Llangollen and Dee Valley residents to fully support Small Business and Buy Local Saturday on the 6th December, 2014(poster below in Sal's email).

"Research has shown that for every pound spent in a local area with independent businesses seventy pence (70p) recirculates in the Local Economy, so everyone benefits from using local shops and traders. We are fortunate to have a vibrant and viable town centre which is a successful community social facility, so you can pop down into town and browse and buy in our numerous locally owned shops, but also visit the Library, Town Hall, Museum and finish off with a meal or a drink in the numerous restaurants, cafes and pubs. So coming into town is always a pleasant experience where you can chat to friends you meet whilst getting those everyday essentials like your meat, produce, grocery etc. 

"We are fortune at the moment to have two butchers, two Greengrocers, two delicatessens, two newsagents plus cafes, a florists, opticians who we are in danger of losing in future, so I would urge everyone to use them or lose them.

 

"Small Business Saturday is a National Event aiming to inspire and support local independent shops and suppliers and this initiative is an excellent fit with the aims and objectives of Cittaslow Llangollen. Cittaslow promotes towns like Llangollen with its strong community spirit and encourages amongst other things the principle of Field to Fork by using local food producers, farm shops, artisan crafts and independent local shops, catering and hospitality facilities.

"So I urge all residents to get behind our unique local businesses this Saturday and for the future to keep Llangollen vibrant and retain its unique characteristics and prevent it from becoming just another "clone town."

Health alliance speaks out over ambulance queues

Following the news that ambulances were queuing a claimed 16 deep at Wrexham Maelor Hospital on Monday the North Wales Health Alliance have issued a statement.

Mabon ap Gwynfor of the alliance said: “The closure of four community hospitals at Flint, Llangollen, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Prestatyn, has meant losing more than 50 community beds, which has placed further unnecessary pressure on our district general hospitals.

"The Health Board will always say that they were experiencing particularly difficult circumstances.

"It’s winter, these circumstances come around every year. We have an aging population and serious GP recruitment issues as well as specialist doctors.

"These facts are well established and the senior managers of our Health Service should be prepared for these eventualities.

"It’s not rocket science to plan for winter and the ongoing pressures on hospital beds. One way of starting to deal with these issues would be to re-open our community hospital beds as part of their new phase of community health centres.”

KLS responds to Sainsbury's agreement plea

Martin Crumpton, chair of Keep Llangollen Special (KLS) responds to the recent plea by local county councillor Stuart Davies for opponents to "put their prejudices aside" when it comes to the planned new Sainsbury's store:

 

Having read your recent article, http://llanblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/councillor-calls-for-agreement-over-new.html, it’s time to set the record straight by taking the opportunity to respond.

 

Using pejorative words like ‘prejudice’ in this case is, of course, misleading as it implies irrational opposition to something. In five years of research, there has never been a single recorded instance of an edge-of-town large-format supermarket bringing anything but unemployment, and the prospect of 130 jobs is as likely to happen as the commitment to saving 110 jobs at Dobson & Crowther turned out to be.

 

The councillor seems oblivious to the changing pattern of supermarket shopping, being rejected wholesale by more and more shoppers. The likelihood of so many even part-time, low-wage jobs being created for local people is no more viable than, say, a footbridge across the River Dee, which he and Ken Skates AM once claimed Betsi Cadwaladr was applying for EU funding to build – but they’re not.

 

We naturally wish Dobson & Crowther, supported by Welsh Government money, well and we will also focus and redouble our efforts to help Llangollen’s many small employers provide decent jobs for local people and help keep the local economy from being swallowed-up by huge corporations.

 

We can’t expect everyone to have a solid grasp of economics, to be fair, nor current affairs and prevailing business conditions, but KLS will continue to fight for the heart and soul of our beautiful town, and in that spirit we’d like to take the opportunity to offer Cllr Davies our most special Christmas wishes.

Chair ΞKeep Llangollen SpecialΞ

Plas Madoc to re-open on Saturday

Plas Madoc Leisure Centre is a hive of activity this week as volunteers finalise their preparations for this weekend’s big reopening.

The centre in Acrefair will officially open its doors again as Splash Magic at 11am on Saturday, less than eight months after Wrexham Council closed the popular facility to cut costs.

Trust director Greg Ogden said: “The final bits of cleaning are being done, the lease has been signed – everything’s coming together. Christmas trees and decorations are going up and there’s definitely a feeling of festive spirit in the air.”

Greg, who lives in Trevor, said the centre’s new furry mascot – Splash the Magic Dragon – has also been collected and will be among the crowds on Saturday.

Trust chairman Darrell Wright said: “We’ve had the keys for a few weeks now and we’ve been getting the centre back into shape. There was a lot of work needed because of the closure, but the Coleg Cambria students have been a huge help.

“There’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears gone into this over the past few months, so we need people to support us by using Splash Magic from the minute it reopens on Saturday.”

Darrell and secretary Stella Matthews signed the lease for the Trust to officially take over on Monday, and the new centre manager Claire Duffy took over the reins last Thursday.

Wrexham Community Choir will be performing on Saturday, and supporters of all ages are encouraged to go along before 11am and join the celebrations.

Greg added: “The Trust has started taking bookings for the sports hall and other facilities, and on Saturday there will be a series of free taster sessions and activities taking place – and the pool will be open straight away.”

Splash the Magic Dragon was designed by eight-year-old Mia Harper-Jones, of Garth Primary School, after a competition open to all junior schools in the area.

* For information on membership fees and class prices for Splash Magic, and how to get involved in volunteering at the centre, visit splashmagic.co.uk.

Llan man highlights hospital's problems

A Llangollen man has highlighted the serious problems currently being faced by Wrexham Maelor Hospital due to increased demand on its services.

In an email to hospital chiefs, Martin Crumpton, who has previously campaigned to keep open the town’s cottage hospital, said of his own experiences yesterday (Monday): “Today at A&E at Wrexham Maelor at 13:25, en route to a routine outpatients appointment, me and an ambulance crewman counted 12 ambulances and two ambulance cars queued – a new record he believed.

“Returning home, and at 14:45 we counted 15 ambulances and one ambulance car. The crew member had been asked to do three hours overtime this evening to help get patients sent home early as the hospital was desperate to find beds.

“This unacceptable. Please put patients first and reopen Llangollen and other cottage hospitals immediately. You must already know the temporary extra 30 beds at the Maelor won’t be enough, so do the right thing.”

Mr Crumpton received a reply from Professor Matt Makin (pictured), medical director of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which says: “It was a very difficult day today at the Maelor.

 

“I spent today in the Emergency Department and on the wards and our staff are working very hard to keep patients safe in exceptional circumstances.

“We have opened new beds today (Monday) and are taking a number of steps to ensure patients get the right treatment, do not have unnecessarily prolonged stays in hospital, and are supported on discharge.

 “I must pay tribute to the doctors, nurses and paramedics who I saw giving 100% today. I agree it is extremely worrying to see ambulances delayed outside hospital and I assure you I take this very seriously.”

Superbug rate rises at Maelor

A report on the BBC website this morning (Monday) says infection rates for the c.diff superbug have risen at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

For the full story see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-30272689