Local woman obtains her doctorate

Llangollen county councillor Stuart Davies and his wife Laura say they are proud to announce that their youngest daughter is now known as Dr Charlotte Eve Davies, having gained a PhD in Biology.

She attended Ysgol Bryn Collen and Ysgol Dinas Bran and obtained a BSc (Hons) in Biology at Swansea University before gaining her PhD in Biological Sciences there.

She has had six papers published and has travelled extensively around the world giving speeches on her speciality.

Cllr Davies says he is especially proud that she attended the local schools in the county and that they have served her well.

An example of Dr Davies’ work can be seen at: http://theconversation.com/competitive-lobsters-are-fighting-it-out-in-uks-first-marine-park-35830

Old King Cole to reign at town's latest panto

Old King Cole is usually such a merry old soul, but he isn’t at all happy when wicked wizard Abanazar steals his magic crown. 

Not even his special pipe and bowl can cheer him up as he makes an appearance in this year's stage extravaganza by Llangollen Pantomime Group.

The show's hero Jack embarks on a mission to retrieve the King’s crown from Abanazar’s clutches and the saga takes him, Rhubarb the Fool, Candy the Dame and three witless fiddlers on a journey to the shores of Loch Ness and the great pyramids of Egypt, before they can all return to Merrivale where Jack’s true love, the beautiful Princess Rose, anxiously waits for him.

Will Jack succeed in his quest to get the crown back and thus win Rose’s hand in marriage?  Will Candy the dame ever return to make sweets for her confectionary emporium, or will she elope with Jock the Scotsman, or even the Egyptian mummy? 

 

Anything is possible in panto land.  Let’s hope it all ends well, or else doom and gloom will persist in Merrivale forever!

The show takes place at Llangollen Pavilion next week, with evening performances starting at 7.30pm (doors open 7pm) on Thursday 15, Friday 16 and Saturday 17 January 2015 and matinee performances starting at 2.30pm (doors open 2pm) on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 January 2015. 

 

Tickets for the panto are now on sale from Gwyn the Butchers and Jades Hairdressers or by phoning 01978 860297. 

 

AM calls for Welsh Government to focus on health service

WITH A&E waiting times for NHS treatment in England currently dominating the news, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood is calling on the Labour-led Welsh Government to start focusing on its own health service, where he says 16.2% of patients - more than double the rate in England - waited longer than four hours in A&E.

 

He said: “Only in Wales, where Labour run the NHS, have there have been cuts to health spending and the performance of Accident and Emergency departments in Wales is worse than in England.

 

“According to the latest available data, A&E performance in England, where  92.6% of patients were seen in time October to December, is the best in the UK.

 

“The data in the other nations lags behind England. In Wales the data from November shows just 83.8% of patients were seen in time. In England the data from the last week of November shows 93.5% of patients were seen in time, almost 10% higher than in Wales. Northern Ireland is performing even worse - just over 80% of patients were seen within four hours in November. In Scotland 93.5% of patients were seen in four hours during September, but comparing the September figures for England and Scotland shows England was performing slightly better.

 

“In England, the Conservative-led UK Government has protected the health budget. In Wales, it continues to suffer the consequences of Labour’s record-breaking cuts. That’s why performance is not on a par with England – and that’s why patients are forced to wait longer for treatment here.”

 

 He added: “NHS Wales is something to be valued and protected, but, despite the best efforts of frontline NHS staff in Wales, patients are waiting longer for NHS treatment than pati ents in England.

 

“Labour should stop trying to score political points and accept that long-term pressures from an ageing population can only be addressed by a long-term plan to invest in the NHS.

 

“Labour’s First Minister would be wise to focus upon his own health service. Figures showed NHS England missed its A&E waiting time target for the last three months of 2014, but A and E waiting times haven’t been met by NHS Wales in over five years, ambulance response times in Wales are at their lowest since 2011, and one in seven people in Wales are on a waiting list for trea tment.

 

“As recently as last week a dozen ambulances were seen queuing outside one Welsh hospital, while this Labour First Minister continues to dismiss Welsh Conservative calls for a cancer treatments fund.”

Sainsbury's reviews plan for Llan store

 

* The Dobson & Crowther site where the new Sainsbury's store is due to be built.

 

Sainsbury’s is reviewing its plan to open a new supermarket in Llangollen, which it says will create 130 jobs.

Despite claims from campaign group Keep Llangollen Special that it would severely impact on the viability of local businesses, the plan to build the 20,000 square foot store was approved by county planners in the autumn of 2012.

Sainsbury’s said later that the supermarket would open sometime this year.

And on the basis of the new store being built, local printworks Dobson & Crowther, whose site off the A5 it is due to occupy, recently moved to a new purpose-built factory at nearby Cilmedw as part of a linked planning scheme.

But just before Christmas a Sainsbury’s executive revealed in a letter to Llangollen Chamber of Trade and Tourism that the local supermarket was part of a general review of new store openings it was undertaking.  

This was confirmed by a Sainsbury’s spokesman yesterday (Tuesday) who said in a statement to llanblogger:  “We are reviewing our plans across a number of supermarket sites, including Llangollen. Once we are in a position to do so, we will update people on our future plans.” 

Llangollen county councillor Stuart Davies, a strong supporter of the scheme, said: "There are 130 jobs at risk here and contrary to the patronising nonsense put out by opponents, well paid jobs.

"People in our community are looking forward to working in the store. Legally binding Section 106 agreements were part of the planning process and I am sure that Sainsbury's will take all factors in to account if they are reviewing this project."

Martin Crumpton of Keep Llangollen Special said: “While Keep Llangollen Special has no wish to raise false hope, this is a remarkable departure from their [Sainsbury's] recent hard-line position and is encouraging as it means the threat over local jobs – the statistics are that edge-of-town supermarkets destroy on average 176 jobs within a 15-mile radius – it would also safeguard the essence of Llangollen that attracts so many visitors, its distinctive lack of cloned retail chains bearing testimony to the value of our small traders.

“However, even if this turns out to be a false hope and Sainsbury’s go through with constructing it, KLS will continue fighting it until the economics of online shopping and boycotting forces it to close. Our immediate concern will be the remaining jobs at Dobson & Crowther. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

Speaking to the Leader, Ken Skates, Assembly Member for Clwyd South, described the news as “concerning” as he was “anxious to ensure that Llangollen benefits from the promised jobs”.

But he added: “It is normal for companies to review operations in this manner and I will be seeking early assurances that work will not be delayed.”

Major operation to bring Nepalese dancers to Llan

 

* Sue McEvoy and Ben Sawin, of Llangollen International

Musical Eisteddfod, with Todd Lochhead, from Bristol,

and his wife, Lisa.

 

A major operation is underway to bring a troupe of Nepalese dancers from their home in the Himalayas to Wales for next year’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

 

The idea is the brainchild of Bristol man Todd Lochhead whose wife, Lisa, used to run a shop in the Denbighshire town and who has fond memories of its annual cultural spectacular.

 

Todd, a trained accountant originally from New Zealand, is co-ordinating the effort to fly the 34 members of the Rising Culture Group almost 5,000 miles from their base in the ancient city of Bhaktapur, less than 100 miles from Mount Everest and a dizzying 1,400 metres above sea level, to the iconic cultural festival in Denbighshire.

 

He has been a fan of the group’s traditional dance routines for almost 20 years and although he admits it will be a tall order to raise the estimated £40,000 necessary to pay for the trip next July, he hopes that with the help of his friends and contacts around the world and the group’s own determined fundraising efforts it will be possible.

 

Todd, who lives in Bristol where he works as a financial consultant, first came across the dancers when he journeyed to Nepal in 1995 to work as a teacher at the school where the group was formed.

 

He said: “When I went over to Nepal from New Zealand 19 years ago I noticed that everyone there seemed happy and I wanted to find out why.

 

“I heard about a school which had been started in Bhaktapur – it means `city of devotees’ - which is around 10 miles from the capital, Katmandu, and decided to pay a visit there.

 

“Called the Rising English School, it was founded by a man named Kapil Banebepali and his wife Chandika, who is now the principal, and offers lessons to children aged three to 13, many of whom would otherwise have ended up having to go out to work if they had not found some way to get into the school.

 

“The average wage in the area is just 300 to 400 US dollars a year and Kapil’s work with the school opened my eyes about how much can be achieved with so little.

 

“I took a job with him as a teacher and stayed for about a month doing all sorts of lessons including English. The following year I returned and spent another couple of months teaching there.

 

“It was during this time that I first saw the Rising Culture Group performing their traditional and very colourful Nepalese dance routines, the main one of which is the stunning masked dance that has its roots in Hindu culture, and thought they were just fantastic.

 

“The dance group was started by Kapil and is based at the school. He knew the children needed to learn about their own culture as well as getting an education and broke through lots of red tape to make it happen.”

 

Todd added: “As Nepal was in a state of civil war for around a decade from 1996 it wasn’t necessarily safe to go back to Bhaktapur but last October I returned there to see my friends and was invited over again to help them celebrate the school’s 25^th anniversary in February.

 

“I saw the dance group perform on the school stage and realised they are one of the strengths of Nepalese culture.

 

“I remembered the Eisteddfod from the time my wife Lisa ran a small alternative clothing and accessories shop in Llangollen in the 1990s and thought it would be marvellous if the dancers had the chance to come over to Wales and perform in 2015.

 

“I visited the Eisteddfod office in Llangollen Pavilion a few days before the 2014 festival was held and spoke to them about registering.

 

“I then had lots of Skype conversations with my friends in Nepal about them competing.

 

“They had never heard of the Eisteddfod but I told them all about it and sent them lots of pictures and they are very keen to be involved. In fact, they told me they’d love to come to Llangollen.

 

“They are now hoping to compete in three sections, Children’s Folk Dance, Traditional Dance and Cultural Showcase.

 

“We are aiming to bring over a group of 34 people, including 20 dancers aged eight to 16, plus musicians – one of whom is a drum master in his eighties – plus a small number of people to look after the children. 

 

“Raising the necessary funds to make the trip will obviously be difficult for them as I estimate the whole trip could cost at least £40,000 but I believe that if you don’t shoot for the stars you’ll never know. Their `can do’ attitude is exceptional and somehow we’ll make things happen.

 

“They’ll do their own fundraising over in Nepal and I will be asking my business contacts and friends in Bristol and around the world if they are willing to help. In my time I’ve worked in New Zealand, Australia and Amsterdam apart from in the UK.

 

“To get to the Eisteddfod the group will need a hand-up and not a handout and I’m sure we can do it because they have such an inspirational story. It’s my belief that culture isn’t local but trans-boundary.”

 

Eilir Owen Griffiths, Musical Director of the Eisteddfod, said: “This is what the Eisteddfod is all about, bringing together people from all over the world, from different cultures and backgrounds.

 

“It is a very inclusive and international event and what gives it its unique Welsh flavour is our tradition of friendly competition and it is wonderful that we will have dancers from Nepal competing alongside English clog-dancers, Scottish sword-dancers and others from Africa, Europe and China.”

Police theft warning to van owners

North Wales Police say they want to make all owners aware of recent incidents in which vans have been targeted and items stolen from inside.

In a warning issued through Neighbourhood Watch the police say: "It is believed the offenders are using an electronic device which can open the vans without causing damage. 

"We would therefore urge owners to empty your vans of all contents overnight or when leaving the van unattended for a long period of time. Vans have been targeted in Abergele all the way through to Holywell.

"If you noticed anything or anyone suspicious please contact North Wales Police by dialling 101. Alternatively, you can provide information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers Wales on 0800 555 111. North Wales Police would like to urge residents to always report suspicious activity to them at the earliest opportunity."

MP welcomes aqueduct report

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones has welcomed a report on the future of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct  jointly commissioned by Wrexham Council and the Canal and River Trust. 

 

The report recommends how existing land and buildings within the Trevor Basin should be developed and what facilities should be provided in order to meet the expectations of visitors.

 

The report will be discussed at a  committee of Wrexham County Borough Council tomorrow (Wednesday). 

 

The plan will be considered by the World Heritage Site board at its meeting in February, where decisions will be made on how the delivery is to be taken forward.

Ms Jones said: "It's a massive honour to have a UNESCO World Heritage Site in our locality. That makes our home area every bit as significant as the Taj Mahal and the Vatican as far as international tourism is concerned.

 

"I warmly welcome the fact that Wrexham Council and the Canal and River Trust have commissioned the recent report and that visitor numbers have increased.

 

"What's vital now is that we do everything we can to increase the length of time people stay around here. Ensuring that car parking stays free in the long term not just the short term is one important principle the Council needs to commit to.

 

"Imagine weddings and other major celebrations taking place to the backdrop of a flood-lit Aqueduct. Think of how local businesses could grow if we took on board some of the creative ideas that local people have already come up with for a Marina. Picture Cefn's newly opened historical museum as the heart of an industrial heritage centre. 

 

"Very few places in Wales and the UK have our combination of natural beauty and industrial heritage. The possibilities are endless if we are prepared to think big about how we can develop the Aqueduct area."