Llan Dial-A-Ride to get new vehicle

The Dial-A-Ride service operated by the Rotary Club of Llangollen is driving into a new era.

Using a team of unpaid drivers, the service transports clients who are less able and have difficulty using public transport to hospital appointments and other destinations such as shops or banks.

For the past seven years it has been using the same vehicle which is now in need of replacement.

And thanks to the generosity of The Association of Friends of Llangollen Cottage Hospital, a new run-around for the service is due to take to the road in November.

A spokesperson for the Rotary Club said: “Many of our clients travel only one or two miles to the shops, banks or for instance to the health centre.

“Without Dial-A-Ride they would not be able to carry out these functions which many of us treat as everyday matters.

“Since we started the scheme we have carried out a total of 5,251 journeys, 1,200 of these for clients in wheelchairs.

“We have travelled 30,000 miles to destinations such as Winsford, Abergele, Ruthin and all our local journeys.

“One of our most visited destinations is the Maelor Hospital in Wrexham.”

The spokesperson added: “Our vehicle was purchased with funds from Denbighshire County Council to whom we are eternally grateful.

“But vehicles have a limited life and ours needs to be replaced.

“The good news is that we are to be funded for a replacement vehicle by a new benefactor.

“The local group known as The Association of Friends of Llangollen Cottage Hospital have stepped up to the plate and offered to fund the purchase of the new vehicle.

“It will be around the town in early November and we look forward to it being used by our clients.

“The Rotary Club of Llangollen are very grateful to The Friends for their generosity and we will do all we can to carry on with this most worthy cause.

“A special word of thanks to Rotarian Arthur Hardy who, as chairman of The Friends, has put in the work to ensure the success of this worthy project.”

* If you are interested in becoming a volunteer driver or a new client, contact Llangollen Rotary on 07592 018533.

The day I (almost) met the Queen

Today, on the day Elizabeth II overtakes her ancestor Queen Victoria as Britain’s longest reigning monarch, llanblogger's Phil Robinson recalls the time he (almost) met her.

During nearly 50 years in local journalism I’ve covered more than my share of royal visits and every one of them has been quite a personal, as well as professional, thrill.

One of these visits happened when Her Majesty came to Cheshire Oaks, near Ellesmere Port, back in the mid-1990s.

At the time I was editor of the local paper and was deeply involved in planning our coverage of this momentous occasion.

We put everything together like a military operation over the course of a week or so beforehand but when the big day finally arrived I found myself at a bit of a loose end waiting at the office for our team or reporters and photographers to return with the hot story.

Actually, it was the first time I’d been out of the “front line” for such as a visit and was feeling more than a little frustrated that my colleagues were out having all the fun while I twiddled my thumbs back at base.

So, using the prerogative of rank, I decided to nip along to the shopping centre and see if I could grab a slice of the action for myself.

When I arrived on the scene it was about half an hour into the visit and the entrance to the shopping parade through which the Queen and her entourage had arrived was still buzzing with activity.

More frustratingly it was also cordoned off by police officers and I knew there was no way I was going to get through without an official pass.

These are issued days before any royal visit and, although I’d ensured that my reporters and snappers assigned to the job all had them safely pinned to their jackets, I was without one. I didn’t need one because I wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near the event.

Undaunted, I scurried around to another of the entrances to the shopping parade and found it deserted and unpoliced.

It was vaguely at the back of my mind that if I continued through there I might find myself being arrested or shot but, what the hell, I pressed on with my mission to perhaps get a close-up look at Her Maj.

However, it occurred to me that I was much too late for that as there was not another soul in sight.

As I made my way gingerly along the line of shops – conspicuously without a pass – I eventually reached the entrance to a well-known store selling tea and coffee.

Just at that moment a rather well dressed elderly lady walked out of the doorway and turned in my direction.

For a split second I wondered why a pensioner had wandered into the middle of a royal visit.

Then I realised I was just a couple of feet away from Elizabeth II herself.

Should I turn smartly around and head the other way?

Should I dive into the nearest bushes?

Should I brazen it out and walk right up to her and say something?

Damn it, this was the one and only chance I’d ever have in my lifetime of speaking to my sovereign.

So I took the latter option and walked towards her and when I came face to face with her I said cheerfully: “Good afternoon, Your Majesty. Welcome to Ellesmere Port!”

Completely unmoved, she looked directly into my eyes and then down onto my jacket lapel where the absence of an official pass was glaringly obvious.

She completely ignored my hearty greeting and walked straight past me followed by her retinue who were by this time also out of the shop which they had been visiting with her.

I can’t say I blame her for the snub. As far as she could see I was just some idiot who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.   

I was stunned and a little hurt by my treatment but at least I can say I once spoke to the Queen – even if she didn’t reply.    

Beatriz's new food range in memory of her mother

* Beatriz Albo with one of her tapas meals.

A scientist who swapped the laboratory for the kitchen by launching a cooking sauces brand has won a vital grant enabling her to expand her business.

Dr Beatriz Albo is returning to the lab to develop an exciting new range of Spanish tapas meals and delicious aiolis created in memory of her mother.

Beatriz is planning to unveil the new range at the Hamper Llangollen food on October 17 and 18.

She is looking forward to returning to the annual food festival where her innovative Sabor de Amor products made their debut last year.

“Hamper Llangollen was my first food festival, so it is special to me,” said Spanish-born Beatriz, whose Wrexham business has taken off faster than she could ever have imagined.

The popular event in Llangollen’s Royal Pavilion is recognised as one of the UK's top 10 food festivals.

 

Cadwyn Clwyd has provided financial support over the past few years to ensure the festival's long term viability, this was funded through the Rural Development Fund for Wales 2007-2013, which is funded through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Welsh Government.

 

Beatriz has just been awarded a grant to develop her long dreamed of range of tapas ready-meals at the new North West Food development Research Centre (NoWFOOD) at Chester University.

“Facilities there are fantastic, they have everything I need to help my business grow,” said the mum of two who inherited her passion for food from her family.

Her grandparents ran a restaurant in Salamanca, Spain, all their lives. Her mother was also an accomplished cook and, following her death in June, Beatriz has developed a trio of flavoured aioli sauces in her honour.

“I want to name them Elisa, after my mother. I’ve worked on the recipes at home and the family all love them. There’s a chilli flavoured aioli, another to go with paella and the third has hints of lime and mint.”

Beatriz, who lives in Brymbo, trained as a scientist, gaining a PHD and working in food research before becoming a teacher. But her first love was cooking and last year she followed her heart and made it her full time career.

She started Sabor de Amor – which means flavour of love – by producing the traditional sauces she grew up with in Spain and which she continued to cook for her family after moving to Wales. They included Sofrito, a perfect base for paella, salsa brava, tapenade and aioli. All the sauces are completely authentic, have no additives or artificial flavourings.

She said: “They are just natural ingredients which we used all the time when I was a child. People love them because of the pure flavour. There is a food revolution going on.

Consumers are looking more and more for additive free products. They want to experience simple, natural tastes and aromas. I started off producing just two sauces and now there are 12 in my range, demand has grown so fast.”

Sabor de Amor supplies local farm shops and Beatriz also attends events such as Hamper Llangollen, for which she has to work full out to ensure she has enough stock.

“I went to one festival where I sold out in the first day and had to cook more sauces overnight ready for the following day,” she said. “They were so fresh that the jars were still warm as I was selling them.”

She hopes the Sabor de Amor range will soon be available in supermarkets and is using her grant and work in the NoWFOOD lab to help achieve that ambition.

Beatriz does all the preparation, cooking and marketing of the brand herself, with occasional help from her children, Albert, 18, soon to study business management at Lancaster university, and Susana, 11, a pupil of St Joseph’s school, Wrexham. Her partner, Paul Keysell, a graphic designer created the Sabor de Amor brand designs.

Information and tasty recipes can be found at www.sabordeamor.com

Hamper Llangollen chair Colin Loughlin believes this year's festival is going to be one of the best ever.

 

He said: “Thanks to a whole host of indigenous companies, North East Wales is rapidly establishing a reputation as a centre of excellence for high quality cuisine.

 

“The food festival is a perfect shop window for the companies who form the backbone of our rural economy.

 

"The location of the Pavilion is absolutely spectacular - I can't imagine that any other food festival in the UK has a more beautiful setting."

 
For more details about Hamper Llangollen 2015 visit www.llangollenfoodfestival.com

Witness appeal follows Bryneglwys collision

An appeal for information and witnesses is being made following a serious collision on the A5104 Bryneglwys this morning (Tuesday, September 8).

Four people have been taken to hospital following the incident involving a grey coloured Vauxhall Corsa and a black Mitsubishi Warrior which happened before 5.28am.

Ambulance service attended and the road was closed for a time and diversions put in place which emergency were at the scene.

The driver and two other individuals who were travelling in the Corsa along with the driver of the Warrior have been taken to Wrexham Maelor Hospital having sustained serious injuries which are not believed to be life threatening.

The road was re-opened at 8.54am.

Sergeant Nicky Collins of the Roads Policing Unit said: “We are keen to trace anyone who witnessed the collision or who may have seen the vehicles on the road prior to the collision to contact officers at the Roads Policing Unit in St Asaph on 101 quoting reference S137307.”

County's statement on refugee crisis

The following position statement has been supported by councillors in Denbighshire this morning, following a discussion about the situation regarding refugees in Syria.

 

The statement, submitted by Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, Leader of Denbighshire, reads:

 

“The tragedy of the Syrian refugee crises has touched all of us. Denbighshire County Council is keen to join with the Welsh and UK governments and others to coordinate an approach to fulfil our responsibility and play our part in providing assistance and humanitarian support to those refugees displaced as a result of the war in Syria. This could include accommodating a number of families, with appropriate Government support."

Historic Plas Newydd font gets new lease of life

AN 800-year-old font in the grounds of Plas Newydd, historic home of the legendary Ladies of Llangollen, has been given a new lease of life.

The ornately-carved font, which was originally located at nearby Valle Crucis Abbey, stands within a well-house in the dell behind the mansion, just below a summer house.

* Plas Newydd gardener Neil Rowlands at the revived font.

Despite being a popular spot for visitors it had to be closed by Denbighshire County for around two years due to safety reasons when the whole area became waterlogged and muddy.

Now it has been revived by Plas Newydd’s resident gardener Neil Rowlands using the experience he gained in a previous job in the gardens of Lady Lever at Port Sunlight on the Wirral.

Neil said: “Three springs flow into the top of the dell with the water eventually finding its way down into the River Cyflemen. The the springs had gradually altered course which meant water was dropping onto the pathway linking the summer house to the font making it slippery and dangerous.

“We put in two French drains to divert the flow of water away from the path and the font.

“Now clean water from the springs is being delivered to the font instead of the muddy water which had been going into it.

“It’s now much cleaner and nicer to look at for people visiting Plas Newydd.

“The whole job took about five weeks and was very satisfying to do.”

Kevin Pennington, who is charge of Plas Newydd for the county council, said: “The font project was part of our aim to re-create some of the views within the estate that the Ladies of  Llangollen would have known and loved.

“It’s very important to do this as the house and grounds are an important feature of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty of which Llangollen is part.” 

New qualifications launched in Wales

From the start of this year's school term, students across Wales are able to take revised qualifications which the Welsh Government says are specifically tailored to the needs of Welsh learners and businesses.

For the full story, see ITV.com at: http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2015-09-07/new-qualifications-launched-for-welsh-pupils/