Plaid leader speaks of her vision for Wales

* Leanne Wood with Mabon ap Gwynfor.

No maternity unit will be downgraded in north Wales under a Plaid Cymru – The Party Of Wales Government next year.

 

That was one of the key messages delivered by the party’s leader, Leanne Wood AM, at a packed meeting in Llangollen on Thursday night. 

 

Addressing a packed conference room at the Hand Hotel, Leanne Wood said: “We are committed to long-term investment in our medical schools to train home-grown doctors.

 

"This is because 95% of doctors who complete their training in Wales stay in Wales. Through seriously addressing the recruitment crisis, Plaid Cymru can pledge that we will not centralise or downgrade any service where safe levels of staffing can be secured.

 

“Furthermore, Plaid Cymru will end Labour’s plans to close maternity services in the north Wales.”

 

Leanne Wood visited the town as part of her leadership tour of Wales. In her address Ms Wood outlined a detailed programme of what a Plaid Cymru Government would do to improve the lives of people in Wales after the Assembly elections next May.

 

She said: “People are crying out for better outcomes in their schools, hospitals, their workplaces and their communities and Plaid Cymru is ready to deliver in those matters.

 

“Our key pledges at this election are in health, education and job creation.”

 

Mabon ap Gwynfor, the Party’s Assembly Candidate in Clwyd South, said: “This was a really positive meeting and it was great to see so many new faces come along and join.

 

"We increased the vote at the last election by 20% and there is a real sense of momentum in this area. The context of the Assembly election is different to an UK election. The focus is on Wales and delivering our local services.

 

"Leanne painted a positive picture of how Wales will improve under a Plaid Cymru Government, which matched the aspirations of all those who attended the meeting.”

 

Anne Morris, who was attending her first Plaid Cymru meeting, said: “This was the first time for me to meet any political leader in the flesh. Leanne is very likeable, knowledgeable and ‘ordinary’, and by that I mean just like one of us. I’m tired of being ruled by the privileged classes.

 

"Go Leanne! Let’s make a difference and take hold of Wales.”

Llanblogger exhumes some spooky tales ...

* Plas Newydd, home of the Ladies of Llangollen, features in the list of spooky tales. 

As today is Halloween, llanblogger has been digging through the Paranormal Database for spooky tales from Llangollen, and here is what we exhumed ...

Fairey Dance

Location: Llangollen (Clwyd) - Castell Dinas Bran Type: Fairy Date / Time: Unknown

An innocent shepherd here was caught up in a fairy dance - he couldn't stop 'strutting his funky stuff' until the following day, when his master found him in a field. The location is also a contender for the resting place of the Holy Grail.

Man in Apron

Location: Llangollen (Clwyd) - Hand Hotel Type: Haunting Manifestation Date / Time: 1980s

A former worker at the hotel reported seeing a man wearing a leather apron in the cellar. The figure was tapping on a barrel, and the witness thought him to be a real person, until told that he was the only person down there. The building is also reported to be haunted by a woman in grey and another figure that stands by the organ.

Ladies of Llangollen

Location: (Clwyd) - Plas Newydd Type: Haunting Manifestation Date / Time: Unknown

Well known for their love of traditional Welsh dress and entertaining the Gothic poets, Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby are reported to drift around their shared former home.

Flying Pigs

Location: Llangollen (Clwyd) - Skies over area Type: Cryptozoology Date / Time: 2 September 1905

Witnesses reported a large flying creature over the town; it resembled a pig of tremendous size, with stumpy webbed feet.

Owain Glyndwr

Location: Llangollen (Clwyd) - Valle Crucis Abbey Type: Haunting Manifestation Date / Time: Owain reports unknown, golden figures in the 1930s Owain Glyndwr, the last native Welsh person to hold the title Prince of Wales, is said to be one of the phantoms reported at the abbey. Another story is that during the 1930s, one person spotted the front of the ruins bathed in a circle of light, with figures wearing golden clothing and helmets. The witness was with their aunt, who could not see anything. Finally, religious chanting has been heard in the area, though no source of the song can be found.

* http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/wales

Bryn Terfel to star in Eisteddfod evening concert

 

* Opera legend Bryn Terfel.

 

Opera superstar Bryn Terfel is planning to celebrate the 70th Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in style - sharing the bill with a good friend who's also a world class tenor.

 

The popular bass-baritone will be the star of the evening concert on Thursday, July 7, alongside his supremely talented Maltese opera colleague, Joseph Calleja whose voice has been compared to the legendary Caruso.

 

Tickets will be going on sale on Monday, November 2.

 

* Joseph Calleja.  

The show is being sponsored by the award-winning care organisation, Pendine Park, who are also backing the opening Tuesday night when mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins will be performing a concert adaptation of Georges Bizet’s opera, Carmen.

 

It's already been announced that Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra are returning to Llangollen next year to bring the curtain down on the festival with a foot stomping party on Sunday, July 10, sponsored by the Village Bakery.

 

The Wednesday night concert will be a celebration of musical theatre featuring the Kerry Ellis, dubbed the First Lady of the West End, and the musical theatre boy band Collabro who won Britain's Got Talent in 2014.

 

They will be joined by talented Glasgow Academy of Musical Theatre, the CBC Voices from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and the Welsh National Opera Orchestra under the direction of John Quirk.

 

The Friday night concert, Heart Of Llangollen, will showcase the best of the international competitors. It will also include the Dance Champions competition and a Caribbean Carnival Extravaganza.

 

The competitions draw to a close on Saturday night with the famous Choir of the World contest with the prestigious Pavarotti Trophy up for grabs. The audience will be entertained by the popular vocal group, the Swingle Singers, while the judges deliberate.

 

Pendine Park proprietor Mario Kreft MBE said: "As the Arts and Business Cymru Business of the Year, we're delighted to be sponsoring the Bryn Terfel and Katherine Jenkins concerts in what promises to be a fantastic programme next year.

 

"The festival is one of the jewels of our cultural crown in Wales and the message of promoting peace and harmony in a troubled world is more relevant than ever."

 

According to Bryn, who took to the Llangollen stage to celebrate the Eisteddfod’s 60^th anniversary as well as starring in Sweeney Todd two years ago, he always looks forward to appearing at what he describes as a unique festival.

 

This time Bryn and Joseph Calleja will be accompanied by the Sinfonia Cymru orchestra conducted by Gareth Jones.

 

Bryn said: “The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is a wonderful event and I’m grateful to be given another chance to perform on stage there again - and the fact I will be joined by Joseph Calleja is an absolute dream come true.

 

"The last concert I appeared in with Joseph was in his homeland Malta, so it’s great that Joseph will be coming to my homeland this time around.”

 

Bryn, who has just celebrated his 50^th birthday with a one off special concert at the Royal Albert Hall alongside special guests Sting, former royal harpists Catrin Finch and Hannah Stone and Only Men Aloud , added: “I’m sure this will be a concert that will live long in the memory; I’m certainly looking forward to it and obviously always enjoy performing in North Wales.

 

“The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is such an important festival and I'm honoured to have been asked to perform at the 70th festival.

 

“I have appeared at Llangollen four or five times now and I always find the Llangollen audience so knowledgeable and amazing. The dedicated staff and volunteers, who put so much hard work into making the festival the success it is, deserve so much credit.

 

“It’s going to be a special night and I can’t wait to see my good friend Joseph Calleja enjoy the experience of Llangollen. I know he will fall in love with the town, festival and the people who make it happen.

 

"It's appropriate that as I'm celebrating my 50th year I'll be appearing at the festival's 70th celebration. I always enjoy returning to Llangollen and I'm delighted that I'll be joined by Joseph Calleja.

 

"He is reciprocating in a way as I appeared at the wonderful festival Joseph organises every year in a town square in Malta which is attended by around 15,000 people. In fact we have a budding locker room collaboration as we are both booked for a concert in Beirut shortly after Llangollen at the end of July."

 

The festival's musical director, Eilir Owen Griffiths, said: “We are so excited now we can confirm that Bryn Terfel and Joesph Calleja will star in our 70^th festival gala concert. It will be a wonderful evening of music."

 

“In addition, the 2014 winner of the Eisteddfod’s 2014 Voice of the Future competition, mezzo-soprano Eirlys Myfanwy Davies, will be joining Bryn and Joseph on stage alongside Sinfonia Cymru.

 

“It’s fitting as the chamber orchestra will be celebrating their 25^th anniversary as the Eisteddfod celebrates the 70th festival. It’s just going to be a very special evening.

“And my dream is that Bryn and Joseph will conclude the night with the Pearl Fishers duet. The audience and I really will be in heaven if that were to happen.”

 

To book tickets and for more details on the 2016 festival go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

MP congratulates Chirk station friends

In the House of Commons yesterday (Thursday) Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones praised the work of the Friends of Chirk Station.

She said: "The Friends of Chirk Station are an outstanding group of people who have done so much to beautify Chirk Station through art work, lovely floral displays and keeping the station neat and tidy.

"It is terrific to have a group of local people prepared to take on the role as adopters of a railway station in the way that Christine Ashford and the other members of the Friends of Chirk Station have.

"I am delighted also that the Labour Welsh Government has awarded a massive grant to this project so that by the end of November, the footbridge will be open and the station will be fully accessible by people with disabilities."

Minister visits area's two new health centres

* The Minister with Ken Skates AM and Karen Sinclair meet the team at

Lllangollen's new health centre. 

A Welsh Government Minister got a first-hand look at two of the area's latest health facilities yesterday (Thursday).

Health Minister Mark Drakeford paid visits to new health centres in Llangollen and Chirk.

He was given a tour of the Castle Health Centre in Chirk with local Assembly Member Ken Skates, and also met staff and town council chairman Dewi Evans.

The Labour AMs then visited Llangollen Health Centre with Mr Skates’ predecessor Karen Sinclair, who was instrumental in bringing the state-of-the-art facility to the town at the old River Lodge Hotel site.

Mr Drakeford said: “Ken frequently tells me what fantastic facilities the Welsh Government has helped bring to Chirk and Llangollen, and it was wonderful to visit to see it for myself and to meet the teams.

“I was delighted to hear how the new health centres have greatly improves patients’ experiences. Chirk and Llangollen are just two examples of how our investment in the NHS in North Wales is paying dividends for people every day.”

* Ken Skates, left, with Mark Drakeford
a the Chirk health centre.  

After the visit Mr Skates, Labour AM for Clwyd South, said: “I’m extremely grateful to the Minister for taking the time to come to Clwyd South, and the staff at Chirk and Llangollen were delighted to host him. He was very impressed with what he saw.

“I was also able to take the opportunity to raise a number of other local issues with the Minister on behalf of my constituents.”

Mr Skates added: “I would once again like to pay tribute to Karen for the major role she played in bringing Llangollen Health Centre to fruition. It would not have been possible without the phenomenal amount of hard work she put in.”

Mrs Sinclair said she was ‘delighted and proud’ to join the Minister.

The Chirk centre, on Colliery Road, opened last year and has a range of eco-friendly features including solar panels as well as a minor operations facility and pharmacy.

Llangollen Health Centre opened its doors to the public in September.

Nightmare on Castle Street this Saturday

What's being billed as the ultimate Halloween fancy dress party comes to Llangollen Town hall on Saturday night.

Nightmare on Castle Street features Captain Zed, an Alice Cooper tribute band and a Halloween disco.

Doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start.

The event has been organised by the Llangollen Women’s Festival in aid of The Friends of Llangollen Town Hall. 

* Tickets, priced at £6, are available from Bailey’s Delicatessen in Castle Street.

Over 500 caught using mobiles at wheel

571 motorists were caught using their mobile phones whilst behind the wheel during the 2015 All-Wales Anti-Mobile Phone While Driving Campaign - 59 of them in North Wales

The enforcement campaign, which ran between September 24 and October 7, involved road safety partners and urged all road users to ‘keep their eyes on the road’ and not be distracted by answering their mobile phone, reading a text or going online.

Studies show that drivers using a hands-free or handheld mobile phone are slower at recognising and reacting to hazards.

Led by Dyfed Powys Police, officers from all four Welsh police forces and GoSafe carried out proactive patrols to target motorists who endangered other road users through this behaviour and educated drivers on the penalties they faced if caught.

During the campaign, officers detected a total of 571 mobile phone driving offences throughout Wales and issued 177 warnings.

North Wales Police caught and dealt with 59 offenders, in the Gwent area a total of 67 were caught, Dyfed Powys Police caught 388, and in South Wales Police 57 law breakers were dealt with.

T/Chief Inspector Martin Best from North Wales Police’ Roads Policing Unit said: “Although fewer motorists were caught in this year’s campaign throughout Wales, it remains a serious concern that so many drivers choose to risk becoming involved in a serious or fatal collision due to using a mobile phone whilst driving. Our warning is clear, even the most experienced or competent of drivers can be easily distracted and a slight lapse in concentration can have devastating consequences.

“Taking such a risk is totally unacceptable, and this is why officers from all four Welsh forces will continue to carry out proactive patrols to target motorists who endanger themselves and other road users. No call, text, app, or email is that important – they must all wait until you’ve stopped driving.”

Susan Storch, Chair of Road Safety Wales added: "Driving while using a mobile phone is not only illegal but dangerous. It doesn’t just put your own life at risk but also the lives of your passengers and other road users who may not have a say in your actions behind the wheel.

"While it’s saddening to see that so many motorists got caught using a mobile phone whilst driving it has also demonstrated the resolve of all the Road Safety Wales partners in tackling this issue and we will continue to work together to drive home the message that no call or text is that important."

During the campaign officers also detected 200 other offences whilst carrying out checks – they included offences known to contribute to fatal and serious collisions, such as drink and drug driving, speed, not wearing a seat belt, carelessness, no insurance, drugs and construction and use offences.