Rain fails to dampen festival's seasonal spirit

* Sion Corn arrives in town aboard a float.

HEAVY rain which fell throughout today (Saturday) failed to dampen the seasonal spirit of Llangollen’s annual Christmas Festival.

Hundreds of people joined in the festive fun as they watched events ranging across Castle Street, Oak Street and in the Town Hall.

The day began with the traditional parade which heralded the arrival of Sion Corn, the Welsh Santa, and included vintage cars, a magnificently bedecked heavy horse, a helicopter for the children’s rides and a fire engine from the local station.

Entertainment was provided by performers including a saxophone player, Llangollen Silver Band and Llangollen Male Voice Choir.

There were seasonal stalls along Oak Street while a Christmas fair was staged in the Town Hall.

Scores of youngsters lined up for the chance for a pre-Christmas meeting with Sion Corn in his grotto, which was also in the Town Hall along with children’s games.    

The switching on of the town’s more extensive Christmas lights was the prelude to a firework display which ended the day with a bang.

Proceeds from the event will once again be donated to Air Ambulance Wales. 

 

* Town crier, "Chem", leads the parade

over the bridge.

* Hoop, hoop hurray!

* A vintage car motors in.

* A magnificent heavy horse hauls a cart into town.

 

* Waves for the crowd from a princess. 

* People in Castle Street watch the parade go by.

* A seasonal stall in Oak Street.

* Mulled wine was amongst the festival fare on sale.

* A saxophone player entertains on the library steps.

* Llan Silver Band plays a seasonal selection.

* Santa's little helpers assist with his grotto in the Town Hall.

From left, Graham Platt, Carys Stallard and Phil Meyers. 

* People select a seasonal bargain at the Christmas fair inside the Town Hall.

 

 

 

* The Mayor of Llangollen, Cllr Mike Adams, hands over a gift to local schoolchildren

Daisy Jones-Neish and Dyfan Hughes who won a competition to switch on the town's Christmas lights.

 

 

* A firework display brought the day to an end.

Warning over telephone scam

Trading Standards officers in Denbighshire are warning residents to be on their guard against scam phone calls purporting to be from Denbighshire or Flintshire council.

The warning comes after reports were received that residents are being telephoned by people claiming to be from the council and are wanting to discuss a road traffic accident.

 

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Public Protection, said: “We have been advised that there have been a number of reports nationally involving this kind of scam.

 

"Denbighshire council would never make unsolicited phone calls of this nature and we want to reassure people about this.

 

"Our advice is to put the phone down on these scammers and then report the call.

 

"If people think they've been scammed, or know someone who has fallen victim to a scam, they can get advice and report it to trading standards through the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06, for the Welsh language service call 03454 04 05 05, or alternatively report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, to help stop it happening to others."

 

Christmas drink drive campaign launched today

Today marks the official launch of the 2015 Think Safe, Drink Safe Christmas Campaign for North Wales.

Supported by North Wales Police, local councils and the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, it is aimed at ensuring visitors to towns across the region can enjoy a safe and relaxed night out during the festive season.

It also aims to promote safe and responsible drinking and prevent and reduce levels of alcohol fuelled violent crime and anti-social behaviour across North Wales.

During this busy period hospital A&E departments as well as police and ambulance personnel often have to deal with an additional number of alcohol related incidents that put extra pressure on already over-stretched services.

There will be a drive to encourage people to download and use the Public Health Wales free app ONE DRINK ONE CLICK http://appstore.com/onedrinkoneclick to inform the public how much they are drinking.

Superintendent Jane Banham of North Wales Police said: “We want people to enjoy the festive season, but we know from experience that at this time of year some people will come to harm due to alcohol excess and it is the emergency services and local councils who are left picking up the pieces.

“The aim of this campaign is to ensure that those who consume and sell alcohol take responsibility for their actions.

“We make a significant contribution to keeping our town centres safe so people can enjoy a good night out, but we must get the message across that people need to take greater responsibility for themselves and their friends to reduce the likelihood of them being injured, becoming a victim of crime, or being involved in violence through excessive drinking.

“North Wales Police, working with our partners, will ensure that pubs, clubs, shops and drinkers are complying with the law. Those who don’t will be dealt with robustly.

“The message is simple – think safe, drink safe.”

Cllr Hugh Jones, lead Member for Place – Communities & Partnership at Wrexham County Borough Council said: “We know that Christmas and the New Year is an extremely busy time. We want visitors to towns and villages across North Wales to enjoy themselves but we frequently find that people drink too much during the festive season. Our aim is to encourage people to have a good time, but to drink responsibly.

“Excessive drinking can affect behaviour and lead to serious consequences. Anti-social behaviour and violence will not be tolerated and anyone behaving irresponsibly will be dealt with appropriately and quickly ensuring that North Wales is a safe place to come and enjoy a night out.”

Jayne Gregory, Emergency Department Matron at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital said: “Over the festive period we know we will see a significant number of people who are either suffering from the effects of excess alcohol, or who have been injured as a result of accidents where alcohol has played a part.  However, these people do not often need the treatment offered by a major hospital emergency department.

“Putting in place support so that people can be checked out and cared for ‘on the spot’ means they can get the right level of care more quickly, helps reduce disruption in the Emergency Department and means my colleagues can concentrate on looking after those people with serious illness or injury who need urgent, possibly life-saving, care.”

Folk rock band plays with orchestra at Pavilion

A FOLK-ROCK band will play alongside an orchestra at Llangollen Pavilion tomorrow (Saturday) night.

The band, named The Innocent, will perform with the North East Wales Sinfonia as part of a new cross-genre music concept funded by the Welsh Arts Council.   

A member of the band, Adam Howes, said: “In a nutshell, the idea is that artists of different genres will be collaborating to create innovative new projects with the aim of getting different musical communities from across North Wales performing together.

“On Saturday night my band will be accompanied by the North East Wales Sinfonia, having collaborated with them to orchestrate a number of our tracks.

“A Welsh composer has also written a new piece for the Sinfonia to perform on the night.

“Hopefully, it should be a great night and something a bit different.”

* The night starts at 7.30pm and tickets cost just £5 (£3 concessions).

 

Health bosses explain pharmacy decison process

* The new Llangollen Health Centre where a pharmacy will eventually be based.

HEALTH officials are still in the process of deciding on an application to move the existing pharmacy in Regent Street to Llangollen’s new health centre.

A number of people have been asking why a pharmacy has not yet opened in the £5 million new facility in Mill Street on the site of the old River Lodge.

Llanblogger asked for a statement from the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which runs the health centre, and has received the following reply:

“Following the confirmation that the new primary care centre in Llangollen would be built, the health board received three applications to open a new pharmacy on the site, in addition to the existing pharmacy in the town. 

“The board considered the applications for an additional pharmacy and concluded that this was not necessary to ensure that an adequate pharmaceutical service was available to the local population. 

“As provided for in the national regulations which govern the application and decision making procedures, this decision was subject to appeal by the applicants and was referred to Welsh Government.

“Welsh Government dismissed the appeals and an application to relocate the existing pharmacy from Regent Street to the new primary care centre has now been received.

“The board is in the process of consulting prior to making a decision on this application as is required by the regulations.

“Comments on the application will be received up until December 4^th 2015, after which a decision will be made.”

Travel back in time on Llan Railway

Llangollen Railway's Winter Warmer gala weekend will be held over two days January 2^nd and 3^rd and will see a mixture of steam and diesel hauled passenger and goods trains.

During the weekend, a journey along the 10 mile heritage railway between Llangollen and Corwen will also be a journey back through the decades.

Stations along the line will be transformed to resemble different decades:

 

1930s at Berwyn: Visit the station in the gorge and experience the golden age of the Great Western Railway. Why not break your journey and walk over the oldest chain link bridge in the world?

1940s at Glyndyfrdwy: Learn about the role of railways during wartime. Don't forget to pick up your ration book!

 

1950s at Carrog (pictured left) : The railway has been nationalised! See how the railway's appearance changed under public ownership and take a ride on the station's miniature railway (weather permitting).


1960s at Corwen East: Modernisation is in the air and Dr Beeching is planning to close the line. See some historic publicity and learn about how we are building our own new railway station. Children will be able to stamp their 'Travel through the Decades' passport at each station.

 

An intensive timetable will be in operation over the weekend, allowing plenty of time to explore the stations along the line.

 

Visitors can experience how rural branch line journeys would have been on-board our steam-powered Great Western Railway 'auto train', or see how post-war commuter travel would have been like in our Suburban carriages. 

 

They can also travel on the demonstration parcels train and look out for newspapers and parcels being loaded and unloaded along the line.

 

* Full details and a downloadable events guide will be made available over the coming weeks from our website: http://www.llangollen-railway.co.uk/event/winter-warmer-2nd-january-2016/

No more police cuts a victory for common sense says crime chief

 

* Julian Sandham, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales.

 

The Chancellor’s decision to rule out further cuts to the police budget in his Autumn Statement has been welcomed as a victory for common sense by Julian Sandham, the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales.

 

George Osbourne defied expectations when he told the House of Commons that there would be no further cutbacks in the police budget and promised real terms protection for police funding.

 

A relieved Julian Sandham said: “We welcome the Chancellor’s decision to rule out further cuts to the police budget, especially in the light of recent events in Paris.

 

“This is a victory for common sense because the Chancellor has done the right thing and without this our approach to security wouldn’t have been coherent.

 

“We now need to look at the fine detail of what the Chancellor has said before we receive the grant settlement in December.

 

North Wales is a special case for a number of reasons. We have a major port in Holyhead which handles over two million passengers a year and over 300,000 lorries and the prospect of a new nuclear power station.

 

“Clearly, we still need to consider aspects of the terror attacks in Paris – specifically the need to consider carefully the implications in respect of neighbourhood policing.

 

“The flow of intelligence is important and neighbourhood policing teams gather this intelligence and are best able to do so because they are closer to their communities.”

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales is about to embark on a series of consultation meetings across the region and Julian Sandham added: “North Wales Police have coped with £24 million in cuts over the past four years and is now a leaner machine in consequence but it isn’t a less effective or less efficient machine.

 

"The force has an excellent track record in fighting crime and is the only force in Wales where crime has been reduced.”

 

"Our focus now moves to a series of meetings where the Commissioner and I will seek the views of local people in communities across north Wales  to inform the priorities to be included in the Police and Crime Plan which will be the blueprint for policing the region.

 

"Their views will also be important and I would encourage people to take part in this process.

 

"For those who are unable to attend any of the meetings, we have an online survey so they can make sure their opinions are heard. People can also request a hard copy survey from the office or phone the office and give us their views."