Llangollen Fringe programme unveiled

* The Selecter are amongst headliners at the 2016 Fringe festival.

THIS summer’s Llangollen Fringe aims to build on the growing success of the music and arts festival of the past few years, say its organisers.


Latest figures show that its audience has more than trebled since 2009, shooting up by 29 per on the previous year in 2015, and they are hoping to build even further on that this July.


Rising interest in the festival was revealed a the launch of this year’s programme at Llangollen Pavilion and Fringe bosses say it is bigger and more diverse than ever before.  
     
The concert programme opens with Ska band The Selecter on Thursday July 14 in Llangollen Town Hall and continues on the Friday with an appearance by VanGoffey, Supergrass drummer Danny Goffey’s new band.

* Classical pianist Luke Jones plays at the Fringe.

An evening of music combining punk and reggae hits the Town Hall stage on Saturday July 16 in the shape of Jah Wobble who has created his own hybrid style. Sunday July 17 sees poet Sarah Howe, winner of the TS Eliot Prize, showcasing her work at the same venue.

Musical collective Easy Star All-Stars are the headline act at the Town Hall on Tuesday July 19, bringing together rock, dub and indie.

Wednesday July 20 is designated Welsh night at the Town Hall when the key performer is Gwenno, creator of layered, home-fi keyboard sounds wrapped in echoed vocals, and songwriter and musician Duke hits the same stage on Thursday July 21.

Gang of Four play the Town Hall on the evening of Friday July 22, while electro-dub outfit Dreadzone appear there on Saturday July 23.

The grand finale concert comes on Sunday July 24 when Ultra High Flamenco from Madrid perform at Valle Crucis Abbey.

A musician from Wrexham who was the youngest performer at the Fringe in 2005 makes a triumphant return this year.       


Pianist Luke Jones was just 10 years old when he played at the festival 11 years ago.

Now 21 and after studying at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, the Conservatorio di Musica in Italy and the Royal Northern College of Music, he is back to present a classical programme of Chopin and Mozart with the cellist Jane Oliver at St John’s Church on July 19.

The spoken word continues to feature in festival programming, with the Taking Flight Theatre company staging Romeo and Juliet at Valle Crucis Abbey on July 15 and 16, and Wrexham playwright Peter Read putting on his own The Ghost of Dylan Thomas at Plas Newydd on July 20.

Poetry also figures with Levi Tafari’s Poetry Slam at the Bridge End Hotel in the town on July 16.

Levi is a well-known rasta poet from Liverpool who performed at last year’s Fringe. He will share some of his own work as well as encouraging people to get involved and perform their compositions.

The Orange Blossom Special Train will be running on Llangollen Steam Railway on Sunday July 17.

Inspired by the Johnny Cash song, there will be live country and western music throughout the evening on platforms and on the train during its return journey to Carrog.

On July 13 Llangollen’s New Dot community cinema screens the film Cabaret.

Fringe director Graham Timms said: “We have designed our programme to provide something to interest everyone.

“Featuring some very well-known performers has enhanced the reputation of the festival and grown its audience over the past few years.


“The target was a 10 per cent increase in audience numbers in 2015. The actual attendance increased by 29 per cent.
 
“In fact, since 2009 our audience has more than trebled, consistently showing a steep upward trend and the directors are encouraged to be even more ambitious in the coming years.”


The full programme will be out in mid-June but further details and booking is available on the festival’s website at www.llangollenfringe.co.uk.

You can get in touch at: contact@llangollenfringe.co.uk or telephone 0800 1455 779.

Art exhibition

The Fringe launch also saw an exhibition of work by Llangollen Artists, including Carys Roberts, Jan Murray, Mike Flory, Simon Collinge and Sue Hall, and some of the exhibits are pictured below.

New North Wales tourism campaign unveiled

* North Wales Tourism Managing Director  Jim Jones and Gareth Daniels.

A tourism campaign has been launched to help boost the North Wales economy by £200 million a year.

The Go North Wales brand is being showcased on a new website that also includes an online booking, attraction bookings and an E shop.

The drive is being masterminded by North Wales Tourism, the biggest destination management company in Wales which has a growing membership of more than 1,000 on its books.

According to managing director Jim Jones, tourism already generates over £2 billion a year and employs 40,000 people in the region.

They are now working to the target set by Visit Wales to grow tourism earnings by 10 per cent or more by the year 2020.

Mr Jones said: “The new www.gonorthwales.co.uk website for us is the digital gateway to tourism in North Wales, so it’s incredibly important that we get it right.

"We’ve invested a lot of time, a lot of energy and a lot of money in making sure we’ve got a state of the art website with fresh branding and fresh imagery.

"We particularly want to go out to try and assist as much as we possibly can to make life easier for our members so we've included an online booking service for accommodation providers and attractions as part of the new website.

"We've deliberately pitched our commission rate at a very low level service that undercuts big name rivals.

"It is significantly lower than most of the big name operators who often charge double that percentage or more."

The development of the website has been overseen by Gareth Daniels, the head of digital experience at North Wales Tourism.

He said: “The website is a way for visitors to find information more easily and in more depth than you would find on Trip Advisor or other bigger websites.

"There's a comprehensive listing of all activities and attractions, from white water rafting to zoos and aquariums. It’s all listed on the website with incredible content and imagery.

"We’ve worked with some award winning photographers as well as the Visit Wales image libraries so we have had access to some incredible pictures."

Mr Jones added: “This is a huge opportunity for North Wales Tourism, our membership is growing, and the key to our future success will be bringing everybody to work in partnership - the private and public sectors - to work for the greater good.

“In marketing North Wales, we need to speak with one voice and work collaboratively so that we can upgrade the tourism infrastructure. Together we'll be a power to be reckoned with.

"The North West, the Midlands, Yorkshire, and Cheshire are all our key target markets and we also want to raise our profile in London.

“North Wales has got everything going for it. We have spectacular scenery and brilliant attractions in abundance, all in close proximity to each other.

"We have some really world class assets in the form of Snowdonia National Park and our three Areas Outstanding Natural Beauty.

"Equally, we’ve got world class heritage sites with the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the castles at Beaumaris, Caernarfon and Conwy. 

"Whether the customer comes here to enjoy an outdoor experience or a heritage experience, we must fulfil and exceed their expectations.

"We are supportive of Visit Wales’s ambitions, and we rely on their support.

 "North Wales is definitely going places. We want to take tourism to the next level and the new branding and the new website are key staging posts on our path to prosperity."

Picture shows Hill Street traffic blues

* Vehicles inch past one another in Hill Street.

Campaigner Mike Edwards has sent in this picture he took on Saturday showing how difficult it is for vehicles to pass on the “pinchpoint” in Hill Street.   

This, he says, is even before extra traffic is generated by a development of 99 homes in Vicarage Road for which planning permission is currently being sought by developers Castlemead and a group of residents, including Mr Edwards, are opposing.

He said: “I took this photograph this morning and this illustrates the existing problem for road users - pedestrians, wheelchair users, mums and dads with pushchairs and drivers

“I have written a letter to Graham Boase, head of planning and public protection at the county council, with a copy of this photo pointing out that this road is already hazardous and will not accommodate additional traffic.

“The planning application, 03/2016/0300, proposes that construction traffic will use Hill Street and Willow Street until the 31st dwelling is occupied and Willow Street is widened and reconstructed.”

A5 closed by road accident

The A5 just outside Llangollen has been closed in both directions following an traffic accident.

A tweet from North Wales Police just before 7.30pm says:

North Wales Police ‏@NWPolice 9m9 minutes ago

RTC A5 Llangollen. Road blocked near Ty'n y Wern Hotel. Officers on scene diversions in place. Please avoid if possible. Thank you.

A fire engine was seen just a little earlier speeding in that direction along Regent Street, followed by two police cars.

A further tweet from the road agency says:

North & Mid Wales ‏@TrafficWalesN 5m5 minutes ago

#A5 : Both directions : Llangollen : Incident : Road closed : Due to Accident

Sources said a vehicle had overturned and the driver has been taken to hospital.

Churches come together for open-air service

* Worshippers at the open-air service gather around the bandstand. 

Churches in Llangollen came together earlier today for a joint open-air service for Pentecost Sunday which also marked Christian Aid Week, from May 15-21.

Over 80 members of the various congregations gathered around the bandstand in Riverside Park for the worship, led by the Rev Andrew Sully of St Collen’s Church and the Rev Phil Poole of Llangollen Methodist Church.

Hymns were accompanied by Llangollen Silver Band and a collection was taken in aid of Christian Aid.

* The Rev Andrew Sully leads the service.

Operatic land am dram "Oscars" for Sister Act

* Tracey Rawlinson holds up the Best Production award.

Llangollen Operatic Society has landed two amateur stage “Oscars” for its production of Sister Act last year.

The society received three nominations for the NODA Wales and Ireland regional awards for 2015, which aim to honour the cream of amateur shows.

And at the presentation evening in Hereford last night (Saturday) it was awarded Best Production  and Best Performance 2015 for Sister Act which it staged at the Town Hall a year ago.     

The society’s version of the musical, the stage version of the hit Whoopi Goldberg film, attracted large audiences throughout its week-long run and much critical acclaim.

The Best Performance award went to Elen-Haf Taylor for her portrayal in the lead role of Deloris Van Cartier. 

The show was co-produced by Michael Jones and Tracey Rawlinson who was also artistic director, with musical direction by Elen Mair Roberts.

AM attacks county over halting Right to Buy

Shadow Housing Minister and North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has criticised Denbighshire County Council’s decision to stop people buying their own council houses for five years.

Denbighshire has voted to stop ‘Right to Buy’, following in the footsteps of Anglesey, Flintshire, Carmarthenshire and Swansea councils.

The council has said there were 10 applicants for every vacant council home in the county and right to buy "threatened investment in new homes".

But Mr Isherwood (left) claims the take-up of ‘Right to Buy’ is no longer significant enough for its suspension to reduce housing pressure.

He said: “I believe this is the wrong way forward. Abolishing ‘Right to Buy’ in Denbighshire will deny the prospect of home ownership to tenants and will not in itself increase the supply of affordable housing.

“Further, current legislation only allows Councils to suspend the Right to Buy’ for a limited time in a specified area, which would make a negligible contribution to improving the availability of affordable housing, given findings by leading expert Professor Wilcox that tenants remain in occupation for 15 years on average.

“As the Welsh Affairs Committee found, the suspension of the Right to Buy would not in itself result in an increase in the supply of affordable housing.

“The proposed scrapping of Right to Buy is a smokescreen and would not do anything to create more homes or increase the numbers of households with their own front door.”

Mr Isherwod says Welsh Labour has mounted a sustained attack on ‘Right to Buy’ and  in 2015  halved the ‘Right to Buy’ discounts from £16,000 to £8,000 and signalled its intention to scrap the ‘Right to Buy’ altogether.

He added: “Welsh Conservatives would instead protect the ‘Right to Buy’ for tenants wanting to buy their council home and reinvest ‘Right to Buy’ proceeds into new social housing, providing more homes for more people languishing on Labour’s waiting lists, increasing the number of people who are able to find a home to meet their needs.

“‘Right to Buy’ has already dwindled under Welsh Labour. During 1999-2000, 3590 ‘Right to Buy’ Council Home sales were completed in Wales, rising to 6,865 during 2003-04, but since falling to just 176 in 2014-15.  

“The social housing crisis is the result of Welsh Labour policies, not right to buy. During its first 3 terms in Welsh Government,  Labour cut the supply of new affordable homes by nearly three quarters and slashed the total number of social homes in Wales by nearly 30,000.

"As the 2012 UK Housing Review stated "it was the Welsh Government itself that gave housing lower priority in its overall budgets, so that by 2009/10 it had by far the lowest proportional level of housing expenditure of any of the four UK countries".

“National House Building Council’s figures show that Wales was the only nation in the UK to decrease new homes registrations in 2014-15.  Compared with a 7% increase in the UK overall, Wales is lagging behind with a 2% reduction.”