Warning from police boss over Brexit consequences

* North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.

A police boss has warned North Wales will be a more dangerous place if Britain votes to leave the European Union.

According to the newly-elected North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones, a former police inspector, the terrorist threat was a key reason to stay in Europe.

He believes the Paris and Brussels atrocities were stark reminders of what is at stake.

Mr Jones feared the European Police Office, known as Europol which contributes to more than 13,500 cross-border investigations every year, would be weakened if Britain withdrew from the EU.

In addition, life would also be made more difficult for other joint investigation teams tackling a range of crimes from terror to child abuse.

Mr Jones said: "We in North Wales are particularly vulnerable as we have in Holyhead one of the UK's major ports for entry from another EU member state.

"North Wales Police have always worked closely with the Republic of Ireland's Garda to safeguard traffic between our two countries but achieving the same levels of co-operation would be much more difficult in the event of the UK voting to leaving Europe.

"We know that the current UK terror threat remains severe, meaning that a terrorist attack in the UK is 'highly likely'.

"That means that those involved in law enforcement and safeguarding the public need to focus on doing just that and making use of the methods that we and our counterparts in Europe know work best.

"We are not part of the Schengen agreement so we already have border controls that other EU nations don't have and we have that vital sea barrier as well but we still need to work with governments and law enforcement and other agencies in the EU to keep our people safe.

"You only have to be on the A55 at 2am to appreciate the volume of road traffic that is heading to and from Ireland and that makes it vital that we liaise closely with our Irish counterparts.

"We would hope to use these measures to prevent terrorists getting into the country but if suspects are identified we need to be able to rely on our EU colleagues to apprehend them and we need to be able to rely on the evidence they gather to be presented in our courts.

"All that is currently available to us using current EU criminal justice and security measures and we would be unwise to jeopardise that by voting to leave the EU.

"The Brussels and Paris atrocities are a stark warning that we need even greater sharing of intelligence, pooling of resources and joint working across Europe.

"Outside the EU we would find it more difficult to respond quickly and forcefully to those who would threaten our communities and our values, and that's why there is a clear security case for us to stay in the EU."

Mr Jones was also concerned that a vote to leave Europe could trigger a further recession, particularly in rural communities in areas such as North Wales.

He added: "That could lead to a loss of income for farmers and increasing unemployment and rural depopulation and those factors could also make our countryside and its towns more prey to crime.

"I have the same commitment to our rural areas as my predecessor did and they deserve the same care and attention when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public."

Eisteddfod fundraiser is a big hit

* Stage 2 Stage's performance prompted a standing ovation. 

A fundraiser for Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod at the Town Hall last night (Saturday) brought a packed audience to their feet at the end of a choral concert and then had them putting their hands in their pockets to the tune of over £1,700 as they bid for lots in a fun auction.

The concert, compered by Eisteddfod stalwart Christine Dukes and musically directed by Elen Mair Roberts, featured a two-set programme by locally-based choir Stage 2 Stage in which they showcased songs from a host of shows and films, from Guys & Dolls and Chicago to Evita and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

At the end of the performance the packed audience gave them a rousing standing ovation.

In the auction which followed, conducted by Ian Lebbon, Chairman of the Eisteddfod’s Marketing Committee, 19 lots went under the hammer, including pieces of art connected with the festival and items signed by recent star performers such as Rufus Wainwright and Jonathan Antoine.

Lots which created most interest were a Wales rugby shirt signed by all members of the rock band Status Quo, which went for £350 after some hot bidding, and a signed cartoon by legendary singer-songwriter Burt Bacharach of his hit song Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head which realised £210.

Total amount raised by the auction was over £1,700.

Historic garden's new lease of life

* The renovated garden at Nantclwyd y Dre. 

A historic garden at a popular townhouse in Ruthin has been opened to the public after a three-year restoration.

                

The project to rejuvenate the Lord’s Garden at Nantclwyd y Dre cost £220,000 and has been funded by Denbighshire County Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, Ruthin Town Council and the Friends of Nantclwyd y Dre.

The work of renovating the garden was assisted by over 100 volunteers who learned traditional skills such as hazel hurdling and meadow scything along the way.

The garden is a listed landscape, originating from medieval times and has been lovingly restored to reflect several ages of its history.  The gardens are open at the same time as the main house, as part of the Nantclwyd y Dre visitor experience.

Nantclwyd y Dre is Wales’ oldest dated timbered town house. The house was first built in 1435 and has been added to, updated and upgraded throughout the centuries..

Nantclwyd y Dre has been beautifully restored to demonstrate the changing fashions and the lives of its residents.

Visitors can observe a colony of Lesser Horseshoe bats in the attic rooms via ‘bat cam’, participate in a quiz and use interactive media screens to learn more about the house and its inhabitants.

Nantclwyd y Dre is open on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays during May and September; Open on Saturday – Wednesday from June until end of August.

County comes up with new anti-fouling signs

New signs are being placed on lamp-posts across Denbighshire as part of the county council’s latest initiative to tackle dog fouling.

The warning signs have been designed using images of ‘reflective eyes’ which bounce back light in the hours of darkness and warn the public that the area is being monitored.

* Watching you: the new anti-fouling signs.

Small cameras will also be used in areas that are deemed to be fouling hot-spots and signs will be placed to warn people they may be filmed. 

The council says the cameras used are not covert, are easy to set up and have the flexibility to be moved to another location quickly. Officers from Kingdom Security, working on behalf of the council are focussing their efforts on patrols specifically to identify offenders over the coming two weeks. 

They will be out and about working two shifts, 6am-2pm and 12pm until 8pm. They will also engage with dog owners about the need to clean up after their animals.

Other activities will see the council providing free bags to do owners; dog mess found on pavements will be painted using chalk, in order to highlight the problem and officers will also be gathering intelligence to enable further enforcement.

Dog owners found to be cleaning up after their animals will be  offered the chance to enter into a prize draw as part of the Bin it to Win It scheme.

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Public Realm, said: “This is the latest in a range of initiatives undertaken by the Council to tackle dog fouling in the county.

“Residents tell us that it is one of the biggest issues of concern to them. The majority of individuals want to live in, work in and visit an area that is free of dog mess. It is a blight on the landscape and can be detrimental to people’s health and well-being.

“This campaign is about educating people to be considerate and not allow their dogs to foul in public.  The majority of people do act responsibly and we thank them for that. It’s the small group of individuals that we are trying to reach with our message.

“Dog fouling will simply not be tolerated in our county and we hope that our high profile and visible approach will make a real difference."

Responsible owners or any member of the public can contact the Council with information and remain anonymous if they wish. They can report issues through the website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk or through the Customer Service Centre, on 01824 706101.

Trials competition returns at LlanBikeFest

* A Junior Kick Start style competition will roar into LlanBikeFest in July.  

The BBC’s Junior Kick Start style of trials competition is bouncing back at the Llangollen International Motorcycle Festival – LlanBikeFest - on Saturday July 23 and 24.

The Kick Start show aired from 1979 until 1988, with the original course laid out by Sammy Miller.

The Junior Kick Start offshoot was hosted by Blue Peter’s Peter Purves and encouraged the talents of youngsters such as trials legend Dougie Lampkin.

At the festival, junior riders from Llangollen and District Motorcycle Club (LLDMC) will have to negotiate a series of obstacles without putting their feet down or stopping, plus there are time penalties. 

LlanBikeFest co-organiser John Hutchinson said: “The Junior Kick Start event will provide plenty of action for spectators to watch and be a tough challenge for the young riders taking part.

“Even more off-road spectacle will be provided by professional trials stunt experts Inch Perfect. 

“Their act features massive jumps up vertical walls, breath-taking ‘drop offs’ and a full range of freestyle tricks.

“They will be joined by the Extreme Mountain Bike Show - Europe’s number one mountain bike and Trials/BMX demonstration team, led by the multiple British and European trials bike champion Danny Butler.”

LlanBikeFest 2016 will build on the success of last year’s festival, with guest of honour Giacomo ‘Ago’ Agostini – winner of an unbeaten 122 Grand Prix wins and 15 World Championships - flying in especially from his Italian home to spend the weekend at the festival meeting fans, judging competitions and providing opportunities for autographs and photos. 

Held at the town’s Pavilion, the festival’s on-site attractions will include hundreds of bikes, displays, stunts, demonstrations, trade and club stands, plus beer, bands and evening entertainment in Llangollen town.

There will also be a charity raffle in aid of Wales Air Ambulance.

Follow the event on Twitter at @llanbikefest and Facebook at Llangollen International Motorcycle Festival.

Day tickets are £10 on the gate or online at www.llanbikefest.co.uk with concessions, or contact the festival office at 07960 693398, office@llanbikefest.co.uk. Club stands and exhibitor bookings are free.

Road closed to allow tree removal work

Denbighshire County Council is informing motorists that the A525 at Nant y Garth Pass will close for up to two weeks as of next Monday to allow essential tree removal work to take place safely.

The council was approached by contractors Tilhill who needed to undertake tree removal work on the pass.

Following discussions, it became clear that the road would need to close fully whilst the work was underway.

The council is working with the contractor to both minimise the length of the closure and to ensure that other essential works needed in the area are carried out at the same time. This would avoid having to close the road again for future work.

Whilst the work is scheduled for two weeks, Tilhill say they are making good progress and will aim to re-open the road under traffic light control as soon as practically possible.

To coincide with the closure, the council has served notice on the other land owners informing them that a closure will be in place and that they should undertake all necessary works so as to ensure that the trees on their land do not cause interference to the travelling public.  Most are using this closure as an opportunity to undertake work.

Denbighshire’s own teams will also be undertaking some tree work on sections of the verge that form the highway and in addition they will be undertaking some sign repairs, structural surveys of culverts, gully cleaning, sweeping and grass cut ting.

The council can also confirm that two school buses using the route will be escorted safely through the road closure, to ensure that the road closure does not have an impact on examinations taking place.

The official diversion route for traffic will be clearly signposted. Additional signs are also being placed at key locations to deter larger vehicles and caravans from using routes that would affect Pentrecelyn and Graigfechan.

The council says it would like to apologise in advance for any disruption an d inconvenience this work will cause and is reassuring the public that it has worked with the contractor to take every possible step to ease congestion and minimise any effects on the local community.

Betty recalls 50 years of Eisteddfod volunteering

* Betty Roberts with one of her Eisteddfod souvenirs.

A veteran volunteer at an iconic festival is adding her voice to an appeal for new recruits to the army of unpaid helpers who have helped Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod reach its 70^th year.

Betty Roberts, from Johnstown, Wrexham, has been one of the vital cogs in the festival’s wheel for 50 years, meeting Diana, Princess of Wales and finding accommodation for thousands of competitors in that time.

She was once faced with the mission impossible of finding beds for 67 hungry Hungarians late one evening in North Wales back in the summer of 1980.

But thanks to Betty’s network of contacts and friends within hours every one of them had been found a place to stay and given a good meal.

The amazing piece of organisation, and many others like it, have all been part of the job for Betty, now a sprightly 84, who is celebrating 50 years as a very active member of the Eisteddfod’s Hospitality Committee, half of that time either as secretary or chairman.

As the 70^th festival approaches in July Betty has been looking back over her incredible half century as an Eisteddfod volunteer and has added her support to an appeal for new volunteers.

Working closely with her fellow committee members it has been her responsibility to lay out the welcome mat and find accommodation for thousands of overseas competitors at the festival since 1966.

Most of the time things have played out as smoothly as one of the festival’s choral programmes. But there have been some challenging times too.

Betty, who has a son and a daughter and three grandsons aged 11 to 35, recalled the time the Hungarians arrived so unexpectedly on that evening 36 years ago.

She said: “In 1979 I was asked to take on the post of Secretary of the Hospitality Committee and I’ll always remember my first year in 1980.

“It was around 7pm on the Tuesday evening. I was in the reception area on the Eisteddfod field on my own when the telephone rang and it was a young man from Llangollen who was at Ruabon railway station and he said there were 67 Hungarians there and no coach for them.

“I had 67 beds to find at 7pm and in those days everyone stayed in private homes so I rang a couple just outside Wrexham to see if they could help. They rang me back to say they’d been out knocking on doors and, unbelievably, they had found 67 beds.

“The Hungarians, who we had fed while they were waiting, wept tears of joy as they couldn’t believe that people would open their doors at such short notice.”

Rhys Davies, Chairman of the Eisteddfod and a volunteer himself, said: “It’s people like Betty who make the event what it is and ensure that it carries on and is now in its 70^th year.

“The volunteers do a fantastic job and are real ambassadors for Llangollen and for Wales and we do need more of them – and they get as much out of the job as they put in.

“That’s why people like Betty and others have been with us for so long and it’s what makes Llangollen unique among festivals.”

Betty’s long association with the Eisteddfod had its roots way back in 1953 when, the year before she was married to late husband Vernon, she met two members of an American singing group who were staying with her mother, Sally Oliver, in Cefn Mawr.

She said: “They were with the Purdue Glee Club from Indiana and I got to know them quite well.

“In fact, I kept up a regular correspondence with one of them, a lady named Bertha Fleming, until she died at the age of 92 over 20 years ago.

“It was meeting her at my mother’s and talking about the Eisteddfod that whetted my appetite for becoming a volunteer. That and a little encouragement from my friend Joyce Davies who was also from Cefn Mawr and Secretary of Hospitality.

“At first I was responsible for finding accommodation for the competitors in Johnstown, where I’ve lived for the past 60 years, but later I became Secretary myself for 13 years and then served as Chairman for another 12 years, finishing in 2004. I was also on the Eisteddfod board for 24 years from the 1980s onwards.

“Things have changed a lot over the years and when I first started we had to find beds for about 2,000 every year, all in private homes in an area stretching from Bala to Whittington in Shropshire.

“Now most stay in schools and hotels but we still have many who want to have the experience of staying with someone and we’re always keen to hear from people who would like to put people up.

“All of us on the committee are still kept very much on our toes and we’d be delighted to welcome new recruits – they won’t regret joining us.”

Over the years Betty has made lots of friends through her work in hospitality and she met the Prince and Princess of Wales when they visited the Eisteddfod in 1985.

Betty remembered: “Diana, who was a very nice girl and seemed to have done her homework about the Eisteddfod, said she hoped I’d be getting tickets for the evening performances as I had been working so hard.

“I recall telling her that we hardly ever got to see the performances because we were too busy, although we do now because we have a TV screen in our hospitality building on which we can watch them as we work.”

Now the festival’s official Hospitality Liaison Officer, Betty never misses an opportunity to promote the Eisteddfod to a wider audience and gives talks to groups across North Wales.

Meanwhile, Tickets sales for the concerts at this year’s Eisteddfod, which begins on Tuesday, July 5, are already going well, especially for the opening night when superstar Katherine Jenkins gets the programme off to a sensational start as she sings Bizet’s Carmen.

Wednesday will be International Children’s Day and will include choral and dance competitions and also a new Under 16s solo competition while the evening will feature the Voices of Musical Theatre.

The great Bryn Terfel will headline the 70^th Classical Gala Concert on Thursday evening while the day will see the crowning of the Children’s Choir of the World.

Friday will celebrate Rhythms of the World and will be a feast of music and dance from the best of the Eisteddfod’s international competitors with the Dance Champions of the World competition climax at the evening concert.

It will open with a Caribbean Carnival Extravaganza, followed by the International Peace message delivered by Theatr yr Ifanc, Rhosllannerchrugog.

In a change of the scheduling Friday will also see the Parade of Nations, led by Eisteddfod President Terry Waite, switched from Tuesday in anticipation of bigger crowds and more competitors being present.

Saturday is dedicated to the top choirs and concludes with the Choir of the World competition for the Pavarotti Trophy while Sunday sees the Eisteddfod let its hair down for Llanfest before the climactic final concert.

To book tickets and to become an Eisteddfod volunteer for the 2016 festival go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk