Zorro swashbuckles into Plas Newydd this Friday

Off the Ground theatre group swashbuckles its way back to New Mexico in 1821 with an open-air production of the play Zorro at Plas Newydd this Friday evening.

On the brink of Mexican Independence, the Viceroy of New Spain, aided by the evil Ramón family, has turned New Mexico into a tyrannical, poverty-stricken wasteland for the townspeople.

Their legendary hero, Zorro, is their only hope of relief and resolution.

As the rebel group, The Alliance, attempt to fight back, Zorro must be smarter than he has ever been to keep the Ramóns from turning his beloved people against him.

Can he change his ways to stop them? 

Find out at Plas Newydd and bring a chair and a brolly just in case.

The performance begins at 7.30pm. Adults £12, concessions £8 and under-21 £5.

Tickets from www.offtheground.co.uk  or at Plas Newydd on the night

Why not let our chef Steve cook you a pre-show meal at 6pm in the stable-block tea rooms? Prices are from £4.95 and pre-booking is essential on 01978 862834, or plasnewydd@denbighshire.gov.uk

Counterfeit goods handed over to charity

* From left: Tex Sampson and Carol Sampson from

Sports Traider, Councillor David Smith, Ian Millington,

Public Protection business manager, and Nicola Sutton,

public protection officer.

Over £200,000 worth of counterfeit products seized in raids across the county are being donated to charity by Denbighshire Trading Standards.

The haul includes clothing, sunglasses, trainers, handbags, DVDs, money boxes, ash trays and mugs. 

There is a range of brands including Nike, Ray-Ban, Fred Perry, Prada and a variety of different football clubs.

Ordinarily, the goods would be destroyed or securely disposed of following a forfeiture in the court.  Instead, the goods will be donated to a charity called Sports Traider.

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Public Realm, who also has responsibility for Trading Standards, said: “Sports Traider is a youth-focused charity offering youngsters the kit and the support they need to discover and fulfil their sporting ambiti n and potential, whatever their background, ability or disability. 

“Sports Traider have established the first chain of charity shops in the UK that specialise in sports kit and equipment. The aim is to make clothing and sports equipment affordable to all, and at the same time generate a sustainable source of funding to help disadvantaged young people participate in sport.”

After a court case councils can often be left with masses of counterfeit products to be disposed of, storage of such goods can incur costs, and so can the disposal of these goods. Donating them to charity eliminates these costs and donations are often gratefully received. 

Councillor David Smith added: “Trading Standards regularly make seizures of goods that are counterfeit, and it is good to see that these products can be donated to a worthy cause, and used to support youngsters wanting to become involved with sports.

“Removing counterfeit products from the market helps support local businesses who are trading legitimately and protects consumers from buying poor quality and unsafe items.

“As well as being brought to justice through their prosecution, all defendants have unknowingly helped children from all over the UK who are in need, rather than ripping them off.”

For hygiene/safety reasons it is inevitable that some of the seized goods will need to be destroyed, however all other items will be recycled by Sports Traider.

* If you know of anywhere selling counterfeit goods or illegal tobacco, reports can be made by in confidence by contacting Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 (Welsh language line) the service is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.  Alternatively reports can be submitted online at www.citizensadvice.org.uk

This service works in partnership with Trading Standards.  Reports can be made anonymously, this will then be sent to the relevant Trading Standards department for consideration and possible further investigation.

Calls to support £1 billion rail improvements package

Residents and businesses in Denbighshire are being encouraged to show their support for a campaign to secure £1bn of rail improvements to transform the North Wales and Cheshire regional economy and deliver 70,000 new jobs over 20 years.

The campaign is being driven by the North Wales and Mersey Dee Rail Task Force (NW&MD) and has the backing of the region’s eight local authorities, the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, the Mersey Dee Alliance, the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, the North Wales Business Council and the West Cheshire & North Wales Chamber of Commerce.

The Growth Track 360 campaign is calling for:

* Electrification of the line from Crewe to North Wales so the region can connect with HS2 services at Crewe, and fast London trains can continue to Bangor and Holyhead

* The doubling of frequency of trains between North Wales and Manchester

* Investment in new, modern, better equipped rolling stock

* New direct services between North Wales and central Liverpool over the Halton Curve via south Liverpool, which will open up a connection to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

* Doubling of services on the Borderlands line between Wrexham and Bidston, through Shotton and Deeside.

Denbighshire County Council is asking its county residents and businesses to show their support for the project and complete a short questionnaire.

Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, said: “This is a prime example of how councils, business and public sector leaders are all working together for the benefit of the local economy, linking communities with the planned HS2 line between London and the North of England.

“If successful, the Growthtrack360 campaign would lead to a massive boost to the North Wales, Cheshire and Wirral economies.

“This project would result in quality jobs across the region, with far better rail links and greater opportunities for business development.  We really need the public’s help in showing the strength of support for the campaign.”

To show your support, please visit www.growthtrack360.com and answer six very quick questions.

llanblogger strides out to fight dementia

I’m putting my best foot forward to raise money for vital research into dementia.


A couple of people in my family who were very close to me both suffered from dementia and it was heartbreaking to see how they deteriorated.

Every year in the UK a staggering 225,000 people develop dementia – that’s equivalent to one person every three minutes.

* llanblogger Phil Robinson is striding

out in the 2016 Memory Walk.

So I’ve decided to do my bit to help by taking part in the Alzheimer’s Society 2016 Memory Walk which sees thousands of people raising money for a world without dementia across Wales, England and Northern Ireland.

People of all ages and abilities join in, from grandparents to grandchildren, and even furry four-legged friends.


They all walk together to celebrate loved ones affected by dementia, and raise money to reclaim the future.


As it’s the closest to Llangollen, I’ll be joining the Cheshire Memory Walk at Delamere Forest, which takes places on Saturday September 24.


There’s a choice of two routes - 3.5km or 6k.


I’m doing the 6k route through the forest's woodland paths and around Blakemere Lake.


Just £50 can help a PhD researcher to continue research into the causes of dementia, how it can be treated and, ultimately, to find a cure. 


I’m aiming to raise at least £150 for this very good cause, so I’m hoping that as many people as possible will sponsor me on the walk.


You can go online to pledge the odd pound or two on my Justgiving  page, which can be found at:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Philip-Robinson8

Please be generous as we never know who or when dementia will strike.

Language school celebrates re-launch with Eisteddfod link

* Toasting the success of the newly-branded Mulberry School of English are, from left, Llangollen town crier Austin Cheminais, Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones, Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod Vice Chairman Nick Jenkins, Sharon Thomas and Vincent Iannucci, of Mulberry, and Huan Japes of English UK, the language schools trade association.

ONE lucky overseas competitor at this year’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod stands to benefit from an all-expenses paid English course courtesy of the town’s newly relaunched language school.

After successfully trading under the name of ECTARC from its base in Parade Street for a number of years, the school has now been re-branded as The Mulberry School of English.

And at its fanfare official opening, its executive director, Vincent Iannucci, gave details of the Mulberry Prize launched at this year’s 70^th Eisteddfod.

He said: “Each year the Eisteddfod attracts many international competitors and this year alone there are some 4,000 taking part in the festival.

“For the first time the new prize has been offered to all these performers by way of celebrating the Eisteddfod’s milestone year.

“To enter all they had to do was say what they’d enjoyed most about their stay in Llangollen and, after judging, the winners’ details will be posted on our Mulberry Facebook page by August 31.

“First prize is a £1,000 scholarship which includes two weeks’ tuition, accommodation and all airport transfers. All they have to do is pay their own air fares.

“Second and third prizes were one year’s access to our online learning programme, including tutorials with one of our teachers via Skype.

“I’m delighted to say the prize will be offered each year to Eisteddfod competitors.”

He added: “At the ceremony we were celebrating the re-launch of our organisation as a fully-fledged international language school in line with Llangollen’s history of internationalism fostered by the Eisteddfod.

“It’s certainly true that this town is where Wales welcomes the world.”

Over the course of the week TMSE has played host to a number of special performances by Eisteddfod competitors, including the Musica Oeconnomica Pragensis from the Czech Republic and the Pangudi Luhu Choir from Indonesia.

TMSE also sponsored the traditional parade of competitors from the Eisteddfod field into the heart of Llangollen on the Friday afternoon.

Eisteddfod Vice Chairman Nick Jenkins, who was amongst VIP guests at the language school’s re-launch, said: “We are delighted to have worked closely with The Mulberry School of English when it was known as ECTARC and very much welcome their on-going support in terms of the new prize for competitors and sponsorship of our parade.

“I hope the great relationship we have with them can continue for many years to come.”

School pupils go bats about visiting new homes site

* Ysgol y Gwernant pupils are shown the special building put up for the bats by Bryn Davies, development manager for Grŵp Cynefin.

Children from a Llangollen primary school have visited an affordable homes development to see how a housing association is working around a colony of bats.

Pupils at Ysgol y Gwernant were at the site of the old Cottage Hospital in Abbey Road to learn more about the ecological nature of building homes for local people with wildlife present.

“Sometimes building homes brings with it some additional challenges, and Llangollen has been an example of that,” explains Bryn Davies, development manager for Grŵp Cynefin.

“We knew before we purchased the site that we had a colony of soprano pipistrelle bats to deal with, so our environmental expertise kicks in from the outset.”

The design and build planning for the site, which will become home to six three and four bedroom houses, and six two bedroom flats, has to take into consideration the bats breeding season.

Mr Davies added: “Bats are a Protected Species, so we had to prepare our building plans around the bats and obtain the licence from Welsh Government. The initial surveys that were carried out registered 656 soprano pipistrelle bats around the site during one particular evening.

“Our building period was therefore delayed as we had to wait for the bats to leave the old building once their breeding season finished at the end of the summer. We then set about the task of constructing a new home for them.

"We had to work within the winter months to build their new home, which will also serve as a bin store, as they would soon return to the site ready for the next year’s breeding season.

“We built a new stand-alone building, cedar clad with plenty of access points for the bats - which mimics the old hospital structure where the bats had been living and breeding successfully since the 1990s.

“The bats lived in the cavity of the building, so it was important that we replicated the environment that encouraged them to move into the new building once the roosting period began in May.

"In the former hospital building the bats were using a section of the building because of its aspect to the sun. It heated the structure during the day carrying and retaining the stored heat in the evening making it an ideal breeding ground. The females left the young at night to forage whilst the young were left safe in a warm environment.

“We’ve replicated these conditions in the new building, and are delighted to say that the bats have returned in their droves. The pupils of Ysgol Gwernant visited the site recently and we shared with them how complex it can be to build new homes, especially here in Llangollen.”

The school's Eleri Jones, who visited the site with the years three and four youngsters, said: “The pupils enjoyed their visit to the former hospital site.

"It was interesting to hear about the bats and how Grŵp Cynefin had to build a new home especially for them.

"It formed part of our recent Eco Council Platinum Banner Award which tied in with their local environment here in Llangollen. We also saw the houses themselves under construction on site, and of course, the big machines were a big hit with the pupils.”

The development on site is said to be progressing well with an estimated completion date of spring 2017.

Search is on for Britain's high street heroes

* Could Castle Street be in the running for a high street award?

Denbighshire County Council is encouraging people to nominate in this year’s Great British High Street Awards to recognise  the efforts of the business community across the county.

The Great British High Street Awards 2015 were a huge success, with over 230 high streets entering and nearly 200,000 votes cast for the 21 finalists.

Last year, Prestatyn High Street came second in the Coastal Community category after a fiercely contested public vote.

Now, organisers of the campaign are calling for entries for the 2016 competition.  As well as the Great British High Street categories, there are two other main categories.

The  competition categories for places are:

• Best Town Centre High Street
• Best Market Town High Street (small)
• Best Market Town High Street (large)
• Best Coastal Community High Street
• Best Village High Street
• Best Local Centre - precinct or parade of shops
• Rising Star - to recognise towns who are turning fortunes around

The four competition categories for individuals are:

• Best Store Manager or Employee from a National Retailer / Organisation
• Best Store Manager or Employee from an Independent / Small Business
• Best Market Manager, Operator, Farmer or Trader
• Best under 25 year old, manager or employee from a high street business

Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE said: “All of our town centres are important to us in Denbighshire and town centre growth has been identified as a priority in our Economic and Community Ambition Strategy.

“We want our local high streets and business people to be recognised for their efforts, to help celebrate all that is good about our high streets. With competition from large retail parks and the internet, we want people to visit and use our high streets and the wide array of goods and services they have to offer.

“Only recently the council launched its  #lovelivelocal campaign, in a bid to encourage greater use of the High Street and for people to share their shopping experiences.

“Getting involved in the Great British High Street also helps raise the profile of a high street through its associated publicity and marketing opportunities, so we would encourage people to get nominating, as the deadline is fast approaching."

The deadline for nominations is September 8. For further information, visit: www.thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk