Zorro cuts a fine dash at Plas Newydd

* A slice of action from last night's production of Zorro at Plas Newydd.

The wit flew as fast as the flashing blades in last night's open-air production of Zorro at Plas Newydd.

As a large audience munched on their picnics and sipped their chilled wine, 17 members of the Off the Ground theatre group thrilled with this touring tale of old New Meckicko, which was a little heavier on the comedy than the high drama.

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.

* Zorro (Felipe Pachero) dashes to

the aid of his lady-love Esmerelda

(Billy Czajkowska) 

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? Well, of course he can.

With the aid of his trusty rapier and cunning our hero, played nicely by the aptly named Felipe Pachero, rights all wrongs and in a couple of brisk acts vanquishes all the sneering baddies - male and female.

Unfortunately, one thing he couldn't deal with were the midges but, heck, we were in the great outdoors.

Along the way there were plenty of laughs, not least of which came from the direction of Esteban the second-hand mule salesman played by Eric J Blakemore, a particular audience favourite.

But the entire company were stars and it was a great night's theatre.

Let's see more al fresco entertainment in this wonderful local setting.  

Davies calls for help for Wild Pheasant staff

Llangollen county councillor Stuart Davies (pictured) says everything possible should be done to help the staff affected by the closure of the town's Wild Pheasant Hotel earlier this week.

He said: "I feel for the people involved in the closure of the Wild Pheasant.

"I am calling on the Economic Unit of DCC to get in touch with the administrators to see what we can do to ensure that the hotel is opened again as soon as possible.

"When the Dobsons and Crowther printworks closed we worked with the administrators and the now owners to help them as much as we could to re open the facility."

He added: "The Welsh Government has its part to play as well and I hope that the Minister, who is the local AM, is working as hard as possible to ensure that any possible help by them is instigated as soon as possible.

"Hotel spaces are important to the town, without them we cannot continue to offer a premium tourism product."

Appeal over missing man last seen in Llan

North Wales Police are appealing for help tracing a 51-year-old man from the Mold/Buckley area.

Paul Nickson has not been seen since leaving a friend’s home in Regent Street,  Llangollen at about 7.30pm yesterday (Monday August 1).  

* Missing: Paul Nickson.

All enquiries to trace him have thus far proved fruitless and family and friends are becoming increasingly concerned. 

Mr Nickson’s grey Ford Transit van was discovered today (Tuesday) north of Coed Nercwys and police we are appealing to anyone who may have seen him to make contact.

Sergeant Mavis Evans at Mold Police Station said:  “Paul is about 5’6 tall of medium build with brown hair and blue eyes.  

"The area of Coed Nercwys is a popular with dog walkers and mountain bikers and we are appealing for witnesses in that area.  If you have seen Paul, or know of his whereabouts, please contact Police as we are concerned for his welfare."

* If you can assist with this investigation please contact North Wales Police on 101 or via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 and quote Missing Person Ref 16117.  Alternatively, contact the control room direct via the new web live chat /contact/chat-support.aspx

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.

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.”