Celebrated chef to showcase his skills at Hamper Lllangollen

* Chef Bryan Webb in the kitchen at Tyddyn Llan.

The Dee Valley chef in charge of one of the finest restaurants in Wales will be demonstrating his culinary mastery at a top food festival.

Michelin starred Bryan Webb has just seen his Tyddyn Llan restaurant with rooms in the picturesque Denbighshire village of Llandrillo retain its commanding position in the Good Food Guide for the 15^th consecutive year.

And he’ll be showing off his award-winning skills to food fans at Llangollen Food Festival which will celebrate its 20th anniversary at this year's event on October 14 and 15. 

The event has been named as one of the Top 10 food festivals in the UK by the Daily Telegraph and Independent newspapers.

It's estimated the festival pumps nearly £400,000 into the local economy every year, making a total of £8 million since it started two decades ago.

Along with his wife Susan who runs front-of-house, 57-year-old Bryan took over at Tyddyn Llan in 2002 following a glittering career with some of London’s most famous eateries.

His artistry in the kitchen saw him win his first glowing mention in the Waitrose Good Food Guide, which he describes as his lifelong culinary ‘bible’, during his first term as a head chef at Hilaire on Old Brompton Road in London 30 years ago and went on to win some of its highest gradings in subsequent editions.

The success story continued when he moved back to his native Wales and took the helm of Tyddyn Llan 15 years ago since when his Good Food Guide accolades have continued to flow.

The latest edition gives the restaurant a prestigious ranking of six, which he says means there are only three others in Wales with a higher grading and 50 in the whole of the UK.

Bryan said: “My latest mention in the guide makes me very proud and I’ll be celebrating it at Llangollen Food Festival which is marking its own 20^th anniversary this year.

“Cooking has changed a lot over the last 20 years which is mainly due to the number of food programmes on the TV. More and more people are now looking for things like good, local home produce and craft beers and they all come together at Llangollen Food Festivals.

“For my demonstration I’ll be showing some of the dishes I cook at Tyddyn Llan, and preparing sea bass with a lava bread and butter sauce, a Welsh black beef steak with a peppercorn sauce and a local rack of Welsh lamb accompanied by whatever is freshly available in October.

“I want to show how easy it is to cook a nice piece of fish or steak. Cooks at home worry about either having the pan not hot enough or too hot so it will burn the meat, so I want to show them how to overcome these problems.”    
         
Bryan was brought up in Crumlin, Caerphilly, where his father worked as a mines rescue manager. Experiencing at close hand the harsh realities of mining he decided early on that the job wasn’t for him.

A youthful eating experience at The Walnut Tree in Abergavenny introduced him to good food.

He left school at 16 and started an apprenticeship at The Crown at Whitebrook, the first Michelin-starred restaurant in Wales, training under head chef Sonia Blech.

His next position was at Drangway in Swansea, where he worked under Colin Pressdee. While at this restaurant, in 1980, he won the William Heptinstall Award, given to young chefs to widen their culinary experience abroad. The prize was a three-month placement at top French restaurant Mère Poulard in Mont-Saint-Michel.

In 1983 he took a position in Scotland, at the Kirroughtree Hotel near Newton Stewart working under Ken McPhee who was then one of Scotland’s finest culinary practitioners.

After two years he headed for London, taking a head chef role at Café Rouge - no connection to the chain - where the owner was set on establishing a highly rated restaurant.
He was then appointed head chef of Hilaire in London, becoming chef-proprietor after four years.

In 2002, Bryan and his wife Susan embarked on a tasting trip around the world, before returning to Wales to set up Tyddyn Llan based in a handsome grey-stone building set within lush Denbighshire countryside.

In 2010, Tyddyn Llan won a Michelin star, one of only four restaurants in Wales to hold such an accolade, and has retained it ever since.

Bryan is currently awaiting notification that Michelin will recognise him again but is pretty confident of success.

He said: “The competition gets harder every year and there are always new kids on the block but Michelin is looking for the serving of good food consistently and I’ve always had a passion for doing that. Also, I’ve just had my invitation to the presentation ceremony and I don’t think you’d get that if they were going to take away your star!

“I see my latest listing in the Good Food Guide as quite as quite an achievement as all my life it’s been my bible and they’ve always been good to me. I started being listed 30 years ago when I had my first head chef job in London and was consistently getting high ratings. That’s continued with Tyddyn Llan for the past 15 years.”   
  
His cookbook, Bryan Webb’s Kitchen, came out in 2010 and includes his signature dishes and recipes inspired by his food heroes. To mark his 40^th anniversary in the business Bryan published his book Not Bad For A Taff, which is part autobiography, part rich collection of recipes.

Phil Davies, a Llangollen Food Festival committee member, said: "We're delighted that Bryan will be demonstrating at our anniversary event.

"With his fabulous food at Tyddyn Llan, he has done a huge amount to put the area's culinary credentials on the map.

"This year's festival promises to be one of the best ever with a record number of around 120 stall-holders."

* To find out more about Llangollen Food Festival go to: www.llangollenfoodfestival.com

Search is on for Christmas video stars

With Christmas fast approaching businesses are being given the chance to take part in a festive shopping video.

As part of the #LoveLiveLocal campaign, Denbighshire County Council is looking for traders to feature in the clip which is being produced to highlight what the county has to offer shoppers.

#LoveLiveLocal aims to get people to show support for local businesses by using the hashtag on Twitter and Facebook to promote good experiences they’ve had and promote products and services locally they have ‘loved’.

The Council is looking for businesses who would like to take part in the video, with scenes involving customers within a shop setting.

Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, Leader of Denbighshire, said: “It is hard to believe Christmas is on its way, but as a Council we are already preparing to help promote our local traders this festive period.

“As part of the Council’s work on developing the local economy we are helping to promote the great retail offer right here in Denbighshire.

“Not only do local businesses offer great value for money and a wide range of products, they also provide excellent customer service.

“I’d encourage as many businesses as possible to put themselves forward for the chance to be in this video so we can showcase our fantastic Denbighshire businesses.”

The video will appear online and will be shared on social media throughout the Christmas period to help promote shopping locally. 

* If you would like to take part in the video contact matthew.l.jones@denbighshire.gov.uk or 01824 706222.

AM praises progress on Corwen rail project

* Ken Skates AM meets project leader Richard Dixon-Gough at Corwen.

Assembly Member Ken Skates joined volunteers to see how a ‘fantastic’ rail project is progressing with Welsh Government support.

The Clwyd South AM joined members of the Llangollen Railway team on Saturday to see how their work to create a platform at Corwen Central Station is developing.

The Welsh Government is providing funding of £128,000 – around 80% of the total costs – to build an island platform at Corwen, where a volunteer workforce, aided by contractors, has re-engineered the disused railway embankment to accommodate a new terminal.

Mr Skates said: “I’m thrilled for the team that this Welsh Government investment will help expand Llangollen Railway services to Corwen town centre. This is fantastic news for the company, the local economy and for North East Wales’ thriving tourism industry.”

The 160-metre platform will allow an eight-coach passenger train to be accommodated on one side and a smaller six-coach train on the other, maximising visitor numbers to Corwen.

The new platform is situated close to the town’s car park and bus interchange and a concrete subway has already been constructed to access the elevated platform.

Mr Skates said: “This is also a good example of how the Welsh Government’s Rural Development Programme is delivering real improvements for local communities.”

Project leader Richard Dixon-Gough said: “The project team members were pleased to be able to show Ken how much had changed on site since his last visit and the way in which Welsh Government grant aid had aided the building of the platform."

Big boost for town's health services

* From left, Iolo Jones, Senior Project Manager; Jane Jones Jane Jones, Planning & Commissioning Manager; Councillor Huw Jones; Berwyn Owen, Chair of the Corwen Health Centre Redevelopment Project Board.

A long running campaign to improve health services in Corwen was given a boost when the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board agreed to the £1.5m development of an improved Health Centre in the town.

Campaigners and community leaders have been working to ensure the development for over five years.

It is expected that the building work will start in eight weeks, and should be completed within 12 months.

The improved health centre will have two new additional consulting rooms, an enlarged treatment room, two dental surgeries, with associated decontamination facilities and storage space and other expanded facilities.

In presenting the proposals Dr Berwyn Owen, chair of the Corwen Health Centre Redevelopment Project Board, said: “This is an important development. It’s a positive step for the Health Board, and is to be welcomed."

Cllr Huw Jones, Corwen, said: “It’s taken a long time to reach this point. It’s excellent news that the Health Board have approved these plans, and we can now look forward to having a first class Health Centre in Corwen.”

His Plaid Cymru colleague, Cllr Mabon ap Gwynfor, Cynwyd/Llandrillo Ward, said: “We campaigned long and hard for the people of the Edeirnion valley. This is a rural area, and we’re deprived of many of the facilities and services that can be found elsewhere. Corwen serves a vast area, and is an important town. The Health Board should be praised for listening to our calls.”

Plaid Cymru North Wales Assembly Member, Llyr Gruffydd, said: “This investment is warmly welcomed. The increased dental provision is also vitally important, and will serve a huge area, from Betws-y-Coed over to Llangollen. Many people have worked hard to secure this investment and they should be thanked for their perseverance.”

Town crier goes hot foot to raise £1,000

_{Llangollen’s town crier Austin “Chem” Cheminais braved the hot coals to raise around £1,000 for the Wales Air Ambulance by completing a fire walk at Chirk Boathouse last night (Saturday).}

_{The 63-year-old retired teacher, who is also a town councillor, has raised hundreds of pounds for the air ambulance over the past few years as a way of saying thank you for the way the Midlands helicopter zoomed in to airlift him to hospital back in 2010 after he was run over twice by a delivery van in the car park of the school in Walsall where he was headmaster at the time.}

<sub>In his latest fundraising venture, along with other charity dare-devils, he walked over red-hot coals in full costume and ringing his bell every step of the way

After his ordeal by fire Chem said: “I actually raised around £1,000 and I'd like to thank everyone who contributed.</sub>

_{“At the end of it my feet didn't hurt at all because I'd been fully prepared beforehand by the organisers.}

<sub>"If you sort of psych yourself and tell yourself you're not going to be frightened and it's not going to hurt then you are okay."

* Chem's charity page is at</sub> https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chemshouts 

Kings Bridge to close temporarily

Denbighshire County Council has made a temporary traffic order for the closure of the B5103 Kings Bridge in Berwyn.

Coming into force on October 16, it has been made to facilitate highway drainage improvements and carriageway works by the county council's bridges section.

The order lasts for 18 months or the completion of the works, whichever is soonest.

The signposted alternative route will be via the B5103 from its junction with the A5(T) to the junction with the A542 Horseshoe Pass Road, Abbey Dingle Nursery to Abbey Road, Abbey Road, Castle Street and the A5.

Pedestrian access will be maintained throughout the closure period. 

Figures show Denbighshire performing well

Denbighshire continues to be one of the top performing councils in Wales, providing a high standard of service to the county’s residents.

Figures compiled by the Local Government Data Unit compare the performance of councils across Wales on a range of issues. 

The results for 2016/17 show that Denbighshire performed in the top half for the majority of activities it was assessed against, when compared with other councils.

Results also show Denbighshire has the least number of measures appearing in the bottom quarter of any authority in Wales. It had also shown an improvement in 17 out of 25 indicators it was assessed against

Denbighshire had:

• One of the lowest waiting times for delivering disabled facilities grants
• One of the highest rates for turning private sector dwellings to occupied through direct action by the Council.
• 100% of final statements of special education need issued within 26 weeks.
• One of the lowest sickness absence rates

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Cabinet Lead Member for Finance, with responsibility for business performance, said: “This report makes very pleasing reading and reflects the commitment and dedication of both staff and councillors for Denbighshire to be a continuing high performing authority, providing the best quality services to its residents and its communities. This is at a time of on-going financial pressures.

 “The headlines speak for themselves and we are proud of our achievements. However, we recognise that there is always room for further improvement and we will not become complacent as we work to continue to be as good as we can possibly be in all areas of our work."